| I just got back from driving through the | | | | rock star on the planet. |
| hill country and listening to Dan | | | | What's this got to do with internet |
| Kennedy interview Gene Landrum. As a | | | | marketing, writing e-books, and running |
| "gold" member of Dan Kennedy's mentoring | | | | an international online business? |
| service, I get CDs every few weeks of | | | | EVERYTHING!!! |
| Dan, or his partner Bill Glazer, | | | | I think the most valuable benefit of my |
| interviewing a mega-successful | | | | internet marketing lifestyle is the |
| entrepreneur. | | | | people I get to hang out with. After |
| Lundrum gave Dan a delightful interview | | | | years of being a loner, I've got a "peer |
| full of amazing stories taken from his | | | | group!" |
| books. And he made me feel like I | | | | I get to hang out with Joe Vitale, who |
| belonged to a group, which is a feeling | | | | broke all the rules in the book |
| I don't get much- even when I'm hanging | | | | publishing business, and went to number |
| out with musicians. You'd be amazed at | | | | one twice on the national best-seller |
| how many artists and musicians are just | | | | charts- while the authors who played by |
| sitting around waiting to be discovered | | | | the rules sat around and complained. |
| while they continue to do the same thing | | | | I get to hang out with Cindy Cashman, |
| all the other musicians and artists are | | | | who made a million bucks by "writing" |
| doing. | | | | and promoting a blank book with a great |
| Losers, losing by following losers. Not | | | | title. |
| much of a plan, but it's pretty popular. | | | | I get to hang out with Craig Perrine, |
| Until I discovered the internet | | | | who has achieved amazing success by |
| marketing world, I felt like the only | | | | breaking the rules in the internet |
| square peg in a world of round holes. | | | | list-building business. |
| Listening to Dan's interviews makes me | | | | And there are many others- the internet |
| realize that I'm actually in good | | | | marketing is world populated with wild, |
| company- I'm a member of a group of | | | | intelligent, brave, and interesting |
| entrepreneurs who follow Sam Walton's | | | | people. |
| Rule #1. | | | | These are the mavericks- the square |
| Do you know Sam's "Rule #1?" He used it | | | | pegs- I'm honored to know them. |
| to build the most successful retail | | | | All my life, I've heard "get a REAL |
| business in history. | | | | job!" |
| Do you want to know the secret that he | | | | The miserable, gray people- the ones |
| used to make WalMart unstoppable? | | | | trapped in the job they hate (which, |
| Keep reading. | | | | according to Dan Kennedy's research, is |
| His "rule #1" has been my credo all my | | | | at least 2/3 of the population) wanted |
| life, and I've caught a great deal of | | | | me to join them in their misery. |
| shit for it- it turns out that Ayn Rand, | | | | Parents. Teachers. Unsuccessful |
| Thomas Edison, Frank Lloyd Wright, Henry | | | | musicians. Bosses (musicians have lots |
| Ford, H. Ross Perot, Donald Trump, | | | | of bosses- because we keep a day-job |
| Richard Branson, and most of my other | | | | just long enough to book gigs, then we |
| heroes had the same credo. | | | | move on). |
| Want to hear a story? | | | | Television- Trump and Branson have TV |
| Due to a bizarre and surreal series of | | | | shows, and that's a good start... but |
| circumstances, I found myself living the | | | | they're about hiring employees! The |
| life of a high-school drop-out street | | | | winners get a JOB! |
| hippie in 1973. I'd tell you the story, | | | | You can bet your momma's egg money that |
| but you wouldn't believe me. | | | | Donald Trump doesn't want a job. |
| Kafka's an amateur compared to East | | | | Richard Branson doesn't want a job. |
| Texas wingnuts- and I got on the wrong | | | | They didn't get where they are by |
| side of a town full of East Texas | | | | working for someone else. |
| wingnuts and had to quit high-school at | | | | I think they should award prize money to |
| 17. | | | | the contestant that tells Donald Trump |
| My best option at the time was to move | | | | to take a flying f**k at the moon, and |
| in with a house full of hippie musicians | | | | starts his own business. |
| in the Montrose area of Houston. It was | | | | The education factories- imagine what |
| shelter, and we usually could scrounge | | | | would happen if schools taught |
| food- Anderson Fair, a spaghetti | | | | entrepreneurship instead of |
| restaurant that featured folk music, | | | | wage-slavery? Our whole education |
| would feed us in return for a few hours | | | | system sucks lemons because it's based |
| of music, but only the zucchini | | | | on a 19th century model, and designed to |
| spaghetti. | | | | turn out workers- for jobs that haven't |
| You can live on zucchini spaghetti if | | | | been available in decades! Factories |
| you have to. | | | | that turn out waves of miserable, gray |
| We played strip clubs and gay bars. We | | | | people- suffering through the week and |
| played for peanuts- literally. | | | | living for the weekend. |
| After a year or so of this, on a hot and | | | | What would happen if they taught people |
| humid night, I accidentally drank a | | | | how to think, instead? |
| quart of mysterious tea, which caused me | | | | Family- here's the big one. Anytime my |
| to take a psychic time-out. When I came | | | | family gets together, I get to hear |
| back from visiting the red queen, I | | | | about how I'm the one who's always |
| realized I needed to go to college. | | | | "coloring outside the lines" from one of |
| So, I walked, in the early morning | | | | my relatives- he thinks he's insulting |
| hours, through the darkest, most | | | | me! |
| dangerous part of Houston, to the bus | | | | That's the thing I'm proudest of, and |
| station and took the bus home. I walked | | | | the key to my success. Nobody ever |
| into the house as my father was drinking | | | | accomplished anything important, or |
| his morning coffee and announced that I | | | | grand, or OUTRAGEOUS by coloring inside |
| was ready to go to college. | | | | the lines. |
| Skeptical, he suggested I get a job. | | | | Following the rules is for losers. |
| After a year or so of manual labor, I | | | | Did you notice the list of heroes I put |
| finally made my way to North Texas | | | | at the top of this article? They have a |
| University- on the strength of a good | | | | lot of things in common: |
| SAT score and a better audition with the | | | | 1. They didn't wait for permission to |
| piano faculty. | | | | be great- they just went ahead and did |
| After a year of cutting down trees, I | | | | it. |
| was probably the "buffest" piano major | | | | 2. They didn't worry about credentials |
| on the campus. While I was there, I | | | | or diplomas. Richard Branson has an |
| designed and -with the help of a physics | | | | eighth grade education. Frank Lloyd |
| major buddy of mine- created the first | | | | Wright had about three months of formal |
| laser light show in the southwest. We | | | | schooling. All educated successful |
| had a running engagement at the | | | | people, regardless of how much |
| Fort-Worth Museum of Science and | | | | "schooling" they have, are |
| History. | | | | self-educated. You can't trust the |
| After three years at NTSU, I sent an | | | | educators to educate you. |
| audition tape to the University of | | | | 3. They were OUTRAGEOUS! Branson and |
| Texas, and got accepted in their | | | | his hot-air balloons, and now space |
| graduate composition program. | | | | flights. Thomas Edison announcing the |
| I still hadn't gotten my high-school | | | | light bulb long before he actually had |
| diploma, technically, I was a | | | | created one. Everybody on that list |
| high-school drop-out going to grad | | | | listened to sage advice from the gray |
| school. | | | | people and called bullshit on it. Then |
| I loved college. I ended up with music | | | | they went on to create a better world. |
| and English minors, but that only tells | | | | 4. They made their own rules. And then |
| part of the story. I was a photography | | | | broke them. |
| major, studying under Gary Winnogrand. | | | | 5. They had grand failures, followed by |
| I studied journalism. I took art | | | | grand successes. |
| classes. I was in heaven. My degree | | | | I tell my clients at the Your Portable |
| plan was to not worry about getting a | | | | Empire University, and I'll tell you- |
| degree. I was getting an education. | | | | there ain't no such thing as failure. |
| After a few years, I got a glimpse of | | | | It's all data. To succeed BIG you may |
| the naked under-belly of the modern | | | | have to fail big. It's just a stretch |
| classical music world and didn't like | | | | of highway- you may have to go through |
| what I saw. A showdown with a famous | | | | some bad road to get where you're going. |
| composer during a seminar was the final | | | | The odds that we will be as successful |
| straw. | | | | as Thomas Edison or Richard Branson are |
| He accused me of prostituting my art by | | | | small, even if we try... but if we don't |
| making money writing commercials. What | | | | try, there's no chance at all. |
| a crock! This was the same guy who | | | | I'd rather fail big than live small, |
| financed his studio by doing | | | | wouldn't you? Especially knowing that |
| sound-effects for shampoo commercials. | | | | "failing big" is just a stop on the way |
| And some of the other ways he | | | | to "living large." |
| prostituted didn't have anything to do | | | | And what was Sam's "Rule #1?" |
| with his art. | | | | Here it is: "Break the rules." |
| I bailed on college, and joined a rock | | | | *************************************** |
| band. | | | | ************ Pat O'Bryan is the CEO of |
| Wouldn't you? | | | | Practical Metaphysics, Inc., Director of |
| A short time later, we were touring with | | | | the Milagro Research Institute, an award |
| Cheap Trick, Heart, ZZ Top, The Climax | | | | winning songwriter, recording artist, |
| Blues Band- it was a wonderful, | | | | visual artist, author, video producer |
| exhausting, amazing experience. | | | | and internet marketer. He is the host |
| At this point in my life, I was probably | | | | and promoter of the "Your Portable |
| the best educated high-school dropout | | | | Empire" Un-Seminars. |