You Can Follow The Perfect 5-Step Plan And Never Succeed
How To Stop Getting Manipulated By Modern Marketing.
Most advice is oversimplified.
No one wants to read an article or buy a course that says it’s going to take longer than you think or be harder than you think.
So, it’s packaged in a way that leaves us reaching for our credit cards dreaming of the instant gratification and windfall of cash we’re about to walk into.
Achieve X result in Y time in only Z simple steps.
If only it were that easy.
18 years playing the game.
Self-employed for 18 years my journey has never looked linear.
You may have seen a rendition of this image before illustrating the entrepreneurial journey.
The ‘5-Step Process’ we’re sold is indicated on the left.
The chaos of reality is indicated on the right.
My journey is illustrated on the right.
So, I’ve either never found the right 5-steps to follow, I’m a complete idiot, unmotivated, and have not tried hard enough…
…Or, maybe, just maybe, it’s not as simple as people make it seem.
I’ll let you be the judge.
My journey started around 2005 building and selling computers.
Taking the first steps down a path of starting 10 businesses, most of which were unsuccessful.
Taking on $100,000 of debt when my gym went out of business. I’ve invested around $100,000 in courses, masterminds, memberships, and mentorship. Just to mention a couple bumps in the road.
I've followed more 5-step plans than I care to admit.
What worked for me can’t be taught, or at least, no one would buy it.
A friend recently asked how I filled my client pipeline.
My Response:
“I wouldn't say it was an intentional effort. It ebs and flows. But maintaining content. 5 from referrals. 4 from content.
2 organic inbound from Linked.
2 organic inbound from Substack.
Honestly, if someone were to ask me exactly how I built my business, it would be hard to say. It's such a melting pot of 100 different things coming together.
Ex: 2 clients, and 3 active leads. Stem from 1 person (1 of the leads is a referral from a client he referred).
This person saw 1 post on Facebook which sparked him referring me to people.
He is a connection that was made through someone I met at a conference in 2017.
You can't teach that.”
Let me break it down.
My client pipeline was full.
2 clients and 3 leads came from 1 person.
Let’s peel it back…
This person saw a Substack post I shared on Facebook leading him to start referring me clients.
Let’s peel it back…
I met this person around 2018 I believe. (They didn’t refer me to something till 2024).
Let’s peel it back…
I met this person through a friend.
Let’s peel it back…
I met them at a conference in 2017 that I flew to with my wife. We started chatting while eating greek yogurt waiting for the conference to begin. I joined a mastermind that day that he was also in. A friendship was born.
The business success I witness today…
Couldn’t have been achieved without the previous 18 years that led to now.
My experiences.
My successes/failures.
The knowledge I’ve acquired.
The clients/contracts/companies I’ve worked with.
The businesses I’ve started.
The money I’ve invested in courses, masterminds, and running my own ads.
Etc.
How would I even start to teach this?
What people really mean when they say ‘psychology’ in business…
“You must learn psychology to excel in business.”
A common saying, one I’ve used as well.
Except what many people mean is a little different. Persuasion. Most of which can be summed up by reading Robert Cialdini’s book Influence.
The book’s subtitle ‘The Psychology of Persuasion’ tells most of the story.
(I’d like to acknowledge that this is barely scratching the surface of psychology)
But preying on people based on little tricks we can play to arm wrestle them into buying something is a little manipulative.
Using urgency and scarcity (often false) to get someone to buy today. Or putting someone in a white lab coat to project authority. All because a research study showed these things get people to take action.
While the field of psychology leverages these studies to encourage positive lifestyle changes, the business and marketing field is often using similar research to find creative ways to get people to buy, aka mental manipulation.
This is partially why I find myself conflicted in this field.
And why, with a partner, have launched a trauma-informed-friendly marketing community where we teach non-hypey and non-manipulative ways to build a business.
The 5-Steps may work but it’s missing context.
The person.
The business.
The ideal timing.
Context that is missing in most courses.
Something I hope that by reading this, you’re able to apply as a filter for who you follow, and what you buy.
The steps may indeed work.
But the timing may need to be right.
The circumstances in which they produced their result may be different than yours.
Or the prerequisite skillsets or relationships that were in place aren’t mentioned.
This is why so many people invest in things and don’t get results.
I researched and learned about Webinar Funnels years before I was able to successfully implement the business model.
I read books that didn’t “click” until 3-5 years later.
And even once I understood I proceeded to run dozens of webinars free, paid, live, and automated, that all failed.
Except other people read the book and made a million dollars.
It’s because there is a lot to the story of success that is not spoken about.
You can follow the perfect 5-step plan and never succeed.
The issue isn’t in the process, it’s in the promise.
Here’s the problem.
The 5-Steps I Used To Start A Newsletter.
vs.
The 5-Steps I Used To Build A Million Dollar Newsletter In 90-Days (And How You Can Do It To)
One of these articles gets more clicks. That’s the problem.
Monetary outcomes and timeframes sell. But if you’re anything like me you’ve come to realize how misleading they are.
Every copywriting course or book on writing headlines tells you adding those in increases performance.
What it doesn’t do is increase results for the person taking it.
The steps may be the steps, but we may never see the same result, or see any result in the timeline specified because there is such a variation in context and circumstance that isn’t accounted for.
Your path will be your own.
You’re unique.
Your business is unique.
Your circumstances are unique.
Your path will not be the same as anyone else.
Be kind to yourself, resist the urge to compare to others, and don’t judge your progress.
It’s not easy but it can be incredibly rewarding once we stop adhering to society’s notion of what success looks like.
Landon
I relate to this very much! I feel a whole economy worth billions is created on false promises! Funnily I just published today an article written last week about this feeling: no strategy, intuition and the succession of trial and error seems to be the only path!
I love your honesty in this post. Became an instant fan.