I have no idea how you found my website.
Perhaps you’re an existing subscriber just checking in to see what’s up… perhaps you read or heard about my book, “How To Make Maximum Money With Minimum Customers”… or perhaps you just stumbled over here the way we all seem to find new sites – seamlessly guided by the invisible hand of the internet, while clicking from one interesting item to another.
In any case, if you’ve read my book or if you’re already familiar with me, then you know I’m a big advocate of very frequent communication between you and your list.
And yet… if you look at the dates, it’s been 10 months since the last time I posted anything on this blog… and if you look around, there is no “list” to sign up on, anymore.
So, what’s the deal?
The answer is simple:
People change.
Thats it. Boring, but true.
See, over the last few years I came to a couple of conclusions:
1. I really like consulting with clients and writing ad copy…
And fortunately, after working with over 300 clients in more than 105 industries (so far)… I am quite busy doing just this, through a steady stream of referrals, and from people who’ve either read my book or heard about me somewhere online.
2. After doing this for far longer than I wanted to do… I realized I absolutely did not like being an online “guru”
Yeah, I know most people would love to be a guru, but it’s just not for me.
And here’s why: Before I share this with you, we need to take a little detour through our brains.
See, every one of us – and yes, that means you and me, too… are all driven by both intrinsic and extrinsic values.
Intrinsic values are those values which determine your moral code. Things like how you love, your work ethic, how you treat your wife and children, how you behave with your waiter versus your boss or your clients… these are your intrinsic values.
They’re basically your moral governors and they determine the part of your self-worth that has nothing to do with anything but how your feel about yourself.
Extrinsic values, on the other hand, are inputs and feelings that come from outside of you. They’re the portion of your self-worth that comes from things outside of yourself.
Now hang in here with me for a minute, and we’ll get to the point of all this in just a second.
In order to be a serious rock-star “guru”… the truth is, you need to place a very high level of importance on the extrinsic value of “other people liking you.”
And if this is one of your core extrinsic values… this need to be liked gives you tremendous motivation to be in the limelight.
In other words, if you look at all the really good, really big rock-star gurus – in any field… they’re all ego driven and in general, driven by how much people like them.
This is why you see all these folks consistently doing things like:
Being very present on social media:
And almost always coming from a firm position of authority and omniscience, several times a day.
For instance, they’ll drop quotes on you like “Whenever there is trouble outside, look inside for the answer.” (I have no idea if this is a real quote or not, I just made that up because it sounds like some kind of deep shit gurus say on social media)
Things that make it sound like the guru has their shit together and you as the reader might not.
And I don’t mean that with any disrespect, at all. Some people have big egos, and others don’t – and there’s nothing wrong with either one.
I have plenty of really good friends who have big egos, and they are kind, sweet people. I just want to be clear that I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with having a big ego.
But that is just not me, at all. Not even remotely.
And there’s no way I could ever drop “pearls of wisdom” down on social media, because I am fully aware I do NOT have my shit together, lol. I’m an ongoing work in progress, I assure you…
Being “on,” all the time:
In other words, not really separating their business from their personal life. It’s all one big show, and for these folks, the show goes on all day long…
And by the way, I am not judging any of these behaviors one way or another. I am certainly not in any position to judge – nor, frankly… do I care enough one way or another, to judge.
These are just characteristics people have… No different from liking chocolate over vanilla, or sushi over a burger and fries.
However, here is why I am mentioning this.
Over the last few years (since my book was first published in 2009), I came to the very honest conclusion that I didn’t like doing ANY of these things, at all. And therefore I HAD to get out of doing this “guru” thing.
For instance:
1. Although I’m very gregarious, friendly and easy to talk with… I’m not driven by how many people like or dislike me…
I mean, don’t get me wrong – I don’t want people to DISlike me… but being liked or not is simply NOT something I have ever been remotely concerned with, in the least. Being liked by others is NOT an extrinsic value of mine. And…
2. I’m also a pretty private guy and I would be very much out of my element sharing my family and private life on social media for anyone other than a few close friends to see..
Look, I’m a guy who came from a completely fucked up and dysfunctional childhood… and I’ve been lucky enough to come out of that, not only sane and emotionally healthy…
But I also have a great family and a wife I love deeply and actually like spending time with.
In fact, I value my time and my relationship with my wife and kids above and beyond anything else I have in life. So this time is something I cherish and like to keep to myself.
Plus, I’d prefer to be looked at as a really nice, stand-up guy with a very solid work ethic, first and foremost, over someone who is “impressive” or someone who “always has it together.” Because that’s just not true.
I lose my shit sometimes, just like everyone else does. And I don’t pretend to have all the answers, that’s for sure.
I don’t live exorbitantly… my hobbies are pretty mundane (playing guitar, traveling, music, fitness, photography, cigars, coffee)… and I’m not into any really interesting “thrill seeking” events.
For me, life in an of itself has been enough of a challenge that today I am completely satisfied with peace and tranquility, my family, and a few close friends.
I also don’t think I’m qualified to preach to others or to offer them any tid-bits of wisdom, unless they ask me for it.
Point being, I abhor dogma – even coming from myself. Which is another reason why I’m not a fit for the “guru business.”
If you want to be a rock star guru, you’ve got to be VERY comfortable constantly making dogmatic statements.
Even if they are totally incorrect.
For me, that’s just not a reality as I believe there are literally hundreds of different ways of getting shit done.
And what’s going to work for one person, might be a complete miss for the next person.
Plus, I think there’s also a lot of “luck” involved in things… in the sense that, sometimes when you’re doing those things the universe supports… you will succeed, no matter what.
At the same time, if you’re doing something that’s not part of your greater destiny… no matter what you do or how good you are at it, you’ll always struggle and never really see things matriculate the way you’d like.
Anyway, my point in all of this is…
Once I really stopped and considered all of these things, I realized I didn’t particularly like the guru thing I was doing.
The daily emails… the positioning… the constant advice giving…
It’s just not me.
So I stopped focusing on growing a list, and instead just started doing what I like doing.
Working with clients, consulting them on how to increase revenue and net cash-flow from new sales and marketing strategies… writing ad copy when it’s a fit… and working on other fun side projects I’d always set aside in the past, to instead tend to my “guru” business.
And it’s been a really great decision for me and for my family.
My income hasn’t changed… my stress level has decreased, dramatically… I have MUCH more free time and struggle far less to make money… I travel more with Anne… I take time to play my guitar every single day… I go to bed at a normal hour and spend much more time with my family than I ever have before.
And… more important than anything else, in being true to who I am, I am much happier.
Funny, but I only realized in the last few years, that happiness is a choice.
I think that’s because of the difficult life I had early on. Perhaps I wasn’t aware that happiness was even a valid state of being. But I am now, and I choose to be happy.
So that’s why I stopped being a guru. It just isn’t a fit for me.
With that being said, I did want to address a few professional issues:
If you read my book, somewhere in there it says something like this, “If you want to talk with me about a project, you have to pay me a consulting fee up front and then I’ll talk to you.”
At the time I wrote that, I was modeling my business after another successful guru.
This was a guy who’s ethics I didn’t particularly care for, and who’s got the personality of a troll. And yet, for some dumb reason, I thought I had to act the same way.
Because I didn’t have the confidence in myself to just be the friendly gregarious guy I am, I set my business up like this.
It’s kind of amazing my business grew and that I did as well as I did, not being myself and acting so arrogant… but so be it.
However, I can’t imagine how many good people I alienated along the way…
I also did this to avoid people just getting on the phone with me and looking for free advice (you’d be surprised how many people actually try and do this), but there are other ways of avoiding this…
Today, I don’t run my business like this. At all.
If you want to talk with me about a project you need help with, or if you think you’re interested in hiring me, shoot me an email. And if it makes sense, we’ll spend some time on the phone discussing what you have going on, and whether or not I can help you, and it’s a fit for us to work together.
Give me as many details as you possibly can about what you’re looking to do, and whether or not you’ve ever worked with someone like me in the past (and what your experience was).
I ask for this information because it helps me evaluate what’s going on and what you are expecting out of someone like me.
If it makes sense, we’ll set up a call and have a chat. If it doesn’t make sense to talk, I’ll let you know that, as well.
You can email me at craig AT kingofcopy.com and unless I’m out of town traveling, I’ll get back to you within one or two business days to at least let you know I’ve received your email.
Second, none of the “buy” links work any more for any of the products on my website. However…
If there is anything you want to buy, just contact Anne and she’ll take care of your transaction, which you can pay through Paypal. You can reach her at anne AT kingofcopy.com
Lastly, if I can offer you any piece of advice, it’s this:
As difficult as things might seem when you’re getting started in a business… think about what you want things to look like, long-term. Chase the freedom and build the lifestyle you want – don’t chase the money. Be yourself, not someone else.
And also, while it’s definitely good to work hard… make sure you’re taking care of yourself along the way.
Spending an hour a day on a hobby you enjoy will NEVER delay your success. Especially when you consider how much more energy you have after doing something you really like.
Have fun and let me know if I can help you with anything. And if you’ve been with me for a long time, thanks for all your business and support.
