You Can’t Learn to Ride a Bicycle at a Seminar
I received a newsletter from Perry Marshall today (author of the Definitive Guide to Google AdWords) and he shared some really good insights that I thought I’d pass on.
“You can’t learn to ride a bicycle at a seminar.”
It really doesn’t matter what aspect of life we’re talking about, there’s an enormous difference between learning from a guru and actually doing it yourself. The bottom-line truth about really talented marketers comes down to one word.
Just one.
That word is: TESTING.
If you don’t test - if you don’t develop an idea, run it up the flagpole and see who salutes, with hard numbers and percentages - you really don’t know anything.
If you DO test - then you know what you know. And nobody can argue with you. That’s all there is to it.
Does long copy work or is short copy better? Should I have a sales letter website or a traditional one? Should I price this at $500 or $1000? Should I use a soft-sell approach or is hard-sell better?
The answer to every question is: test and find out.
The point is that you can read and learn and read and learn and never really know what you should be doing. It all comes down to action. It comes down to being willing to try something even if there is a possibility of it failing.
Have you ever been held back because you thought that something might not work? Have you ever been afraid to put $100 into a marketing campaign because there was a chance that you might make the money back, but there was also a chance that you might not?
I think all of us (myself included) have been in any of these situations before. The lesson that we have to learn at some point or another is that at times you have to be willing to take the step, even though it might fail. And even then, you can still learn from what happened and do better on the next step you take!
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on January 8th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
I totally agree, testing, especially in the field of Internet Marketing is highly crucial. There are always metrics and factors that arise that may require further testing. Testing is done in all sciences, it is the way we tweak methods, in pursuit of success.
on January 9th, 2008 at 6:03 am
Nice inspiring article. Great work. Learning from the failures is the best think you can do.
on January 9th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
To achieve what you want, take ACTION! If you don’t try, how would you know, right? There’s always a success in the end… Don’t be afraid to take the risk…
on January 10th, 2008 at 3:42 am
Absolutely right. One thing is test - without test one can’t develop an idea, Thanks for the article.
on January 10th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
We have been to several seminars that really get you pumped up to do something. Of course you actually have to do something or else it is all for naught!
on January 10th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
I agree with David! Taking action is a must if you want to be successful. Too many people get online and then do nothing other than spend their money on all those crappy How To Make Money ebooks.
on January 11th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
The adage of “test, test, test” is especially true with SEO. I’m staggered at how much of the stuff I’ve read about SEO turns out to be complete bulldust once put to stringently controlled testing.
on January 12th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
It doesn’t matter how many times and how well someone explain to you certain tasks, you’ll never experience the real thing until after you decide to do it yourself. Thanks for sharing. Javier.-
on January 13th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Testing is a constant. Not only when you’re a beginner, learning a new tool, but even when you’re an “expert”. I’m constantly learning from testing campaigns, ad text, positions, etc.
on January 15th, 2008 at 5:28 am
I’ve got friends who have loads of idea but they just ignore it every single time we speak about it..
It’s crucial to see whether it works o not, like my online venture, eureka!
on January 16th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Perry hit the nail on the head - and this applies to so many aspects of the web - design, conversions, marketing, even seo.
on January 16th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Try and try until you succeed! It doesn’t matter how many times you fall, what’s important is that you stand up again and face all the challenges that comes your way..
what you have learn is useless, unless you won’t try doing so…
on January 17th, 2008 at 2:41 am
No risk no reward! Or so they say.. you have to take the plunge or you will never know.
on January 17th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
If you try and test, then you will know the answer if it’s right or wrong..
on January 18th, 2008 at 8:03 am
The result of testing is not always same.It can varry.
on January 19th, 2008 at 11:25 am
I totally agree, testing, especially in the field of Internet Marketing is highly crucial.
on January 20th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
This is so true! You need to get off your rear and start to take some action.
We are often times guilty of over studying and over analyzing things without putting them into action. This is something that we are working on starting now!
on January 21st, 2008 at 8:41 pm
like they say. no pain, no gain. nice post.
on January 21st, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Knowledge + Inaction is a true shame. We all have been guilty of it, but those of that succeed have realized we are being lazy and have made the change!
on January 22nd, 2008 at 2:08 pm
This is a very true article! You can sit thru all of the seminars that you want, but with out actually testing it out, the seminar is nothing but words.
It’s what you do, not what you think about doing!
on January 22nd, 2008 at 10:14 pm
You must take some courage to try something. What you have learned is useless, if you just keep it in your mind and if you don’t try.
on January 23rd, 2008 at 7:14 am
Absolutely right. One thing is test - without test one can’t develop an idea, Thanks for the article.
on January 23rd, 2008 at 10:10 am
Nice article! Totally agree with you testing is the key. I think you never finish “testing” a PPC campaign
on January 24th, 2008 at 8:55 am
I must say; nice inspiring article. Great work. Learning from the failures is the best think you can do.
on January 28th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
When I first started email marketing just over a year ago, I attended a seminar that did a lot to help me get a firm understanding of what some leaders our space were doing with their email programs and sparked several ideas that I could implement right away. Sure, you learn to ride a bike by doing it, but you can learn good places to ride and riding techniques from experts.
on January 29th, 2008 at 12:35 am
I am a Google Adwords qualified professional and i talk to at lot of different persons every day - and I really can see the difference between the boss who dares and the one thas dosnt ….
on January 30th, 2008 at 2:50 am
Great post! Surely you can learn from an expert, however, the best teacher would be your experience! It doesn’t matter if you fail.. What matters is you’ve learned, when you tried, you did not learn through theories of other people… You learned because you’ve experienced it.
on January 31st, 2008 at 5:58 pm
no hard work , no results , inspiring post thanx
on February 1st, 2008 at 4:51 am
Nice post. Truly said, experience is everything.
on February 1st, 2008 at 7:44 am
Great article! I learned it the hard way that no amount of theoretical knowledge (seminars) will make you equally good as someone with experience. Keep up the good work!
on February 2nd, 2008 at 12:46 am
One cant do anything without doing it on its own. Unless and untill you test yourself whether you can do it or not, you cant be confident.
on February 5th, 2008 at 9:32 am
truer words have never been spoken. get out there and attempt things.
on February 5th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Even more then money you need to invest time. You have to try many different approaches and carefully track them all.
on February 7th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I 100% agree with you. You wont learn anything at seminars if you don’t try and practice it. And of coz it wont come overnight.
on February 8th, 2008 at 4:59 am
Not everyone has the guts to shell out money and time for something that may or may not work. That’s why you have entrepreneurs and people who work for these wizards
Well, of course some unfortunate people also loose so much while “testing” that they never rebounce, so one has to strike a balance.
on February 19th, 2008 at 2:09 am
Yup, you have to go for it. Consider the risks, but do not fear them.
on February 20th, 2008 at 6:09 am
You can not be the timid type and really do well in internet marketing. You have to experiment, and be ready to change your strategy at a moments notice. It’s ok to go to seminars for ideas, but be ready to experiement on your own.
on February 20th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
The truth is, a seminar is a lead generation tool. How many seminars have you been to where they didn’t try to sell you something on the back end? Granted, there are some very motivational seminars, but the majority of them either cost a boat load to attend or they are “free” on one condition, that you’ll sit through a sales pitch or give your name, email and whatever else so they can “follow up”. As long as you’re aware of this going in, they aren’t terrible.
on February 26th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Great post
To learn to ride that bike you have to get on,push off and at some time take your feet off the ground.Then and only then will you be riding YOUR bike
Rich
on February 27th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
About 6 months ago I was at a Real Estate seminar, one of two that I have attended. I met a lady who seemed to know a lot about investing. She told me that over the last two years she had spent over 100k on seminars. I asked her how many properties she owned and she told me 2.
That’s all I have to say about that.
Stefan
on March 27th, 2008 at 11:23 am
After just participating in my first webinar, I couldn’t agree with you more. It was labeled as an “advanced” seminar, yet people were still commenting throughout that it was above their head and asking questions about implementation of some items. If you aren’t already experienced enough, or know how to “ride the bike”, seems a lot of seminars will go right over your head.
on April 7th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Hi Dan.
Great article! I fully agree with you about the need to test and find out! So many times we are hindered by our fears, but if we can learn to make ourselves willing to take steps, and treat failing (should that happen) as a learning experience, at least we are moving forward and gaining knowledge. And that’s a great feeling!
Kyrie Bridgwater
on May 28th, 2008 at 5:34 am
You can allways learn stuff .. the day you stop learning is the day you stop progressing…
on June 2nd, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Great great point here. I think the next step after trying is “if at once you don’t succeed, try and try again”! There is never any failure, just discovery of how not to do something.
on June 5th, 2008 at 1:49 am
Agreed, really inspiring article and interesting read. Thansk for sharing.
on June 7th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Excellent read. I totally agree. You will never learn, if you don’t get out there and try it yourself. Stop listening to other people and start listening to yourself
on July 6th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
great post! I agree with you 100% on this one!
on July 24th, 2008 at 12:42 am
I agree to you. Applying what you hear and read is a different scenario.
on July 25th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
this is so true. i’m guilty of too much study and not enough doing stuff.
on August 11th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
This is so true. I’ve read so many conflicting views about how to do internet marketing. It all comes down to testing and finding out what works best for you.
on August 13th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
I use google website optimizer. Its a great tool for testing keywords on your site.