The True Story of 3 Who Made It Big

None of the guys I'm about to tell you about have a clue I'm writing this. I'm not even in regular contact with them, though we're all still friends. I'm writing this for a few reasons; to inspire; to let you know it's possible; to share some nice stories.

Steve Iser
I first met Steve at an event in Dallas, Texas about 6 years ago. He was this 19 or 20 year old kid who dressed funny and had like 3 million MySpace friends. Most remarkable to me, being 40 something at the time, was his depth of knowledge and the respect he got from other marketers, whose names were well known. I didn't know it at the time but he'd already spoken at one of Yanik Silvers events.

Later, we met again in Philly and had a great time. He came down from Toronto. Again, Steve knew everyone. He was talking with 6-figure marketers like they were ordinary guys (which they are). I remember he was buying beer with a fake ID because he still wasn't 21.

The next time we met was in San Francisco at the World Internet Summit. He showed up in shorts and his trademark wristbands, and with about $9,000 cash in his pocket because he didn't have a credit card LOL

That's the last time we saw each other face to face but we kept in touch online. I've watched this kid explode. Through several product launches and then moving into CPA he went from a college kid to living in a gorgeous high-rise condo in Toronto. Now he lives in Morocco!

What I remember most about Steve was chatting with him at 3-4am, which was really 5-6am Toronto time. He'd been up all night working on his products while other college kids were out partying.

He's living proof of what you can do if you work for it.

Jason Fladlien

I met Jason at the first Warrior event, held in Austin, probably 2008 or 2009. I spent a lot of time talking with him and a guy named Bishop Anders.

I haven't really had much contact with him since, but I took pleasure in watching him rocket to the top. And trust me, it's well deserved.

At the time, Jason was a "lowly" article writer and house painter, believe it or not. But he had a spark in him that I saw back then. He was such a kind and caring young man. My wife (at the time) and him talked a lot and we both really liked him.

What I've seen in Jason is a man who takes massive, rapid action. I'm not certain, but I believe it was the contacts he made there that helped him soar to the stratosphere. Jason is a product-producing machine. And the stuff he puts out there is top quality.

The key to his success is the speed at which he hit the market. He gets and idea and before his head hits the pillow, it is done. Another guy like that is Robert Plank. The two are cut from the same mold.

Now, Jason routinely does $100k/month. 3 years ago he wrote $5 articles. Props to him.

Eric Louviere
When I first met Eric, he was still working his day job as an advertising manager for some company in Pearland, Texas (just south of Houston). At the time, he was making about $90k/year in the job. I was doing a little better at mine.

And then he jumped. He quit his job and was full-time marketing. We'd both developed good reps as copywriters, but he was producing some products too. I met him after he quit his job, at a Robert Puddy event in Dallas. He was doing about $25k/month then.

Shortly thereafter, he moved to Austin and started jobcrusher. When I was attending the World Internet Summit in San Francisco, I was on the shuttle bus from the airport. I was checking my email and read the email from Mike Filsaime, that he'd partnered with Eric on jobcrusher.

Home freakin' run!

Just doing simple math, after that JV, jobcrusher was full and throwing off $77k/month to Eric. But that's not the full story.

The key is how Eric got himself in the position to partner with a guy like Mike. Mike had insisted that Eric get the first 100 members himself. And he built the entire site and busted his ass to get those 100 members. Once he did, the avalanche of cash poured down on him.

Eric is probably my closest friend of these 3, to this day. We talk about college football (he's an Aggie and I'm a Sooner). He's such a down to earth guy and as Texans, we relate to each other.

His key to success was, like the others, hard work, but also in building relationships.

So, I hope you enjoyed reading. I've been privileged to watch these men all go from rags to riches. I'll never stand quiet when someone tells me it can't be done. I've seen it. And I know what it takes:

1. Hard freakin' work
2. Relationships
3. A little knowledge

All these men have these qualities. They also all have my deepest admiration and respect.

PS: I could write this about quite a few more like Brian McElroy, Rachel Rofe, Robert Plank, Ross Goldberg et al. I knew them all when they were just like 99.99% of the people reading this.