The reason I haven’t maintained this blog much since soon after it launched is that it had already accomplished it’s initial goal. But now that Russell and I are about to launch a new website together (Instant Affiliate Accelerator officially launches tomorrow…but you can join now), it’s time to tell “The Rest of the Story”.

You can get most of it from previous posts in this blog, but here’s a summary (and some new info) about how I went from virtual unknown to business partner with one of the big boys of internet marketing.

  • First, I got an email from Russell (I BELIEVE in response to the exit popup on my Russell Brunson page — go to that page and then more your mouse towards you “Back” button to see it). The email was brief, but if it indeed came from that popup, it proves that you get what you ask for — explicitly.
  • Next, I went to Russell’s “12 Month Internet Millionaire Workshop” in Salt Lake City and met him in person.
  • At that point, I decided that rather than taking the time to schmooze my way in the rest of the way, I may as well get on the fast track by buying my way in (either is a viable strategy — just depends on how bad and how fast you want it). So I shelled out the bucks to join his partnership program — not cheap, but an easy decision (we’re launching our partnership tomorrow, and I’m sure I’ll recoup my investment very quickly).
  • It turns out Russell already knew about and has used one of my products (CaRP). He didn’t realize it was my product till after we’d started the partnership process, so it didn’t help create the connection, but it did fill in a little of the “who is this guy” question.
  • Even if you buy your way in to someone’s business, you’re not guaranteed mindshare. So I did several things to keep Russell and those around him entertained:

    As long as your target guru doesn’t think you’re a dangerous freak, these kinds of things can help build the relationship. Russell has commented on each of the things listed above, and even said he’d promote a product that may grow out of one of them. I’m pretty sure the uniqueness factor played a big role in that — it’s much easier to promote a product that’s going to stand out in the crowd than something that blends in with everything else, no matter how good it is.

    It’s taken a little longer than expected to launch the partnership, but that’s mostly because I kept getting distracted by other projects when I should have been focusing on getting this one done. But it’s been fun along the way, and I’m sure it’s about to get a lot more fun!

    I think I picked a good first victim for the Guru Stalker — a good guy who’ll be fun to be friends with (and who is surrounded by fun people), and who will help me achieve my business goals. It’ll be interesting to see where things go from here.

    Now I’ll have to decide whether to stalk someone else, and if so, who. I’ve got a million ideas for new products and marketing strategies that I’m sure could easily consume my time for the next year and beyond (even after I start outsourcing to free up time to work on them more). But even though I could easily fill my schedule without doing any more guru stalking, I don’t know that I want to miss out on the fun and the business opportunities that would come with it.

    Finally, here’s an interesting question — what will it take to get to the point where I no longer have to stalk gurus to get their attention? I’ll let you know when I find out! Till then, it’s time to focus on Instant Affiliate Accelerator.

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