The Student Becomes the Master 🏛️

You're not your mentor, you're better

I was at a conference earlier this month in Mexico, and I said something that even caught me off guard.

It was in reference to something I learned from a “guru” I considered a mentor when I was starting my Jeffalytics business, which I have iterated on and improved 10x since then. 

Pretty sure it had something to do with a way of structuring a company back when “offices” were a thing… 

Anyway, I caught myself feeling nostalgia about how simple things were when that guru wrote about how to run a business back then.

Before Zoom took off. Before the pandemic. Before you could hire amazingly competent contractors on 6 continents. 

It made me realize how far things have come. Where a revolutionary idea 20 years ago became my evolutionary fact that I didn’t even consider. 

“His life’s work to create that book, that’s my Tuesday in 2024”

Yet at that same conference, I ran into many struggling agency business owners who were getting inside their own heads about where they stand in the world of business.

“Sure, Jeff, your agency did great, but I’ll never be able to do what you did.”

What they don’t realize is that this is comparing apples to alligators. My agency business grew 10-15 years ago using the tools of the time. 

If we wanted to train a Google AdWords specialist, I had to do it from the ground up and pay them a premium to stay. 

Now, you can go onto UpWork or Jobrack.eu and find hundreds of qualified candidates who are ready to help you from all over the world.

It’s never been easier to find talent and grow margins in business.

It’s never been harder to stand out from the crowd if you’re undifferentiated. 

But the one thing that always remains the same is relationships. 

Creating a relationship with a potential client who has a budget to afford you makes you “one of one” in the prospect's eyes. 

There's a reason you're on that sales call right now, selling an opportunity, and the guru isn't. 

You're a better fit for this situation. It's your relationship, and you earned the right to make a proposal. 

You're not the person you looked up to anymore. 

You're better… at least for this opportunity

And if you suck at sales? You can always buy a copy of my new book, Service Stacking!