Robert Scheinfeld

Prior to leaping into Phase 2 and beginning my journey of busting loose, I spent 18 years in direct response marketing on and off the Internet -- for large and small businesses.

During all those years, I did not see , at all or with complete clarity,  two significant patterns I see now, all around me, especially as it relates to small businesses and Internet Marketing. There are exceptions certainly, but these patterns are quite pervasive. I'm going to open this discussion here and then continue it in future entries. Here are the two things I see so clearly now:

"It's All About Me"

In most of the advertisements, emails, websites, etc. I see today, again, especially with small business marketing,  I see and feel what I call "me, me, me, gimme, gimme, gimme, more, more, more" energy. It's all about the business owner, Internet marketer, salesperson, marketing person, etc. -- what he/she wants, and  the insatiable appetite for getting more of what they want (money, ego boost, whatever it is).

In the official party line of marketing, advertising, and Internet marketing, is the concept that you should find a niche or group of people that have a want or problem and seek to help them solve the problem, fulfill the want, etc. through your products and services.

As a result, the illusion is created of "I'm here to help you," or "I want to help you," but it's just a thin disguise for the "me, me, me, gimme, gimme, gimme, more, more, more" dynamics. In Phase 1, within the storyline as I call it, people can feel that. They can sense it. And it has strong impact on your ultimate sales, marketing and business success, even if some people still buy from you. 

Many marketers, promoters and advertising folks who absorbed the "serve the niche' party line would argue with me about this and deny what I'm saying here, but that doesn't change the fact that the "me, me, me, gimme, gimme, gimme, more, more, more" dynamics are there in a dominant way on the surface or behind the scenes.

Why is it there in such a dominant way? Because of the Phase 1 dynamics. When you feel small, powerless, not abundant (or your abundance is fragile and can disappear or shrink at any moment), at the mercy of forces beyond your control in a dangerous, "dog eat dog" world (which business often seems to be too), of course the focus and underlying motivation is going to be on you, wanting to "get" something from others, and on an insatiable hunger for more, more, more.

Now, the interesting thing is that when you enter Phase 2, knock out enough cloud cover, and expand to the point where you start to have direct experiences of The Truth about yourself, you do have a focus on "me, me, me" but then it's about you playing for the sheer pleasure of playing, doing what you do for pure the fun of it.

Once you knock out enough cloud cover and expand, the "gimme, gimme, gimme, more, more more" part drops out. And, as you might expect, when you get to that point, not only is your experience of playing The Business Game transformed and much more fun and joyful, but your interactions with "other people" called clients, customers and prospects changes in HUGE ways.

Here's the second thing I began to see clearly, and I know many die-hard marketers, especially direct response marketers on and off the Internet, will deny this with all they've got:

"They Don't Really Want What I'm Offering"

I absorbed the fundamental teaching about finding a market niche with a want or problem and solving/fulfilling it. I then spent 18+ years of being mesmerized by Phase 1 dynamics myself (all of this in the storyline, of course) and I never saw that underneath all of it, all the marketing techniques and strategies, all the copywriting techniques, all of what I call "the sizzle and drama" in copywriting, the structuring of offers, etc. is the belief "They don't really want what I'm offering and I've got to somehow push, force, seduce, or trick them into buying it."

Why do I say that? Because if you look closely, the use of the sizzle, drama,incentives and tricks (money back guarantees, special bonuses if you act fast, "today only pricing," bonus packages that far outweigh the value of the actual product/service in $ value, etc.)  would not be there if the belief was truly that the prospects really want what's being sold.

Even in Phase 1, I saw that if you have a product or service that truly solves a problem or meets a want, and you're talking to someone who has that problem or want, and you simply explain your solution, tell the truth about it, with passion and true sincerity, or simply tell what I'll call "a compelling story" about your unique ability to solve their problem, fulfill their want, they'll line up to buy. There's no need for all the drama, sizzle, tricks and incentives.

Once you knock out enough cloud cover and expand, the "gimme, gimme, gimme, more, more more" part drops out. And, as you might expect, when you get to that point, not only is your experience of playing The Business Game transformed and much more fun and joyful, but your interactions with "other people" called clients, customers and prospects changes in HUGE ways.

More to come on these fascinating topics. Feel free to share a comment or email me with specific questions.