Hard Rock Rule of Success in Life from a 72-Year Old Boomer: Trust and Respect the Human Nature
Selling something is actually an exercise in discovering who we really are
One of my favorite quotes is the opening line of Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
Worst of Times
We are living in a time of information galore.
Web pages are bursting with suggestions to make money and be happy.
Every day YouTube is disgorging yet another batch of a million videos each promising to end all our troubles at one click or at a single swipe of our credit card.
Too many claims to believe.
Too little time to learn new tricks.
Too many young kids with pimples who swear I can make a hundred thousand dollars this very day without even showing my face, while I’m sipping my tequila on the porch of my villa overlooking the ocean with the baddest yellow Lambo parked in my driveway.
Enough is enough, isn’t it?
Who is lying?
Who is telling the truth?
We feel deficient and stupid for not following the advice and making it, even though we are aware of the disclaimer at the bottom of every promise:
“The results are not typical. Your results may be different depending on your background and effort.”
You may fail, which you likely will, but it’ll always be your problem, not theirs, is what the hucksters are reminding us (since they are legally mandated to do so, no doubt).
We are confused, frustrated, flustered.
It’s cold, rainy, and dark outside.
In many ways, these are the worst of times.
Best of Times
But in other ways, these are also the best of times.
How come?
When illusions for quick money and ultimate one-click happiness are brought down one by one, when we realize the sweet anonymous con that’s sucking at our hopes nonstop, in short, when we realize how gullible we’d been all along, we fall back to basics by default.
When there are no more roads left to take but the one that we should’ve taken to start with, clouds part and we start to marvel at the sunshine again.
Rules of Human Nature
Here are some facts that will never lead you astray.
Let them be your guide to basic human nature anytime you ask yourself if something will work or not.
(As a man in his eighth decade on this planet, I think I’ve accumulated enough “street creds” and horse sense to talk about this matter.)
Trust
People buy things from the people they know and trust. They don’t buy because they saw a link on Twitter and felt an irresistible urge to click it.
AmWay sold $8 billion worth of products through one neighbor selling another neighbor or friend.
Research shows we need to see a selling message for at least seven times before we try it. Repeated exposures are needed to build a minimal sense of trust in the other party.
That’s why mega companies build brands to instill a perpetual sense of trust. And that’s why Amazon has product reviews.
Community
People are lonely and they need a family, a tribe, a community more than anything else in the world. They need it to be happy and to survive.
Even people who go to jail for 30 years for murder need to belong to a group in the prison.
If you become a part of the “family,” they’ll buy from you. No one wants to buy anything from the “other,” from a stranger.
Respect
Another quote I love comes from the great poet Maya Angelou: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
It’s so darn true. If you look down upon others, if you make them feel deficient and stupid, if you are trying to trick them to stick some cash quick into your pockets, they’ll never forget that and they’ll never forgive you.
That’s what respect is all about and why it comes even before love. Put yourself in the other guy’s shoes and you’ll never go wrong.
The techies call it “audience analysis” these days. I call it basic human decency and respect. Forget it at your own peril.
Authenticity
OK, since we are on a roll with quotes, here’s another from Oscar Wilde: “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
All attempts to be different than who we really are fail sooner or later. The later it fails, the more grotesque it gets.
As I write these lines America is talking about this incurable fabricator from New York who is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Imagine a guy who lied even about his name!
I feel so sad and sorry for him since he is wasting his time on earth as well as the time of all the others who voted for him. What a tragedy, a plane crash in slo-mo… He is not authentic. He is fake.
If you are fake, no one will associate with you and no one will buy anything from you. Integrity and genuineness is a cardinal rule of human interaction. It’s easy to do once you have the courage to be who you are.
The Essence of Marketing
In those times when we think we are trying to sell something we’re actually discovering who we are. It’s an exercise in self-actualization and freedom with money earned as its measure. That’s all money is.
For marketing success:
We need to be true and authentic. It takes much more energy to keep a lie alive than to tell the truth.
We need to listen to others with respect and tell them honestly what we can and cannot do to solve their problems.
We need to protect our customers and client from harm as we would protect our own family and children. Betrayal of trust is the worst thing you can do in life.
We need to cherish and honor our “family,” whether it’s a friendship circle, an occupational tribe, or our followers on Twitter and LinkedIn.
There’s Room for Everyone
As long as you observe these hard rock rules of basic human behavior you can’t go wrong.
There is room for everyone under the sun whether you are selling toilet paper or legacy software.
Follow the straight road leading to who you are and you’ll be happy and prosperous because people will step over one another to buy from you.
Follow the other road to quick riches with no respect for human nature and you’ll be the guy with that sneer, leaning against his yellow Lambo and asking for your credit card right now as the fake scarcity clock keeps ticking down.
Don’t do it. Life is too short to be the fake article.
Be yourself. Help others solve their problems. Be happy and prosper.
Hard Rock Rule of Success in Life from a 72-Year Old Boomer: Trust and Respect the Human Nature
Ugur, Your words are well chosen and the message is clear. Well done. D