Incidentally, I didn’t take my laptop overseas this time because of all the security issues with taking it in and out of the case and through those damn security scanners. That was both good and bad. Good that it saved me a bunch of time – bad in that I just looked and I have 3,172 unread emails in just 1 week! Heh… heh… but I do have a whole bunch of ones that say: “Notification of Payment Received.” NICE!

Back to the topic of my discussion… the Alex Jeffreys Internet Marketing seminars in Las Vegas…

Now, from memory, I think it was 26 people who attended the Marketing With Alex 2.0 seminars last time. Those “saddling up” a second time were Alex Jeffreys (of course), my good mate Garry Parkes (of course), me (of course – DUH!), Dean “Tatts” Holland, Dan “the Mothman” Briffa, Adam Spiel, Ross Carrell, Rob Brookes, JT Martin and Jit Uppal. Mike Ottman was supposed to be with us all a second time also but, unfortunately, due to family reasons was a last minute withdrawal.

This year, in addition to those mentioned above, we also had – in NO particular order (and I am SORRY if I have missed anybody out!) – Stephanie Mulac (a speaker), Rodger Hyatt (invited guest), Vance Sova, Josh Bartlett, Joe Fier, Matt “the Wolfman” Wolfe, Marc “the Magician” Milburn, Marcus “Pass” Passey (yes – he is just as bad in REAL life – LOL), Dean Oram, Brad “the Zombie” Burnie, David Walker (our new food CRITIC!), Paul Wilson, Graeme Ashe, Daylynne Starr, Sue Worthington, Guy Hague, Jed (Clampett) Lamont, Anthony Smits, Dan Tredo, David Chamberlain, Glenn (John) Wayne, Rex (Spielsy’s buddy), Randy Koehler (invited guest), Jacqueline, Kadir, Graham Sutherland, Jean Shaw (far more beautiful “in the flesh” – don’t get any nasty ideas – her hubby Malcolm was also there LOL), Steve “the Singer” (God, you are LOUD mate! – who drifted over from Mike Filsaime’s events), Erylynne and Karen Woodward.

So, what a motley crew! As usual, most of the “activity” centered around the bar – instead of the New York, New York bar from last time, this year our “pick up” joint (and MORE on THAT later! – oh dear…) was the Kokomos Bar, diagonally opposite the check-in counter at the Mirage Resort Casino where most of us stayed. I am absolutely certain that some JV partnerships were “born” there – LOL! Er… and some “other” alliances. Most notably, Parkesy (formerly Saint Parkes – it’s only a joke folks…) and I seemed to be in the THICK of it and the prime targets for the “ladies of the night.” Undoubtedly they saw us two as the suavest, most debonair and most sophisticated of the Gangsta’s peeps. Or… maybe we just looked like desperados, or something. (I always seem to “attract” this unwanted attention… I wonder why? Hmm. No doubt her Royal Purpleness will offer something here… what’s the bet?) So, Parkesy, if ya don’t want the attention DON’T hang out with YOU-KNOW-WHO!

Anyway, I SWEAR one woman spoke to me in words and terms that NO lady has EVER spoken to me before. OMG! Anyway, without belabouring the point I think (after the shock wore off – like about 1 minute) I returned fire as good as I got without sinking to the level that our new found friend “Lisa” descended to (pun intended). If that was her real name I’ll walk to New Orleans – as the song goes – next time. If there is a next time…

Anyway… backing up the truck a bit…

I got to Vegas on Thursday the 21st coz I had the furthest to fly – Perth to Sydney, Sydney to San Francisco (16 hours with 13 of those right next to an overweight mumma – lay off the extra fries darls – with a kid that SCREAMED non-stop – the LITTLE DARLING!) Holey-moley! Everyone in about a 30 seat radius was affected by this kid’s stentorian, maniacal and RELENTLESS screaming! Eff-me! Oh… then from Frisco to Vegas (can you tell I’m a seasoned visitor to the “States”? LOL) another thing happened…

… after being dead-dog tired and worn out by young Hercules AND having two Japanese women throw their gutses up in the seats in front of me upon landing in San Fran – an EXTRA 2 hours was added to our trip from SF to Vegas coz the weather had closed in. So, TWO MORE hours just sitting on the deck on the plane waiting for McCarran (Vegas airport) to open. Like I said before – HOLEY EFFEN MOLEY! Just what I needed huh?

Well, I arrived in Vegas, caught a cab to the hotel. It was p155ing down with rain and the cabbie’s vehicle had about an inch of water in the back seat foot well. Jokingly (though he FAILED to see the funny side of it) I asked him if he had a complimentary snorkel and a pair of flippers for me – maybe that was why we went the LONG way and it cost me $30! AND my feet were soaked!

So, I did a quick name check with the Concierge desk and determined that I was FIRST in. Hey! I’ll take any small victory.

Now, I know you are all gonna wanna know about the seminars but they were the “official” bits. Oh OK. Here’s a real quick round up…

Alex Jeffreys – good opening, quick howdy-doody… enough said.

Gazza Parkes was “Master of Ceremonies” introducing all the speakers – a sterling job Mister Parkes but, what else would we expect?

Stephanie Mulac – two sessions – both of them fantabulous! Steph spoke about looking after your list and gave some excellent tips and advice. I was scribbling madly (as usual!). Thanks for the credos from the stage too Steph. Much appreciated what you said coz I did do a lot of that stuff that you mentioned. I can’t seem to help myself. LOL!

The Jitster – great info on list-building and adswapping. Well done mate!

Deano and Spielsy – awesome overview of their Turbo Traffic system.

Stephanie and Rodger Hyatt (both JV buddies of mine) offered excellent advice to so many people who had questions. Thanks you two. You both fitted in so well. I’m sure the MWA studeys appreciated all your answers.

Now – the IMPORTANT bits…

the usual trolling through the casinos, eating drinking, drinking, drinking – did I mention DRINKING?! And being silly (which I’m pretty good at), the Mike Filsaime “events” at the MGM and the Tao nightclub, groups of people wandering off and others asking: “where has (Insert firstnamefix) got to?” congregating, networking, BS’ing and generally getting to know each other a lot better. That last part is a really important factor IMO. And then… the HIGHLIGHT of the trip (again in MY opinion – and ONLY coz I orgasmized it)…

12 lucky dudes (me included) got to go to the Las Vegas shooting range where we fired all sorts of machine guns (a “grease gun”,” some crappy Swedish machine gun that jammed more than it worked – hope nobody attacks the Swedes in a hurry if THAT is the best they’ve got! – a DELUXE M16 and an MPK-5, I think, from memory) PLUS the Israeli made Desert Eagle .50 cal handgun – KA-BOOM! Ohh… watch all the videos we all took folks. They will be ALL over the net soon! How AWESOME was that guys? Huh? I SERIOUSLY wanna do that AGAIN!

Anyway, all too soon it was again all over red rover and we all departed Viva Las Vegas all pumped up and ready to create havoc.

I wrote this little round up on the last leg of my journey back home – Sydney to Perth. No screaming kid on that one. Thank you GOD!

As Elvis would sing: “Bright light city gonna set my soul, gonna set my soul on fire…”

PS1: Add your comments folks!

PS2: Pics and videos coming. I just wanted to get this post up quick.

Stephanie Mulac, in conjunction with Rodger Hyatt and Gary Simpson (a-la-me!), is proud to welcome you to her 4th Self Improvement Giveaway. The giveaway opened for contributors on Friday 11th December 2009 and will stay open right up until the 5th January 2010 when the site officially welcomes members (ie people who will be invited to browse the event looking at all the gifts on offer). In many respects the event is like a giant electronic trade fair where exhibitors (contributors) get to show their wares to the public (invited members from ezines, newsletters and other lists). Thousands of members are expected to flood the site and they will all be eager to see what’s on offer for them.

EARLY INDICATORS:

In just the first 3 days of Self Improvement 4 (SI4) 554 contributors have already signed on to offer their personal development and internet marketing products for others to sample. And this number is rising steadily every hour.

OPEN TO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC:

The public side of SI4 (ie when it opens to members of the public) will run from 5th January 2010 until 19th January 2010.

THE BIGGEST SELF IMPROVEMENT GIVEAWAY EVENT EVER:

SI4 is – WITHOUT DOUBT – the biggest self improvement giveaway event that has ever been staged on the internet. It’s also the most highly customized. Already contributors have expressed a lot of compliments over what they are seeing. The most common comments seem to use the word “unique” which is good because that was what was being strived for right from the start.

By combining the worldwide popularity of self improvement with the far reaching power of the internet and combining it all with internet marketing techniques SI4 offers very best of both worlds.

THE INSATIABLE WORLDWIDE APPEAL OF SELF IMPROVEMENT:

One only has to walk into any book store in any country to see how popular the subjects of self improvement, self awareness and personal development are. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry churning out hundreds of new books, audios, CD’s and other paraphernalia every year.

The names of eminent people in the industry such as Bob Proctor, Tony Robbins, Napoleon Hill, Rhonda Byrne (of “The Secret” fame), Og Mandino, Dr Norman Vincent Peale and the late, great Jim Rohn (who passed away only last week) and hundreds of other self-help authors and speakers grace the bookshelves of most top business executives. Is it any wonder that the business elite are where they are? They feed their minds while so many non-achievers only feed their stomachs.

WINNERS AND ACHIEVERS:

People from all walks of life who want to succeed are constantly searching for ways to do more, be more and consequently achieve more. And that is the cradle of self improvement.

WORDS FROM THE FOUNDER OF SI4:

Having run this event since its inception in 2006 Stephanie Mulac said,

“Every year my event just grows and grows. I’m not really astounded by its popularity because it really is a winning formula – combining self improvement with internet marketing. It’s become so popular that I can no longer run it all by myself. I simply had to enlist the help of other experienced people this year in Rodger and Gary. Both of them bring their unique talents to the giveaway, Rodger with his superior internet marketing skills and Gary with his copyrighting and self improvement background of some 20 years. So, between the three of us, we are well experienced and have all the bases covered.”

IT’S TIME NOW TO GET ACTIVE (OR JUST GET OUT OF THE WAY):

With 2010 just around the corner, what better time is there than RIGHT NOW to set yourself and your business up for future success? This event is a life-changing experience both for contributors and the public. Come and join Stephanie, Rodger and Gary and see for yourself. If you want to contribute a gift or gifts (there are upgrade options) then go to http://selfimprovementgifts4.com/go/1/jv NOW!

USEFUL SITES:

To visit the sites of your SI4 hosts please see the following:

Stephanie Mulac: http://www.infiniteevolutioncenter.com
Rodger Hyatt: http://im-source.com/rnr
Gary Simpson: www.motivationselfesteem.com/talk

PS: Does anybody have any questions on this? (Oh BTW – Dee Ferdinand made that wonderful graphic header up the top there. His website is www.minisiteguru.com You’re a talent Dee!)

How often have you seen a really ORDINARY product sell 100’s and 1,000’s and even hundreds of thousands of units? And you wonder why! Look BEHIND the product and examine the marketing of it.

Remember those useless pet rocks? What about cabbage patch dolls? What about all that Tamagotchi junk? There are dozens of examples. But the marketing SOLD them through the roof!

So, how does that apply to you – the Internet Marketer? Here’s how…

… the GREATEST skill you will ever learn is HOW to market whatever it is that you are selling (or even if you are giving something away)! And that means advertizing – either word of mouth or by using a “script” in video or in audio production or in print (either on paper – ie newspapers, flyers, brochures etc) or electronically here on the Internet.

See that word “script” above? They are the WORDS that you use. Words are the method we use to convince somebody else to buy our wares. It’s how we fundamentally communicate with each other. And using those words in a compelling manner is called copy. Hence copywriting.

It has been said so MANY times by so MANY marketers that copywriting is the GREATEST skill you can learn to market ANY product. And there are only two ways you can do this:

1 – hire a copywriter (usually at some outrageous price) or
2 – learn to do the fundamentals yourself.

Make NO MISTAKE – being able to write compelling words is the SINGLE most IMPORTANT thing you can learn in marketing anything.

Having said all that – you can access a FREE copywriting e-book right here on this blog. Honestly, anybody who would pass up such an opportunity is simply NOT serious about Internet Marketing success.

Further, you can get really good at copywriting fairly quickly IF you are prepared to learn. It’s your choice. Ask ANY marketer and they will tell you the same thing. Oh yeah…

… every Internet marketer worth anything will utter the MANTRA “it’s the LIST.” Yep! But… HOW do you get people ON that list? You got it! WORDS!

So, there you have it. If you want to get good at Internet Marketing or offline marketing or ANY marketing then get good with using compelling WORDS.

PS: What are your thoughts on this?

Well, here I am again (surprise! surprise!) at the TEMPLE with yet another Internet Marketing tip. Now… despite my frivolous nature in this short 43 second video this really is a SERIOUS Internet Marketing tip. It’s something that I avoided doing for a long time. But now I’m on the job – just like I was on assignment there in Viva Las Vegas.

I was told to do this years and years before I finally understood the importance of it all. Duh me! For somebody who is supposed to be reasonably clever I was SO dumb with this. But I don’t want YOU to fall into the same dumb trap.

This could actually be the best Internet Marketing tip you will ever get. Don’t waste even another day missing out on this – coz every day you waste is just another day you will NEVER get back.

So, what is this wonderful Internet Marketing tip? Lights! Camera! ACTION! Roll that video!

PS: Feel free to add any comments or ask any questions you may have about this subject.

Well today marks a milestone for this lil ole blog of mine. You see www.motivationselfesteem.com/talk is officially ONE YEAR OLD today! Yep, I started it up on the 27th of November 2008 after signing up to Alex Jeffreys’ Internet Marketing Course.

Since then I have turned this site into a POWERHOUSE of Internet Marketing information – most of which is FREE. Here are just some of the highlights along the way…

1 – Back then I was getting approximately 50 to 75 visitors a day. Today I regularly get 600 to 800 per day and have had many days over 900 and even 1,000. The biggest visitor number was last week at 1,310 visitors for the 24 hour period. That is high traffic!

2 – I went from having ZERO followers on Twitter to having some 27,000 followers now,

3 – My Alexa Ranking has gone from 5,179,210 on the 27th November 2008 right down to being in the top 100,000 websites in the world with a present popularity rank of 92,216 (and still falling like a stone) – and that is a significant achievement to be ranked 92,216th in the WORLD out of about 50,000,000 (50 million) websites!

4 – I have added content almost every week – this has drawn 3,573 comments in the 12 month period.

5 – I have also added many informational e-books to the blog to help people understand the concepts of copywriting, time management, adswapping, list-building, Giveaway events, motivation, inspiration, Twitter AND there are more to come!

6 – Added over a dozen educational (and sometimes funny and even raunchy) videos to make my points.

So, little grass-hopper… IF you think you cannot build a blog from scratch to the monumental level that you see right here, then THINK AGAIN! Sure, I’m a writer – and I can write the OO’s of just about anyone on the planet (I’m not kidding when I say that either – LOL!) – but do you know what has REALLY got me here? Let me tell you…

… sheer discipline, the will-to-succeed, self-motivation, educating myself and a host of other things but most of all… PLAIN HARD WORK! Even the BEST of the BEST in anything will NOT win if they do not use those traits. Laziness NEVER wins anything. Remember that!

You can do it. Do you want it bad enough? Well… do you? (I was gonna say “punk” – LOL!)

This blog is PROOF of what can be done in just 12 short months! Now go out and succeed!

What is it? Roll the video and find out…

So tell me – are YOU guilty of that? And, please, if anyone knows what that bloody monstrosity in the background is then please tell me. I went in it but I still have NO IDEA what it is called. Help!

I hope you are enjoying this series of videos on Internet Marketing featuring various locations in and around Las Vegas. Gimme some feedback. (Coz if you like ‘em… there’s MORE!)

WHAT IS A JV GIVEAWAY?

Basically, a JV Giveaway is a script that allows a marketer to invite a lot of other marketers to a web page to share their products in an event whereby the contributors (ie marketers) can offer their wares (e-books, reports, scripts, memberships etc) free to members (“customers”) in exchange for a person’s name and email address.

The marketer gains the subscriber and adds his or her name and email address to his list. The member gets whatever items they like the look of and can learn from for free. It’s a two-way exchange.

ONLINE JV GIVEAWAYS ARE LIKE REAL WORLD TRADE EXHIBITIONS:

Here’s a good way to conceptualize it if you are still wondering…

In essence, online JV Giveaways are like those big offline (real world) trade fairs we see from time to time where exhibitors put up their stalls and members of the public (and other exhibitors) get to wander around looking for items of interest.

WHAT’S THE BEST WAY OF GETTING STARTED IN JV GIVEAWAYS?

If you are new to Internet Marketing then the best way to understand them is to start out as a member and just go and have a look at how they work. There are a lot of details that I could add but it would probably only serve to confuse you. So, I encourage you to check a few out.

NOW TO ONE INCREDIBLY POWERFUL GIVEAWAY…

If you are an experienced Internet Marketer and you have a product that you would like to promote to build your list then you won’t find a better or more profitable Giveaway than the 100% Giveaway being conducted right now by Rodger Hyatt and Ryan Bessling.

It runs from 13 November 2009 to 30 November 2009. As at today (1 November 2009) in ONLY its 4th day of opening for the contributors to place their gifts (and text ads and special offers) at the Giveaway, there are already 916 contributors who have joined. That’s incredible! This event is drawing contributors like a magnet. And it will draw members the same way.

For any contributor wanting to join this HUGE JV Giveaway Event, you can get in on my invite link HERE: http://100percentgiveaway.com/go/35/jv

The free option gets you ONE gift to offer. But…

… an upgrade which costs only $9.97 (a mere pittance as opposed to the $27 or $37 in most other Giveaways) and it allows:

THREE gifts, two text ads, one promo page and your first gift up on the Random Hot Downloads page. These are tremendous advantages over the free offer.

The 100% part means that 100% of the sales you generate come to YOU – and that’s regardless of whether you upgrade or not. But… DUH! For $9.97 who wouldn’t upgrade?

So, check that Giveaway out. It’s the biggest and best I’ve seen all year! Well done to Rodger and Ryan for this.

PS: If you want to know how to participate in JV Giveaways to build your list or sell some products then get my Adswaps report (available right here on my blog). The Appendix explains the procedure in quite some detail. I know it works well because several beginners have already used my instructions to enter their first JV Giveaway events.

I’m talking about honesty.

I’m writing this in the wake of some very heavy-duty action taken against a very well known Internet Marketer who has been forced – through his own actions – by the US legal system to get out of everything to do with Internet Marketing.

You probably KNOW who I am talking about. Sadly, he is a person possessed with extreme talent and great charisma. Look, he could sell ice to Eskimos. I wasn’t gonna mention his name coz I don’t want to add to his grief. But, having complimented his talent and charisma then hopefully, it will balance out. It’s Perry Belcher.

OK, I KNOW he did some bad things and he’s admitted it and he’s been severely punished for it. I have read a lot about it and I’m aware of most of the material facts.

What saddens me is that now that he’s been outed and convicted so many nasty, negatively-programmed and hateful people have taken it upon themselves to attack him personally over all manner of things including his physical appearance. How low. They are like rabid jackals and vultures all wanting to take a bite. If I were Perry (and I don’t know the man personally – only what I have seen of him in videos and forums and blogs etc) then I’d be “collecting” all that information and using it in a defamation lawsuit. A lot of what I have seen is hideous and a real good indicator of the lives of the individuals mouthing off. In short, it’s idiotic and shameful.

Seriously, I don’t think these haters should be adding to his problems. The guy got caught and he’s suffering for his actions. And NO – I definitely don’t agree with what he did AT ALL! It was wrong. But people make mistakes. He’s suffering from the indiscretions he committed (and YES, they were serious errors of judgment and he should have known better).

What I lament is the fact that he could have had a fantastic Internet Marketing career if only he’d followed the honest path right from the start. And now the Internet Marketing world has lost a serious talent.

Anyway, enough about Perry Belcher. I wish him NO ill-will at all and I hope he is able to recover and use his obvious talents in a positive manner for the betterment of his future and that of his family.

Moving right along…

The US Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is now planning a slew of legislation governing Internet Marketing, principally false testimonials and “misleading” testimonials designed to trick people into buying something through false recommendation. It is also talking about jumping all over blogs that are set up principally to support goods and services where kickbacks (aka slings, hidden commissions and bonuses etc) are given in return for glowing endorsements. Clearly, this is misleading and deceptive conduct designed to elicit a response from the masses reading or listening to these things. And that is WRONG. It’s bloody dishonest!

But, I wonder how long it will be before the medical profession gets kicked in the guts for recommending pharmaceutical products and medicines solely because the doctors recommending these “products” are being wined and dined and holidayed (you thought I was gonna say 69’ed, didn’t you? LOL) at all sorts of resorts for “favorable” recommendation of those products. After all, what’s good for the goose should be good for the peacock. (Sorry, gander is so clichéd!) But, there are huge companies with massive vested interests in this industry. And they can afford outrageeously expensive lawyers.

Back to the FTC…

I won’t go on about all the intricacies of it here because Frank “Mass Control” Kern has done a very good job of explaining it all on his blog. You can read about it here: http://masscontrolsite.com/blog/?p=59

(Incidentally Frank, get those damn permalinks sorted out will you? While I’m on that, can everyone see how a person’s “mass control” ability and reputation and standing in Internet Marketing is more important than having properly structured permalinks? Oh well.)

My point today is that if all Internet Marketers behaved honestly then none of the forthcoming restrictive legislation would be needed. But we all know that the Internet is an absolute HAVEN for dodginess, false claims, outright lies, deceit and general shitty behavior. That is why the bulk of Internet users now believe almost NOTHING of what they read and see from Internet Marketing types. Quite simply, we have all been lied to and had our credit cards spat upon so often that we are now skeptic extraordinaires, hardened to any and all marketing pitches – even the HONEST ones.

Ten times bitten, twenty times shy… does that ring a bell with you?

With what crooks and scumbags can now do on the Internet – sitting safely behind a keyboard – why would any of them need to put on a balaclava and use a shotgun to rob a bank? Some criminals, like some honest people, are VERY clever. Only the real dumb ones use the balaclavas and firearms now.

So, my message to you today is this:

Be HONEST!

Be honest in your Internet Marketing activities, be honest off-line (sadly life is littered with dishonesty offline too and I have been the victim of this too many times myself) and be honest to yourself. If you can’t or won’t do that then brace yourself for that “knock on the door.” The trucks will be in the driveway and the folks in forensic suits will start transferring your computers and other “evidence” out to them.

Final comment… don’t promise your customers the world and then only deliver up an atlas.

Well, I hope you have been enjoying my Internet Marketing tips from Las Vegas. This one is about getting yourself a mentor.

Now, I’ve been hinting about the existence of this video (and others) for a while now. You are in for a surprise here – oh yeah! Here I am in the spa at my luxury apartment suite at the Luxor Casino. The luxury Luxor. Oh, watch for what I do at the end… (You know something? … I can hardly believe I do these things myself *sigh* I mean – seriously – I don’t know what possesses me sometimes. Or where these dopey ideas even come from.)

Enough said. Watch it and see for yourself…

If you haven’t watched the other 7 Internet Marketing videos then they are here on my blog. In all of them I manage to say something at least half-decent about Internet marketing. (Maybe this one is half-INdecent – LOL!)

PS: Who else do you know who would have the audacity to do this? Oh yeah, maybe the Gangsta would – Alex Jeffreys.

Well, my Internet Marketing topic for today may be a little boring for you but…

… this is just SO important. In fact, I have been thinking about it off and on most of the weekend. I wasn’t even gonna write it. Then I thought – yeah, it’s boring to me and it’s obvious to me but then I have been around the block a few times with this Internet Marketing caper. I’ve seen a lot in Internet Marketing stuff in my travels and what may be blatantly obvious to me and even boring may, in fact, be a revelation to others. So, here it is…

BE YOURSELF.

Startling stuff hey? Well read on, I have some ideas and observations to throw at you and maybe a little bit of humor too…

Don’t be a clone of Alex Jeffreys or Mike Filsaime or Stephanie Mulac or Rich Schefren or John Thornhill or Dave Nicholson or Paula Brett or Omar Martin or Rosalind Gardner or Maria Andros or Garry Parkes or Dean Holland or even me for that matter! (heaven help you!)

WHY?

Because YOU are UNIQUE. There is NOBODY exactly the same as you in the entire world! You have unique talents. You have a unique way of expressing yourself. Some people will find you hideously irritating. Some will find you arrogant. Some will find you boring. Some will like you. Some may even find you enchanting. Some might even get so fixated on you that they will stalk you. Yeah, it happens. Social media networking is a real tutti-fruiti haven for cyber-stalkers. But that is a subject I will cover a bit later on. Back to the subject at hand…

… It’s horses for courses.

Don’t sacrifice YOUR uniqueness by copying what some other dude does. That would be false and it would be wrong and it will kill your own WONDERFUL UNIQUENESS!

I was discussing this on a forum recently with several people. Josh Bartlett and I took the lead and we really went to town on copycats. That is, people who cross their own lines of decency, morality, humility, standards and/or character to emulate somebody who they want to be like. Put simply – it’s dumb! Yep! It’s a really dumb move.

At this point, this let me ask you this… do you think that even your HEROES have their own unique weaknesses and faults. They do! Nobody is a tower of strength in everything. Even the mighty have their Achille’s Heels.

In its most amusing and aggravating form I have seen people even take on the laugh of a boss or person who impresses them. This is really pathetic – especially when the person being copied has a quirky or weird laugh. All of a sudden instead of having one hyena we have a pack of guffawing, snorting wannabes all parodying the “leader of the pack’s” jack-ass type laugh.

I am quite an observer of this and I have studied it a fair bit through the teachings of Allan Pease the body-language expert. I have been to some of his seminars and have a few of his books (of course!).

If you ever get the opportunity to see Allan Pease live then I recommend that you go. Pease is a scream and he can teach you a LOT! In fact, check out his website in that link I just gave you – when I looked there was a very funny but, at the same time, educational video there about an orange tie. WHOA! Not yet! Finish reading what I say first. You can always come back to that link.

Back to emulating others… what if such a person has a distinctive tattoo? Do all the clowns clones then have to go out and get similar tattoos, or piercings, or whatever? What about a favorite saying? Does everybody have to turn a cliché into such an obvious hackneyed, copycat parrot call? What about a distinctive walk? Do we all need to walk like a homey?

I have seen this behavior with monotonous regularity over the years. Don’t be a “monkey see, monkey do” type. Forge your own personality and maintain your OWN uniqueness and character.

Like I said, YOU are UNIQUE. Keep it that way. You will always have your detractors but you will also have your followers – IF you blaze your own trail and be true to yourself.

One of the examples that Josh gave that made me smile was that of Internet Marketer Frank Kern – you know, “Mr Mass Control” – the guy with the surfboards who wears the grass skirts and who says “dude” a lot. Now there are some people so enamoured with Frank that they too wanna be seen with surfboards and be known for goofy-footing and hanging-five and talking surf-dude talk (eg “smokin hot left-hander” and “rantry” burble, burble, burble). Uh-uh! Don’t do that shit!

Heh… heh… now I’m starting to sound like the late Gary Halbert, copywriter extraordinaire. Hmm, maybe it’s a Gary thing. (It’s odd, most Gary’s I know do swear a bit – but only one R Gary’s. Mr Parkes does not swear. But he’s a two R Garry. I do admire that in you Garry. Maybe I need to take a leaf out of your book on that Parkesy – LOL!) Sidetracked again…

Just be YOURSELF!

Having said that, you can always follow the METHODS of a mentor or mentors. That is actually a SMART thing to do. Just stay away from copying the personal mannerisms – especially if that person has unique or quirky traits but even more especially if the things you are copying hold no interest for you or, even worse, go against what you stand for or believe in. In other words, don’t be an obvious copy-cat. Be TRUE to yourself!

I once knew a Premier of the State of Western Australia who had a penchant for the “F” word. Guess what? Almost every person in his office used that word liberally, even the women. I found that incredibly crass. Watching and hearing otherwise lovely women say things like: “Get effen John on the effen phone and find out what he’s effen doing with that effen report I need.” That disgusted me (And yes – “darn it” – I swear!). It was so incredibly FALSE! I wonder if they really knew how pathetic they all sounded. All because their illustrious leader, the number one ticket-holder in the State, swore like a trooper. Unnatural. Unnecessary. False. Ridiculous. Pathetic.

Copying the exact traits of others will lead to the destruction of your own uniqueness and will therefore lead to your demise as a person worthy of taking notice of. You have to be known for being YOU, not a clone of somebody you admire, adore, look up to, wanna be like or whatever.

There is only ONE you. And, fortunately, there is only one me.

Just be yourself!

PS: Whenever I see this sort of behavior employed I automatically think of one word – suckhole. Sorry, I know that kinda detracted from my message but I HAD to say it. That’s one of my faults – I say things I shouldn’t. It’s got me into a LOT of trouble in the past and it will undoubtedly get me into strife in the future. Anyway, don’t be a suckhole. (yeah, yeah, yeah… I know… I said it again… BAD me.)