This article is reprinted from Marketing Genius Dan Kennedy.
You may get information from Dan at dankennedy.com .
HEALTHY CURIOSITY
I find peoples’ absence of curiosity shocking. As example, last month’s Gold+ call. Several hundred Gold+ Members were on the call with our guest, Platinum Member Chauncey Hutter Jr. This is a guy who took a 2-room “pop ‘n son” tax prep practice and turned into a 23 office chain, selling services at 100% higher prices than competitors, growing every year, employing up to 400 employees at a time, generating millions within a matter of weeks each year, and able to make all that happen based on our kind of marketing. Bill guided him through a chronology of milestones in the development of his business. He revealed a number of things he’s doing differently than most business owners. And plenty of little “hints” at things were dropped that should have aroused the curiosity of anybody listening. Yet, when it came time for question/answer, there were, I think, six. Reverse the situation, by the way, and put Hutter and Glazer in the audience, they’d have both had questions to ask. I know that for fact, from experience. Here are just a few of the questions I’d have asked Mr. Hutter:
How do you pick the towns you open offices in?
How do you compete – what specifically do you do to compete – with the big, advertised national brand chains like H.R. Block and Jackson Hewitt?
You mentioned yours was blue collar clientele and you use direct-mail, so how do you choose who to mail to, what lists do you use?
You said you mystery shop your competitors – what do you look for? What have you learned?
You run a school to get your employees – how does that work?
You were at a 45% retention when you dug in to fix it – what percentage do you retain year to year now? What will be your next experiment to further improve it?
What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made?
Knowing what you know now, if you had one office and decided to open 20, what would you do differently?
How do you use YOUR time? How do you manage your time?
Well, I could go on.
I am sometimes amused by peoples’ absence of curiosity, and I deliberately drop “bait” in conversation, just to see if they’ll respond. The day after consulting with Gold/VIP Member Dr. Barry Lycka, I mentioned to another doctor that Barry had over 500 people at his annual seminar, and signed 180 up for cosmetic procedures on the spot. I waited for the “holy cow, how’d he do that?” question. It didn’t come. In conversations with numerous businesspeople about Trump’s ‘Apprentice Show’, I’ve mentioned the fact that they had 216,000 applicants for the first show. Not one person has asked me if I knew how they created those 216,000. A few weeks ago, a client who came to me for consulting who, in part, has said he’d like to reduce the amount of travel and time he invests in going to his clients, sort of grumbled that he admired me, for being able to get people to pay and come to Cleveland, then drive an hour out into the middle of nowhere, to meet with me at my convenience. But he never specifically asked me how I do that. Since he didn’t ask, I didn’t enlighten him. You know, I invited people to submit questions to me for my Renegade Millionaire System – only 30 or 40 out of nearly 5,000 invited bothered to do so. If that situation was reversed, I’d ask me something.
For the record, I, and the Renegade Millionaires that I work most closely with, are insatiably, aggressively curious. We want to know: how did they do that? How did they know to do that? Why did they do that? How does that business work? What are its economics? And on and on and on. And we rarely let an opportunity to quiz anybody worthy of being quizzed slip by The first time Joe Polish got me in private, on an airplane flight from L.A. to Phoenix after I let him tag along to a Peter Lowe event, he asked me so many questions I had to ask him to stop. Every time I’ve ever been with Fran Tarkenton, he’s quizzed me about businesses – speaking, seminars, infomercials.
One of my earliest mentors told me he couldn’t stand idle socializing or pointless conversation. He said if he opened his mouth, it was for one of only two purposes: to sell something or ask a probing question. Otherwise, he’d save his breath. He also said that you should be able to observe something, overhear something or ask about something anywhere, even at a funeral, that would be profitable.
Jim Rohn has always told people: take a millionaire to dinner. Jim says most people respond: “Pick up the check for a millionaire? Are you nuts? I should buy him his steak? Let him pick up my check. He’s the millionaire.” See, most people don’t get it. At all.
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Tim
Oct 12, 2009 @ 15:26:18
“sell something or ask a probing question”
Take Action.
“How curious can I be now?”
Questions are the Answer. Funny that is a recurring thing. Why is that?
More questions
No pithy summary? Sipping some Dan is like 80 proof and it be one ninety when you get-r-done.
Is there a great collection of questions? book title maybe?
Tim
Brian
Oct 13, 2009 @ 00:19:22
Quality again Nerds!
Best bits for me was in the last two paragraphs. I guess they do save the best for last.
So let me ask you this “What’s the biggest lesson or takeaway you’ve gotten from all of Dan’s stuff Nerds?”
Brian
mynotetakingnerd
Oct 13, 2009 @ 00:37:34
Watch for my next post Brian. You’ll see it then. See ya soon.
Note Taking Nerd #2
Bruce
Oct 13, 2009 @ 08:44:03
I find there are so many layers to the great Kennedy work. For those who just pass by and view him ‘just another marketer, seller, guru’, they miss the core and import of what his points of view can do with propelling people to a entirely new way to approach their business.
Tim has dead-on. It’s deceiving what your letting yourself in with so much of his thought but, you take his swill in, swirl it around and you’re bound to come out on the other end knees wobbly, head reeling from some kind of transformation.
Pick one great mind in marketing for the last 40/50 years, I can’t see how he does not come out on top. Not that Dan gives a ripping crap about anyone’s list and being at its top – after all, it’s his fearlessness finds a way to inspire his minions to stop complaining, whining and just fail forward – ask questions after you splatter the world with your horwizter of an idea.
Btw, I have now put on my radar, finding a local millionaire that I can treat – it’s that simple.
Bruce
mynotetakingnerd
Oct 13, 2009 @ 09:57:15
Hey Bruce,
Usually don’t comment on the Cheif’s posts but I couldn’t stop myself today.
I’ve got to tell you something. If you’re not posting comments to blogs where your potential fans/existing fans hang out and getting backlinks from doing so… you’re ab-so-lute-ly bonkers.
Gorgeous comments on guru sites are one of the ways you get yourself put on their radar for jv’s or links on their site to yours. Some people let something inside keep them from speaking through the keyboard. You don’t, and if I were you, I’d test the idea of getting free traffic to your site by just leaving thoughtful, helpful comments on the sites where you’re positive your ideal prospects dwell with a link to your site after your name at the bottom (backlink) driving people to more of you.
Just know you’d be screwing yourself by trying to backlink after leaving a bullshit post like… “Cool stuff.” Bruce Brodeen http://www.notlameblog.blogspot.com/
If your comment is brilliant enough about that topic, people come to the conclusion “Damn, this guy must have his own blog and if he doesn’t, he should. Where do I find him.” With how you post here, I can’t imagine what would flow through you on the topic of rock.
I was just listening to the Blog Titan Brian Clark of Copyblogger fame talk about this in his newest product. He said great comments are rare and he notices them in a world where most people only let themselves go as far as “Great post. Love this site”. So Bruce, take advantage your ability to post with pizazz. Or not.
You probably know all this. Just wanted to throw the suggestion out there, thank you for your comment and for the heads up on the 404.
Talk to you again soon,
Note Taking Nerd #2
Bruce
Oct 13, 2009 @ 08:45:27
Oh, btw….inspired by this, I went the link for the “Free Report #5 – 8 Years of Highlight From Dan Kennedy’s NO B.S. Newsletter” and it’s a 404.
Bruce
Tim
Oct 13, 2009 @ 12:12:59
Back Linking, good idea.
Why am I not surprised there is a shortage of quality?
Re-starting, new site, and lord help a new blog. Like being all over the place. Think of a ferret on espresso! Pick a topic, give me two hours and I will rock your world. Answerman, no market for answers. But is there a market for questions? And how does that make you feel? Me, I feel like a kid in the candy shop with a pocketful of Grandma’s dollars
Tim
http://timothybirch.vox.com/
mynotetakingnerd
Oct 13, 2009 @ 13:15:01
Remember that old school movie starring Carl Weather called ACTION JACKSON?
I’m inclined to refer to you as ACTION BIRCH but it doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as ACTION JACKSON does!!!
Loved the “kid in a candy shop with a pocketful of Grandma’s dollars” thought.
Anyways, thanks for being a man of action Tim.
Talk soon,
Note Taking Nerd #2
Tim
Oct 13, 2009 @ 13:53:03
Action TNT!
Action today not tomorrow!
Even if the action is only planning, measure twice cut once.
Off to a Meeting.