Rock Star Lifestyle Design

This is somewhat a continuation of Jun Loayza’s post last week, Picking Up a Girl is Easier than Talking to Chris Brogan.

This week I am hanging out in NYC with something that reminds me of a secret society (all we ask is trust). I am at Affiliate Summit East, the largest Affiliate Marketing conference, bringing together 3,000 affiliates, publishers, advertisers, marketers, press and everyone else that consumes this world. The language they speak is vital. From the CPM’s to CPA’s to CPS’s to PPC, media buys, email marketing, setting up offshore accounts, rigging servers and who knows what else, this is the code of the secret society.

At an invite-only (I say that loosely as I walked in without a pass to see about 400+ others) party on the roof of the Empire Hotel, I was introduced to one person after another that was making mega money. I am not going to share the names, due to privacy and keeping them from hunting me down, they seemed like one big mafia.

One Turkish marketer was bringing in $100,000 a day - yes a day! He said if he only sees $60,000 clear, someone is getting fired. Others were pulling $10,000 a week and others a few hundred a day. These people were living the dream. Creating some kind of magic system to print money, have their advertisers take THEM out and have kids idolize them and work for pennies in their operation.

Ok, enough about the affiliate lifestyle. That is not what this post is about. This post is about meeting people that are living your lifestyle. The people who work damn hard doing something they love - putting in 60-80-100 hour weeks and loving every minute of it. The ones who take off Tuesdays to surf and weekends spending time with family and friends. The kind who wake up everyday with purpose. The people who enjoy every minute of their life.

What do you say to these people? Are they that much different than you?

This morning I got to hang with Chris Brogan for a few minutes and we talked about Workshifting, a blog for one of his clients that I am currently contributing to. It gave me a sweet in to say hello, talk about the site and give some feedback. He was a super cool dude and loved every minute of meeting everyone that wanted to say hello, get their copy of Trust Agents signed and snag a pic. Chris makes it easy for people to approach him, interact and engage in a conversation.

Unfortunately I think Chris is the exception, especially in the Afiliate and Internet Marketing world. Many of these marketers are regualr people, but they shy away, making approaching them uncomfortable and even difficult. This can be frustrating for newbies that want to learn, pick the brain and see the inner workings of the people that are living the lifestyle, doing the job, running the companies or experiencing memories that you envision for yourself.

The, When I Was a Kid Thinking…

photo by foshydog

When I was a kid I always envisioned myself hitting the winning shot in an NBA Finals, hitting a home run to win the game for the Marlins in the bottom of the 9th or some other situation. I had the opportunity to go to Spring Training all around Florida and met with top players, coaches and upcoming prospects. Even as a child these moments helped me and pushed me to be a better ball player.

Now that I am a working in the marketing world I envision different things and different people to look up to, but the same mental approach applies. Meeting Chris makes me want to rock it, be in front of a group of 3,000 giving keynotes or writing engaging blog posts and creating a super community (which is why I am sitting in the back of a panel writing this post right now). Meeting affiliates who are making an obscene daily dollar amount makes me want to call Clickbooth and get an affiliate manager on the phone, find some killer keywords and get into his league (which I also did and am awaiting approval for some campaigns).

The key takeaway from this is that superstars, rock stars, celebrities or authorities in your niche are

• regular people
• approachable
• love to learn and love to share
• motivation factors

Leverage

Seeing people that do what you want should push you, but also be a source of leverage. This leverage can come in many forms:

• human capital
• education + knowledge
• network
• JV partnerships or affiliate work
• and so much more

Being a part of this secret society today, learning some of the secret language and experiencing their lifestyle puts me in a great mindframe to do something great today and push me ever further tomorrow.

What does meeting these type of people do for you? Hoping to continue this conversation in the comments.

-Greg Rollett