Get ready cuz I’m taking the gloves off as usual. I’m gonna be straight to the point and cover the “good, the bad and the ugly” of my first year anniversary.

You’re probably wondering why I would do this…

Well, the answer is simple: I teach by example. I motivate others by example. I lead by example.

And you know what? I’m the example!

So now that the celebration is over, let’s get down to business…

First of all I want to recap real quick who I am, where I come from and how I became a Product Launch Manager.

Who I am: My name is Jeff (my friends call me Jefferson and it’s a long story…) Actually, it really isn’t so I’ll share it with ya cuz it’s a good story:

So in 1998, I was a junior at Umass Amherst and decided to do an international exchange to Brazil. I already knew how to speak Spanish fluently and had taken quite a few Portuguese classes. I met this other gringa, Lauren, in a Port Lit class and noticed that she spoke with a “funny” accent. You see, all my professors were from Portugal, Cape Verde or Los Azores so I learned the continental Portuguese accent. Lauren, however, spoke with this exotic, Brazilian accent that I wasn’t used to but damn did I like it! It also helped that Lauren had the biggest, most lushish lips that I always wanted to kiss and a nice ass.

Alright, sorry for going off on a tangent.

So let’s fast forward to Brazil: Here I am, this 22 year old gringo trying to figure out Brazilian Portuguese. I arrived only for the admission department to tell me, “Sorry, we’re on strike. It would be better if you go home.” Hahaha! Now, that was a good one. I stayed, went to the beach every day, learned Portuguese and Capoeira. Every time I went to Capoeira, I would introduce myself as, “Oiiii. O meu nome e’ Jeffy” cuz everything sounds like it ends in the letter “i.” It turns out that no matter how many times I said my name, the response always was, “Opa Jefferson. Tudo certo? E’ um prazer…”

For some reason, they didn’t have the name “Jeff” in their vocabulary. They substituted “Jefferson” and 12 years later I’m still called that even by non Brazilians.

Where I come from:

I come from just north of one of the saddest cities you’ll ever hear of in Massachusetts: Worcester. I was born there but luckily didn’t have to live there and got the hell out of there when I was 18. Right before I went to Umass, I did bootcamp and my MOS training with the Navy and became a reservist. There are too many stories to tell from my time with the Navy. All I’ll say is that I miss my buddy Ron and still wonder where Alina Marie Llamas wound up. She was a great gal. I was in love. She motivated me and kept me focused through bootcamp and the horrendous 3 months I had to spend in Gulfport, MI. I only ask God that he never send me there again. Amen.

Did you put your seatbelt on? I got a lotta shit to get through before I can tell ya how the hell I became a Product Launch Manager and what I learned from it…

Fast forward from active duty as a Seabee and you’ll find me back in Holden, MA. Yes, I’ve heard the joke already, “Ahhhh: Do you know Dick Hurtz from Holden?”

“Yeah. He was my fuckin’ neighbor.” Hahahaha. “No: You da funny one.”

I had to wait about four months before school started. Wanna now what I did in those four months? I bagged groceries at the “Big Y” supermarket until they fired me. Yeah, it’s tough to get fired from such a highly skilled job but I managed. You see, I didn’t talk to anyone while I worked. I still had my military haircut and a funny look in my eyes. I think the customers were scared. I’m sure my boss was scared wondering, “Is this kid gonna go postal on us?” The funny look everybody saw was pure and uncensored RAGE. Yeah: Kinda like that band “Rage Against the Machine.” I used to listen to them then. I was one mad mothafuckah. Let’s just say I joined the military for the wrong reasons and I was realizing that every morning that I woke up, went to work and came back home. I was so mad I thought I was going to explode. I signed my life away for 6 years as a Reservist in an attempt to help pay for school. To all you parents out there with kiddos: Do the math before Susy or Johnny signs up for the military to pay for school. If they wanna support our country for patriotic reasons, well, then, good for them.

Phew. So imagine an irate Jefferson who finally got the chance to get the hell out of Holden to go to Umass Amherst. That was in 1994. Let’s just sum it up like this: I loved my time at Umass. I walked away with an education and was a qualified Spanish and Portuguese interpreter. Most importantly, I met another love of my life, Diana, and have been with her ever since. That’s like 13 years with the same person and we still ain’t married. :)

Now I’ve packed my bags, graduated from Umass only to go to grad school in Georgetown. You see, I liked student life and wanted to be a student forever. That was until I woke up from this fantasy one day while walking down “M” street in DC. I’m walking out of Staples, where I had just photocopied about a 1000 pages of textbooks, only told them I made 50 copies, and was headed back to my apartment. I lied cuz I was flat out broke. I know that’s no reason to steal but “Forget about it!” for now. So here I am walking along one of the brick paved streets when I realized something… How I came to this realization at that moment will forever be a mystery but I’m sure being broke, becoming an insomniac from all the stress and eating poorly surely had something to do it. The fact that Diana was no longer being transferred from Boston to Bethesda to work also helped me make the decision to quit Georgetown after one measly semester that cost me $15,000 in Sallie Mae debt.

Bags are packed and I’m at the train station to go to the airport to catch a plane to Boston. I wasn’t alone though. There was this other girl there seeing me off. She had the most beautiful, brown Mexican eyes… We embraced, said goodbye and would keep in touch. I knew that whatever we had would be no more as I walked away to catch my train. That was a weird feeling that words simply can’t describe.

The train to the airport only took 45 minutes. I was on a plane to Boston.

Yeah. It’s Boston. The people are sooooo friendly (NOT), the cost of living in 2001 was super cheap (NOT) and I now had $25,000 of student debt to pay off between Umass and Georgetown. Yummy. Did you say stress? Really? Let’s add in the fact that I didn’t want to work for “the man” and you get a great mix. Here we go:

“They fired me today honey.”

“Fuck this shit. I quit.”

“I’m sorry Jeff, we’re gonna have to let you go because you’re overqualified for the position.”

If I got a quarter for every job I quit or got fired at, I’d be one rich man today.

That lasted from 2001 to 2003. Poor Diana: She has the patience of a saint. Thank you honey for being so understanding.

I spent 2003 to 2005 installing replacement windows. Thank you Kevin for not micromanaging me and trusting my work.

While I was replacing windows in 2004ish, I started getting my own construction gigs on the side. I learned quickly that the money I could make on my own was much greater than working for “Da man” so I eventually left in 2005 as a General Contractor. I knew that good ole Greenspan was pumping so much money and credit into the economy that people couldn’t spend it fast enough.

“Oh, yeah this kitchen remodel is gonna cost ya about $35K.”

“Ahhhh those windows will be $750 a pop.”

I grew fast as a GC and wound up hiring subs quickly. I worked almost exclusively with Brazilians cuz they invaded Boston as it grew. I made a good amount of money but got bored real fast cuz quite frankly, “You go babysit adults for as long as I did and you’ll go nuts before ya know it.”

It’s late one night and I’m reading about the state of the economy and that Greenspan (or was it Bernanke) decided to pull the plug on all the moolah that was being showered upon us. Those damn party poopers! Haha! I thought to myself, “Maybe this is a good reason to get the hell out of construction and do something more interesting. But what?”

The answer to be found was on Gary North’s website of all places. Yes, Gary is a bit of a whacko and extremist but he’s one smart dude when it comes to two things: 1) The real state of the economy and 2) He comes from a very strong direct response marketing background. It turns out that on the left hand column of his site is a “Marketing section.” When I dug deeper, I not only found what to do with my life but a treasure chest as well. Gary used to either work with or was a colleague of Jay Abraham. That name didn’t mean jack to me back then but after I read the 100^th marketing case study by a business owner that expanded because of Jay’s advice I became hooked.

I read and read and studied like a madman. I gobbled up everything I could find: ETR, John Carlton, Bob Bly, Eugene Scwhartz, etc. etc. Jeff Walker…

“Oh, did I sneak Jeff Walker in there?”

Yes I did.

I bought PLF 2.3 about a year ago and got so excited I almost hurt myself. On June 27^th, 2009 I made my first video: “General Contractor Drops Career Cold Turkey to Become a Product Launch Manager?!”

I launched my first product and made my first launch video that day. The client? There were 3 of them:

Me

Myself

And I

That’s who I launched and haven’t stopped for one second. No more Construction crap: Now I got one year under my belt as a Product Launch Manager and Internet Marketing Specialist.

So what have I learned and how can it benefit you?

I’ll tell ya and thanks for joining me up to this point:

1: I never compared myself to what the Gurus did. I deconstructed their launches, campaigns and marketing to pick the best of the golden nuggets from each one.

2: I study and continue to study what they do to learn what works and what trends are forming. If you know where they’re going before they get there, you can take that intel and act upon if faster then they can.

3: I published and publish my ass off like there’s no tomorrow. It has made me an expert and given me enormous amounts of authority and social proof for both my colleagues and my clients. Pick something…anything that fires you up and write about it. Don’t worry what people might say or do. JUST WRITE! I’ve positioned myself as a teacher, expert on avoiding Nightmare clients, trend analyst for Launches, professional interviewer and reviewer as well as being an overall insightful guy.

4: Pick your poison and use it to network. It may be Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Events, Speaking gigs or the telephone. “What? A telephone?”

Yes a telephone. Call people up. It has been my most effective strategy to meet and impress people. Do some research about them and write down 5 questions you can ask them about their work. Then pick up the phone and cold call ‘em. YES: Cold call them. It works.

5: Only believe 10% of what the Internet “Gurus” say about themselves and their product. I’ve been quoted as saying, “They’re so full of shit their eyes are brown.” The claims they make apply to less then 1% of their clients. PERIOD. This bring us to an important topic…

6: Are you willing to work harder, longer and for less pay then your spouse, kids and colleagues? You see, when I say only 1% of the population are getting good to advanced results I mean it. I’ve busted my balls working weekends, 12 hour days and applied as much as I could to advance myself. Am I there yet? No, but I’m getting there. There is no one “Magic Bullet” course that will miraculously create a business for you. Yeah, I know that’s obvious but is it? The courses and books are just tools. You need additional skills that they don’t train you in. For example,

a) Have you ever started a business from scratch before? If not, learn how first. Interview people who have cuz it won’t cost you a penny.

b) Do you have a spouse that will support you during your learning period? I’ve spent one whole year full time learning and applying what I’ve learned. I intend to spend more time getting me to my goals.

c) How much savings do you have? Does your spouse make enough to cover yoa ass while you’re learning your new profession?

d) How much is your new profession going to cost you and how long will it take to pay it off?

e) Do you have any experience in construction? You probably think I’m kiddin’… I’m not. I knew how to build shit before I jumped ship as a GC to become a Product Launch Manager.

7: Learn who your potential enemies are first and your colleagues second.

8: Even though I’ve learned how to do Product Launches I don’t try and do every part of them. I do what I’m best at and sub the rest out just like I did when I was a General Contractor.

9: Never stop taking action. I’m no smarter, quicker or more handsome than anybody else. I simply take massive action every single freakin’ day.

10: Patience + Persistence + Determination = UNSTOPPABLE

That’s it dude. That’s what I learned in a year in a nutshell.

I hope it serves you well. My intention was to give you a review of my own life since I dropped my construction toolbelt a year ago. I wound up actually covering a lot more of my life then just the past year but I did it to share a bit more of my personal side. If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that my teaching and sales style is most effective through sharing stories. So enjoy the story. Enjoy the lessons learned.

But most importantly, APPLY them to your own life so that you can achieve your own goals faster with less stress and aggravation.

Good luck. Rock on and take massive action.

peace

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