“People should focus more on basic form, the shoulder line and balance, which no one talks about, and study board shaping and wave and wind patterns.” ~ Kelly Slater
I hear ya Kelly.
And I’ll tell you why surfers don’t talk about those things.
It’s the same reason why email marketers never talk about market research, direct marketing and copywriting.
It’s because those things aren’t cool or sexy.
Nope.
Surfers wanna focus on and talk about cool tricks and maneuvers like 360’s, aerials and kick-flips.
And email marketers wanna wax lyrical about ninja tricks and tactics. They obsess over things like the latest and greatest email templates, the coolest “NLP subject lines” and click-through rates.
All of which means a big fat nothing if you haven’t first grounded your righteous-self in the fundamentals.
Take a look at anyone who’s at the absolute top of their game. I don’t care what industry or field of endeavor, I’ll bet you dollars to donuts the people at the very top have mastered the fundamentals. Yup, you may see only the flash and the highlights now, but the reason they can produce these amazing results is that they are more entrenched in the fundamentals than Chris Christie in a hammock.
That’s right, the best of the best have learned to sweep aside all the glitter, the gloss, the glamour, the sexy and the shiny and instead, they have dug down deep into the unglamorous, bland and unexciting fundamentals.
Except for them, they aren’t dull and boring.
Ohh no. They love the fundamentals like sharks love blood.
Hey, do you remember in the movie Karate Kid where Mr. Miyagi tried to teach Daniel the fundamentals of form and movement by getting Daniel to wash his car, sand his floor, and paint his fence?
And do you remember how Daniel thought he was being exploited and that Mr. Miyagi was full of hot air?
Well, let me tell you something…over the last few years, I have come across my fair share of Daniel sons.
I regularly have people (Daniel sons) contact me who are full of piss and vinegar about email marketing and who want me to teach them my Maverick ways. However, their enthusiasm quickly disappears when I give them a list of things they should do to improve their email marketing.
Things like study Direct Marketing, study the great copywriters and major in market research.
Whatever.
The fact remains, all success flows out of mastering the fundamentals.
Trying to succeed in anything without first mastering the fundamentals is like building a house upon the sand – even if you can build something that resembles a house, it sure as hell won’t last.
Look, I could riff on this all day, but time is of the essence, as they say.
So I’m gonna finish up with this:
If you are serious about dramatically increasing your business’s profits, and you are prepared to follow some “paint the fence” email strategies and ground yourself in the fundamentals of salesmanship, then thou should get ye hands on thy Playbook.
But…
..if you’re someone who just wants a quick fix, a silver bullet, a few flashy gimmicks, then my Playbook is most certainly NOT for you.
Serious marketers need only apply:
The Maverick’s Playbook To Doubling Your Sales
Talk soon.
Kelvin
Email Marketing Maverick
