Rock Star Lifestyle Design

The personal development, lifestyle design, I’ll help you blog or Tweet or use New Media market is saturated as hell right now. And some of these people are good, damn good. I read them all (though I haven’t opened Google Reader in almost a month now) and their writing is getting good, like real good.

I want to share two shining examples (and the proof is in their growth - look at RSS numbers and comments), Corbett Barr from Free Pursuits and Adam Baker of Man vs. Debt.  I admire both of them for 2 real big reasons - they had goals and they did stuff, like a lot of stuff, to reach them. They work hard on their writing, spending hours rewriting, editing, finding great photos, coming across with smart opinions and allowing for conversation (both in favor and against).

The thing about their growth that scares the absolute shit out of me?

They are raising the bar high, like high jump high.

You see, their posts are not filler, “I need to post something today posts.” They are powerful, have real world examples and use transparency to gain the trust of their audience and that scares me. It should scare you too. If they are 2 people that you are competing with, it is going to be awfully tough when you are faced with:

• Option A - Good Shit and
• Option B - Mediocre Crap

People are busy. There are too many blogs, Twitter feeds and self-help courses to keep up with them all. Then someone gives away the keys to the castle for free. It’s like Napster for the lifestyle designers. The old product creators and distributors (old school artists and record labels) are faced with the dilemma that what they are teaching, selling and promoting is no longer perceived as valuable if they can look across the street (Google or Pirate Bay) and get something better, with better support, for free.

Corbett just launched an online report that looks better than your paid stuff, has a PDF an online version and he got to spend time with people you drool over on Twitter. And he is giving it away. (Here would be an affiliate link but Corbett is cooler than me and its free)

I bet if you asked Baker a finance question, he would answer it. Go ahead, try it right now. Ask him his opinion on credit cards and interest rates or something. Then start a stop-watch and see how long it takes him to get back to you. Remember that he is in New Zeland or somewhere living the LIP life so compensate for time zones. Better yet, leave a comment on his blog asking for further info on Credit Card Rewards.

(If he doesn’t answer your question within 48 hours leave me a comment and I’ll give you free access to the new Rock Star Business Series Class)

Do the same now to Quicken or Dave Ramsey.

Who is going to win? Or get bought out trying to win.

Why Being an Internet Marketing is the Worst Career Path, Ever

I just joined Stompernet. They are an Internet Marketing company that markets to Internet Marketing. They have MADE over 100 millionaires in the past 3 years. Their track record is awesome. I had been a member of their SEO course for a while and they over-delivered on a $30 product that changed the way I do SEO.

The new Stompernet costs $199 a month. My wife is pissed.

Let’s back up, I might be getting ahead of myself.

The Internet Marketing world is getting hyper competitive and their business model is changing. Courses that were in the $497, $997, or even $1997 or now being offered for FREE and in some cases $1.00 (and my new favorite - just hook me up with the shipping to get the DVD to your house). Yea, talk about culture shift and shock for the newbie trying to sell an eBook for $97 when a superstar is giving away a thousand dollar course.

The catch?

Ah, there’s always a catch. In this case it’s a bribe. Get the super home study course for a buck, get 30 days into a “super cool exclusive members only jacket wearing online mastermind club.” If you like it, I’ll bill you $97 until you don’t like it anymore.

These monthly programs are cool and the value is there. In fact, this is my business model for the new Rock Star Series. I have nothing against it, as long as the vaue is there and you are upfront about what it is your intentions are.

But then Stompernet made this obsolete with the single greatest offer and value prop I’ve ever seen (if you looked at my swipe files you would see I look at sales letters all day long). (oh, a swipe file = a copy of a sales letter so you can steal their copy and learn from million dollar launches)

For $197 you get access to their team of faculty, a mastermind group that holds ou accountable or they kick you out, live events all over the world, a catalog of 1400 videos and training materials, paid moderators and a member base to help you out, plus coaching and bonuses that I can’t even count or calculate. Oh, and then they have a tool set. It looks like Bob Vila’s garage for online marketing.

Your $97 a month testimonial package is no longer valuable. (Here is an affiliate link to Stompernet - I get a cut if you join)

They raised the bar high, like high jump high.

What do you do now?

So the bar is super high, you and I are already playing catch up. Or are we? Niches from personal finance to recruiting to social media to generational and even trades are getting a dose of content that the world has never seen.

Where your advantage comes in? Most of it is crap. Regurgiated crap. Kids like Adam and Corbett are the new school. Carlos Miceli said it best in a good bye letter to Seth Godin:

We are worshipers. We accept what you and other big names tell us. We are playing by your rules. We’ve allowed your predictions to replace our imaginations.

We think that we are ahead of the game, when we are actually going through just another safe path. Your path.

I’m sure there are exceptions. And I want to be one of them.

Here’s the thing: the only goal worth so much trouble, is a breakthrough. And I don’t think I’ll create breakthroughs by following anyone in such religious ways. Maybe it’s me. Maybe I should question you more, but I find it hard to do when the admiration starts early, and I don’t think I’m alone in this.

This means you need to start fusing your own ideas. Make your own blueprints (we don’t need another Jay-Z, that’s why Kid Cudi is killing it). Create your own 4 Hour Workweek or Unconventional Guide. If everyone is unconventional, what the hell makes in unconventional? Take the pieces that work for you and put a light under the asses of the people that want to hear from you. Get loud. Be ignorant if you have to.

But please, start adding value. Give takeaways. Stop tip-toeing and stop putting out bullshit. Find someone or something to hold you accountable for the goals you want to accomplish. I paid a forklift worth of money to have a mentor to get me on my grind. Adam did that too and his game exploded. The 30 kids that just took graduated in the Rock Star Business Series now have direction and I’ll be damned if I don’t stay on their ass to become as great as they want to be. Whether that means getting a job that pays the bills, building a blog that generates enough revenue off reviews to take care of the kids or blog as a hobby during a life transition - I will be there every step of the way.

What it boils down to is stop reading the same post. Stop writing the same post. Instead of going through the motions of being average - do something great today. Do one friggin thing that is going to make you happy or bring you one step closer to doing something you love.

Let’s talk - then go do something.

-Greg Rollett