Dylan #3. Simon Cowell may have said: "You can't sing, you can't write, what are you

[GordonJ]

doing here?"

Imagine the Robert Zimmerman audtion for American Idol...

Randy: "NO dawg, no, no no no....Paula, yes or no?"

Paula: "NO, I'm sorry Robert, but you are cute, meet me after the show, OK?"

Simon: "Why are you here? Why are you wasting my time?"

And Robert Zimmerman (aka Bob Dylan) replies:

"The answer my friend is blowing in the wind."

I doubt if Janis Joplin, Dylan or many others would have made it past the first American Idol audition. But it wouldn't have mattered to them. They were going to do their art no matter what.

Unlike the people who literally got down on their hands and knees and BEGGED to be allowed to go to Hollywood.

Why do THOUSANDS of people try out for American Idol? Why do THOUSANDS of people who can't sing (but that may be their entertainment value...She Bang She Bang) ...have little or NO talent

WHY do they show up and audtion?

The answer is not blowing in the wind my friend...the answer is simple:

It is a SHORTCUT. It is the EXPRESSWAY to fame and fortune. It is the easy route to celebrity, which is a national obsession.

Bob Dylan sang (sort of) in small clubs. Janis Joplin did shows in small San Franciso bars. They may of had dreams of celebrity, or fame and fortune...but mostly they wanted their ART, their music to be heard.

And it didn't matter how many Simple Simon's they came across. They were NOT looking for the trap door to success. They WORKED their way and let the national audience decide if their art had any commercial value or not.

The times they are a changing.

In 1997 I wrote that the biggest opportunity the Internet offered was the opportunity to WASTE a LOT OF TIME.

Those that had early success were either schooled in marketing and/or were damn lucky.

Those that achieved success, John Reese comes to mind, worked below the radar for YEARS to become an overnight Internet sensation.

Dean DuVall wrote about the "entitlement" generation in his final hard copy Personal Success--The Newsletter. If you want to see it in action, watch one American Idol auditions program.

Now let me tell ONE truth that hasn't changed since 1997 (or from 1667 for that matter).

You don't get paid for doing nothing. And that is even true on the everything is FREE Internet too.

I've beaten the TRIAD of FOCUS, FOUNDATION, FRAMEWORK like a dead horse... wrote about it, talked about it til the cows came home.

Now a sidebar:

A few months ago I offered to write a HOTSHEET and mini-biz plan for 25 bux. About 10 of you took me up on that.

Today, several MONTHS later, not a single one of the 10 has done anything with it. I'm not out to embarass anyone...simply pointing out that there were 10 people who told me what they were interested in, the type of product they might like to produce...and had me lay down the first few bricks of the foundation...

and there hasn't been another brick layed nor finger lifted in the direction of their goals. Should I care? Probably not, but some of my best work on HOTSHEETS will never be seen by anyone else. They won't help another single human being. Not ONE.

Many years ago, what now seems like a totally different life, a friend gave me a box of books. In that box were some books that I had owned and others that were on my list to buy.

ONE caught my eye. It was Dean DuVall's $100,000.00 in 90 Days report. I remember buying that for 10 bux and being hugely disappointed when I opened up the package. BIG TIME disappointed.

I quickly read the report, which was about doing a coupon program as a fund raiser...the exact same kind of information that Doug and Julie Nielsen used to create incredible profits from...and to later offer a KIT on HOW TO DO IT.

It wasn't the INFORMATION, it was ME not wanting to do it. In the back of the booklet was a little 4-6 page "BONUS" report that talked about buying and selling things...ding, ding, ding, the BELL went off.

And I DID exactly what MR. DuVall had written about. I didn't get 100 thousand in 90 days, but I got off the ground, brushed myself off and went about building a successful life doing what I wanted to do.

I've heard MAJOR criticism of that little "rip off" report from DAX...and from people who say: "It can't be done." Tell that to Julie and Doug.
OR about the BONUS report: "You can't really do that."

OH yea? I sent Dean DuVall my thanks...if you want to read it you can at www.daxfax.com.

That tiny little booklet that I had paid a measly 10 bucks for, and that I initially thought was a waste of money...turned out to be EXACTLY the kind of information that I could use...and DID USE to turn my life around.

To me the American Idol phenomenon is a reflection of our TIMES...the changing ones.

MILLIONS looking for a shortcut to what they perceive to be "happiness" or their personal Nirvana?... celebrity, fame and fortune??? perhaps.

While some of the biggest stars today have been OUT there, in the small bars, the smallest nightclubs, living on peanut butter and jelly...NOT begging anyone to make them an instant celebrity...NOT looking for the shortcuts...but doing what they LOVE to do...and doing it with enough conviction that fame and fortune just might find them no matter how badly they sing like Dylan.

Last year ONE person did a HOTSHEET. His name is Alan Bullington. Alan and his family sold over 30,000 bars of homemade milk soap they made in their rural kitchen at art and craft fairs.

After talking to Alan, I told him I thought he had a good FOUNDATION to build products on...millions of people dream about the rural lifestyle...and he started to develop his first INFORMATION product. A HOTSHEET.

From that he added a little report, and then a little bit more. A little bit at a time...at his OWN speed, which may have seemed like a turtle's pace at some points...but in less than a year he now HAS a product.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ear chQQfviZ1

I advise him to double the price..take it to 97 Alan. It is worth it and in fact even more. Alan and his family will use their lifestyle as the FRAMEWORK to build other information and HOW TO do it products around. And his next product won't take him as long.

BECAUSE he wasn't looking for a shortcut.

I have NO DOUBT that the Bullingtons will produce some remarkable Rural Living products and IF that is the path he continues on, will find success that he doesn't yet even fathom.

When part of your personal goals, your own lifestyle, is to help other people, it can be discouraging when the ones that ask for and in fact, even PAY FOR your help, won't do anything...but, that makes the people like Al Bullington so neat.

And there will be hundreds if not thousands of people who will benefit from and prosper from Alan's Soap Making Kit...and they will THANK him for taking the time, no matter how long it seemed to him...to SHARING his advice, advice that was tested and proven in the trenches...knowledge that worked...and maybe some of his customers will pass along their experiences to others...

because I know there are people who are willing to WORK for whatever success comes their way. If you ain't one of those...better check to see when American Idol is coming to YOUR town for audtions.

Gordon Jay Alexander

PS. My next Dylan post will focus on the Internet...and opportunities other than those that waste your time. OK?