I’ve observed 10 traits in marketers who make 6 figures or better that are – for lack of a better word – just plain weird. What I haven’t figured out yet is, are marketers successful because they’re weird? Or do they become weird once having success? You decide.
Successful marketers think backwards. We’ve been taught to progress through a series of steps to get to our destination. But these guys don’t think about steps – they focus on their end goal. They make it totally real in their minds, like they’ve already got it. And then they reverse engineer their way back to the beginning to figure out how they got there.
When using this process, it’s almost as though they’ve achieved the goal before they even start. An added perk to this method is obviously the added confidence it gives them that they will succeed, because they already have. It’s sort of like a time travel machine for the mind.
Successful marketers quit. A lot. Have you ever known someone with stock that was dropping like a rock in the market? Odds are they continued to hang onto it because they didn’t want to lose money. Result? They lost even MORE money.
Successful marketers know when to cut the rope. If something isn’t working, they stop doing it. If something or someone is sucking their time or resources away, they let it go. In a nutshell, they quit anything that isn’t working and focus on what is working.
Successful marketers cut corners. Practice makes perfect, right? Actually, if you’re a successful marketer then practice makes for a more streamlined system. In discovering what is necessary and what it not, you can cut out a lot of little things that accomplish nothing more than distracting you or taking up your time.
And often times these are the exact things that seem so important to others. For example, rather than proofread your book 5+ times, you can do it just once or have someone else do it just once, and then insert a line at the beginning that explains you felt it more important to get the information out in a timely manner than to see to it that every possible error was edited out. It’s still a quality product, it’s just not a perfect product and it never would be, even if you didn’t cut that corner.
Another corner cutting example: Taking a long time to make a decision. Most people like to do research, weigh all the facts, sleep on it for a few days, etc. Successful marketers use the information they have available to make a decision quickly and move on. Sure it baffles everyone else and makes the entrepreneur look reckless – but this can also account for why they are so successful – money LOVES speed.
Successful marketers are risk takers. Imagine you’re a mountain goat and you want to get to the other side of am exceedingly deep crevice. You can either climb all the way down the mountain and up the other side of the crevice, or you can get a running start and make the leap. But in jumping you must give it your all – you cannot make a mediocre attempt or you will plunge to your death. You are risking everything to gain everything.
Successful marketers risk making a product no one wants, risk buying traffic that does not convert, risk making fools of themselves trying to contact more successful marketers for help, risk looking silly on social media or making a really big mistake while trying to build their brand. Everyday they take risks. It takes guts to be a successful marketer. It’s also a heck of a lot of fun when even the tiniest of risks pays off.
Successful marketers say no more often than they say yes. Opportunities are everywhere and no one sees them more easily than the successful marketer. But they learn to say no to most of the opportunities in order to make the most of the opportunities they do pursue. It’s called focus, and it’s a key ingredient to success.
Successful marketers are also careful to say no to people and opportunities that are simply not right for them or their customers. Just because mailing the new XYZ offer to your list will make you a lot of money today, does not mean you won’t regret it later if that XYZ product turns out to be a dud. Sometimes saying no is the most profitable thing a marketer can do.
Successful marketers repeat themselves, almost to the point of being boring. When they find something that works, they don’t go in search of something else. Instead, they ramp it up. They do it again, bigger and faster than last time. They accelerate and expand the process. They do it over and over again, tweaking as they go to make it better each time. Sure it’s more exciting to start a new project every week – but as long as your attention is pulled in many different directions, you will get nowhere.
Successful marketers don’t go on shopping sprees or puff themselves up. It’s a natural inclination – you’ve finally made a few thousand dollars and you’re sure you’ve cracked the code to success. Now let’s go shopping! But successful marketers reinvest a major portion of their profits straight back into their business to grow it bigger and stronger. And then they begin investing in their future – just in case one day the bottom drops out of their business.
By the same token, making much ado about yourself should be reserved for the insecure people of the world who feel they have to prove something to others. The next time you go to a marketing conference, pay attention to the other attendees. That guy bragging about how well he’s doing is probably barely making ends meet, while the quiet guy taking notes could be a millionaire. People who are already successful have nothing left to prove to others, and they have the confidence to simply be themselves.
Successful marketers don’t have back up plans. This is counter-intuitive, but it’s powerful indeed. Remember the mountain goat who wanted to jump across the crevice to get to the other side? Do you think the it will be successful by keeping one hoof on the mountain, just in case?
So it is in business. When you don’t have a backup plan, you go after your goal like your life depends on it because it does. This factor alone can make the difference between failure and success.
Successful marketers aren’t the lone wolf. They don’t go it alone. They forge alliances with other people in their niche, with their customers, and with outsourcers. They ask for help. They play really, really well with others. That image of a self-made man or woman who did it all on their own? That’s nothing more than Hollywood fiction.
Successful marketers work. A lot. Now that is strange. I thought online marketing was all about lounging on the beach and working 5 minutes a week? Yet successful marketers work like crazy to earn their success. Hmm, now that is weird.
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