I’ve been in the business world my entire career. Sales is where it all started. It wound up in C-level management jobs. I never planned on it really. It just happened. Most of the guys I know have similar stories. They started out in something – and just stayed there throughout their career. Something happened in our careers and made them stick in a particular industry, or at least in a particular career path.
I’ve grown tired of it. Tired of the pitching. Tired of marketing. Tired of working in commerce.
And I don’t really know why – other than the over exposure to all the hypey-buy-my-stuff-sales-pitches that cross my path every single hour of every single day. I blame Internet Marketing.
Internet Marketing can be a remarkable study in human psychology and buying behavior. It can be a wonderful study in marketing, period. It can also be among the most nauseating industries out there…full of hucksters, scam artists and low lifes.
And it gives me tired head.
Yesterday, I was listening to a one of my favorite podcasts, Marketing Over Coffee. They had on David Meerman Scott. I’ve read his books and found them interesting. However, to me – he comes across as a guy who is quite full of himself. I may be wrong. It just how he strikes me. Well, in the podcast he talks about how he was invited to General Motors after he had publicly ripped them for a post-bankruptcy ad campaign. He made sure to tell us that he normally doesn’t accept an invite unless he’s paid. Blah, blah, blah.
It was the moment I decided to re-examine my commercial pursuits. Because earlier I had listened to Rush Limbaugh – yes, folks I listen and even watch him on the Ditto-cam live. I also happen to share many of his ideas on America being the land of opportunity and how government should not be viewed as our end all, be all. But I digress…
Limbaugh talked about how he didn’t have an agent, and was never paid to give speeches. It’s just a personal choice he makes. Well, admittedly that’s an easy choice when you earn $50M a year, or whatever he makes. But it did cause me to remember all the people I’ve read about who will only accept speaking engagements for big money.
While all this was happening my inbox was also growing increasingly more full of email messages peddling the latest, greatest launch of information and products that no sane person could live without. Pitch this. Pitch that. Life becomes one big pitch fest where the objective every day is to sell, sell, sell.
And I’m tired of it.
And I’m a salesperson at heart. How sad is that?
I appreciate marketing, sales and persuasion/influence. But I’m so sick and tired of watching people chase money and it being the focal point of every activity they engage in…
And Chris over at Wired can write or extol the virtues of FREE all he wants. I ain’t buying it. Well, I did buy the book. Never mind. (By the way, that is NOT an affiliate link!) I understand his point, but I don’t happen to agree with him. I’m a Capitalist through and through – so this isn’t about some shift in my personal beliefs. It’s about just being tired – weary, really.
Last night as I watched Monday Night Football – something that likely had nothing to do with how I feel – I began to think of how people pursue money without regard to the value. For instance, I can’t tell you how many people focus on marketing and getting people to buy something, but they give little or no serious attention to making a quality product, service or providing really quality information.
For instance, I could (but I won’t) point out some specific Internet marketers who have membership sites that charge $47-97 every month…but the content is completely awful. How do I know? I’m the guy who checked it out by plunking down my own money. Not because I wanted to be an Internet marketer, but because for the last few years I’ve been fascinated with this crowd and their marketing prowess. Call it a social experiment, a business experiment or something else. Some of these people offer $1 30 day trials and I’ll pony up a dollar to take a peek inside. I’ve done it a few times with a variety of different marketers. The longest I’ve ever stayed during a 30-day trial is three days! And that was two days longer than I needed. In most cases 15 minutes inside revealed content that was utterly worthless – lots of fluff. It’s all about getting your money.
Now, let me be clear. I’m not taking a vow of poverty or any such thing. I have bills like everybody else. I have to earn money. And I’m brassy enough to chase the goal of earning what I’m worth. However, there are a number of things I do every day that don’t have a dollar attached. That’s where I’m cross ways with all this pitching. It’s as though many people live every day attaching a dollar to every activity.
If you want to talk with me, you’ll have to pay me.
I don’t give speeches unless you pay me.
I won’t come see you unless you pay me.
I’ll send you some killer information, but only if you pay me.
And perhaps saddest of all, if it is FREE (as Chris Anderson claims it should be) – free is often worth exactly what you pay for it. Sadder still, quite often the stuff you pay for isn’t worth any more than FREE stuff. In this world of “everybody’s a publisher” I’m finding most information free or paid for is completely worthless – a colossal waste of time.
The time I’ve wasted is my biggest regret at the moment. Think of it. Think of all the time we’ve wasted reading crappy books, worthless blogs, inane podcasts, ebooks galore…on and on it goes. Do you ever feel like your life is one big time waste cluttered with more sales pitches and content than you could possibly afford, or consume?
Well, that’s where I’m at today…don’t you feel pumped up, ready to conquer the world now?
Sorry. I’m really not trying to bring you down.
On the contrary, I’m working to focus my life on things that matter more! Aren’t there pursuits that are worth something far more valuable than money? Yes, we all have to earn a living. I know that. And I want to earn as much as I can, but I sure don’t want to concentrate on it 15 hours every day and leave other – perhaps far more important – things undone. I think I’d rather sacrifice some income and do some things simply for the sake of doing them. Some pursuits transcend money, don’t they?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Yeah, I’m opening comments. Don’t expect to hear from anybody, but I’m tired of some people getting all worked up because they can’t chime in. So, chime away.
BTW, I’ve decided to circle a bit while I clear my head. I’ll land eventually because nobody can circle the airport too long before running out of fuel, crashing and burning.
LK
Not being the breadwinner in my family I can’t completely understand the burden of having to “bring home the bacon”. However, I still feel the need to contribute financially, but I just can’t bring myself to get involved in selling something. Lots of women sell Avon, Mary Kay, and other products like that and I shun being friends with those people because sometimes you wonder if they are just your friend so that they can sell you stuff. I am new to the internet way of making money and even though I have had some ideas I figure if I am going to try to make money I am going to do something I love. Something that I would do no matter if it paid or not, because otherwise I know it wouldn’t be quality work. My blog is really just for me to vent and I really enjoy it. I really do hope that at some point I can make a few hundred bucks a month writing about stuff that I would write about anyway. I think if people weren’t chasing the dollar they would be happier and spend their time in a more worthwhile pursuit. Families would be together more and people would do the things they love to do and not what they have to do to be able to afford the next big thing, or just put food on the table.
We all have a choice in life. It is imperative that we do the things that counts most, the things that will give us happiness and satisfaction. Once you have found what it is that you enjoy, you can channel it to generate income.