Met a slowlaner and corporate sheep today; made me angry & cry

[piotrkrzyzek]

This is more of a rant than anything, though I see this as the ultimate failure of people playing the Rat Race, always loosing and wondering why. "Why can't I be rich? Why does XYZ get all the luck when I don't?! I deserve the huge bonus NOT the CEO for this new biz venture ..." ectectect

So, the slowlane story of the day, but a bit of backstory first:

I'm starting a new venture to help people with their real estate marketing. Whether it's online or off I offer 'real estate consulting and copyrighting' services. It's not a novel idea, but it's an idea that works.

We all know you can't win all your battles. Sometimes it's just best to turn the other cheek and boldly go where no one has gone before. Today though I received a very unusual response.

I won't put this persons words verbatim, though it amounted to this:

You are a horrible mean person who doesn't know anything about dealing with people you douche spammer. I will never do business with a <insert very mean words here> like you.​

There were other expletives and other reasons listed, but that's the gist of it.

It kind of hurt to be called a spammer, when I was not in any definition of the word (unless cold calling and the type can be considered spam ....).

From what I've surmised about this person: they really don't like the idea of reaching out to potential clients, doesn't like the idea of direct/strategic marketing and doesn't like cold contacts.

Funny part is, they are in real estate where (this is what past real estate agent experience tells me) only the good agents who do cold call, market and the like survive.

Maybe I'm ranting to much, but I feel sad for this person and angry that I am not good enough of a mentor/teacher to help them understand that direct marketing isn't bad.

Oh well.

</rant>

Have any of you guys and gals ever met someone completely infused by the slow lane?

 

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[PaulRobert]

It's not just being infused by the slowlane. This is life you are living. Life will not always be sunny and happy. It will push you, punch you, kick you. (Physically or mentally) The only way you will overcome it is pushing back and fighting it. ( I am not instigating that you should go beat up people!. lol) There will always be people that will respond negatively and sometimes angrily.

For instance, I was at a tire shop, sitting in the waiting area and a conversation struck up between me and 2 senior citizens. We discussed about business back in the 50's and 60's and today. I brought up my product and the reaction was almost amusing. The one man laughed and immediately said it was stupid and that no one will buy it. On the contrary, the other gentleman's eyes lit up and said "You my friend are going to make a million bucks, there is no doubt about it! Good Luck!"

Did the negativity hurt at first, because he was insulting me and my product? Nope, not everyone has the same vision as you. Some people feel even scared that you might be smarter than them. They react with negativism.

So the moral of the story is: Just keep trying and pushing, don't get pushed around and hurt when someone says no (no matter how nasty). For every person that says no, there might be 10 others that will say yes.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I imagine it has to be commonplace especially when sending out emails to a cold list.

Heck, anytime I send out a mass-email to forum registrants (YES, forum registrants!!) I get nasty replies as if I just spammed them. Some even claim that they never signed up -- as if I went digging for their email address so I can clandestinely add them to my forum registrant list.

 

[Darkside]

I imagine it has to be commonplace especially when sending out emails to a cold list.

Heck, anytime I send out a mass-email to forum registrants (YES, forum registrants!!) I get nasty replies as if I just spammed them. Some even claim that they never signed up -- as if I went digging for their email address so I can clandestinely add them to my forum registrant list.

I remember reading an article which said that for sites with registered users, they should expect at least 2% of their email list to be made up of people like that; those who sign up and hate receiving emails from you so they either reply back to complain or they mark your email as spam, which makes it harder for you to send future emails since they might be placed into the junk folders of your recipients.

 

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[piotrkrzyzek]

People sure are strange in this world. Paul's story is something similar I experienced while I was in Europe for two says:

I told classmates and teachers I was going to create an online product (already done, yey!) and market it very soon. From pretty much everyone in Poland I told I got wide-eyed, shocked looks of disbelief as I were the devil! And of course these were the same people complaining that their pensions weren't enough. And when pressed, for how they are going to increased their income they all said ... and I quote: "I'll just go get another job, eat/spend less, go out less and ask for a raise!" The scariest part is that they said 'that' with a smile ....

And my Polish family wonders why I don't want to go live with them in Europe :-/

Oh well! Got a cup of Yerba Mate and a stack of adverts of lawyers to track down.

Live and learn

Cheers mates.

 

[PaulRobert]

People sure are strange in this world. Paul's story is something similar I experienced while I was in Europe for two says:

I told classmates and teachers I was going to create an online product (already done, yey!) and market it very soon. From pretty much everyone in Poland I told I got wide-eyed, shocked looks of disbelief as I were the devil! And of course these were the same people complaining that their pensions weren't enough. And when pressed, for how they are going to increased their income they all said ... and I quote: "I'll just go get another job, eat/spend less, go out less and ask for a raise!" The scariest part is that they said 'that' with a smile ....

And my Polish family wonders why I don't want to go live with them in Europe :-/

Unfortunately, that is how a large portion of Eastern Europe thinks. Call it a result of the socialistic and communistic regime that once infiltrated the entire eastern block. For the past 3 years that I've been in Eastern Europe, I am beginning to see improvement and capitalism beginning to take form. Honestly, there is a gold mine of opportunities there.

 

[The Intrepid]

The first thing you learn as an aff marketer is that you keep your biggest campaigns personally insulated from your personal being.

While I may have registered for this forum with my finance lead company domain's email addy I keep all of my "interesting" stuff highly anonymous.

Random shared hosting accounts > namecheap's free domain privacy > random P.O. Box for $24 a month.

I'm of the opinion that you need to insulate yourself from your market. I have lists that I hit up with some of the most "liberally" related offers, do they complain? Maybe, I don't get the messages though. All of my emails are signed by a pseudonym going to a google apps email account that I'm never going to check. The only metrics I see are the open rates, conversion rates, bounce rate, and unsubs.

I think your first problem is you're not putting yourself in the position to access the fastlane. Just how much money are you expecting to make off of a withering industry when your financial success is dependent on its success? Short the downers, go long on the gainers.

If you're going to serve that market... Fine. But make a product where your physical time isn't tied to it. That way you don't have to worry about slowlaners...

Be: Too rich to waste time.

 

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[Rickson9]

Maybe I'm ranting to much, but I feel sad for this person and angry that I am not good enough of a mentor/teacher to help them understand that direct marketing isn't bad.

And he can't convince you to lead the corporate 9-to-5 lifestyle. So what?

What is this need to convince people? Are we Christian? Jahovah's Witness? Mormon?

 

[The Intrepid]

And he can't convince you to lead the corporate 9-to-5 lifestyle. So what?

What is this need to convince people? Are we Christian? Jahovah's Witness? Mormon?

Some of are those things... Yes.

If someone is trying to Evangelize to you it's because they care for you. Think about it, do you tell people you don't like good news?

I'm not saying I go around telling people to start a biz and do yada, yada, yada because I don't.

But, we are all of those things you mentioned.


Ohmmmmmm

 

[piotrkrzyzek]

Lol.

You are 100% right Rickson9; no need to evangelize our ideals. Though that doesn't stop me for feeling sorry for this person who (I'm making a big assumption here) wants out of the rat race (again assuming they are in it) and yet when someone who is well on their way out comes in and says "hey! I have an idea that can help, are you at least interested in" bashes the idea completely ...

Just makes me sad.

Intrepid is also right, we are all like that to some degree.

 

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[garyfritz]

I won't put this persons words verbatim, though it amounted to this:

nastygram​

From what I've surmised about this person: they really don't like the idea of reaching out to potential clients, doesn't like the idea of direct/strategic marketing and doesn't like cold contacts.

Funny part is, they are in real estate where (this is what past real estate agent experience tells me) only the good agents who do cold call, market and the like survive.

Maybe he's one of those people who says "it's OK if I coldcall/spam people for MY business, but it's an UNFORGIVABLE SIN if you coldcall/spam me for YOURS..."

 

[domular]

I have a firm belief in the saying "the teacher will appear when the student is ready"

Can't tell you how many times I've told people "I'm doing really well" and I get the "I want to know more we need to do lunch". I say you pick the time and let me know and I'll be there and tell you all I know. Guess how many times I've been to lunch?

I have a contract worker that's really good but hurting financially. I told her I've got some small ideas that are too little for me to mess with but I'd help get you going in it. "Oh the equipment is too expensive". Well I've got some old stuff just collecting dust, I'll send it to you and you can pay for it when you start making money. "Well things are really crazy right now but when they settle down I might just take you up on it"

You can hand the keys to the kingdom to people and if they won't take it and go open the door with it you can't make them want to.

 

[Darkside]

I have a firm belief in the saying "the teacher will appear when the student is ready"

Can't tell you how many times I've told people "I'm doing really well" and I get the "I want to know more we need to do lunch". I say you pick the time and let me know and I'll be there and tell you all I know. Guess how many times I've been to lunch?

I have a contract worker that's really good but hurting financially. I told her I've got some small ideas that are too little for me to mess with but I'd help get you going in it. "Oh the equipment is too expensive". Well I've got some old stuff just collecting dust, I'll send it to you and you can pay for it when you start making money. "Well things are really crazy right now but when they settle down I might just take you up on it"

You can hand the keys to the kingdom to people and if they won't take it and go open the door with it you can't make them want to.

Exactly. It's sort of like trying to make a drug addict go clean. They won't change until they're ready to change; when they've hit the rock bottom point. As long as slowlaners have a steady paycheck and television to keep them busy, most will never reach that point because they're too comfortable to change all of that; the thought of going without a paycheck scares them.

The difference with fastlaners is that the thought of being beholdened to a paycheck till we're 65 scares us more then the thought of losing that steady paycheck.

 

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[domular]

Exactly. It's sort of like trying to make a drug addict go clean. They won't change until they're ready to change; when they've hit the rock bottom point. As long as slowlaners have a steady paycheck and television to keep them busy, most will never reach that point because they're too comfortable to change all of that; the thought of going without a paycheck scares them.

The difference with fastlaners is that the thought of being beholdened to a paycheck till we're 65 scares us more then the thought of losing that steady paycheck.

Tim Ferris has a great quote that has stuck with me ever since I read it

“Most people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty.â€​

 

[santa]

“Most people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty.”​

So true.
I remember hearing an anecdoate of a whining dog. Someone asked why is the dog whining? The owner replied that he was sitting on a thorn that was causing him some pain. The person asked "Why don't they move then?" Because the dog would rather endure a bit of pain than have to get off it's a$$ and do something about it.
I'd also say some people get comfortable being and complaining about their "pains". Rather than either doing something about it or accepting when something truly can't be changed - they just whine. Poor me, victim me. And when you try and be proactive about things in your life you're more likely to get shot down like you're the crazy one. It's insanity!!

 

[dodhelp]

Hey, Man up. Thats how the world is. Keep doing what ever your doing, because its getting attention.
Rev ike said, i dont care what they say about me in the paper, as long as they spell my name right.
Also go watch glengarry glen ross right nowhttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104348/

 

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[stressfree]

Hmmm...actually it is worse than spamming imho. Why should I have to spend 30 mins a day dealing with obtrusive cold callers? Isn't it illegal now? Should be!

It kind of hurt to be called a spammer, when I was not in any definition of the word (unless cold calling and the type can be considered spam ....).

 

[stressfree]

maybe he was pi** off with getting 10+ cold calls every day....think of that?

 

[piotrkrzyzek]

it's legal

There is nothing illegal about cold calling.

The FTC made some changes and amendments in 2003 about specifically what is and isn't telemarketing and to whom you may do so.

But the Do Not Call List, for example, only covers consumers. It does not give the same rights to businesses.

Thus, yes you can cold call businesses.

Unsolicited? Yes. Most business is. Spam? No.

 

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[77startup]

I think it's spam when it's unwanted and uninvited. I'm not saying don't do it, as I certainly would however don't make it to be something that it's not. Getting cursed out and threatened is just part of the business of cold calling.

In the end you'll have customers and that should make it all worth it.

 

[andviv]

Funny, I agree with the last few comments. You are happily working and then get interrupted by a rude, careless caller offering me something I did not want. How do you want me to react? You are probably wasting my most precious asset, my time.

Of course this also shows you something else... you had 3-5 seconds to get his attention and a positive reaction and you blew it.

Have you thought of how to start the conversation so it is not aggressive and puts the call receiver in defensive mode? What is your rate of success when cold calling?

I know that, when I get a courteous call, I at least try to be nice. Most of the times. I know the caller wants to take my money, it is not about a gift or a lottery ticket I won that I did not even bought. I understand that. Can the caller answer the "what's in it for me" question in the first 5 seconds?

Based on what you describe I understand you can get them customers. Well, what if you put up or shut up? Tell him "I can deliver leads, but to prove it I will send you one for free, call me if you think this is valuable for your business. Do you want me to send you that lead by regular mail, email, or by calling you at this number again at this same time?"

By doing this you are removing risk, providing infinite return on their investment, and actually will get him to chase you for more business. Well, that is true if you can actually deliver.

Anyway, sorry if this message sounds a little harsh or negative, I am hungry so I better go grab a bite before I say something really bad.

Good luck!

 

[speedyexe]

And of course these were the same people complaining that their pensions weren't enough. And when pressed, for how they are going to increased their income they all said ... and I quote: "I'll just go get another job, eat/spend less, go out less and ask for a raise!" The scariest part is that they said 'that' with a smile ....

Im living in Poland all my life so i can say something more about this:

First of all it cant be rat race or slowlane bcos in Poland we cant even save some money to start small business or startup most people gets money that are spending straightaway on bills and food - thats why its not slowlane bcos you cant even gather some money to startup I can say its more like survival.
But one i can say for sure if you will be sucessfull in Poland you will be bilionaire somwhere else(for ex. Warner Bros) (for ex. on summer last year (with slowlaner mindset) I was in dublin and iv got job in microsoft straight away bcos of my knowlege in shitty company in Poland that payed me 9 times smaller salary than microsoft!)

After my college im thinking about getting to Vancouver or Silicon Valley...

Honestly, there is a gold mine of opportunities there.

In some stage yes it is bcos here its absolutley nothing, and anything you start can be succesfull but you have to get startup money for this and you have to get money in another country ;/
You cant just quit polish salary job and start a business bcos you wont survive a week.
In march iv quited my damn job and since now its hard a lot.

 

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