Mentors

How to get free consulting from high-paid experts

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I was just listening to January’s issue of Steal Our Winners, where Rich Schefren somehow gets top marketers to share what’s working for them right now.

So today I listened to a guy named Seth Greene, who is new to me but apparently has deep roots in the Internet marketing community.

Seth made a throwaway comment that I thought was very valuable. And since it was a throwaway comment, and not the main topic of the presentation Seth was making, I think it’s ok to share here.

In a nutshell, Seth revealed how he gets free consulting from high-paid experts.

High-paid? Like who?

Like Russell Brunson, the face and CEO of ClickFunnels. Russell charges $10,000 for lunch (“to pick his brain,” according to his site) and $1M if you’d like him to get up out of his La-Z-Boy and build a funnel for you.

Those rates might sound outrageous, but they make sense. Because Russell’s ClickFunnels did $100M+ in 2020, and is valued at over $1B. In other words, this guy’s time and expertise is valuable.

And yet, Seth got two separate consulting sessions with Russell for free. Seth got to ask all sorts of questions that were relevant to his own success… and had Russell thinking hard to come up with the best and most valuable answers.

And maybe I didn’t mention this enough, but this consulting was all free. So how did Seth do it?

Easy. He invited Russell onto his podcast.

This is a new spin on the value of a podcast I had never thought about. Maybe it’s new to you too, and maybe it’s something you can use starting today.

“Yeah right,” you might say. “Even if I had a podcast, which I don’t because who would listen to me, how would I possibly get Russell Brunson on my show?”

Well, that’s a part (just one part) of what Seth shared in his Steal Our Winners segment, which is titled, “How To Recruit A Cult Of 50 Evangelists To Promote Your Brand For Free.”

Make no mistake. Seth’s system will take work. And it will take time. But it’s doable for anybody, even if you don’t have authority, charisma, or a deep budget.

And I think that if you head over to Steal Our Winners now and sign up, you can still get the January issue, and Seth’s presentation inside it. In case you’re interested, here’s the link:

https://bejakovic.com/sow

How to approach a mentor

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Do you know the story of puss in boots?

I won’t retell it all here, but the gist is that puss gets his owner, a poor and hopeless young man, in favor with the local king.

Puss does it by showing up to the king’s door over and over, bearing gifts. One time it’s a dead rabbit. Another time it’s some partridges.

“A gift from my master,” says puss in boots, “the Marquis of Carabas.”

And then one time, when the king is going for a friendly Saturday afternoon ride by the riverside, puss in boots makes it seem like the Marquis of Carabas is drowning there.

“Save that man tout suite,” the king orders, “for he is a gentleman who has sent me many fine gifts.”

And so the poor and hopeless young man is transformed into a real-life Marquis of Carabas, for a while at least.

I’m telling you this fairy tale because it has to do with cold emails. Specifically, emails (or LinkedIn messages, or Facebook, or whatever) that you might send to somebody that you hope will be your mentor.

It’s a good idea to approach your mentor bearing valuable gifts. After all, it worked so well for puss in boots. But a dead rabbit or a bunch of partridges don’t impress today like they did back in puss’s time.

So what can you do?

Well, you might try offering helpful tips… or ideas… or even your services for free. And I’m sure those things can all work on occasion.

But here’s a better approach. I heard about it today while listening to an interview with Steve Schwartzman, who happens to be one of the world’s 100 richest men, and also somebody who’s in charge of about half a trillion dollars’ worth of assets.

When asked what thing of value a poor and hopeless young man should give as a gift when approaching a powerful mentor, Schwartzman said:

“Well it’s interesting. One thing of value is flattery. People’s self-images are always unpredictable to the person who’s approaching them. And the fact that you’re approaching them helps them self-validate. The fact that you’ve thought about that person, and there’s something you do want to learn from them, there’s some piece of advice you want. All you have to do is say in effect, ‘I want to go on a journey. I want to change what I’m doing or i want to achieve something. You’ve done a bunch of that… Can you describe to me how you do that?'”

So there you go, young puss. Go out and flatter people.

Or rather, take an interest in what they are doing, and approach them with genuine interest and genuine compliments. Do it over and over. Next thing you know, you might be transformed into a real-life Marquis of Carabas.

A cold email to pierce the armor of Smaug the Magnificent

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Have you ever written a successful cold email to an internet influencer, such as a marketer, copywriter, or business owner with a large online following?

Over the years, I’ve written dozens of cold emails to such Internet personalities…

Telling them how I liked their content…

Or introducing myself and asking if I can be of any service…

Or making some kind of a pitch outright.

Almost always, these emails bounce right off, much like arrows shot at the dragon Smaug in Tolkien’s the Hobbit.

That’s not surprising. Internet influencers have thick armor protecting them against unsolicited advice, compliments, or pitches.

However, like Smaug, most Internet personalities also have weaknesses in their armor, particularly near their soft underbellies. And if you can spot such a weakness and shoot an arrow — I mean a cold email — straight at that hollow in their armor, you can get the influencer’s attention. In this way, you might even get access to the vast stores of treasure these influencers normally sleep on.

So for example, one cold emailing approach I’ve had success with has been to write to marketing and copywriting greats…

Tell them how I’ve applied some specific bit of their how-to advice…

And report the results it’s gotten for me.

In a nutshell, I’m giving them a results-based testimonial — and I’m setting myself apart from everybody else who simply writes, “Great stuff! Loved it! Keep it coming!”

Of course, in order to do this, you have to actually implement what these influencers are teaching.

This takes time and effort.

But in my own personal case, whenever I’ve sent a cold email like this, I’ve gotten back an enthusiastic response even from unreachable personalities…

And on a few occasions, I’ve even gotten some treasure as a result.

If you do take this approach to reaching influencers, write me an email and let me know how it’s worked for you.