It’s probably strange to be posting on LinkedIn about Dan Kennedy dying…
… but if you know Dan and the entire universe he’s created, then you know he would encourage anyone, everyone to get their message across, no matter the circumstances.
Because that’s just life, after all.
So I’m writing to share a little story Dan told us, last April at Bootcamp. And share the big mistake I made, when I finally got a chance to talk to the big man.
Because this mistake in perception, I believe, is THE fundamental difference between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ in the marketing world.
So there we were…
… Dan was inviting us all to enroll in an exclusive opportunity to come over to his house in Ohio and set up our marketing systems, following his guidance, so we could enjoy the kind of success he’s enjoyed over his 4 decades in the biz…
And while he was painting a picture of what that would look like, he started sharing an entertaining little story, as is his habit.
“I charge $18,600 for clients to fly up to Cleveland,” he began.” “Then they have to drive 2 hours and check in at the La Quinta, because it’s the only hotel around…. And the next day they have to drive another half hour out to my house… where we spend the entire day together, before I tell them how much I’m going to charge for their project. That’s leverage.”
We all chuckled along…
“And do you think that after they’ve gone through all that, they’re expecting it to be cheap? Of course not! They’re expecting it to be expensive, and I’m expecting that when I tell them, “It’s $100k,” they’re going to say, “Where do I sigh?”
But does the leverage stop there? Hell no!
“First thing I do,” he continued, “is I take these ‘hope to be’ clients down to the basement where I have one of those long, long, dining room tables.
This thing is massive; built for 20… 30 people. But there’s barely any room for them to sit.
In fact, I have to sit them in the corner. Because at each spot on the dinning room table, there’s a stack of manila folders. And each stack is weighted down with a 10-pound stone. And each stone has a 4 X 6 card taped on top, with a note that indicates the clients name and due date.
And, no, it doesn’t stop there, either.
Stacked right by the clients’ little chairs in the corner, is a mountain of folders that’s so tall it’s dangerously close to collapse on top of them if they breath too hard.
And while I never make any mention of any of those other projects, I frequently have to get up and excuse myself to the restroom… and while I’m gone, those potential clients are left all alone… to sit and ponder the stacks and stacks and stacks of work I have lined up on that dinning room table and talk among themselves.
So do you think, after an entire day of staring at those stacks… that they’re going to hesitate when I tell them it’s going to be $100k and I can give them a little availability next September?”
Of course not.
I’m sure they don’t even dare to blink.
Because they’re just happy for the opportunity to have even a little of your time, Dan, as I know I was, when I got a chance to shake your hand after the presentation.
And here’s the mistake I want to share with everyone, during that brief exchange; the mistake that I’m afraid most people make in their businesses… and why most marketers struggle to create any kind of leverage for themselves, at all.
Dan’s genius wasn’t just the sky-high perception of value he created for himself, his businesses, his clients and students. It was that the perception was all real.
The folders of projects, overflowing like an avalanche. Were all real.
The results were all real.
The sky-high value for his time on this earth was all very real.
And Dan, unlike far too many of us, never stopped believing in the reality of that value to the world.
And neither should you! Or I!
Because there is only so much time in the day. And there are only so many days in anyone’s life.
SO DON’T MESS AROUND.
Because, just as Dan was so famous for saying, “Things don’t change unless you change things.”
“Ask yourself,” I remember him saying from the stage,”Where do you want to be a year from now? 5 years from now? 10 years from now?
How will you get there if you don’t do something different? Something with proven money-making power.
How many years do you have left to mess around? The average life expectancy is what, around 74 years of age? Back your age out of that. So you’ve got just 5, 10… maybe 15 years left.
Then ask yourself, how much of that time do I want to spend worrying about money?
How much of that time do I want to spend putting in 16-hour days trying to make ends meet?
How much of that time do I want to spend wishing I wasn’t making a tiny fraction of the income and the impact I’m capable of making? … fearful that if things don’t magically pick up – and pick up soon – I’ll be forced from the game.
[The NO BS approach] is the game changer you’re looking for.
Imagine having a wealth generating system in place that gives you the freedom to tailor your lifestyle without compromise… to spend the rest of your years enjoying time with your family, traveling, doing all the things you’ve been depriving yourself of for so many years. Well that’s what we’re really offering you here.
Don’t look back a year from now no farther ahead than you are now.
Don’t look back a year from now thinking, why was I so damn fearful… why don’t you just set those fears aside and take the bull by horns for once?
Because you’ll be kicking yourself later for coming back and trying to get in at full price.”
You’re so right, Dan.
This isn’t just great close. This is a great way of looking at life, itself.
And I believe the NO BS approach to life is a decision that’s as real as it gets.
And if you make the right decision – the path ahead is clear. It’s time to get really, really serious about leveraging all the time, money and effort you have and start crafting the life you really want.
Starting – TODAY!
So make your message all about real results.
Get your audience to recognize the reality of those results…
And use that leverage to get them coming to you, just like Dan did.
Because not only is that how you get people to actually start valuing your time and your work – and paying you what your worth. That money also translates to how much your clients ACTUALLY LISTEN and ACTUALLY FOLLOW THROUGH when you tell them what needs to be done, which is essential for any campaigns success.
There are a million ways to mess up a campaign, after all. And only a few ways to make it pay.
So, if there was just one thing I’ve learned from Dan, it would be this: if you aren’t valuing yourself… then your clients aren’t paying you well, and you’re actually doing them a disservice, because they’re not going to do what they need to succeed.
So know your self-worth. And know how to make others appreciate that fact.
And, one more thing, don’t make the mistake I did when I got a chance to shake Dan’s hand and I complimented him on his craft… because it sounded like I was complimenting the artifice of his craft.
What I meant to say was how impressed I was with the world… or the universe, rather… that he’s created, and the massive, real-life demand his mastery of positioning has generated for his expertise and his time over the last 40+ years.
I guess I was just a little tongue tied in the moment, standing in the shadow of greatness… and even now, in the enduring legacy he leaves behind…
I’m sure you can understand.
