Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?– Coldplay
“Viva La Vida”
There’s mucho power in being the “guru”.
The most obvious benefit is people buy more easily (often without research and sometimes even “sight unseen”) from gurus — as they are positioned at the tippy top, and people prefer getting advice from the dude at the top of the mountain, not the schlub at the bottom.
But, there’s a dark side, too.
Something nobody tells you about from the podium.
Something kinda dangerous.
(To you, your reputation, even your family.)
And that is, once you achieve gurudom everyone wants to knock you off the catbird seat, drag your azz down to their level, even try to get you in trouble with the law — just because you’re better than them.
(And they know it).
I saw this working with clients.
I often wrote copy for people at the top of their food chains.
And, the outright lies, slander and psychopathy (literally — as their haters wished actual bodily harm on them and their families) amongst the hatesayers was astonishing.
I remember one client saying it got to him at first.
Kept him up at night.
Had his stomach constantly in knots.
But then, something strange happened.
One day the nonsense suddenly stopped.
It’s like all the hatesayers were a giant hot air balloon, and when they finally ran out of air (via being ignored, basically, as haters feed on drama and weren’t being “fed”) they moved onto hating someone else.
Anyway, the point?
There’s mucho power in being THE guru.
(Not just A guru.)
But, it ain’t without its dangers.
And you can’t have a thin skin.
Still want that kind of positioning?
Are you sure?
You are sure?
Okay then, here’s a sure fire way of doing it:
Master the art and science of email marketing.
Writing daily, personality-driven emails that aren’t afraid to buck consensus, rattle some cages, and tell the truth (raw and uncut) can get you there.
But, it takes time.
It takes dedication.
And, it takes patience.
So if you don’t have those attributes, well, good luck.
Otherwise, the “Email Players” newsletter can help.
You can read about it here:
Ben Settle
