Have you noticed everyone and their brother is either a coach, speaker, author, consultant, social media “expert”, LinkedIn “expert” or an online marketing “expert”?
Last week, my friend Perry Marshall sent an email with the subject line “If you’re honest and ethical, the deck is stacked against you…” That caught my attention because as many of you know, I won’t take your money if I can’t help you, unlike most people in the internet marketing space.
I’ve been told more than once by internet marketing gurus like Frank Kern that I leave a lot of money on the table which is fine with me if I really can’t help you get to where you want to go.
Despite leaving millions on the table, I still have a fabulous life. My amazing wife Ellen and I have been together for over 37 years and our two children are launched and very successful in their careers. I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world and we travel the world always looking for our next great adventure. I seem to have a knack of knowing the next big thing when it comes to business and technology.
- In the 1980’s my career started in the computer industry before computers were mainstream in the business world
- In the mid-to-late 80’s I moved into computer networking while it was being invented
- In the early 90’s I got into cellular when only a handful of people could afford cell phones
- In the mid-90’s I got into the internet just after Al Gore invented it LOL
- In the early 2000’s I became a certified personal/professional coach when there were only two accredited certification schools and there were only a handful of real coaches
- In the early 2000’s I got into website development, SEO and online marketing because I didn’t know how to promote my coaching practice
- I started doing Google ads in 2004 after I met Perry Marshall because he said it was the next big thing in marketing
- I wrote my first ebook in 2004 about Web 2.0 which turned into social media long before LinkedIn, Facebook and all of today’s popular social media networks existed
- I’ve been an early adopter my entire career and it’s time for me to move on to the next big thing
Why am I looking for the next big thing?
There are four stages to a product or trend's lifecycle.
- Introduction
- Growth
- Maturity
- Decline
I’ve been lucky enough to identify hot markets like computer networking, cellular, coaching, social media and online marketing long before people see the opportunity. I jump in during the introductory stage and ride the wave through the growth and maturity stages. As the trend starts to decline I jump on the next big thing.
LinkedIn and social media marketing have been my focus for the past seven years. As markets grow, everyone jumps on the bandwagon to make some quick cash by riding the momentum of the wave.
There were only a couple of other LinkedIn experts when I jumped into this market in 2011. Today there are thousands of LinkedIn and social media “experts”, and most don’t have a clue. They know how to post on social media or how to edit your LinkedIn profile, but they don’t really know how to market or how to establish your brand online. They don’t know how search engines work or how to set up a high performing sales funnel.
At least 80% of these “experts” are amateurs diluting our industry’s reputation because they will gladly accept your money even though they don’t generate any business for you.
How many “experts” have you hired that didn’t work out?
That’s why I’m looking for the next big thing because the decline is beginning. People are getting tired of Facebook and Twitter. Most people still don’t get LinkedIn and only 23% of it’s members log in more than once a month.
Don’t get me wrong. You can still make money being a social media or LinkedIn expert, but it’s getting harder to stand out above the noise. My business is doing fine but I feel the decline beginning to happen.
I’ll quietly move on to the next big thing and you can follow me if you want to get in on the next big wave before the lemmings come running after us!
Until I discover the next big thing, I’ll focus on promoting the 3rd edition of Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Business which will be released in early 2019 and helping you grow your business (while taking lots of time off!)
