“Going Back To Square Freaking One” What It Means To Be Old School

I AM what you call an old school marketer. Not old…. old school.  I got started in this business back in 1978 when I read Ben Suarez book “SuperBiz ™in 1978 and also H.K. Simon’s “Out of the Rat Race and into the chips.”

A lot of folks today don’t know about old school marketing nor what it stands for.  George Haylings made bank the old school way back in the days of the great depression.

If it worked back then, it’ll sure work in today’s less chaotic times.

I’m writing this because a lot of foks have gotten lost somewhere along the way. They got distracted by bright and shiny objects and forget the simplicity of this business….

…..maybe you’re one of ‘em.

If you’ve been in this business longer than 6 months and have been buying courses and training and you haven’t made your first $100 in sales, you may have lost your way.

If you’ve been in this business longer than a year and haven’t sold at least $5,000 or $10,000, then you might have forgotten what it means to be old school.

If you’re an old pro or veteran but somehow have lost your way, you might have gotten sidetracked and forgotten the bare simplicity of this business.

I want to talk about what it means to be “old school.”

1.  Old school means you produce products.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with promoting affiliate products. It’s true a lot of newbies get started that way. You can build a list and start sending out emails selling affiliate products.

But the best way to build your list is with your own product. And you can have one of those in 3 hours if you know what you’re doing.

2.  Old school means you promote what you produce.

Think of it like breathing.

You do it every day. It’s your essence.

You breathe in…that’s creating new life with the oxygen that hits your blood stream.

That’s creating new products.

It’s your life-stream.

You breathe out.

That’s promoting…it’s an outward energy.

You go inside to produce…that’s breathing in.  You go outside to promote.  That’s breathing out.

If you’re listening to someone telling you to do things other than breathe in and out, that’s fine. But if it’s not working for you, you might rethink what you’re doing.

3.  Old school means you roll your own

There’s something to be said for hand made.

You can outsource lots of things.  You can mechanize lots of things. And you should.

But no one can replace the human spirit and soul.

And plr and automated this and that are great.  I’ve automated much of my business.  But do you have a SOUL?

Seriously.

I’m a human being, not a machine. I’m here. I have emotions.  I have ups and downs like anyone else.

Like late last year when I was TRYING to be the only guy in my city at age 51 to have a 6-pack (you know, lean stomach area), and I ripped some muscles working out and had to have surgery, that was a tough time for me.

I know some people read a few of my emails and wondered.

It was a very emotionally challenging time.

But that’s life.  I don’t try to be something I’m not…at least not on my good days when I’m my highest and best self.  And I recommend you do the same.

I don’t pretend to live in a million dollar house with a 1/4 million car and Rolex watch.

I don’t need the watch, I got plenty of house and my car is a warrior.

But one thing you can say about me is since day one in this business I’ve been REAL and called it the way I saw it, even if it meant going counter to the opinions of some of my closest and best friends.

So I think old school is about being real.  The day you replace you in your business is the day the U is removed from the word UNIQUE and the day the U is tripped out of the term USP (unique selling proposition).

Marketers are a funny bunch.

The first thing they do on Twitter is load up a thousand quotes that someone else wrote.  That’s not old school.

I don’t want to read a bunch of quotes you downloaded. I want to know who YOU are what YOU think, even if I disagree at times.  Even if you aren’t the biggest Mac Daddy of ‘em all. At least you’re real.  And maybe I’m interested in what you have to say.

4.  Old school means getting things done

I love to talk on the phone.

My dogs (close friends) Jonathan Mizel, Declan Dunn, Jason Fladlien, Kirt Christensen, Daegan Smith, Ray Edwards, Paul Myers and others have probably lost more than a day of production chatting on the phone.

But we share. And it means something to me.

One day I won’t be here to write this ezine. All the products I got to create will be gone.  All the sales letters will be written.  All the insights will be given. All the words will be said.

I hope that at that time, people will look back and say, “Marlon Sanders was real. He told the truth.  He made me a better marketer and a better person.”   That means you can’t just talk. You have to create.  You have to walk the walk and not just talk the talk.

All that means is your breath, your life, is creating and selling and marketing and promoting.

That’s who I am.

That’s what I do.

And if you’re reading this ezine, then I suspect that’s who you are or want to be.   It’s NOT the only way to run an Internet business.

Like I say, I’m Old School.  I believe in stacking a few bills in my bank account by creating a valuable product and promoting it to others who can honestly benefit by it.

It’s a noble way to make a living.

A lot of people don’t get that.  Selling is spiritual.  You’re taking a person with hopes and dreams of a better life and you’re lending a helping hand.
You’re taking a person with problems and frustration and helping remove them. You’re making the world a little better, more relaxed, more convenient, more enjoyable and less problem laced place to be.

And that is a great, awesome thing.

The first thing some marketers want to do is remove the human spirit and element.

And I guess some businesses operate that way.

I’m an Old School dog and I’ve been around the block. I’ve seen people go to jail, even gurus. I’ve seen them make comebacks by turning over
a new leaf. I’ve seen more gurus come and go than you can shake a stick at.

I’ve made more products than I can remember and sold most of ‘em pretty well.

How about you?

Have you lost your way?

Have you strayed from the way of the Old School?

If you have, then maybe it’s time you get back to breathing.

You find wants and needs, hopes and dreams, desires and
passions.

You create products.

You promote products.

This may sound like a daunting task if you’re new to this Game.

But over and over and over, people who take action prove you CAN produce products with value in less time than you think.  I’m NOT saying you need to be perfect or produce the world’s greatest products.

I’m saying to put some of YOU into your products.  Put some heart in there. Put some soul in there.

Get out stuff that helps people.  But get out a lot of it.  You really do need to be a Prolific Product Creator.

Old School means you get produts out and you sell ‘em.  And on the one hand you don’t succumb to the need to be perfect.  That’s a trap. On the other hand, you make sure you got a baker’s dozen in there.

It’s time.

It’s time, you and I and everyone else in this Game get back to a few simple VALUES.

Finding out what people want.  Creating lots of products and selling ‘em good. Breathing as a way of life.

Production and promotion.

Good gosh that’s simple.

How did we ever lose our way?

Maybe it’s time a little Old School finds its way back in your life.

If you aren’t working TODAY, this week on creating a new product or promoting the one you got, then what are you freaking thinking?

Honestly.

What are you doing?  Researching more and more and more until you’re certain?

Can you guarantee me you’ll wake up tomorrow?

If you can’t find certainty about that, how do you think you’ll find certainty about whatever it is you’re trying to feel certain about?

Find your way back home.

Now. Today. It’s never too late.

This moment is all there is.

Embrace the Old School.

Produce.

Create.

Promote.

Sell.

This is the straight and narrow path.

Welcome home.

My name is Marlon Sanders.  I’ve been in this Game long as I can remember. I am the King of Step-By-Step Internet marketing. And I cherish and relish every moment life has given me to be in this Game.

Every day I wake up, suck down some coffee, and feel thankful for another day to play the Game.

Old School Lives.

Play on.

Marlon Sanders is the author of “The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy and the KING of Step-By-Step Internet Marketing.”

TWO Freebies From Marlon- Best Of Marlon Sanders as well as His Free online Marketing Ebook