Internet marketing years are like dog years… for every year you put in, you get out 7 years of wisdom and life experience. And I certainly got a dog year’s worth of experience last weekend.

I was in Orlando for the weekend with some of the top marketing minds in the word. Todd Brown had personally invited each of us to come out and learn from his 15 years of direct marketing experience.

Over the weekend, Todd distilled about 105 years of marketing savvy into 2 explosive days…

My biggest takeaway?

It was when Todd said “Do not ever underestimate the task at hand when it comes to moving prospects to buy.”

That one hit me in the gut.

Why?

Think about how you judge products and marketing. Think about how quickly you tune out if you’ve heard something before. “Mental opt-out” can happen the second you encounter a stale, clichéd, overused or re-used marketing message.

The ONLY way to overcome mental opt-out in today’s saturated market is to craft a truly fresh marketing angle for your work.

Something that hasn’t been heard before in the way you’re sharing it. It takes some deep thought and research to get beyond the “usual marketing,” grab attention and keep it.

Think about how quickly your B.S. meter goes off and your defenses go up when you feel like you’re being sold to.

“Do NOT ever underestimate the task at hand when it comes to moving prospects to buy.”

While marketing on the surface is about attracting new customers into your business, I believe there’s a deeper, more meaningful definition of marketing.

I fell in love with marketing when I realized that marketing really was the process of helping someone create the mindsets, beliefs and conditions they need to make a change in their life that they want, but can’t attain on their own.

And here’s the thing: when you market really well, selling is welcomed and expected.

Marketing, done well, is when you move someone through the transformational process of getting ready to do something different or make a change. So by the time you get to an offer, your prospects are eager to take it. They’re ready for it. And yes, they’re even grateful that you’ve created a solution.

According to Todd, marketing is 75% of the process…  And sales only happens in the last 25% of your interaction. You only introduce an offer after someone has fully bought into the argument you’re making with your marketing. Because that’s the point when your prospect is ready for it.

At this point, selling is easy. And natural. It doesn’t seem like selling at all.

At this point, you’re solving a problem for people. And presenting the natural solution.

So remember: “Do NOT ever underestimate the task at hand when it comes to moving prospects to buy.”

I’m not writing this post to make you feel like good marketing is difficult or challenging (though it can be and, in some ways, it should be). I’m writing this post in the hope that we can all elevate our marketing beyond the usual platitudes and gimmicks that are bringing this industry down.

The more bad marketing that gets created, the more marketing gets a bad rap in general. And the harder all of us have to work to stand out from the crowd and create trust.

It’s my goal to help you fall in love with marketing and use it not reluctantly, begrudgingly or fearfully, but as a tool for mass transformation.

You have an incredible opportunity right now to share your message with the world… and build an amazing business doing it. The question is: What do you want to share and how do you want to share it?

Let me know in the comments if this resonates, and how you’re going to approach your marketing differently from now on.