What do you think of this idea? Looking for feedback.....

There were some great ideas there too! Thanks very much for those great ideas.... There seem to be a lot of "positive vibes" about this.... :)

Yes, I think it'd be great to interview people who are successful in different walks of life.... and definitely I want to strive for a balance of male and female success stories too....

Sorry it took me a while to write this (brief) response, I had a bout with food poisoning or gastroentiritis or something like that after eating out, and spent the last 24 hours or so mostly in bed.... But fortunately the worst of it seems to be behind me now.... (Not completely well yet but getting there....)

Hope you have a great Labor Day.... :)

Cheers,

Dien

Hi Sandy!

> Excellent idea!
> I'd like the ideas of interviews with a
> cross section of people-not just interview
> marketers...some interview marketers would
> be ok...but it would be much more
> interesting
> if you bring successful people who are not
> necessarily online also...

Thanks, I'm glad you like the idea.... Yes, I think it'd be great to have a good cross-section. I was even thinking successful athletes would be good as well....

....I'm here in Sydney right now, and the Olympics are only 9 or 10 days away.... Maybe I can sneak in with my tape recorder and interview as I'm chasing the athletes along the track and over the hurdles? :)

(Okay, just kidding about that, that's probably not a real option...)

> You certainly would get a lot of promotional
> benefits by inviting people from offline...
> I'm not sure if you've seen some of the
> issues of "O"(oprah) magazine but she
> does in depth interviews and it's very popular.

I haven't seen it, but I'll go check it out.... Oprah is an expert, and she's also an admirable woman (in my opinion).... Her story is a true "rags to riches" story which is very inspirational, and the stories she has on her show are very inspirational too.... I'll have to watch more Oprah and check out her magazine too.... :)

> Another good thing would be to keep the
> interviews in archives online.
> I just love this idea. I think it would add more
> dimension to the message board because it would
> stimulate deeper discussions...

Thanks for the suggestions!

Yes, I think both an archive and having them on the message board would be great.... It would be great to also discuss them, and see how they affected us, and how we interpreted what they said.... We may also have different interpretations, and we can learn from each other....

> Another advantage is for the people who come to
> the message boards who have businesses but they're
> still in the process of developing their websites.
> This would give us a chance to hear about their
> products etc and thus many might be stimulated
> to buy from them directly offline.

Yes, that's a great idea too!

> One person I'd like to hear from is
> Helen Gurley Brown...she has a new biography
> out...she was one of the first major women
> copywriters...often people don't talk about
> her...she's the chief editor of the
> international division of "cosmopolitan
> magazine"..

I'll definitely look into it.... Like I said, I wouldn't be surprised if (at least at first) I get a lot of rejections for every success, but if nothing else I can be persistent (in a polite way), so we'll see what we can do.... :)

> I'd also like to hear some of the people Gordon
> mentioned in another post as his inspiration.

> You know I spend a lot of time on line reading
> the interviews from ivillage,amazon and barnes
> and nobles...it's a fun thing to do...you might
> want to start with some of those people as well
> since they are use to the format of interviews
> on line...

> I can't wait!

Actually, Sandy, could you point me more specifically to these places to look at (either in email or in a post).... I need to do some more research, and you seem to know what you're talking about.... :)

Thanks for your suggestions, they've been great! :)

Dien

> Great idea Dien, a modern day Napoleon Hill
> I presume, look forward to the outcome of
> your first interview.

Hi Peter,

That's a great way to think about it.... me.... Napoleon Hill resurrected....

Thinking about that has got my ego growing.... I better get some cold water to dunk my head in before it gets TOO big.... :)

Thanks Peter for the feedback! :)

Dien

Hi Richard,

> I once thought of writing a book on how to
> do interviews as you've described, because
> I've done a few ... but then I found there's
> a book already written. If you don't have
> it, you should get it, because it's really
> good.

> It's "How To Create A Product In 3
> Hours That Customers Want To Buy" by
> Don Bice, available at the link below.

Richard, thanks for the recommendation to what must be a great product!

By the way, for those who are interested, so far there's been excellent feedback on Remote Hypnosis -- but you gotta do your own pictogrigms. I'll be writing more on this soon.... :)

Cheers,

Dien

> do it. The people making money quietly
> without fanfare will be most interesting
> interviews - no doubt a challenge to get to
> talk, but informative when they do!

Thanks Bob.... Yes, that's how I feel too....

Actually, part of my inspiration is a book called "Tactics: The Art and Science of Success" by Edward de Bono.

I have a copy of this book, and I've found it an inspiration for a long time. Here's de Bono's brilliant idea.

In his book, he interviewed 50 successful people (mostly British), and took elements from the various interviews and separated them into different categories under different chapters (Opportunity, Focus, Risk, etc.)....

However, I think de Bono's book doesn't have a great appeal outside of the UK, because most people outside of the UK wouldn't recognize the names. (I recognize some of them, because in Australia we get a lot of both UK as well as US influences....)

While I wasn't planning to separate elements of the different interviews into categories, that could be a future possibility once there are enough interviews to work with.... The basic idea however is to inspire visitors to Sowpub to try to achieve new heights.

Thanks for the encouragement, Bob. :)

Cheers,

Dien

Hi Julie!

> What a terrific idea! Yes, you may get SOME
> rejections, but I am holding the thought and
> intention that the people you DO get to
> interview are exactly the right mix.

That's a great thought.... I think your thought is right! :)

> Like Sandy wrote in another post here, the
> thought of "Non Marketers" goes a
> long way, too, although that is sort of a
> misnomer. After all, we are all marketers of
> some sort.

That's true.... I'd like to write out the following story in more detail some time....

A couple years ago, I spent some time visiting a relatively young (mid-30s) yet very fast-rising physicist. When I meet successful people, I try to always ask them some advice about how to be successful too.... And so I asked him for his advice. Here's what he told me.

His answer was a "marketing" answer -- though he didn't say the word "marketing", that's essentially what his answer was. "Marketing" is also important to become a great physicist too. I'll tell the story in greater detail soon here on the forum.... :)

It shows how truly universal this topic is....

> People love reading stories, so I would love
> to read people's interviews as stories....I
> am sure that is a part of your plan....and I
> know I would surely come back repeatedly if
> I knew a new Bio was being
> posted/uploaded/what have you.

Thanks Julie.... I'm a big lover of stories too.

Some of my favorite "business" books are in fact stories and parables.... For example, "The Richest Man in Babylon" or even "Rich Dad Poor Dad."

And we know that the greatest teachers taught in parables.... I'm sure you know what I'm referring to. There's a lesson there.

> And then who knows? You might interview your
> way to a new product of some sort?!

Yes, that's a great idea! :)

Thanks Julie, your Passion is infectious! :)

Dien

> This is a KILLER idea that *automatically*
> puts you in a class by yourself, once you do
> it!

Thanks Paul, that's the idea.... We don't want to be the "same old, same old".... But something fresh exciting and new.

Thanks for the feedback! :)

Dien

Greetings, Dien!

> A couple years ago, I spent some time
> visiting a relatively young (mid-30s) yet
> very fast-rising physicist.

****I should say that is EXCEEDINGLY young....PERFECTLY youthful, MAGNIFICENTLY timed.....(can you tell I realized earlier today in less than six months I will be....in my very late thirties?!)

> And we know that the greatest teachers
> taught in parables.... I'm sure you know
> what I'm referring to. There's a lesson
> there.

****Absolutely, Dien! A fantastic creativity exercise is to look at everything as a metaphor. Look at "things" and see the various ways you can use these "things" to illustrate life's lessons and challenges.

Have a Stellar Evening! And take a peek at my site's new look! Not completely done, but I think it is attractive!

With Purpose and Passion,

JULIE




5 Passions has a New Look!

Some (most) of the success stories I've seen lately make my blood boil.

Some person will be held aloft as some kind of knight in shinning armour to the struggling masses of entrepreneurs. And yet, in reality, this person is not an entrepreneur at all. All they are is a lottery winner.

Do you remember Poppy King... the young "entrepreneur" who came from obscurity into the cosmetic limelight?

Fraud. Her parents funded everything and used all the contacts THEY already had in business. She did bugger all to make Poppy happen.

Calvin Klein? Borrows $100,000 from a friend to start. Um, well excuse me, but what's that in today's money? $1M? $2M? And he borrows that from a friend? A friend who is a business partner. So this guy was already successful and lends the equivalent of over a million dollars and does nothing? I think not.

I like reading Ben Suarez's story, bar one part. That part? Where he gets $80,000 worth of free advertising because the ad agency will fund it.

Heard of FUBU clothing label? They started off making their gear in the basement of their house. I love the story of their beginning. But what made them take off was having Ivander Hollyfield wear one of their t-shirts. How did that come about? They sent him a t-shirt. So the question then is, out of all the hundreds (maybe thousands) of companies who sent him t-shirts, why wear the FUBU one? Obviously he liked it and so wore it. But why FUBU in particular?

There'll be some "successful internet entrepreneurs" show. And the show will be about some twenty something person who's the CEO of some 100 million dollar dot com. And there'll be much rejoicing. Question? How did that come about? Oh, mum and dad just happened to have a whole bunch of "connections" and.... well... tell me no more.

All I'm saying is... I don't like seeing someone heralded as a brilliant entrepreneur when their success was either like winning the lottery and had nothing intrinsically to do with them. Or, those who are "heads" under someone else's (mum, dad, already established successful businessman, etc.) expertise.

Do something based on your experience, fine. Work some wonderful deal to do with something, fine. Come from nothing to be a roaring success, fine.

But be a "silver spoon" success, then not fine. That's not what I call true entrepreneurialism.

I like to see the story of the guy who did it all. The one who got off their butt and made it happen.

Something like,

Some guy loses his job, goes and starts a "paint house numbers on gutters" business. Then takes the profits from that and invests them into something else and makes a success of that. And so on.

Okay, so this may come across as a sort of bitterness. It's not. I don't begrudge success not matter what the reasons. But I appreciate true talent. And am sick and tired of talentless people being held aloft as something to aspire to.

Take ELO... they wrote the songs, wrote the music and sang the songs. Heck, Lynn even learned to be a producer. THAT is talent in my eyes.

Some put-together band of people with no singing talent, who are handed songs to sing and whose voices are modified during recording, is not talent.

Form a strategic alliance and leverage from that, fine. You're an entrepreneur. But to take credit for, or be given credit for, things that are not a result of your entrepreneurial spirit, then not fine.

Think Kerry Packer... the media mogul. Sure he's a success. But didn't he inherit the newspapers his father already owned?

I like to read about success which came about from creative-intelligence and not already established nepotism, or flukes that can't be duplicated.

Why?

Because most people don't have those same nepotistic contacts and most people don't win the lottery.

I'm reminded of something I read on a screenwriting website. The site's owner was discussing some of the workshops other writers put on and ran this scenario...

Someone in the audience asks, "So how did you get Steven Spielberg to become involved in your movie idea?"

And the writer says something like, "I was on the backlot at Warner Bros and just bumped into him. We got to talking. One thing lead to another and I gave him a copy of the script I always carry around."

The above sounds good, right? But as the site's owner says... HOW did this writer get onto the backlot in the first place??? It's a situation most other aspiring screenwriters cannot duplicate until after they're a success.

I want to read the story of the guy who starts with $2,000 of his own money and no more. Not the guy who starts with $2,000 and then borrows $100,000 from friends and relatives.

I want to read the story of the guy who comes up with an idea, goes out and forms a strategic alliance and then succeeds. Not the guy who uses already established nepotism, either formed from previous success or parents, to forge ahead.

I want to hear stories like those of Ita Buttrose - starts as the coffee girl come gofer and works her way up the ladder one rung at a time to be the head. Not the one who is given the head job because of a friend of a friend or because the parents own the thing.

Sure I like reading about the guy who bought a $50,000 business and turned it into a million dollar business within 12 months. But, where did the spare $50,000 come from in the first place?

If the spare $50,000 came from real-state profits after a sale, then how did the initial purchase come about?

Was it a "no money down" deal? Was the purchase price funded from retirement lumpsum payments from a previous job? Was it inherited? Can someone else do the same thing?

That's what it really comes down to... can someone else do the same thing? Is it able to be duplicated if someone else sets their mind to it?

All passed on knowledge is valuable. And I do enjoy reading about the exploits of successful people even if their success can't be duplicated by others (like Donald Trump who grew up in the construction business for example). But for mine, the true entrepreneurial underdog is what I enjoy reading about the most.

HA! Migrant Success. :o)

Michael Ross.

Paul Hawkins...
Ben & Jerry's(before the sell out of the business)
Mary Kay(she's heard she had a stroke but still might be open to an interview via internet)
A.G. Gaston(southern entrepreunership)
John Johnson(Johnson's publishing)
Terry Williams(from social worker to one of the
largest minority owned P.R. agencies)
Dave Thomas ( from orphan to major food)
Horace Mars (creator of mars candy)
Spike Lee( film producer, beginning business
financed by credit cards)
Percy Ross( philanthropist)
Iyanla Vanzant( writer, author, seminar leader
from welfare to school to motivational speaker)
Diana Ross
Mark Mathabane( infamous south african author
of "The Kafir Boy" lives in South Carolina)
Maya Angelou

Wally Amos( past owner of Famous Amos cookies;
and doing other things now & might be open to
interview on line)

Anyone else care to offer others...Another thing
I'd like to add is the interview can also be
with people who have overcome great mental,
physical and social obstacles and were able to
become prosperous(not just materially but
spiritually as well.)

Dave Dravecky
Vance Armstrong
Jackie Joyner Kersee
Ronan Tynan( opera singer)
Dr. Ben Carson( infamous children's neurosurgeon)

Maybe this post will spark some others to
offer Dien some names for possible interviews
on this site....

------

Some (most) of the success stories I've seen
> lately make my blood boil.

> Some person will be held aloft as some kind
> of knight in shinning armour to the
> struggling masses of entrepreneurs. And yet,
> in reality, this person is not an
> entrepreneur at all. All they are is a
> lottery winner.

> Do you remember Poppy King... the young
> "entrepreneur" who came from
> obscurity into the cosmetic limelight?

> Fraud. Her parents funded everything and
> used all the contacts THEY already had in
> business. She did bugger all to make Poppy
> happen.

> Calvin Klein? Borrows $100,000 from a friend
> to start. Um, well excuse me, but what's
> that in today's money? $1M? $2M? And he
> borrows that from a friend? A friend who is
> a business partner. So this guy was already
> successful and lends the equivalent of over
> a million dollars and does nothing? I think
> not.

> I like reading Ben Suarez's story, bar one
> part. That part? Where he gets $80,000 worth
> of free advertising because the ad agency
> will fund it.

> Heard of FUBU clothing label? They started
> off making their gear in the basement of
> their house. I love the story of their
> beginning. But what made them take off was
> having Ivander Hollyfield wear one of their
> t-shirts. How did that come about? They sent
> him a t-shirt. So the question then is, out
> of all the hundreds (maybe thousands) of
> companies who sent him t-shirts, why wear
> the FUBU one? Obviously he liked it and so
> wore it. But why FUBU in particular?

> There'll be some "successful internet
> entrepreneurs" show. And the show will
> be about some twenty something person who's
> the CEO of some 100 million dollar dot com.
> And there'll be much rejoicing. Question?
> How did that come about? Oh, mum and dad
> just happened to have a whole bunch of
> "connections" and.... well... tell
> me no more.

> All I'm saying is... I don't like seeing
> someone heralded as a brilliant entrepreneur
> when their success was either like winning
> the lottery and had nothing intrinsically to
> do with them. Or, those who are
> "heads" under someone else's (mum,
> dad, already established successful
> businessman, etc.) expertise.

> Do something based on your experience, fine.
> Work some wonderful deal to do with
> something, fine. Come from nothing to be a
> roaring success, fine.

> But be a "silver spoon" success,
> then not fine. That's not what I call true
> entrepreneurialism.

> I like to see the story of the guy who did
> it all. The one who got off their butt and
> made it happen.

> Something like,

> Some guy loses his job, goes and starts a
> "paint house numbers on gutters"
> business. Then takes the profits from that
> and invests them into something else and
> makes a success of that. And so on.

> Okay, so this may come across as a sort of
> bitterness. It's not. I don't begrudge
> success not matter what the reasons. But I
> appreciate true talent. And am sick and
> tired of talentless people being held aloft
> as something to aspire to.

> Take ELO... they wrote the songs, wrote the
> music and sang the songs. Heck, Lynn even
> learned to be a producer. THAT is talent in
> my eyes.

> Some put-together band of people with no
> singing talent, who are handed songs to sing
> and whose voices are modified during
> recording, is not talent.

> Form a strategic alliance and leverage from
> that, fine. You're an entrepreneur. But to
> take credit for, or be given credit for,
> things that are not a result of your
> entrepreneurial spirit, then not fine.

> Think Kerry Packer... the media mogul. Sure
> he's a success. But didn't he inherit the
> newspapers his father already owned?

> I like to read about success which came
> about from creative-intelligence and not
> already established nepotism, or flukes that
> can't be duplicated.

> Why?

> Because most people don't have those same
> nepotistic contacts and most people don't
> win the lottery.

> I'm reminded of something I read on a
> screenwriting website. The site's owner was
> discussing some of the workshops other
> writers put on and ran this scenario...

> Someone in the audience asks, "So how
> did you get Steven Spielberg to become
> involved in your movie idea?"

> And the writer says something like, "I
> was on the backlot at Warner Bros and just
> bumped into him. We got to talking. One
> thing lead to another and I gave him a copy
> of the script I always carry around."

> The above sounds good, right? But as the
> site's owner says... HOW did this writer get
> onto the backlot in the first place??? It's
> a situation most other aspiring
> screenwriters cannot duplicate until after
> they're a success.

> I want to read the story of the guy who
> starts with $2,000 of his own money and no
> more. Not the guy who starts with $2,000 and
> then borrows $100,000 from friends and
> relatives.

> I want to read the story of the guy who
> comes up with an idea, goes out and forms a
> strategic alliance and then succeeds. Not
> the guy who uses already established
> nepotism, either formed from previous
> success or parents, to forge ahead.

> I want to hear stories like those of Ita
> Buttrose - starts as the coffee girl come
> gofer and works her way up the ladder one
> rung at a time to be the head. Not the one
> who is given the head job because of a
> friend of a friend or because the parents
> own the thing.

> Sure I like reading about the guy who bought
> a $50,000 business and turned it into a
> million dollar business within 12 months.
> But, where did the spare $50,000 come from
> in the first place?

> If the spare $50,000 came from real-state
> profits after a sale, then how did the
> initial purchase come about?

> Was it a "no money down" deal? Was
> the purchase price funded from retirement
> lumpsum payments from a previous job? Was it
> inherited? Can someone else do the same
> thing?

> That's what it really comes down to... can
> someone else do the same thing? Is it able
> to be duplicated if someone else sets their
> mind to it?

> All passed on knowledge is valuable. And I
> do enjoy reading about the exploits of
> successful people even if their success
> can't be duplicated by others (like Donald
> Trump who grew up in the construction
> business for example). But for mine, the
> true entrepreneurial underdog is what I
> enjoy reading about the most.

> HA! Migrant Success. :o)

> Michael Ross.