Learn from the experts and do what they teach

Follow The Experts Who Do What They Teach
Copyright (c) 2010 Willie Crawford
Willie Crawford Incorporated
http://WillieCrawford.com/ezine.html 


As I'm sure that you realize, not all online marketing experts
are the same. Some are only interested in your money, and they
know that the quickest and easiest way to get it is to sell you
"the dream."


Many so-called experts have never done what they teach. They come
online, survey the landscape, and decide that teaching is easier
than doing. So they hire a ghost writer to write an ebook, or
worse, they write an ebook filled with their theories. Then they
roll this ebook out with lots of fanfare, selling it to
unsuspecting newbies.


Buyers of the above ebook, read maybe half way through it, spot
another shiny object, and are off to try what sounds like a
faster, easier way.


So how do you avoid falling into this and a dozen other traps?
There are two ways that I'll recommend.


1) Use tools such as the search engines to investigate the
marketer or company before spending a penny with them. The
internet is very inter-connected AND transparent. It's nearly
impossible to have a serious online presence and not be very
visible in the search engines. For example, if you were to
"google" my name, you would find over 2 million returns, and
most of them would be me!


If I googled someone, or a company’s name, and couldn't find it,
I'd definitely ask why. I'd also probably start running in the
opposite direction as fast as possible, with one hand on my
wallet.


2) Follow the experts who actually do what they teach. If you
can't see that they do what they teach, there is a good chance
that they don't, and the reason may be that they are not sure
that it will work. As you look to see that they are actually
doing what they teach, also put it through the common sense test.


As an example, many of my friends and mentors teach that your
business cannot grow beyond a certain point with you trying to do
everything in your business. When you first read that, you may
ask yourself if this is just a sales ploy. So you observe top
online marketers and notice that they have copywriters,
programmers, operation managers, affiliate managers, webmasters,
graphic artists, ghost writers, email managers, virtual
assistants, etc., working for them.


Then you shift to the offline world and notice that in the most
successful restaurants, the owner is not in the back washing
dishes, cooking, or supervising waiters. He is not on the cash
register or waiting on tables. Instead he may be wandering the
floor and "hob knobbing" with customers, making them feel
important. He may be just observing his business, looking for
areas that can be improved and places where employees may need
more training.


I'm sure that you're beginning to get my point now. You often
wonder if a marketer recommends that you do something because it
will make him a profit, or if he really believes what he is
recommending. Observing that he is actually doing it himself...
that he believes in what he teaches enough to use it in his
business, is very powerful.


As a personal example, I preach that you should outsource as much
as possible, and focus on growing and managing your business. I
know how to do many of the day-to-day tasks of running an online
enterprise. After 14 years I've tried doing many of them, and
become very good at some of them. However, I personally outsource
most jobs related to graphics, copywriting, webmastering,
programming, building mini-nets, keyword research, and customer
service.


I have full-time people working exclusively for me, who handle
most of these tasks. It took a while, but I finally realized that
these people don't cost me money, they make me money.


I do what my good friend Maria Gudelis calls engaging in talent
arbitrage.


Maria has a very in-depth, yet inexpensive, course on being an
offline consultant. I've gone completely through that course a
dozen times, and have it memorized, AND do what she teaches. One
of the things that she teaches is that you land offline
consulting clients, and define what they need, etc., but that you
don't do most of the work. You pass it off to outsourced talent
as soon as possible, but you pocket most of the fees collected at
the same time. I follow Maria because I can see that she does
what she teaches.


By the way, I encourage you to check out Maria's course in being
an offline consultant. You'll find it at: http://timic.org/Maria


I mentioned earlier that you should check out the person that
you're following. Another way that I do that is by looking at
whether or not what they teach agrees with what other verified
experts teach. One of my favorite experts is Dan Kennedy, and
Maria's teachings totally agree with what Dan teaches as far as
how to leverage your business, and which segment of the market
you should go after. Incidentally, you should go after segments
of the market that HAVE money and are willing to spend it on you
and your products or services.


I'll wrap up this article, but share more of my thoughts and
observations soon. In the meantime, develop the habit of really
noticing whether your favorite guru actually does what he
teaches. That could make a huge difference in your bottom line.
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Willie Crawford is founder of The Internet Marketing Inner
Circle, a membership site where some of the world's sharpest
marketing minds gather to network, brainstorm, and jointly
grow their businesses. Join The Internet Marketing Inner
Circle today for $1. Complete details at: http://timic.org/ 
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Greg Cryns
Work At Home Profiles
Wahm Search Engine
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