Yesterday, I was invited to buy a program from someone who has 158 twitter followers. Now, let me be clear… I don’t CARE how many twitter followers you have. Trust me…. it is NOT indicative of financial success, and if someone is leading you to believe otherwise… well, it’s just not true! Do you need a “tribe”? Yes. But, just because you have one does NOT mean you know how to monetize that tribe!! I always say, “If you can’t make money with a small list, you probably can’t make money with a large list either!”
Anyway, the reason I mention this particular tweeter’s “numbers” is because they were selling a program that would “legally” get me thousands of followers – JUST LIKE THEM – in a week. If you are selling social media “numbers”, people, please PLEASE have more followers than ME. Because I’m a social media NOVICE, I assure you!
But this one example really speaks to a larger, more important issue.
I’m in the middle of reading Trump and Kiyosaki’s new book called, The Midas Touch, and I’m really enjoying it…. I’m reading about how Kiyosaki was a fighter pilot in Vietnam and about his instructors. The average “Life Span” of Vietnam fighter pilots was 33 days.
So, it was critically important that the men training these fighter pilots be seasoned, experienced fighter pilots themselves… It was not enough that they knew how to fly. They had to be battle-tested… and battle-tested in the hostile terrain of Vietnam. In other words, they should be combat veterans who practiced what they preached.
I’ve been secretly watching a guru from afar who changes their message / pitch very very frequently. First, you don’t need a list… Then, you do… and they’ll show you how to build one. Next, a huge product based on the premise that you don’t need to be famous…. Then, you do… and their next workshop will show you how to get famous really quick. So, their truth, system, roadmap, and solution changes with the sales pitch. I’m wondering if I’m the only one noticing.
Still, this type of guru — while perhaps lacking integrity — is FAR from the most dangerous. The most dangerous are these people passionately teaching about success they’ve not yet experienced. No doubt they’ve read great books or taken great courses, or spent gobs of money to learn how to be successful. But, they’re still trying to figure it out. And they’re being paid to teach others. Could you imagine the disaster this practice would have bestowed on the United States Fighter pilots? To have been taught by a college professor or even an airline pilot?
Well, a similar damage is being seen in the world of business and business coaching. I’ll never forget turning down a very lucrative coaching contract. It was three years ago…and I was achieving at a rate far more accelerated than most in my industry. (In all truth, even that’s not that spectacular!! The average “coach” earns about $20K a year!) I was approached by a woman who wanted to break a million dollars in revenue in the following year… and she wanted to discuss the possibility of me coaching her. I had to say,
“I’d love to… but you and I are in the same boat…. achieving at about the same rate … and pursuing the same goals. Let me, instead, introduce you to my own coach.”
Did I hate to turn down the money? Sure. But I loved the feeling of doing the right thing. Not just for her or for me…. but for BUSINESS in general! Because the stories I hear of people hiring coaches who leave them broke and bummed are disheartening!
Anyway, Kiyosaki’s wise words to us are these:
Focus on your mentors, to make sure they are qualified to teach you what you want to know. They should have already been where you want to be.
Wise words indeed.
