I know what you’re thinking. What do these three men (yes, you can count Justin Bieber as one man) have in common? And, most importantly, what do they have to do with me?
Well, believe it or not, these guys are more alike than you think. Each possesses the main trait that has brought them not only fame but success: they are the true definition of a modern pioneer. And they have done it their way.
In fact, I like to call them “rule breakers.” They never followed the formula, the traditional way. Bieber, Locke, and Jobs were unsuccessful in taking the normal route, mainly because the normal path was blocked. They were told that they would not succeed, that they would not make it. They were laughed at, ridiculed, and even banned. But they persevered.
That is because each one of them possessed another similar quality: DOES NOT GIVE UP.
If you want to make your dreams come true, whatever they are, you can learn from these guys. The key lesson is the essence of their spirit, their attitude, the one that they said that they would not let anyone stop them until they got where they wanted to go.
We’ll start with Justin Bieber. You may or may not like it, and sure, it may not be for your age group, but I’ll tell you what, you know his name. This was not by accident but by hard work. He has earned every bit of fame from him. He has scratched, crawled and scratched his way to the top.
When Justin was starting out, no record label would pick him up. They didn’t understand it, they couldn’t put it in one of his predefined buckets.
Did you stop, did you give up on your dream? No, Justin is a 21st century social media phenomenon. He brought his music directly to his audience, through social marketing, primarily through YouTube videos and Twitter.
Soon enough, it went viral. And right after that, it got picked up by a major record label. But get this: on their terms.
Next we have author John Locke, who may not be a name you know, but you should, especially if you like books. Locke is the first self-published independent author to sell 1 million books on Amazon. Yes, more than a million. And, just like Justin Bieber, Locke did it after all the normal doors were closed in his face.
Locke is another 21st century marketing phenomenon. He, too, used social marketing and rode the social media wave to beat the big boys, well-known authors and their traditional publishers, at his own game.
Locke is breaking ground and turning the old school book publishing model into a dinosaur. He’s an in your face, say it like he’s a nice guy, and he stuck it to the big publishers.
But he’s not just a marketing success story. He is an excellent writer, and more importantly, he knows who his target audience is and how to communicate with them. His success stems entirely from courage, not taking “no” for an answer, and thinking outside the box.
When we talk outside the box, the original innovator and pioneer, who continues to push the boundaries and throw out what is considered normal, is Apple Computer CEO, Founder and Visionary Steve Jobs. He truly blazed new trails in the jungle where no one else dreamed of, let alone saw.
Jobs has been a game changer in his career not once but countless times. He and his co-founder Steve Wozniak were primarily responsible for the PC revolution in the first place, making personal computers easy to use. They took ideas from fantasy and turned them into reality. And, his PC was a thing of art.
Then, when Apple was on its deathbed in the late 1990s, Jobs triumphantly returned to Apple to breathe new life into the old company. He launched the iMac and followed it up with the latest game changers: iTunes and the iPod. That led to a musical revolution that saw the death of the record store and the life support for CDs.
But Jobs didn’t stop there. He came out with the iPhone and iPad to end the 2000s. The iPad might turn out to be his biggest innovation.
And this is where you come in. These are normal people. They weren’t known until they did. And, they all started at zero.
All three men had been told “no”, were blocked or not picked up by what was considered the “traditional” way they were supposed to do things for their industry and each had the courage, perseverance and the creative foresight to give the old guard. your finger and achieve amazing success.
And you, too, have the opportunity to learn from these men and repeat the feat. Whether you’re selling an eBook and wanting to join the ePublishing Gold Rush, want to start an Internet company, sell a product, or are a filmmaker who wants to do it differently, here’s your chance to be a pioneer.
That’s because the old guard barriers no longer exist. The Internet, social media, instant information, and short attention spans have leveled the playing field. Now, you can really reach your target audience without a lot of money, big corporations and PR departments. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Groupon, LivingSocial, etc. they have destroyed traditional advertising and marketing and have given the average Steve, Bieber, Locke and you the same weapons to compete against the big boys. Those guys showed that it can be done.
Now is your chance. Be a pioneer.
#Justin Bieber, #John Locke, #Steve Jobs
