Marketing Gurus: Do You Need One? – Internet-Marketing
Marketing Gurus: Do You Need One?
Its become fashionable to bash marketing "gurus" nowadays.There are some for whom the prospect of even looking at someone as a "guru" is a sin. They believe in being free-thinkers, unfettered by the bonds of guru-dom.Then there are those who try to score points by "proving" gurus wrong. They think they have achieved a new high in their field just by proving that a "guru" made a false statement.The problem with such people is that they refuse to understand "gurus" for what they are.So just what IS a guru (marketing or otherwise)?To put it simply, a guru is someone who has "been there, done that."A guru is not one who is meant to be followed like a sheep, nor one whose every word is written in stone.Of the letters in the Sanskrit word "Guru ", the letter 'Gu' stands for darkness or ignorance; and the letter 'Ru' stands for the one who removes it or dispels it.A guru is one who imparts knowledge that clears the path of the seeker. Knowledge that helps the seeker gain a better understanding of himself.Unfortunately many people see gurus - and marketing gurus in particular - as successful, over-bearing, conceited boors.Trust me, if a person was successful in this field, he'd never have got there by being over-bearing and conceited.Why? Because to be a success, you need other people to help you get there. And no one is going to do business with you if you're an over-bearing, conceited boor.So just why do you need a guru?For the same reason you need a parent - to guide you when you are young and still learning the ways of the world.For the same reason you need a teacher - to introduce you to new concepts and ways of thinking you may never have conceived of.For the same reason you need a football coach - to teach you the rules of the game.For the same reason you need a mountain guide - to take you through treacherous terrain to a safer place.Sadly, people only perceive gurus as someone to look up to with fear and disdain, or as someone to pull down so that one can feel important.They can never understand that a guru (or mentor, or teacher, or whatever you choose to call them) is just someone who can help cut their learning curve.Someone who can help you NOT re-invent the wheel, but continue where they left off.Someone who could share with you a new way of doing things that could benefit you in ways you could never imagine.Few 'real' gurus - at least those worth learning from - will ever want to be called that.The ones who do are usually cocky, self-professed types, full of their own importance - and you'll learn more by avoiding them like the plague.The gurus to watch (note, I didn't say follow - as in sheep) and learn from, are the ones with a long track record of success.The ones who have repeatedly proved that their methods are legitimate and that they work.Not the flash-in-the-pan types, who come and go faster than you can say "bestselling ebook."Not the ones who jump from one opportunity to the next and try to take you along for the ride.Not the ones who endorse everything from lunar real-estate to miracle cure-alls.And certainly not cocky little teenagers, who have never cut their teeth on real marketing.Don't expect your chosen guru to know everything about everything. Even gurus specialize in different areas of expertise.Just to give you an example, I respect Corey Rudl highly for his pioneering knowledge of marketing. But I would never take advice from him on getting high rankings in search engines.For specialized knowledge like that, I would learn from someone who is a true expert in that field, like Dan Thies or Michael Campbell.Whether you're a newbie starting out on the internet, or an experienced marketer who has honed his skills to perfection, the one thing you can always benefit from is an open mind.And a willingness to be taught.So when you do choose a guru, guide, mentor or coach, pick one whose insight can help you see yourself - and what you have to offer - more clearly.One whose knowledge can show you how to bring out your own latent talents.And one whose guidance can help you grow into a seasoned and successful entrepreneur.Copyright 2003 Priya ShahAbout The AuthorPriya Shah is the Editor of "Be a Whiz at eBiz!" a free-wheeling newsletter on internet marketing and home business http://ebizwhiz-publishing.com. She also publishes "The Glutathione Report," a newsletter featuring regular updates on the health benefits of glutathione. http://www.glutathione-report.com
Garbage-Raiding Dogs: One Simple Solution to the Problem
Garbage-Raiding Dogs: One Simple Solution to the Problem
Got a mischevious mutt on your hands? Then you may know this scenario. You walk in the door and your pal greets you with elated tail wagging, wiggling and sloppy doggy kisses. Then suddenly, he's overcome with a guilty look and it's off to cower behind the couch. Uh-oh. You know what this means. Sure enough, a telltale trail of eggshells, coffee grinds, grease stains and tattered wrappers leads you to the scene of the crime: the kitchen. Your dog's done it again, raided the garbage.You've tried whacking him, you've tried gating him, you've put him in dog house solitary for a few hours as punishment. Still, no matter how much you holler and scold, your dog's still up to his no-good hijinks with that darned kitchen trash pail every time you leave the house. What's a frustrated dog owner to do?First of all, let's think about who we're dealing with here. It's a DOG. He might be your lovable pal, and at times he seems smarter than your husband, but the truth is, here's an animal that's at least two steps down on the food chain. Just remembering that fact alone may help you realize that your dog does not have advanced reasoning capacity.Okay: now that we have the pooch perspective on higher learning, we can reason out the situation in a way that your dog will never be able.If your dog is home alone, bored out of his doggy mind, he's eventually going to find his way into the kitchen. Sniffing around for a dropped crumb under the table, maybe doing a little counter-surfing on the sly. Then, he follows his nose to the fermenting dog buffet that you call garbage... and, half crazed from having to beg for his every meal, he immediately begins harfing down every delicious morsel. He can't help himself!When you come home hours later and push your dog's nose into the mess while spanking his fanny, his limited brain is not ever going to master the long-term cause-and-effect of why garbage-raiding is bad and leads to a beating. In this immediate situation: he knows three variables: him, you, and the garbage. From that simple vantage point, your pushing his nose into the garbage equals a scolding.However, when you're NOT there, that's only TWO variables: him, and the garbage. To him, that means "Let's chow down!" Later, when you come home, he's well-forgotten the garbage-raiding spree and only knows that 1. he's happy to see you, 2. there's garbage around, and 3. you're yelling at him. But he doesn't ask "Why?" because he has no ability to reason.How are beatings and scoldings going to keep him from going on his trash rampages? They're not!You can use simple Pavlov-style behavior conditioning to make your dog behave through positive reinforcement. The trick to this is repetition of a single stimuli: Command, execute, reward. All of this is immediate. It's also the reason dogs bark every time they hear a doorbell on the TV. But we'll never be able to explain to the dog that the doorbell on the TV is not the real doorbell. And you'll never convince him that if he stays away from the garbage he won't get a walloping. If you can, then I suggest you have him join MENSA, because that is one genius dog!So, the real solution to the garbage raiding predicament is this: you're going to have to move the garbage out of your dog's reach. It's a simple fix for an annoying problem, and probably the only reason why you haven't done it already is because you don't want to change your stuff around for a dog. Well, you're not doing it for the dog! You're doing it for your own peace of mind.Now, where can you move the garbage to? You can pick it up and place it on top of the washing machine, if that's behind a nearby door you can close. You can rearrange the cleaning products under your kitchen sink and fit it under there, and then buy or fashion a lock for the cabinet door. You can shut it in the garage on your way out. You can hoist it up on a countertop that your dog can't jump up on. You can stow it away in the bathroom.There now, was that so hard? You didn't have to spend tons of money on dog obedience classes. You didn't have to go through the heartbreak of laying into your little pup when he's giving you those big, sad eyes. And best of all, you didn't have to come home and Febreeze the living heck out of your livingroom rug.Move the garbage. For the love of dog!Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.Dina Giolitto is a copywriting consultant and ghostwriter with 10 years of experience writing corporate print materials and web content. Trust her with your next e-book, article series or web project, and make a lasting impression on your audience of hungry prospects. Visit http://www.wordfeeder.com for more information.