My oldest son joined the team this year and last night was their first meet. Previously, Ryan has always participated in team sports. He has played football and lacrosse, both of which are tough and physically demanding.

By the way, if you are wondering what this has to do with marketing, I’ll get there in a minute.

There’s a big difference between team sports and wrestling however. When you wrestle, all eyes are on you. It’s just you against the other guy. Nowhere to hide. No one else to blame. No one else to share the credit with. It’s an entirely different level of pressure on the kid. And I have a new found respect for anybody who can do it.

At this point, my ERAM kicked in. ERAM stands for Everything Revolves Around Marketing and it describes how my twisted mind views much of the world.

I started thinking about some of the similarities and differences between internet marketing and wrestling, especially for people just getting started in either.

My son is lucky to have a good group of coaches who are helping him learn a brand new sport. He’s learning the basics of move and counter-move. But also some specific tactics and holds he can use to attack or defend against his opponents.

I realize how this is similar with getting started in Internet marketing. At first, the information comes in like water from a fire hose. We are overwhelmed with all the different aspects of internet marketing.

But after a while, there is usually some aspect of it that makes the most sense to us. For different people, different aspects of marketing seem to fit better.

For example, an analytical person might be more attracted to PPC marketing where keeping track of click through rates, conversion percentages and quality scores is crucial to success.

People who enjoy writing might be drawn towards article marketing where they can put their skills to use. Or perhaps blogging makes sense to them.

Eventually, you have to stick a stake in the ground and dive deeper into the particular area that interests you so that you can build your skills. Hopefully you can find some good coaches along the way that have been successful in that area and it can lead you to success.

But just like wrestling, when you step onto the mat the success is all on you. No coach or system will do it for you. At some point you have to step into the lights and put your skills on the line. Nobody can do it for you.

You may not win your first match. But you learn from it and move onto the next match (or marketing campaign) and improve as you go.

There is one important difference between wrestling and marketing.

Wrestling is a zero-sum game. One wrestler wins and one wrestler loses each match. And whatever your record is before this match doesn’t really matter. All that counts on today’s score board is how you do against this particular wrestler.

Fortunately, marketing is not like that at all. You don’t win in marketing at other people’s expense. In fact, helping other people reach their goals is a great way to help you reach yours.

It’s what we call abundance thinking. Is there competition? Yes. But there are always multiple solutions in every market niche. There is always room for new idea or a new twist. Established competition proves there is a legitimate market.

And yesterday’s competitor can easily become tomorrow’s affiliate partner.

As a rookie, my son didn’t actually wrestle last night. But at Saturday’s meet he is definitely wrestling at least three times. He’s nervous, but also very excited. He’s spent a lot of time in the gym with his coaches, getting ready. This Saturday, he steps into the lights.

How about you? Are you on the sidelines or are you in the game? I doubt any wrestler thinks he’s completely ready for his first match. But whether it’s yor first match or your first foray into marketing, you have to get out there, get something started, and improve on it.

Good luck in your match.

I had heard rumors these still exist, so I went to visit.

Okay, that’s a bit tongue in cheek.

Anyway, I was browsing through some business books and found a book on Internet Marketing. naturally, I picked it up and started browsing through it.

Then I looked at the copyright date. It was 1997.

Are you kidding me? A book on Internet marketing from 1997?

Let’s see. There was no Google, no eBay, no Facebook, no YouTube, barely any auto responders. You get the picture.

After I finished chuckling to myself about how useless this book was, I brought it up to the circulation desk. I politely pointed out to the woman that this was an Internet marketing book from 1997 and was completely obsolete.

I further pointed out that it would actually hurt somebody who came in and read it. It would completely waste their time and send them in the wrong directions.

I was hoping she would immediately see the logic and pull the book from the shelves.

Instead she told me that books stay on the shelves based on how many times they are taken out. But she might be able to bring this up to the reference committee and they could meet and make a decision about it.

In other words, the more people that make a mistake and take this book out, the longer it will stay on the shelves. I did not get the feeling she took me seriously.

What a joke!

I did realize that there is an important lesson in this. Many people today minimize the value of online education. They think that a book in print has more credibility. There may be some truth to the credibility part, but my experience is that any book about Internet marketing in general is obsolete by the time it hits a bookshelf.

There’s just too much time that goes on between when the author writes something and when it is finally approved, edited, published, and distributed.

So the next time you are browsing through your local library or the local bookstore, enjoy the fiction and the recipes and the history and the biographies. But stay the heck away from anything to do with online marketing.

Online courses, membership sites and e-books, especially those with active forums, are much better places to get current information. Do look out for the dates, you can still find old e-books available. But in general, you are better with information that is published online from a reputable source.

Internet marketing information is not like wine, it does not get better with age.

Since I already had a Linksys router working, it was easy to hook them up.

Unfortunately, I soon had problems.

“Dad, the internet is slow” became a frequently heard complaint. I tried to tweak the settings. I tried to change the channel it worked on. I rebooted.

But we still had marginal connections.

The problem soon became obvious.

I have a stone fireplace running diagonally between the router and the PC.

The router worked fine downstairs, and in other places in the house. But the orientation of the fireplace meant the signal had to travel through several feet of rock. And it did not do that so well.

I lived with this problem for over a year because hard wiring was way too difficult and I had no good alternatives for moving the router.

A Solution

I finally found a solution while browsing the web. I read about a technology called PowerLine networking and a product called Cisco-Linksys PLK300 PowerLine AV Ethernet Adapter Kit


This is cool. You have a transmitter which gets plugged into your router via ethernet cable, and into the wall via AC cord.

You have one or more receivers which plug into the wall where you need the connection. The receiver I bought has three ethernet ports into which I can plug whatever I need connected.

The system sends and receives internet signals through the AC power lines that are already in your house.

I was skeptical, but it works great!

Another cool feature is that you can have multiple receivers – and I do.

The kit comes with one receiver and I used that downstairs in my home entertainment system. Good thing it has four ethernet ports because I am using three of them already:

* Xbox
* BluRay DVD Player (Connects to Amazon video rentals online)
* Dish Network Satellite receiver (allows remote recording)

I bought a second receiver and upstairs I connected the kids’ PC and my wife’s Mac.

Both receivers work perfectly, and my kids’ PC upstairs now
downloads as fast as it should.

A word about installation:

If you are like me, networking can be intimidating.

When I read reviews of the powerline they all stressed how easy and automatic the set-up was.

And believe it or not, it was!

I just plugged it in, and it worked. I didn’t have to tweak anything. No setting, nothing. It installs security automatically.

Cisco-Linksys had done a great job with this technology and it solves a real problem that many people have. If you have trouble spots in your house where you need a good connection, give this a try.

I bought mine at Amazon
because of their return policy – but I’m glad I didn’t need it. This is a keeper.

Here’s the story of how my son worked to get something he wanted – and what it might mean to you.

Read full story: Blood, Guts and Success.

How do you Tweet?

As I look at those I’ve followed and unfollowed, I think the ones I like best are the bar booth types. They treat Twitter like a conversation among not-so-close friends. Sometimes its a bit personal. Sometimes it’s a good joke. And sometimes they tell me something valuable I didn’t know before.

Audience tweeters seem to talk like they are on stage. Big statements. Authoritative pronouncements. Like they are trying to get quoted or retweeted with every post. Gets a bit tiring. Like the guy who monopolizes conversation at the PTA meeting.

Whisperers are too personal for me. I’m interested in you – but not that interested. I like to know what you are working on, what good resources you use, and every once in a while something funny you come across.

I don’t really care where you drink what coffee or what time you go to bed (every night). Not worth the mental bandwidth I have to spend to read it all.

But the interesting thing about Twitter is that what works for me might be different for you. That’s fine. We each find our own path.

I do think it bears some thinking as to what path we take, and that some consistency is good.

What do you owe the people following you? I think you owe them some time, effort and attention. Finding the balance that works for you is the challenge, and I think it’s different for everyone.

Are there other kinds of Twitter users I’m missing?

1. Changes all cookies from rightful affiliate to someone named “moneybrin”

2. 3G coverage should enable quicker downloads of poorly translated sales pages for get rich quick schemes.

3. Google captures all phone conversations, converts to text, publishes on the web and inserts AdSense ads. Problem? No revenue share.

4. Hidden Google App finds unsecured WiFi connections and immediately logs into online bank and investment accounts of nearby homes, downloads net worth, and sells this to insurance companies, credit card companies and enhancement companies.

5. AdSensitivity “feature” automatically clicks 2-3 AdSense ads at the same time, which customer blames on their own fat fingers. Instant tripling of Google AdWords revenue.

Have you found anything I missed?

At one point during the day, a pretty young lady approached me, said “Hi”, and put a flyer into my goodie bag as she asked me to take a look at it.

“Sure”. And she walked away.

When I got home I was going through the bag and found the flyer she had given me.

It was for an affiliate program I’m not going to mention.

What is so bad about it?

It’s a dating service for married people. Their slogan is, and I’m not making this up, “Thou shall make money from adultery.”

Now I suppose there is a market for this. And it pays very well at $249/sale. But I’ll be damn if I’m going to promote the concept of adultery.

How many marriages does this thing wreck? Who would put a giant “Blackmail Me” bulls eye on their head by joining this?

How much pain and anguish are created for the sake of a commission. Talk about blood money!

Who would mail their list promoting something with such a low morality quotient?

Disgusting. And I just had to vent about it.

Naturally, many states want the ability to collect sales taxes on internet sales.

The economic arguments for and against are all over the net so there’s no need for me to repeat them.

But what I haven’t seen much of yet is the environmental impact of the sales tax ban.

Surely, if internet sales are taxed, there would be less of a price advantage and therefore fewer people will buy on the internet. They may buy more items locally instead.

The downside of this is the fact that more people would be doing more driving in the pursuit of more local sales.

Yes, delivery companies are still driving to our houses, but this is, in effect, mass transit. It is more efficient than everybody driving to every store to buy everything. The same FedEx truck can deliver items to dozens of houses on my street.

I submit that a permanent ban on internet sales tax is friendly to the environment. It would encourage less driving and consequently less emissions.

I recently organized a mastermind session in San Diego for some fellow internet marketers who were attending a seminar.

Pictured below are: Jeff Mulligan, Andy Jenkins, Jeff Walker, Yanik Silver, John Reese, Mike Filsaime, Brad Fallon, Rich Shefren, John Carlton, Jeff Johnson, and Ryan Kaltman. The notorious Rich Jerk was also there but wouldn’t allow me to show his picture.

I also have mastermind sessions with some internet marketers that are located in my area, including Eric Owens, Chuck Smith and Tim Kerber. I always come away from a mastermind session with fresh ideas and new enthusiasm for this business.

I’ve met and become friends with all of these marketers by attending seminars. The power of networking at a good seminar is amazing.

I’ll be at Yanik Silver’s Underground Online Marketing Seminar in March. Be sure to introduce yourself if you attend.

Details on Yanik’s Underground Online Seminar.

He proudly told me that they had succeeeded in getting the snack cart to carry apples.

OK, that’s not exactly world peace, but these kids are eight and nine years old.  They had an idea and they made it happen. They got what they wanted, and now they have momentum. They’re empowered to tackle the next project.

I was thinking of how this applies to my business and I realized that it’s not always about “The Big Idea”.  Sure, a few of those are great.

But lots of times stringing together a bunch of little ideas can create a victory. And I’m better off actually “doing” the little things than I am just “thinking” about the big one.

Doing vs thinking about it.

A good lesson reinforced by the fourth grade student council.