Think low and you will stay low.

May 27, 2007

Let me tell you a story about a friend of mine, who started his life as a little country boy from Nigeria. He was very poor, as most in that country are, but he worked hard and managed to get through college and earn a degree as an Investment Analyst. I'll call him Eric, but that's not his real name.

He went to work for a company in his country that did business with many other countries, handling their investments in Nigeria and the neighboring area. One day a Russian client came into the office, and was introduced to Eric.

The Russian man had a question about a contract that was prepared for use in the USA. Eric looked over it, and in two minutes told the Russian man that the contract was terrible. After some discussion about this, the Russian was so taken with Eric's abilities that he offered him a job in the USA and paid him $2,500 in cash as a sign-on bonus.

Eric was stunned. $2,500 in his country at that time was like instant wealth!

But now Eric was faced with a decision. He was a country boy, and had a hard enough time living in the city of Benin in his home country of Nigeria. He spoke English, but with a heavy accent that was sometimes hard to understand. He would be taking on some hefty responsibility for a major bank in the USA, a country he had never even visited before. He was scared to death.

What would he do? Would he decline the offer out of fear of the unknown? Would he let the risk prevent him from bettering his life and that of his family?

I got to listen to Eric's story, one on one, the other day. It was truly fascinating what he'd been through and how he'd handled it all.

Eric was happy to say that no, he had not turned down the job. He took it, and despite the trials and difficulties, he did very well with it. Now he and his family all live here in the USA, and Eric owns a prosperous mortgage loan business.

When I asked him what helped him to overcome the understandable fears he had before taking the job, this is what he told me - and I will never forget it:

"Jon," he said, "if you think low you will stay low."

Truer words have never been spoken! If you THINK you cannot do better for yourself than you are doing right now, you never will. If you THINK that others can succeed, but not you, it will come true. What you THINK will be fulfilled in what you do.

Now, if a poor country boy from Nigeria can do the work and see the rewards, eventually moving to a wealthy country and owning a successful business - although he's a foreigner and still has a pretty heavy accent that is sometimes hard to understand - what's preventing you?

Is it fear? Is it the risk of loss? Is it because although you don't like your current situation, it's familiar - comfortable - and you're resisting the change that is needed to bring success?

If so, you're not alone. Physics tells us that everything in the universe takes the path of least resistance. When you drop a ball, it always falls down, because there's no resistance to it falling down. It doesn't go up, because that would require it to struggle against gravity.

People are no different. By nature, we are inclined to take the path of least resistance, to do whatever is easiest. It requires effort to get out of our rut and make things happen for ourselves.

But, like Eric, you can do it if you THINK HIGH, not low. Don't put yourself down or convince yourself that where you are now is where you're doomed to be. And don't let trials or difficulties make you feel inadequate. The best of the best in every endeavor had trouble getting there.

Stop thinking low, or you will stay low. Think high and you will reach your dreams - no matter how high they may be.

Posted by Jonathan Leger | Filed Under Internet Marketing, Blog | 55 Comments

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50 ways to drive traffic to your web site.

May 18, 2007

I just read a great post at the Warrior Forum that lists 50 ways to drive traffic to your web site. It's a great list that is certainly worth bookmarking.

Pay special attention to #50. It's the best!

Click here to read the post.

Posted by Jonathan Leger | Filed Under Blog | 3 Comments

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Making ads into entertainment.

May 8, 2007

I was listening to the radio on my way to pick up some dinner for my family this evening, and there was a small segment on an international advertising agency (whose name escapes me) and how they are working to improve the effectiveness of their advertising.

The segment described a very successful campaign that was done for BMW, where they actually had well-known directors make short films about sophisticated people (like spies) who drive BMWs. The films highlighted the product, but were so cool that people wanted to go to the site to watch the films!

I got so absorbed in what the segment was about that I almost spilled dinner all over the front seat! What a fantastic idea, I thought. Making the ads entertaining, even engaging for people.

I say that the BMW series was successful because in their first push online the short films received more than 100 million viewers! Only after their initial push were they sent to YouTube, where who knows how many views they received in addition to that.

Even for a big company like BMW, 100 million eyeballs being drawn to drool over their cars in entertaining short films was a fantastic way to build brand identity. Slick, sophisticated people like international spies racing around mountain S-curves on secret missions to save the world really identifies "coolness" with driving a Beamer.

Another excellent example of an ad becoming entertainment is Joel Comm's latest project, "The Next Internet Millionaire." It's a videocast (and could-be television show) where people compete for a $25,000 prize and the chance to become Joel's next millionaire JV partner.

(And in case you were wondering, you have a chance to compete too.)

Now, of course, it's really an advertisement in disguise. Joel will make a lot of money off of it. But even the intro video on the page above is just so darn entertaining! It makes you want to be a part of what in reality is a big advertisement.

There is a lesson in these two entertainment ads for all of us in the internet marketing world. I, personally, could do better at making what I send out to my list not only informational, but also more entertaining. I know I have that ability, sometimes I just get lazy and fail to exercise it.

Now, I'm not talking about having clowns juggling the phrases and spraying water from a flower through your monitor and into your face. What I mean is making sure that what I write is appealing and impacting in a way that makes you enjoy reading it.

I, for one, know that I learn much better when the teacher is not putting me to sleep with boring copy. I also know that I am much more inclined to buy if there's a good story woven into the sales pitch.

This is something I will be putting into practice immediately. I hope to get so good at it that people will join my list just so they can read my advertisements! After all, that is exactly what BMW accomplished (and Joel will quite likely accomplish). People wanted to see their ads, because they weren't just informational — they were exciting, even exhilarating.

So the next time you sit down to write a sales letter or an article, take some time to tell a story. Let people experience the value of what you're offering (or teaching, as the case may be) through the eyes of someone they admire and respect — or at least someone that they find interesting.

Did the BMW ads work on me? Well, let's just say that I took the curves on the drive home a little bitter faster than I normally would.

Posted by Jonathan Leger | Filed Under Internet Marketing, Blog | 15 Comments