I’ve been back a few days now from Comic-Con 2010 in San Diego. And everybody’s asking, “What was the highlight for you?”
Was it the absolute geekout of Marvel Pictures’ onstage presentation of the Avengers cast?
Was it Harrison Ford’s first-ever appearance at the con?
Was it the screening of shocking footage from Dexter’s upcoming fifth season?
No, nah, nope…
For me, the high spot happened at a tiny booth lost among some 5,000 others in the main exhibit hall.
Malcolm McDowell signed autographs.
Malcolm freakin’ McDowell!
Alex from A Clockwork Orange, fer kryssakes!
Real horrorshow!
I’m talkin’ about the guy who portrayed Harry Flashman in Royal Flash, H.G. Wells in Time After Time, and Caligula in one of the worst movies ever.
You know, the dood who played the contemptible Linderman on Heroes.
McDowell is one of the very few cult icons I always hoped I’d meet someday.
So last Saturday for, oh, about 27 seconds, I finally stood before the great actor.
And I was so starstruck, I stammered, hemmed, hawed, and blathered inanities.
But McDowell gave me a malenky smile and said, “You’re very kind.”
How cool is that?
I’d felt like an idiot, but he made it OK.
It made me think of all the times I could’ve offered someone a compliment – but didn’t.
When did you last make a friend or family member — or a customer — feel better with a flattering remark?
It’s not so hard to do. And it sure pays off in building personal, and professional, relationships.
Anyway, if I ever see Malcolm McDowell again, I swear I won’t choke on my yarbles. I’ll say something real zammechat.
P.S. Don’t forget. There are LOTS of tips about building great business relationships in my book Fire-Up Your Cash Flow Over a Donut and Coffee, which is available as a free download.
Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series may be aimed at the “young adult” fiction market, but no kidding, it’s first-rate sci-fi.
And — surprise! — I’ve found a few business pointers in it.
If you get a chance, you ought to take a look.
The four novels — Uglies, Pretties, Specials, and Extras — foresee a day when an enforced operation at age 16 removes all physical differences and makes everybody “pretty.” Those “New Pretties” spend all their time partying, while younger “Uglies” pout enviously and play tricks on their elders.
Meanwhile, hidden communities of rebels who refuse the mandatory operations are busy recruiting members and dodging government enforcers, or “Specials.”
So what business lessons do these works of fiction offer?
Let’s see…
Beautiful packaging can’t conceal a genuinely bad or inferior product.
Beneath their striking good looks, the Pretties are shallow and somewhat insipid. And people, even Pretties themselves, generally know it.
Likewise, you won’t fool customers when you wrap second-rate merchandise in fancy clothes.
But you might piss ‘em off.
Don’t offer bad or inferior products.
Given a choice between similar products or services, customers will choose the one with the most unique selling proposition.
Even after turning Pretty, series protagonist Tally stands out distinctively from the crowd, because she fights the conformity forced upon her. She builds a tribe of fans by being authentically “Tally.”
Have you distinguished yourself as one of a kind among your competitors? Be sure you do.
When you separate yourself from the crowd, expect negativity and even hostility from your peers.
Tally’s greatest challenges come not from the authoritarian system but from her so-called friends. Her pretty friends resent her individuality, and her rebel comrades question her sincerity and loyalty.
I’ve talked about this before, but when you step outside the box and launch your own business ventures, most of your family and friends will try to discourage you.
They’ll ask why you wanna “rock the boat.”
They’ll offer lists of reasons why you won’t succeed.
You can count on that.
Ignore ’em.
But don’t ignore Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies novels if you’re a fan of good science fiction. Heck, you might like ’em even if you’re not a sci-fi geek.
Hey, I’m geekin’ out!
Fanboy Steve and I are here at Comic-Con in San Diego for our fourth consecutive year.
We’re shoulder to shoulder with 125,000 comic book, sci-fi, movie, and anime misfits. Many are dressed like Captain America and Green Lantern and Cthulhu and even (big sigh) Supergirl.
(Supergirl, by the way, doesn’t care if you take her picture but otherwise won’t give ya the time of day.)
There are hundreds of events. There are ongoing film festivals. There’s an enormous pavilion set aside for nothing but getting celebrity autographs.
But the really big deal at Comic-Con is the Exhibit Hall — 460,000 square feet of people promoting, giving away, and selling craploads of stuff.
You can go home with your trunk filled with free swag — posters, t-shirts, graphic novels — most of which you’ll probably unload at yard sales next spring.
A lot of that exhibit space, of course, is taken up by Warners, Marvel Comics, Fox, Dark Horse, all the biggies. But surprisingly, most of it’s used by little guys like us, trying to make money doing something we love.
There are comic book illustrators here with their portfolios. There are independent publishers. There are sellers of toys, gadgets, and old comic books. There’s a small booth I never miss visiting that’s dedicated to nothing but doodads associated with the stories of H. P. Lovecraft.
When I was a kid, Dad wondered why I’d waste time reading and collecting superhero comics. Mom begged me to clear out my tottering stacks of Tarzan and Doc Savage paperbacks.
But at Comic-Con, you’ll find thousands of folks who never really “grew up.” Instead, they found ways to build businesses out of their childhood passions.
It’s inspiring, really.
Ignore the naysayers. Charge at your dreams — http://www.wallyconger.com/rhinotactics.html — and you can find ways to earn a living from them.
Gotta run. Steve just spotted Bruce Campbell.
Heard about the problems that 1.7 million early buyers of the iPhone 4 are having?
Seems “the best smart phone in the world” (as Apple CEO Steve Jobs calls it) is a tad glitchy.
Its reception sucks. It dials randomly. It hangs up suddenly. It mutes like a mutha.
Doesn’t bother me, though.
I don’t have an iPhone yet.
You see, I seldom wait in front of the line for anything.
My cell phone looks like a walkie-talkie General Patton woulda used in WW2 fer kryssakes.
And if I hadn’t been swept up grudgingly in the march of progress, I’d be here at Starbucks with a vintage Smith-Corona portable typewriter on my lap.
Here’s the deal. In the marketplace, I live by the “burden of proof” maxim. I need plenty of evidence before I commit to most things.
And as I’ve mentioned before — http://www.wallyconger.com/fearlessfreelancing.html – so do a whole lot of your prospects and even current customers.
Maybe you should use testimonials in your sales letters.
Or provide more “content” and build more credibility in your niche.
Or develop tighter, more trusting relationships with your audience.
It always pays financially to provide proof.
And it always pays to offer it again and again.
After years building a reputation for reliability, Apple had fans standing in long lines for its iPhone 4. Now a disappointing product has Steve Jobs returning to the “burden of proof” principle to win back customer confidence.
There’s a lesson in Apple’s momentary fall from grace. Don’t miss it.
Remember that Dave Matthews song “Ants Marching”?
Sure you do.
When all the little ants are marching
Red and black antennas waving
I can’t get it outta my mind since I read about this…
Researchers in Texas propose controlling vicious fire ant populations with South African phorid flies.
The flies “dive-bomb” the ants and lay eggs on ’em. But here’s the really gross part.
Maggots hatch inside the ants and eat their brains until the ants show “zombie-like behavior” and stray from their mounds.
Then in a week or two, the fire ants’ heads all fall off.
Ugh!
Just imagine — tens of thousands of zombified fire ants, scurrying aimlessly until their craniums plop!
Ever felt like that?
I sure have.
For the longest time, whenever I’d wanna create a new business or product, I’d take forever getting started — if I ever got started at all. In fact, I’d do almost anything but get started. Why? Fear, anxiety, lack of confidence — coulda been any one or all of ’em.
Heck, it really doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’d waste a lot of time running around like, well, like a headless fire ant!
But I don’t do that anymore.
As internet coach Chris Farrell and I discussed in a recent audio report – http://www.wallyconger.com/takeyourfirststep – you can only release the anxiety that comes from not starting a project by…starting!
So today, just another little nudge from me.
Get started on whatever you’ve got waiting. And be sure to keep your head while you do.
Today’s my friend Scott Alexander’s birthday.
Scott’s the author of the popular Rhinoceros Success books. And you might recall my high-energy interview with him.
So how does a rhino celebrate his birthday?
Well, Scott took his camper van and charged into the 116-degree Arizona desert last week with his boys. And, not surprisingly, he returned with an inspirational story. But I’ll let Scott tell it.
“We found the most beautiful desert landscape I have ever seen,” he says. “It had everything I love — boulders, cactus, agaves, yuccas, lots of lizards, snakes and miles of dirt paths to explore.
“At one point in our exploration, we came to a sandy river wash in the VW van. Hmmm…that sand looks kinda deep, I thought, as I came to the edge of the wash. Slowly and cautiously, I started to drive across. “Slowly and cautiously” was my mistake. The back wheels started spinning and the van sunk into the sand.
“Yikes! No phone cell reception to call AAA. We tried digging it out, but that only made it deeper. As we started to gather sticks to put under the wheels, I found a board out in the sandy river. This is why I believe in God. Miracles happen! We broke the board into four strips and set them under the wheels as we made our way to the other side.
“On the way back, instead of approaching with caution, I got into 2nd gear and sped across the sand, making it with no problem.
“Sometimes, proceeding with caution is not the right way to approach something — like a goal, a dream or life. Rhinos charge full speed ahead and things move out of the way. I must admit that I am embarrassed about my initial hesitation on crossing the sand. I was acting like a cow. But I learned my lesson and I got a blog post out of it.
“If you are trying to get somewhere, if you want to accomplish something, if you want to make a change, go full speed ahead! Be a charging, snorting rhinoceros! Well, the snorting is optional, but I recommend it.”
Shame on me. It’s Scott’s birthday, and I’ve let him do all the heavy lifting today.
Hell, the least I can do is offer a couple of celebratory rhino jokes. Here’s one…
What should you do if a rhino charges you?
Pay him!
One more and I’m outta here.
What do you do to a rhino with three balls?
Walk him and pitch to the elephant!
Sorry. I’ll catch ya later.
