From the Ground Up

You don't need a Harvard degree to succeed. You don't need to come from a background of money. And quite frankly, you don't even need a perfect past to have a better future. Today you'll get some wisdom from a man who was all but written off by his teachers until he became a rock star in his own world. It's something that you can do too.

Craig Ballantyne 

"Sacrifice today for a better tomorrow." - Frank McKinney

Why You Are a Rock Star 

By Craig Ballantyne

Last Friday afternoon [originally written Monday, December 12, 2011] down in South Beach, Florida, I spent the day with a group of like-minded men and women in a group called Maverick Business Adventures (a unique organization started by one of my mentors, Yanik Silver). 

We had the pleasure of hearing from a unique individual and true maverick, Frank McKinney. I had first met Frank on a previous Maverick Business Adventure in Aspen, Colorado back in 2008. Frank explained his business philosophy and spent a lot of time on his philanthropic focus, helping to rebuild homes in Haiti (and this was long before the devastating earthquake of 2010). 

But my connection with Frank goes back even before that. In 2007 I went on a surfing vacation to Hawaii and I read Frank's book, "Make It Big" on the long flight from Dallas to Honolulu. Even though I'm not a real estate investor or developer (that's how Frank has built his wealth), Frank's book made a big impact on me. 

In fact, I wrote down all 49 chapter titles from Frank's book and I review one each afternoon as part of my "Daily Guiding Documents" review.

Among my favorite chapter titles and quotes from Frank are: 

"To live an extraordinary life you must resist an ordinary approach." 

"Gently yet often exercise your risk threshold like a muscle. Eventually it will become stronger and able to withstand greater pressure." 

"You cannot brighten another's path without lighting your own." 

"Resist the temptation to act like an adult. Never lose the littler girl or boy inside." 

"Each day you are on the concert stage of life, so you'd better make it rock." 

In fact, you are a rock star, too. There's nothing wrong with looking at yourself that way as you grow your business. Now I'm not talking about you being an egomaniac or engaging in self-destruction. But there are five similarities between rockstars and successful business owners. 

First, rock stars and successful business owners have PERSONALITY. You don't have to be brash. Rock stars can have substance, not just substance abuses – see Bob Dylan. But simply put, you must stand out and be different from everyone else. It will significantly help your business if you are willing to share your personal backstory. People want to buy from people they know, like, and trust, not from nameless, generic, anonymous corporations. 

Second, rock stars and successful business owners are CREATIVE. You must find ways to differentiate your product and fill a gap in the marketplace. 

Third, both rock stars and successful business owners LEVERAGE their greatest hits. When you find something that works – such as a sales page, promotion, or piece of content – you leverage it and get it out to as many sources as possible. Just as a rock star re-releases their top singles in Greatest Hits packages, you must be willing to squeeze every ounce of promotional juice from your greatest hits. 

For example, here at Early to Rise, I scour the Internet for authors who can contribute valuable essays that will motivate and help our readers. Often this means re-printing essays I've found on other websites. If these authors were wise, they would be submitting their essays to many other online businesses and leveraging the fact that they have a "hit" on their hands. By getting more "airplay" for their big hits, these authors would attract more leads into their business. This works for video, reports, articles, and any other reproducible content you can create. 

These hits can then go on to spawn their own "franchise", where the creator makes follow-up articles, programs, videos, etc. to capitalize off the interest in the initial hit. You might even leverage the initial hit content into a "duet" with a more established rock star in your industry that can help grow your influence. 

The bottom line is that the rock star acknowledges their hits and spends as much time – or more – leveraging the hit as they do trying to create a new hit. Keep this rock star lesson in mind as you create content, sales promotions, and products in your business. 

Fourth, successful rock stars and business owners understand that constant REINVENTION of their brand and business is necessary. While you want to leverage your greatest hits, you must also realize that you can never rest on your laurels. 

And finally, fifth, rock stars and business owners realize that they are in business of delivering entertaining PERFORMANCES each and every day. Whether you do public speaking, or create videos, or sell face-to-face, or even just write articles every day like I do, you must treat everything you do as a performance on the concert stage of life, and you better make it rock. 

So as you can see, there are a lot of similarities between rock stars and successful business owners. At least, certainly a lot more than you might think. All of these tips apply to successful employees, as well. 

You need to stand out, be creative, leverage your greatest hits, be ready to reinvent yourself, and finally, always be giving your best performance. That's how you separate yourself from the competition and experience a life well lived. After all, as Frank McKinney says, "Live your life with no regrets. When you are older, what will you say from your rocking chair?" 

__________________________________________________ This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue 12-12-2011], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.