Sunday, [11:20] AM

Dear Friend,

I have to admit…

It has amused me to watch all these little 20-something kids gain their fame as online marketing gurus during the earlier part of this decade.

Never mind that up until about 2008, we’ve enjoyed such a strong credit-fueled economy that a monkey with a web browser and Paypal account could have made money.

But where are all the IM wonder boys now?

Hell, I know guys still curled up in a fetal position crying and sucking their thumbs because they got “Google slapped” a couple years ago.

They’ve never financially recovered.

But even worse.

Actually MUCH worse…

They’ve Never PSYCHOLOGICALLY Recovered!

Instead, they let one little minor challenge stop them dead in their tracks… and their only reaction was to roll over, piss all over themselves and cry out to God about the injustice in the world. (BTW, God ain’t listening. He already warned you stuff like this happens… and he gave you the brains, skills and ability to handle it yourself.)

And there they’ve remained ever since. Not able to overcome that tiny little hurdle thrown up in front of them.

First of all, “Google slap” was a freight train we direct response veterans saw coming down the tracks YEARS before it happened. And a few of us TRIED to warn you.

Problem was, you were listening to the IM wonder boys… the 20-something crowd who claimed to have the insider track on all this “new” stuff that worked online.

And for the longest time it seemed as if things were humming along perfectly for the young wonder boy crowd… the money coming in faster than they could count it, the sun always shining, the birds always singing… and the wind always at their back.

But then the challenges and changes came.

And many of those IM wonder boys have disappeared… and have never been able to overcome the various challenges like “Google slap” and all the other adjustments in the marketplace that stopped them dead in their tracks.

Yup, there’s a BIG reason most have not overcome these various challenges.

Actually TWO reasons:

The Lack Of Those Two Organs
They’re SUPPOSED To Have
Between Their Legs!

Or for the ladies… a lack of intestinal fortitude.

BTW, funny thing I’ve noticed. This “lack of balls” problem so prevalent in the younger generation only seems to be a problem with the MALES. For whatever reason, the women have their act MUCH more together in that department.

In fact, my wife, being from Colombia, has done things that would leave 99% of the guys I know cowering in a corner, paralyzed with fear.

I’ve noticed something about a lot of my fellow Americans… especially the ones who grew up in the same socio-economic class as me. (I believe the technical term for it is “white trash.”)

They get pissed off and jealous when they see an immigrant with a successful business. But there’s a reason a large percentage of immigrants have successful businesses… and there’s also a reason a large percentage of American (it’s now in the TENS of MILLIONS) are worthless looting losers, sucking at the public teat.

You see, most Americans can’t even begin to imagine the fear you experience when living in a country where you don’t speak the language and don’t understand the culture. (Hell, less than 5% of Americans even have a PASSPORT… and 90% have never been any further than 10 miles from where they grew up.)

Now, try imagining building a business with this language barrier fear and the overwhelming “heart in your throat” fear caused by culture shock. (It is VERY real.  I’ve personally experienced it… several times in a couple different countries.)

But the Colombiana, instead of using that MAJOR challenge and overwhelming fear as an excuse, forged forward in spite of the crippling fear and did whatever it took to build a successful business in this strange, foreign land.

Let me tell you… SHE should be the one doing seminars. NOT some punk ass 20-something kid from a wealthy family, whose Ivy League education was paid for by daddy… who then, working with BOTH a safety cable AND safety net built a successful online business selling “make money on the Internet” products during one of the most prosperous periods in the history of the world.

That Is NOT The Guy To Learn From!

BTW, do you know what I mean when I say, “working with BOTH a safety cable AND safety net?”

When a rookie is learning a high wire routine, he has both a strong safety cable attached to the high wire and a strong leather belt around his waist. He also has a safety net at the bottom to safely catch him if he falls.

With all that, it’s pretty damn hard to fall… and you can have all the confidence in the world because if you DO fall it’s pretty much IMPOSSIBLE to get hurt.

Compare the rookie to the guy who has been working on the high wire for DECADES without any kind of safety cable or safety net. If he goes down, it’s game over for him.

THAT has been my entrepreneurial career since 1996… ZERO safety net.

When the shit hits the fan (and it has… many times) there are no rich relatives to bail me out.

There’s no pension fund, disability, social security or ANY government sponsored social programs or bail outs for me.

MY bail out plan… the ONLY one I’ve got… is what’s between my ears. And even more importantly… what’s between my legs.

And I have been “tested by fire”… time and time again.

You see, I know how it feels to lose EVERYTHING… forced to live in my car (a 12 year old Ford Taurus with no air conditioning).

And I know how it feels to sit down at the public library computer, (because I no longer had one), scared to death, writing a sales letter that HAD to work… or Donner and I literally weren’t going to eat that week.

Yes, my entrepreneurial path has had its ups and downs. And at times, they have been EXTREME.

I know what it’s like to go from being broke and living in my car… to making 6-figures a MONTH…

All In The Same Year!

(That’s how extreme these entrepreneurial “ups and downs” can be.)

And if stuff like that had only happened to me once, I’d probably chalk it up to chance or luck or something.

But these extreme ups and downs have happened to me over and over again… for almost two decades.

(Hell, they’re happening right now!)

But no matter how hard I get knocked down, I just keep getting up again.

And as hard as it has been to get up time after time… each time I DO get up, I’m stronger than ever.

I’ll get to the point of my little rant:

I recently re-read all of Gary Halbert’s old newsletters. (The ones I have in hard copy when it was a PAID subscription. Not the free ones posted online.)

I also re-read all of Ted Nicholas’ old hard copy newsletters from the early 90’s.

Same thing with all the old Thomas Hall materials, some very rare books and materials I have from Gene Schwartz…

…Every single issue of The Marketing Rebel Rant by John Carlton (back when it was a paid newsletter, delivered in hard copy)… and all my current and old Dan Kennedy newsletters.

Here’s why all that stuff is timeless and invaluable… and always will be. And all the $2,000+ crap produced by the “has been” IM gurus is now nothing more than a fart in the wind.

It comes down to three things:

Character, Experience and Guts!

The guy I want to learn from, is the guy who has been tested by fire. The guy knocked down time after time but just kept getting up and moving forward.

The guy who, once, when hit so hard and knocked down so bad…kept moving the only way possible.  Inching forward little by little on his belly until he could regain the strength to crawl forward on his hands and knees.

And instead of giving up and staying down… even though it took MONTHS… he got back on his feet and kept moving forward.

The guy who has had the guts to work the high wire without a safety net… decade after decade.

Who, when successful, is cheered by a small group of followers who truly appreciate what it means to be a “man’s man”… and how scary and difficult it is to put yourself out there time after time on the high wire without a safety net.

And who, when falls without the security of a safety net, is the subject of sneers, laughter and criticism from all those timid souls who live their lives in fear and quiet desperation, never even ATTEMPTING anything significant.

The pathetic souls who, with their criticism, attempt to justify their lack of accomplishment… and in some sick pathetic way, try to make themselves feel better about their cowardice.

Because, you see, they’ve chosen to let their fears paralyze them from attempting to do something… anything… with their God-given potential… and instead, they allow themselves to be a slave to their cowardice.

So they secretly hope for the strong man to fall so they can criticize him… and in so doing, in their sick, twisted minds, somehow make themselves temporarily feel better about their lack of integrity and the choice to be a slave to cowardice.

The men of character, experience and guts are the ones I want to learn from… and that’s why I continue to read the classic direct response and mail order material over and over again, month after month… year after year.

And that’s why I laugh at the arrogant 20-something pricks who claim to be an “online marketing/copywriting expert” because they took a 6-week course.

Who arrogantly tell me…

“I don’t need to read all that old stuff about writing sales letters, mail order and direct marketing. That’s just the basics. I already know all that.”

Well, I’ve got some unnerving news for you, my pretentious, presumptuous, pompous pal. (Can you tell I like alliteration?)

Your big “fall” is coming… and it ain’t gonna be pretty.

In fact, I’d bet 10,000 to 1 you ain’t ever getting up.

Ya know why?

Because you may THINK knowing the mechanics is all you need… but what REALLY determines your success is…

Character, Experience and Guts!

And you get THAT by studying success lessons from… and associating with… men of character, experience and guts.

You see… you may THINK you’re just spending money on a newsletter or a book by a successful person.

But it’s MUCH more than that.

You’re making an investment in yourself that can NEVER be taken away. You’re ABSORBING and permanently imprinting in your neural pathways the DECADES of character-building and hard-won experience of the author.

You’re assimilating the benefits of his character, experience and guts… the stuff required for real LONG-TERM success.

Oh sure, you’ve bought all the latest courses about online marketing… created by folks working the high wire with the safety cable and safety net.

The “magic bullet” online marketing course created by the kid without any real-world experience… and whose character has never been really tested… the guy who has always worked with a safety net.

Sure, that guy can teach you a quick hit “one shot” money-making trick…

But to learn how to be successful in the long term, you need to learn from the MASTERS.

The men of character and experience, tested by fire time and time again. Who experienced the great successes… AND the humiliation of the great failures.

Who got knocked down time and time again… and instead of using it as an excuse to quit, took their “beating” as a learning experience and used it as a stepping stone to greater success.

THOSE are the men and women to study.

They are as rare as hen’s teeth.

Many are dead… but you can still study them and “associate” with them through the writings they left us.

The ones still alive?

Even more rare.

But they’re out there.

And trust me… they’re DESPERATELY seeking someone REAL to share their knowledge and experience with.

Honest, ethical people who TRULY desire to learn these lessons. And more importantly, will value these lessons and put them into ACTION.

All the best,