What Internet Marketers Can Learn From a Teenage Boy Asking a Girl to Prom
This is a guest post by Brennan Heyde
Everyone remembers their high school prom … building up enough courage to ask the girl of your dreams … being too shy to ask who you really wanted to go with, and settling for second best … Tuxedos, limos, corsages (why do I need a corsage?), dancing, hanging with friends, the after party, the late night truth or … well you know what I am talking about.
Surprisingly enough, there is a lot an internet marketer can learn from a 17 year old kid asking a girl to prom.
1. Take Action
The guy who is first to act, first to ask the girl, is usually the one who gets to go with her … well most of the time. (There are exceptions to every rule) If you don’t do it, someone else will. There has to come a time when you stop just thinking about it, and actually do it. Take Action.
This relates perfectly with internet marketing. We’ve all had that million dollar idea -The perfect website that will make us rich. Well the truth of the matter is - most of us will never act on that idea. We will never actually get enough courage to build that website, or create that product, or quit our jobs and become a fulltime web entrepreneur. We will just continue along with our comfortable, secure day jobs and keep coming back here everyday, to look at the picture of Shoe and his 132K Adsense check, wondering how he did it and if you’ll ever get there.
This reminds me of myself two years ago when I first discovered affiliate marketing. I was baffled, I was intrigued, I was hooked …. Was it really as easy as they made it sound? I was one of the first few readers to discover a small little blog about how to make money online called, JohnChow.com. Back then John wasn’t the cyber celebrity he is today and I couldn’t stop reading. I would come back every day, sometime two or three times a day to catch his latest post. I wanted to know how it all worked and how I could do it too. Well after a year of reading every blog, forum, and website out there about how to make money online, I felt I knew how it all worked, but I was still in the exact same place I was a year earlier …. Still a poor college student and still no experience in affiliate marketing.
Stop thinking and start doing…. Take Action.
2. Be Creative
I swear to you this is a true story. Back when I was in high school and thinking about going to prom, the new thing was to ask your date in a creative way. No longer was it acceptable to give them a flower with a note or just call them and ask them. Nope. You had to be creative and unique. A friend of mine told this girl he wanted to ask, to follow some clues he had left her, which eventually led her to a small airport near our high school. She had no idea what was going on. Well, he took her up in an open cockpit biplane (he obviously wasn’t flying the plane) and took her on a ride up along the San Diego coast line. As they passed over a specific beach, he pointed down to the sand where another friend and I had spent the last hour writing in GIANT letters the word: “PROM?”
She obviously said yes, and they ended up going together. Moral of the story: Be Creative.
In the world of internet marketing if you want to succeed you have to stand out from the crowd. You have to be creative. There are thousands of blogs and websites out there which talk about how to make money online. Don’t just write about that because you think it will be easy. No one is going to listen to you anyway unless you have really made it big. Choose something you really know and go after it. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Find a way to stand out from the crowd and you will succeed.
3. Don’t Be Afraid to Fail
It can be very intimidating to go up to some girl you have had a crush on all year and ask her to prom. Will she say “Yes”, what if she says “No”? If you don’t ask you will never find out. Put yourself out there and don’t be afraid to fail. You will eventually get the girl.
The same goes for online marketing. A little personal example again – So a year had past and I felt I knew everything there is to know about internet marketing (yeah right). So I spent 2 months and $1,500 developing this idea I had for a website. This was going to be revolutionary! It was going to change people’s lives and it was going make me rich!! (Well maybe not change peoples lives, but it definitely was going to make me rich.) The site was called UltimateGamblingOnline.com. It is no longer up so you don’t need to bother checking it out. This was back in the height of the poker craze. I loved poker and played online in between college classes. This site would offer people incentives (cash, poker chips, and poker tables) to sign up and deposit money at certain poker websites using my affiliate links. I really thought it was going to be an instant hit, and I thought it would make me lots of money. Well as it turned out, people really didn’t trust it, and were hesitant to sign up. Also, I had a hard time getting traffic to the site. I really didn’t know much about SEO at the time. It was a complete and total failure. However even though the site tanked, I did take away some valuable lessons – one of them being, don’t be afraid to fail.
So next time you get that “Million Dollar Idea” or are struggling to separate your website from the pack, think back to your high school prom and ask yourself, “How did I get the girl?”
- 35 Comments. What say you?
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Great Post again. You really know your stuff. Being first is huge, but if your not first you need to be better.
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As far as prom, I would forego #2 and do #1 while remembering #3 (does that sound dirty?)
As for internet marketing, sounds good. Cool post.
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those are some good tips. I have to call BS on the plane thing though. Unless that kid is freaking rich I don’t see him doing that. I’m sure the girl woulda said yes if all he did was ask her to prom the old fashioned way.
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seriously this is just fluff that’s been rewritten to sound a little different. These type of “Marketing” blogs are all just eBooks 2.0.
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I could see how someone could think that… who misses the point of what I asked people to write (drawing parallels from real live to internet marketing).
I think it was well done and has some good points.
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Being first gives you the advantage over everyone else, it increases your chances of success and most notable milking the majority of the market share when rivals are attracted to the market.
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Another good guest post! With some good key points and relevance too
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Very interested article. Alot of insight. and out of the box thinking. Very well done.
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Brennan:
I especially relate to the “fear of failure” point. As someone that’s fairly new to blogging I sometimes get caught up in “what if” type thinking. That fear can sometimes deter me from taking chances. Instead, I need to “flip the script” more and ask “why not?”.
Good post with several relevant points.
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SO do I. DOnt be afraid of failing - just keep at it and toss it all out there.
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Yeah people need to post about their failures more
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Ugh, brutal flashbacks of highshcool years that I wish I could forget. I was to busy (read scared) to concern myself with the prom. What sucks is the amount of time I wasted doing stuff, instead of paying attention in math class. Sure would be useful today. Good post to air out the closet of junk and get rid of it. It’s that junk that prevents us from acting today sometimes.
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Come on man, it doesn’t take too much to get amongst it at a small time local backyard airport?
Ok so security is much bigger these days, but if you know someone with a pilots licence then getting a prom invite gig going - just needs creativity and maybe some begging
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Yeah Wonka Post and Prom post would have to be up the top of these. Pretty impressive stuff really.
Still pissing myself over the old uncle off’ing the other relo’s to get the factory tour gig.
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but on the count of maths class, just hire someone to do your maths requirements today. (accountant, finance planner) wotever your after.
remember this “don’t let what you don’t know, stop you from attempting anything”
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Yes, take action. Like when Shoemoney says he needs guests post. Sit down, write it, send it in. Then get busy doing something else.
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I think it is much easier to get started these days. I started Defog to help people do that because I have been through the whole expensive website/takes months to develop scenario.
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Yeah, exactly. I was wondering how some kid could afford the plane ride unless he knew someone or was rich. I’m guessing he knew someone.
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very true
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come visit my blog
jk, there are a few post on here about failures…
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Good post. Everybody can do this just must to have some initiations.
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Hehe, nice article. Specially the showing check word
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That’s why I started Affiliate Confession. To let people know how to at least get into affiliate marketing, make some cash and possibly learn from my failures.
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Agreed - A fantastic article. We want more dating tips!
ROFL.
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Hahah, this is a great guest post.
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good post - if you keep trying eventually something will work
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I don’t have to. Girls usually ask me out
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Great post and story! You’re are a wise man Mr. Shoe!
I like that. I’ve been always asking myself “if this” or “if that” and sometimes I found that I’ve lost something important to say or do in my life.
But now You make me believe in myself more.
Thanks!
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Never looked at it from that perspective. You make it sound easy … you could be right. Mom, can I have an airport? Can I? Can I? Can I ?
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The fear of failing has held many people back from accomplishing great things. It’s something we’ve all got to overcome.
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yes its great. and i agree them
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