Do you remember when you got your first email account?
I had just decided to go back to college for the second time, at age 28. (I can hear you doing the math now.)
When I got there, they assigned each of us incoming freshman something called an email account.
And I was like, "What the heck is that?"
But remember how cool it was?
"Are you kidding? I can communicate with anyone else who has an email account - for free??"
And I still remember those heady days when I would eagerly check my Inbox for... what's that?... someone writing to me??
Someone cares enough to write to little ol' me!
But then something happened...
Something that made the whole thing turn sour...
I remember the days when "SPAM" meant a funny Monty Python sketch.
(Google it. It may not seem that funny now, but in 1978, it was freakin' hilarious.)
But of course, now it means those hundreds of emails we get from marketers who realized what I did in those early days --
"Gee, you can send all the email messages you want - for free!"
There's no question that "marketers" have ruined email for almost all of us.
But these same marketers have ruined everything else that at first seemed neat, too.
Facebook. Remember when that was fun?
Twitter. That was never really fun, but it was cool for a minute.
Pinterest.
Instagram.
Now Periscope.
All taken over by marketers.
I guess my point is that yes, marketers ruin everything because they constantly take, take, take without giving value in return.
Today, I find myself in the interesting position of being a teacher who has to market who is competing against marketers who teach a little.
Ironically, like most of you, I also had to spend tens of thousands of dollars to try and learn what they were doing, just so I could compete and stay current.
Of course, another way that marketers ruin everything is that while they are very good at marketing themselves, most of them are not very good at actually teaching you how to market your own products or services so you can make more money.
That's why you so often hear them squawking about how much money THEY are making - while failing to mention if their methods work for anyone but themselves.
That's why, on our campus, we don't focus on how much money I've made.
We focus on how much money my methods have helped other people make - hard-working, dedicated, mission-driven people just like you.
Because, like I wrote in another article - Do you care about my money, or yours?
It's true: I wish that marketers hadn't ruined everything for those of us who are just trying to make an honest living.
And I know I can't beat all the marketers in my industry who oh so cleverly wrap their messages in their slick marketing campaigns.
All I can do is keep telling the truth, keep fighting for you, and keep adding value as best I can, every day.
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