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You are here: Home / Categories / Grow Your Business / Finding Customers / Start cashing in on the “big secret”

Start cashing in on the “big secret”

By Jim

There’s a secret that a few of us have figured out and you need to know the big secret as well. Some who read this post will think I’m nuts, but I’m O.K. with that.

I’m making a great living selling a bunch of products and services every week and helping thousands of people around the world succeed as well. The odds are, anyone who calls me crazy is also stuck scratching their heads in amazement at my success while they endure a job they hate.

I’ll take my life over the “haters” any day – thank you very much.

The “Big Secret”

My 13 year old came home from a youth event recently and he had a long verbal list of complaints about the evening. It was typical stuff for a teenage brain, but it helped me connect some business dots in my own head as I let him rattle off his list of reasons why things hadn’t gone well that night.

After he was done and just before I went into “consoling dad mode”, I asked one simple question that I think annoyed him a bit, but it made my point.

I asked, “If you think back through the entire story you just told me what did nearly every sentence have in common?“

Without even hearing his story I’ll bet you can figure it out right?

If not, you’ll figure it out in a minute.

First, let’s make a list of all the stuff that virtually none of your customers, prospects, readers, fans, clients, video viewers, Facebook and twitter friends or online followers actually care about:

99.9% of them don’t truly care…

  • how successful you are
  • how exciting or happy you are
  • how great you think you are
  • if you can write great sales copy
  • what problems you have
  • what results you are getting with your big ideas
  • how great/hard your life is
  • what car you drive or where you live
  • …get the point?

    So what do they care about?

    They are actually asking themselves some simple questions that read something like this:

    “Can this person/product/service HELP ME get from where I am now to where I want to be, and how painful will the journey be?”

    “Can I learn to trust this person/product/service? …because I don’t yet.”

    “What is the cost of skipping all this for now and coming back to it later?”

    “Exactly how will my life be better if I do this? Worse if I don’t?”

    “What can I expect if I do/don’t ‘pull the trigger’?”

    “Does this person/product/service actually CARE or are they just trying to get my money?”

    “What is the unbiased reputation of this person/product/service?”

    To be a success online means leading. To LEAD an online audience means helping your readers/followers/prospects answer the above questions in your favor.

    That’s the big secret.

    Stated more plainly – success doesn’t come to those who place themselves at the center of the situation. It’s NOT about you – and if you make it about YOU, you will almost certainly fail.

    Further evidence of this simple yet powerful “secret” can be found in two best sellers: The Holy Bible, & “How to Win Friends & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie <-affiliate link The rest of the story: The next week when dropping my son off at the same weekly event I reminded him, "It's not about you - remember our talk." He had a FANTASTIC evening.

    Filed Under: Finding Customers, Leadership & Influence, reputation and influence

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    Comments

    1. Patti Massullo says

      February 27, 2013 at 4:33 pm

      Love this Jim!!!! So true. We tell our kids the same thing..

    2. Mark Becker says

      February 27, 2013 at 5:39 pm

      One of my favorite quotes: “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” – Zig Ziglar

    3. Darlene says

      February 27, 2013 at 6:49 pm

      Thank you, Jim. It really hit home. Wise words, and Amen to that! Thank you for the link.
      Darlene

    4. Anthony Smith says

      February 27, 2013 at 7:46 pm

      “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” – Zig Ziglar

      I have one better…

      Matthew 23:11-12

      Amplified Bible (AMP)

      “11 He who is greatest among you shall be your servant.

      12 Whoever exalts himself [with haughtiness and empty pride] shall be humbled (brought low), and whoever humbles himself [whoever has a modest opinion of himself and behaves accordingly] shall be raised to honor.”

    5. George Thompson says

      February 28, 2013 at 3:09 am

      You nailed it sir! This industry has proclaimed too long that it is”all about you”! It’s your time etc etc. To truly live one must die to self….daily! George Thompson

    6. Gerald Morrison says

      February 28, 2013 at 9:03 am

      Thank you, Jim for the great insight. It is so true that the customer/client wants to know what the benefit is for them.

    7. Don Pasco says

      March 1, 2013 at 7:26 am

      Hey Jim,

      Not that your other posts are not good… they are…
      but this is exceptionally good (personal opinion).

      I’m sure you heard a similar theme, that people are constantly listening to WIIFM Radio, which for anyone who may not know, stands for What’s In It For Me.

    8. jbmalik says

      March 1, 2013 at 7:50 am

      When you follow Jim Cockrum’s advice, crazy things like this happen to you (see image)

    9. Laurent says

      March 1, 2013 at 9:43 am

      That’s without a doubt the best piece of information I’ve read in a long time. The fact that it resonated with me so well urged me to write you a big thank you!

    10. Doug Marshall says

      March 1, 2013 at 11:02 am

      Fantastic Jim! I’ve been following Jim’s advice for years, and my results have been simply incredible. Thank you Jim!! PS – One big reason for my success is explained on a video at: http://www.JustByClicking.com Hope it helps!!

    11. Serena Y. Lee says

      March 1, 2013 at 6:31 pm

      A lesson as old as time. A great reminder for all of us. I have to shake my head sometimes when people overtly spam on other people’s blogs or when I open my email and get all these messages for products I don’t care about. I think to myself, “You obviously don’t know me, nor care, so why should I do business with you?”

    12. infoagefinance says

      March 1, 2013 at 11:35 pm

      Thanks Jim, you really break the complexity down into simple wise nuggets. Most producers and readers of internet marketing techniques seem to be stuck in information overload mode

    13. Wayne Stanila says

      March 2, 2013 at 7:03 pm

      HELP ME get from where I am now to where I want to be.<————–That to me is very powerful…We are all looking for it in one way or another.

      Also I have stopped thinking about people who buy from me as a customer and started calling them clients. What is Websters definition of a client? "one that is under the protection of another"

      Jim has taught me so much over the years but his message about forming partnerships in my business took me to another level.

      Thanks Jim..

    14. Charlie says

      March 3, 2013 at 12:41 am

      Hi Jim:

      I picked that book up around 5 years ago and refer to it often like a social Bible. Whether you’re a sales man or a mother, you’re going to have to influence people.

      Ever since I read that book, focusing on how something will benefit THEM, making THEM look good, etc. I’ve always been consciously doing that…and it’s worked wonders for my social life.

      One of my best performing stream of income is one that turned my problem into a possible solution for them. So, focusing on them DEFINITELY works online too.

      Thanks for the share!

      Charlie
      GainFinancialFreedom.org

    15. jerry says

      March 3, 2013 at 2:49 am

      Wise words Jim. Exceptional post as always but this one hits home and exposes many cracks that usually are papered over. Thank you.

    16. Eric Wheeler says

      March 3, 2013 at 10:16 am

      Sometimes this is the greatest single lesson a person can get, and it reminds me of what Napoleon Hill once said, “Look around, until you find someone who has a problem as great or greater than yours…and start right in where you stand to help the other fellow solve his problem and by the time you do(miracle of miracles)-your problems disappear!” I believe God has a miracle Purpose for each and EVERY single person on this earth-the best we can do at any time is to remind each other of this Glorious Fact! Thanks Jim

    17. Reg Boczko says

      March 8, 2013 at 11:29 am

      Staying focus on this point daily everyones lives will be richer then the day before…

    18. Ryan Reger says

      March 11, 2013 at 7:40 pm

      You’re right on, Jim! Thanks for another great post!

    19. Offshore Software Company says

      March 17, 2013 at 10:52 pm

      Great to read your words!!

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