Hands Reaching Across the Cyberwaves...
Last night we had the opportunity to listen in on an exclusive teleseminar with Tellman Knudsen and Ben Mack.
And this morning Stu McLaren asked for some feedback from his mailing list subscribers about his newsletter.
With these marketers words dancing in my head, herewith, is my reply to Stu...
Dear Stu,
This April...I will have been studying internet marketing for one year! So you can see I approach this subject as a relative neophyte.
However, I must tell you, I find myself much more discriminating the further on down the road I travel.
I am not a fan of becoming a geek so that I can be a slave to a machine. I have spent over $10K to date for mostly worthless junk. And I firmly believe ideas are like a**holes - everybody has one!
So...no offense intended here...but...it seems to me what experienced marketers should be considering is this:
===>Form marketing co-ops of 100 to 500 partners, each involved in decision-making for the group at-large.
===>Allow fluid interaction via chat and a forum hosted by moderators chosen by the group through periodic voting.
===>Provide state-of-the-art marketing tools to the members - including metrics tracking and other software so that individual actions of each member can be definitely tracked in real-time online observation by everyone involved.
===>Lay out a step-by-step action plan for the group members to cooperatively follow - changeable according to day-to-day conditions - while staying open to actionable ideas of all other members.
===>Provide a running P&L statement in the private membership area showing the day-by-day account of how all money is to be divided according to individual participatory efforts...as agreed upon by each member in advance of joining the group.
This proposal, in a nutshell, is the type of program I myself would want to put together if I had the proven skills to form such a group and pull it off...
...because, like myself, I believe others will see that trust and confidence in the process itself is paramount - and a few helping hands never hurts either!
One day I will do precisely this...
It is an interesting way to win over battle-tested allies to a cause - a cause which can only succeed because its members become loyal to the group as their accumulation of revenue shares increases over time.
Experienced marketers will see this as a no-brainer...and a way to make quick & easy bucks...assuming they do not have to sacrifice their alpha male or guru image of themselves...because they are not called upon to subvert their brand positioning strategies in any demeaning way...and they can get behind the product(s) and/or service(s) being promoted to their followers in the first place.
Seen from this perspective...even newbies can contribute to the viral marketing promotional efforts of some highly-scrutinized, very useful information products... made better because of the mastermind group brainstorming and directly promoting them.
People want to learn to succeed online, but without real-time interaction, in an environment in which their success is practically guaranteed...simply with measurable guided participation...they will mostly flounder and eventually fail.
Who can trust the sales process when the possibility of getting ripped-off is so high? When real transparency is our guiding principle more participation can be assured. Safeguards and guidelines can be constructed...and procedures can be implemented...to prevent commission theft or counter-productive efforts from having a negative impact.
If you believe learning is so key to success online, why not consider that confidence and trust must be earned - and actions always speak louder than words?
Make it a two-way street for the participants...by bringing together under (y)our umbrella...the mavens, salespeople and connectors (as described by Gladwell in The Tipping Point)...necessary to the task of reaching that vaunted tipping point...and thereby bring about a true win-win situation for everyone concerned.
The continuum of learning, actively participating and growing - in a cooperative group effort - is not socialism, Stu. It is a sure-fire way to develop a cadre of affiliates, network marketers, and JV partners - all rolled into one dynamic system of interactive growth.
Selling online doesn't have to be such a dastardly enterprise - with so few winners compared with many more losers.
In bringing together - by open invitation - divergent thinkers (ideators) to identify problems and solutions in a process of elimination or trial-and-error (clarifiers) so that products can finally be created and put together (developers) ALL active participants (implementers) will finally feel a true sense of co-ownership, and so will more enthusiastically promote more profitable products brought to market.
Individuals will freely participate according to "how the spoils of war" are to be divided...and various leaders will rise like cream to the top...allowing for standouts within the group to be recognized and separately rewarded by the others... if the group so chooses.
Each participant must be able to perceive and appreciate from the get-go that their fifteen minutes of fame within the group will be a given once they realize actionable results are accurately measured and structured participation all-but-guarantees a successful collaboration.
I want to learn from heroes who understand that my efforts are equally as heroic - and prove it by their actions, not their words.
Smoke-and-mirrors, secrets, insights, hucksterism and magic are separate from the real opportunities real people deserve and want to respect.
Let's get behind a cooperative work effort in an atmosphere of work-as-entertainment - which brings in real dollars to our wallets!
At the end of the day...I want to believe in a concept of motivation and reward which seeks my enthusiastic and undying support...because it is open-ended and transparent for all concerned...and because I don't want to participate in or promote...suffering or struggle...for anyone.
Best regards,
Laurence
Mainspring Mindshares
[P.S. - Here is another sometime marketer worth checking out. Kinda like you have also earned earned our respect and admiration! His name is Blair Warren. And he was introduced to us by a fellow named Ben Mack]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
----Original Message----
From: Stu McLaren [MyIdeaGuy]
Date: 02/02/07 02:55:43
To: Laurence
Subject: Laurence...from Stu McLaren
Hey Laurence,
I noticed that you signed up for my "Insider Ideas"
newsletter a couple days ago - thanks a lot for signing up :)
Did you read the first issue?
I'd love to know what you thought.
Drop me a line when you get a chance. Just reply to this
email.
Thanks again!!
Take care,
Stu McLaren
Your Idea Guy
Friday, February 02, 2007
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