System Seminar 2008 | Takeaways Include Aim Low Get High

I’m a member. You’re probably not. So, I can’t share all the details with you about what I learned at The System Club’s annual members-only meeting.

But, I can share my review and takeaways and you can listen to The System Seminar Internet Marketing interviews for free [affiliate link].

Start With Stories

Ken McCarthy, The System Seminar’s founder, opened the meeting with an invitation: take seven minutes and share a success story. In all, 22 people took the microphone to talk about what they’re working on. Beginners held up threads of ideas. Accomplished marketers demonstrated the power of persistence. I talked about how we need to teach others what we know, which is – as you know – what we do here. What do you need to know more about?

Help Out Weird People Like You

An amusing speaker, Howie Jacobson, PhD author of AdWords for Dummies, said his gift is to be easily annoyed at repetitive tasks. When challenged with a problem, he suggests you see if it’s an opportunity to develop a solution to help other people. If you’re annoyed when you experience a weird or unusual situation, other people probably have the same problem. Search for SEO answers at Howie’s blog, Juggling AdWords for Fun and Profit.

Aim Low Get High

Martin Atkins, author of Tour Smart: And Break the Band presented on how to market music. An interesting choice for a speaker, Martin’s presentation was lively, edgy, entertaining and incredibly relevant. A few highlights . . . [hint: works better if you read in an English accent]

• The old model is DEAD build a new one: Radiohead gave away their music. If Radiohead can give away their album, what’s yours worth?
• Stop blaming anyone for anything. Everything is YOUR responsibility.
• Forget New York City and LA, move to Boise
• Focus your efforts on the line east of the Mississippi
• Pour gasoline on the sparks that exist wherever they are, not where you think they should be.
• It is no longer about selling 100 CDs to 1000 people, its about selling ten items to 100 people.
• You must have more than one t-shirt design. The question is not: would you like to buy a t-shirt? The question has to be: which one of these shirts are you going to buy?
• Always do more than any sane person would to make your show, your music, your career, succeed. Way more.
• Make cool stuff [word substitution for sh__]

At the end of his presentation, Martin tossed out blueberry muffins. What could you toss out that people would want to catch?

Where’s Your Video?

Len Naylor, of Screen Cast Profits closed the program by taking us back to the early days. Zooming into video’s on demand future, Len recommended many cool tools including SproutBuilder and Mogulus.

Add Your System Coverage Link

Did you live blog or write a review? Share your link in the comment section. Thanks to Kim Dushinski of Mobile Marketing Profits , who sent me a message on twitter while I was talking. Follow me on twitter @wiredprworks.

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