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Andy Black

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I am a chocolate starfish.
 

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Ha. I’ve just realised I mixed up two analogies (metaphors?) so they make no sense!
Na...even beached whales seem to make it on shore and encourage a army of nice people to be compassionate and push the heavy thing back out to sea. At least you're just dealing with star fish. You can use them like frisbee's. Heck just watch some old reruns of Bay Watch and get distracted by the Blonde Beauty. They have surf boards to ride the waves. :)
 

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Andy Black

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I wonder how many people don’t know better and are just following someone else’s “secret formula”?
 
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Lex DeVille

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I wonder how many people don’t know better and are just following someone else’s “secret formula”?

Everyone.

It's so rare to find someone who says, "I don't care what they're doing. This is what I'm doing.. here I go!"
 

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and those are the only people who are successful, from my experience anyway

Agreed. My own experience has been that following others' formula results in sub par results and disappointment.
 
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Great discussion, thanks Andy. I've always considered this forum a place to share and learn - not a place for my own marketing. I can't begin to relate all that I have learned from so many contributors here and hope that I've made some small contribution in return. That said, back to Andy's question(s):

I've heard it said that business is mostly about building relationships.

Yet, why do some people feel they need to control the platform where they start and build relationships with people?

We see people come and go in this forum where their intention is to get members to signup to their own platform (blog, email list, forum, etc). Their goal is to build a relationship with them, offer value, and then, I guess, eventually sell something of value.

I'm curious what you guys think about this.

If these new members genuinely want to help people (or at least build a relationship with them) then why not do so on this platform?

For me anyway - because I've never considered this a forum for my own marketing needs, I started my own website, blog, etc., to have a place to focus on my niche for my customers. Could there be a customer for me among the members of the forum? If so, maybe we'll meet during a "Sell me a Saturday". And if we find each other, I'll direct them to my site where we can conduct business specific to our interest.

Because I've viewed this forum as a place to continue learning and sharing the Fastlane mindset, I've not considered it a place to discuss some of the things my clients are interested in: Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), small business regulations, first article inspections, DCMA, etc.

Have I totally missed the intent of this thread?
 

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Love the thread title.

I view the forum as someone's comfortable living room where I'm welcome to hang out any time with likeable people who accept me.

That's priceless. I have learned sooooo much from others here.

I can't see why anyone would throw that away and choose spammy self promotion that's only going to alienate everyone.

It would be like getting invited to a party at someone's home and just going from person to person to pitch Amway.

That's not the way to be friendly and get to know people.

Why would someone forego the relationships that are available here and focus instead on activities that are only going to get their hand slapped?
 

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I wonder how many people don’t know better and are just following someone else’s “secret formula”?

Amen Mr. Black.

As I wrote in another thread directed at someone dropping another "idea extraction" post...

You're just another person following another Script sold to you by another Script-seller.

 
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Andy Black

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You're just another person following another Script sold to you by another Script-seller.
It does look ridiculous when pointed out.

“Follow this script to get unscripted .”


Or as some smart dude once said:

“Too many people looking for directions instead of learning how to read a map.”
 

Andy Black

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Everyone.

It's so rare to find someone who says, "I don't care what they're doing. This is what I'm doing.. here I go!"
And that’s why I follow all of your progress threads. You get an idea and then go charging off. You’re more comfortable going off-piste than following someone else’s script.
 

Andy Black

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Great discussion, thanks Andy. I've always considered this forum a place to share and learn - not a place for my own marketing. I can't begin to relate all that I have learned from so many contributors here and hope that I've made some small contribution in return. That said, back to Andy's question(s):



For me anyway - because I've never considered this a forum for my own marketing needs, I started my own website, blog, etc., to have a place to focus on my niche for my customers. Could there be a customer for me among the members of the forum? If so, maybe we'll meet during a "Sell me a Saturday". And if we find each other, I'll direct them to my site where we can conduct business specific to our interest.

Because I've viewed this forum as a place to continue learning and sharing the Fastlane mindset, I've not considered it a place to discuss some of the things my clients are interested in: Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), small business regulations, first article inspections, DCMA, etc.

Have I totally missed the intent of this thread?
Nope. You’ve 100% got the intent of this thread. The biggest benefit of this forum, and other communities, are the life-long relationships built not the short-term bridges burnt.
 
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Andy Black

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Love the thread title.

I view the forum as someone's comfortable living room where I'm welcome to hang out any time with likeable people who accept me.

That's priceless. I have learned sooooo much from others here.

I can't see why anyone would throw that away and choose spammy self promotion that's only going to alienate everyone.

It would be like getting invited to a party at someone's home and just going from person to person to pitch Amway.

That's not the way to be friendly and get to know people.

Why would someone forego the relationships that are available here and focus instead on activities that are only going to get their hand slapped?
100%. (Glad you like the thread title too!)

I imagine a business owner walking into some golf club on a Wednesday afternoon. There’s a load of businessmen & women chatting, on the phone, or working away on their laptops.

Would you announce at the top of your voice:

“Hey everyone! I’m new and wanted to know if any of you need a new bathroom? Here’s the latest bathrooms we’ve done. You can see they’re very good. Just message me if you want a bathroom done.”

OR

“Hey guys. What’s your number one problem in your business at the moment? I know I’m a stranger that you’d be wary of speaking to, but I’d love it if you’d confide in me and let me know what’s keeping you awake at night. You know, the scary stuff you’re probably not telling your wife or husband.”

No-one would dream of doing that.

So why do people act so dumb when they go online? Do they think those people in that golf club are suddenly different because they’re online too?
 

Lex DeVille

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And that’s why I follow all of your progress threads. You get an idea and then go charging off. You’re more comfortable going off-piste than following someone else’s script.

Hmm, when I started was a different time. Didn't have gurus spamming my face every 10 seconds on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and everywhere in between. Didn't have TMF either. To go charging off was the only option. I'm sure it was the same for you.

Might be interesting to see stats on how that's changed. People who start their first business today have too much info at their fingertips. Too many distractions too.

When I started selling Lego portraits, I went to an employer I'd recently quit, set a meeting with my old boss, pitched him a portrait of his business logo and earned the first sale. Didn't have to think about the *right* way to do a pitch or all the ways I could mess it up because there was none of that extra crap floating in my head.

As the Cheshire cat might say, when you've got no direction it doesn't matter which way you go.
 

Andy Black

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This makes me feel better about sticking to my own thing. The best action is imperfect and all that.

I'm doing it anyway.


In my mind there's a sliding scale of perceived value:
  • Pay me to show you what to do.
    DIY courses etc.

  • Pay me to help you do it
    Coaching.

  • Pay me to do it for you.
    DFY services.

  • I'm doing it anyway.
    I'm not waiting round for clients or customers to "approve" and pay me. I'm doing it anyway.
    OR
    I'll also just create a progress thread and log what I'm doing. I'll drop it at any time too if it doesn't work out. I don't care if people see me go down cul-de-sac's and dead-ends. I'm doing it anyway.


  • I've already done it.
    Hey Mr Client/Customer. I've already built XYZ. D'you want it or not?
 

Andy Black

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Hmm, when I started was a different time. Didn't have gurus spamming my face every 10 seconds on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and everywhere in between. Didn't have TMF either. To go charging off was the only option. I'm sure it was the same for you.

Might be interesting to see stats on how that's changed. People who start their first business today have too much info at their fingertips. Too many distractions too.

When I started selling Lego portraits, I went to an employer I'd recently quit, set a meeting with my old boss, pitched him a portrait of his business logo and earned the first sale. Didn't have to think about the *right* way to do a pitch or all the ways I could mess it up because there was none of that extra crap floating in my head.

As the Cheshire cat might say, when you've got no direction it doesn't matter which way you go.
Yeah, there were less scripts to follow to become unscripted back then. It’s so funny thinking of it that way. “You want a script to get unscripted ?”

You’re right... we were thankfully free of the guru affliction we’re currently suffering from.

What year did remarketing become commonplace?
 
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