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Will you allow me to rant for one post? Today, I opened an email and read this headline, “12 Easy Ways to MAKE MILLIONS for Your Business THIS YEAR (and spend next to nothing to do it!)”
The worst part is that this email was not a spam message. It came from a company that has been in business 50 years. Of all the people and organizations who should know success does not come over night, they should know. The fact is they do know, but they have lowered their integrity to a level where the almighty buck is more important than their corporate integrity.
Recently, I read an interview between leadership expert and best selling author Mark Sanborn and Darren Hardy, publisher of Success Magazine. Mark asked Darren why he wrote his new book The Compound Effect. Here is what Darren said:
“I wrote it because I was ticked off. Our current society has grown up with a microwave mentality expecting success and the results on effort to be immediate. Coupled with mass commercial marketing and in its competitive zeal, companies have exaggerated their claims of overnight success appealing to our weakness of wanting immediate gratification. We are constantly bombarded with increasingly sensational claims to get rich, get fit, get younger, get sexier… all overnight with little effort for only three easy payments of $39.95.
“These repetitive marketing messages have distorted our sense of what it really takes to succeed. Then those with the sincere interest in learning what it takes to be more successful continually get bamboozled, distracted, frustrated and disappointed when they don’t experience the results they are after. I was tired of watching it happen!
“I wrote this book to return people to the basics—the truth and the core fundamentals of what it really takes to succeed. I wanted to clear the clutter, demystify the truth and tell it straight—with no fat or fluff included.”
Like Darren, I am disgusted with companies and people who have lowered their integrity to a level where they lie to consumers to make money. Of course, they have figured out a way to justify their deceptive marketing tactics, so they can sleep at night. Perhaps the company I am referencing above could say, “Well sure, if Procter and Gamble implemented these lessons they could earn millions of dollars this year.” The fact is that their marketing message was sent to all their subscribers and their message was not targeting GM, Exxon, or Citibank.
The part that makes me equally sick is that companies are using these marketing tactics because they work. People buy into the fact that they can lose 30 pounds in one week by swallowing this magic pill while sitting on their sofas watching TV eating candy bars, so they buy them. Or as this headline represents you can make MILLIONS THIS YEAR with six months left, by buying their product.
I am here with Darren to stand on the rooftop and YELL as loud as I can that there are no quick fixes in life. Success doesn’t come as advertised.
- You are NOT going to buy an audio program, watch a webinar or read a book that is going to miraculously make you a millionaire in less than one year.
- You are NOT going to start some Internet business with your current market value of $20 an hour and suddenly begin making $200 an hour, unless you are extremely lucky.
- You are NOT going to lose 30 pounds in one month with ANY healthy weight-loss solution, unless you are very overweight.
Real success at anything takes time, discipline and persistence. Don’t get suckered into buying people’s marketing pitches when your common sense is telling you otherwise.
As a society we must get back to the truth about what it really takes to achieve our goals, but this won’t happen until we start being honest with ourselves about what it really takes to succeed.
Thanks for allowing me to rant. Whew. I feel better!
If something sounds too good to be true, there is a 99% chance it is.
About the Author: Todd Smith is a successful entrepreneur of 30 years and founder of Little Things Matter. To receive Todd’s daily lessons, subscribe here. All Todd’s lessons are also available on iTunes as downloadable podcasts. (Todd’s podcasts are ranked #27 in America’s top 100 podcasts and #1 in the personal and development field.)
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As a dynamic entrepreneur for 30 years, Todd Smith has enjoyed professional success, ranking him in the top 1/100 of 1 percent of the people in his chosen fields. His podcasts are the # 1 most subscribed to podcasts in personal and professional development field (exclusive of iTunes). More than 200,000 of his blog posts are read each month.