The Client Letter
September 6, 2013
The Desert of Arizona
Sunny 89 Degrees
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Ever since I got bit by the internet business bug back in 2002, I’ve skimmed along the surface of this world looking for my path to “riches.”
The truth is, I skimmed a lot. Never getting too much below the surface of things.
The problem was, I was operating under an assumption that turned out to be wrong.
I was thinking that what you did was mine for gold. You searched around until you found a vein and then you pitched your tent and went to work digging it all up.
I had no idea that you could simply pitch your tent somewhere of your choosing and then start building a village around you. At first, it wouldn’t look like a village, of course. Your tent would be the only thing standing. Kind of lonely really.
But soon, a traveller would pass by. If that traveller was in need and you helped him, word would spread. Other travelers would start coming by.
Soon, a few travelers would stop travelling and simply pitch their tents along side yours.
Eventually, you’d have a city. And that’s when the real magic would start to happen.
Imagine a city where everyone knew you, liked you and trusted you?
That would be a pretty sweet place to live and work.
Well you can build a city just like this with your prospects and clients.
It’s not an overnight thing, and it takes some work. But it’s far better (in my opinion) than spending the rest of your life chasing the next goldmine.
So how do you build this city?
You start with a BIG IDEA. Some attractive way that you add value to the world.
You amplify that BIG IDEA with your PLATFORM. That spreads the word for you over time. It demonstrates your value in advance, on a consistent basis. I talk about how to do this pretty often here.
Your PLATFORM leads to a framework that you’ve built for how you see the world and how you provide unique solutions to problems your prospects have. Within that framework are products and services that you offer.
And then, as Stuart Wilde always said, “When they show up, you bill ’em…” 🙂
From the outside in, building something like this looks like an overnight success. But it’s not. It starts just with an idea and then some real work. But eventually, you reach some critical mass and there’s an explosion that happens.
That’s when everyone notices and starts to talk about how quickly you shot to the top.
Yeah right… it’s anything but quick.
But it’s a strong foundation. In fact, I don’t think there’s anything stronger.