Mentoring Vs Coaching

If you asked someone like me, I'd tell you they're a waste of time.

Here is a simple fact of life that most people tend to neglect.

If you want something bad enough, if you have a strong enough passion for it, you WILL find a way to succeed regardless of whether you use a coach, a mentor, google, blogs, forums, or do it all by yourself.

I don't want to toot my own horn, but take college as an example. Some say college is a good thing, and it is. But I had a VERY STRONG passion for chemistry every since I was boy. I started reading college chemistry books, running experiments in my house, reading, studying, testing, applying, learning how complex organic reactions work etc etc.

All my friends thought I was insane. But I really was just obsessed with chemistry.

By the time I actually got to college, and minored in chemistry, I already knew more than most my professors. Classes were boring as hell. I aced all my tests, never did any homework, and wound up losing a lot of passion for chemistry (although a part of me still loves it today). I wound up getting my degree in psychology instead.

But the moral of the story is this. You have to actually LOVE something, and be OBSESSED with it, to stand a real chance at success.

I LOVE learning about people. How they react to things. Behavioral psychology, social psychology, evolutionary psychology, etc etc. I read psychology case studies, marketing case studies (from places like APA American Psychological Association (APA) and various other sources.... not from forums).

I also pay attention to what the REAL successful marketers are doing. There are guys like Patt Flynn who many would consider a successful marketer, at Passive Income: The Smart Passive Income Blog.

And don't get me wrong, Patt does very well for himself. But I care more about what the "corporate marketers" are doing. How did hallmark become such a well known brand? How did geico become so successful? How did daisy cakes become so well known?

I remember hearing a brilliant marketer, who had built a multimillion dollar business literally within months. She was sitting on a panel with 3 other very successful marketers. They were discussing how stupid superbowl ads were, how risky they were, and at the end, they were all asked 1 question, "what is the best way to build a business"?

(I just looked for the video but can't find it).

This one girl, with decades of experience in marketing HUGELY successful companies, said something that shocked me. I can't recall verbatim but it was something like:

"marketing isn't about buying advertising space, its not about who can write the fanciest superbowl ad, its not about who has the most money to invest... marketing is about meeting a need, a need that has gone unrecognized for so long, that people don't even realize they need it. And its you're job as a marketer to find out, what that is that people really need. What it is, that they aren't getting".

Then she used her business as an example. Again, I wish I could recall names here, but if I mentioned the company, many people would know it.

She realized one day that there was an industry, where peoples needs weren't being met. This was the gift industry. Birthday gifts, wedding gifts, etc etc. She said it didn't matter where people went, they were confused, their options were always limited, and they hated the process of shopping for gifts.
She explained how there was a MARKET of these people, who HATED shopping for gifts. And no business existed to meet their demands.

So she started a company that catered specifically to these peoples needs. They basically would to the the research for you, and either find or design something incredibly unique. They SOLVED the problem of gift shopping for a very specific market. Thats the whole point.

She also stated, she NEVER had to spend money on advertising. While all her competitors were dumping millions for a 15 second ad during the superbowl, her company was spread on social media, people talked about it, and it became successful not because of her website, or any marketing she did, but because she was FULFILLING A NEED that NOBODY was meeting.

And she was doing this in a COMPETITIVE industry.

To sum up, marketing isn't about ranking websites, its not about ads, its not about copywriting or backlinks.... its about 1 thing >>> innovation.

If you can innovate a new and better way to fulfill peoples needs, you've already done all the "marketing" you'll ever have to do.

And you rarely see that type of creative mentality on here. People are always looking for how to rank a website, whats the best way to "make money", "whos the best mentor or coach".... none of this shit matters.

People have SO MANY basic needs and desires that aren't being met the way they really want them to be met. And when you REALLY put yourself in someone elses shoes, you begin to see the "matrix".

Don't get me wrong, I do advertising myself, I rank websites, I rank youtube videos, but 1 simple innovation, can be worth more than ALL your marketing combined. I've seen it in one of my own businesses. I've seen it in other businesses. Don't be a copycat, set trends. Marketing isn't about competition. Contrary to popular belief, competition is NOT "healthy". Real marketing is about innovation and domination. Find a unique need, innovate a way to meet that need, then dominate that niche.

Thats all you'll ever need to know about marketing if you ask me.

-SB