What do 80% of MBAers share in common with 80% of the top 200 at WA?
The Pareto Principle.
Yah, I have an MBA. I admit it. Graduated near the top of my class from Silicon Valley's primo MBA night school, Santa Clara University.
At least it was back in the days that were my heydays in technical wonderland doing cool and secret things for cool electronic gizmos.
Stanford, you had to go full time in those days. I had to work and get someone to pay for this.
There were a lot of other people getting their MBAs there at the time. As an arrogant young man, I could tell that many of these people weren't going to succeed like me. And I was right about that, but for the wrong reasons.
Why was I wrong?
Well, for one, I didn't know about the Pareto Principle.
My arrogance wasn't what made me successful. What did that was my inner drive.
Some motivating factor inside me, that I didn't fully comprehend, but my managers saw.
It allowed them to overlook my young-mannish flaws, which of course, arrogant young men don't think they have ;)
They gave me huge responsibilities. I thought it was because I was brilliant and deserved it. That had nothing to do with it. Well, perhaps the brilliant part helped me learn faster, I'd like to think.
What those wiser men knew, is that my drive would allow me to get good at stuff. It didn't matter what the stuff was. They could give me some kind of stuff to do and I would find a way to get good at it. They could turn me loose and be better at it than 80-90% of the rest.
Applying the Pareto Principle at WA.
So here are the weird but true facts relevant to this post:
If you have an MBA, it doesn't matter, in and of itself.
If you are in the TOP 200, that, in itself, does not matter a lick.
What matters is your inner drive, how you can demonstrate it and help others release it
The inner drive to succeed, the same drive that makes you get good at stuff.
Our jobs here at WA are to get good at stuff related to affiliate marketing.
That's why we are here. If that's not why you're here, you're in the wrong venue.
Here are some reasons you shouldn't be here that you might think may matter:
- To flaunt your past education -- irrelevant
- To make friends and feel good about that -- in and of itself not meaningful
- to flaunt that
- To get into the top 50,100, or 200 at WA -- in and of itself not meaningful
- to flaunt that
- Share your favorite postcards/poems/sayings to attract attention -- there are better ways
- Post meaningless and insubstantial replies to blogs -- not useful
- Share Facebook-like daily diary entries of your triumphs/tragedies -- unless very relevant
Find the top 20-30 people to work with.
Some WILL be in the top 50-200 here at WA. Probably many of them will be, because they are active here and that's how you get those rankings. Some of that activity will be very helpful.
But being in the top 200 isn't a thing to be, in and of itself.
Sorry -- but some of you all up there top 200s, the quality of your activity is useless helping people succeed. You've made it to the top of the charts, yet soon I'm gonna unfollow ya.
Folks:
It's not about the quantity of activity they demonstrate to you. A lot of that is gonna be useless.
It's about the quality of their material AND the quality of their interactions with you!
If they have quality material but refuse to interact meaningfully and purposefully, they aren't someone to work with. Move on before they waste your time.
There are 1000s of people to work with at WA, find those that help your drive and meaning!
The Pareto Principle is a Universal Law
Do the right thing at the top of WA, when you get there.
While you are getting there, follow the right people. Work with those you resonate with.
You can't love all the people the same and you can't work with them all the same.
Even Jesus chose only 12 disciples.
He used the Pareto Principle to pick them.
That should give all of us a clue!
Cheers! Like comment and by all means, agree or disagree :) Marc
Recent Comments
27
Thanks for posting a great read, and so true.
Rank don't put money in the bank.
Popularity contests are complete waste of time. I loath everything social media, but it is necessary to be successful here. I have learned much from people who will never reach the Top 200. There are so many worldly people here at WA and they have much wisdom and knowledge that cannot be counted or ranked.
Mark
I agree with Mark but I think ranking can put money in the bank if some of your referrals trust you just because you rank high, as they don't know you when they sign up.
My own strategy is based on becoming a reference for my next followers. I've read about a WSO based on WA, but I haven't seen the author following and helping as much I would expect to from someone that has a sustainable business plan. Touch and go is not my style. And fake humility neither.
I'm learning a lot about people here in WA.
Hi Mark, glad you swung by and posted your comments!
I'm not a big fan of social media at all; but like you, I will be happy to embrace of it what I need to.
With you also is the notion that rank is not king for me. However, one can anticipate that the higher rankers will be more active. And many are.
However, some of them haven't much to say that's of any benefit. Rank is not enough for me, for example, to spend time reading about the kid's adventures in Dinoland unless it has something to do with affiliate marketing. ;)
Richard, my mentor ranks high and I had no clue about that until after I signed up that he was ambassador level. I get good private PMs from him about success, but not so much from his posts.
I don't disagree with your strategy to get into ambassadorship for the right reasons. One of the reasons I'm not so impressed with is that you're a juggernaut in your own mind and you send out posts asking us to celebrate your awesomeness. Sorry, that doesn't impress me, but more importantly, it's not helpful for my personal growth here ;)
But, if you are done with that tack, and have become a useful source for people like Ingrid, that means I need to again pay attention to what you have to say, and I'll see if it resonates. Marc
It feels good to have met someone that can say what you've just said. That is what I call emotional honesty.
You are someone I would trust.
Believe it or not, you've helped me with my personal growth, which is something that I'm looking for here. Why would I spend 12 hours a day if not? To grow my list and sell shiny objects?
Juggernaut was an expression I used to play with words. If it bit me in the ass, ouch! I've learned that when you can laugh at yourself people tend to trust you and listen to what you want to say. It may lead to a better ROI.
I'm not sure if I'm done with that tack yet, what I'm sure is the feedback I get in PMs from some people is priceless. If I'm a clown or a comedian depends on a subjective perspective.
A priest once told me, after I made a comment about how dumb was to kneel in front of a statue and touch it and kiss it, that he had witnessed countless people get comforted from that action, so he made me feel embarrassed for my limited understanding of what works for others and the best way to help them.
Thank you, Marc.
Richard
Richard, that's great to hear, because a guy like you doesn't need a bunch of sycophants!
You're a person who can take my challenges and roll with them. I respect that a lot.
As for your tack, hey! If it works, you need to go for it, it suits you! As long as you deliver great commentary and otherwise useful content, you can pull it off and I can shrug it off.
I'm sure I have my set of annoying temperaments that raise hackles!
The drive to succeed and be good at stuff that helping others to profit, succeed or get better will always overcome personal differences -- that's what I believe.
Thanks for sharing and rounding out this post, I really appreciate you following this thread and contributing great comments! Marc
WSO? I like the idea of ranking giving us some trust to our starter members. I think I will point out to my referrals the fine line between our MMO websites, training, and ranking. Good point.
I'll launch a campaign with a free WSO, a simple landing page where I tell them who I am and why I invite them to join.
I will show results in WA, but my 12 disciples will get full disclosure of my stats, including FB ads. You two Marc and Mark are invited to join the brainstorming session.
Thanks for the invite; I'm not participating in the Warrior Forum as of yet. Nor in Facebook much. Not sure my brainpower will add much to this brainstorming session then :) wherever it is you plan to have it.
You have an opinion.
I have an opinion.
When we put them together we both end up with a better opinion.
I look at everything and for something to help my way of life going forward.
Thank you for helping my way forward.
Tom.
In general, I see what you are getting at Tom, but two bad opinions don't make a good one, though.
If I'm helping you, that's great but I don't agree with your multiple opinion theory as it stands :)
I appreciate you stopping by and commenting! Marc.
It's so true!!
I didn't dare to say it, but I realized litlle by
little the truth that you are revealed in your post.
I must say that frankly I don't care about the rank, but
I am trying to find those that can help me move forward.
In the middle of all this blogs, there are still some
interesting people and thanks to whom I improve
my work. Smarketeer,qrwizard, Vickic 3 ... and others.
But we have to be careful to get lost in too much
useless reading. Although some may be funny!
Thanks for your post full of right facts!!
Ingrid
hiya Ingrid,
I really appreciate you thinking this through.
it's hard to say out loud, isn't it? Some won't like it at all and their initial reaction will be to ignore or diss the ideas I've presented. That's their prerogative; I don't mind.
But we have to find the ones that suit us best! We have to remember that with the Pareto Principle, 80% of the posts are going to waste our time, somehow (for us -- maybe not others).
The weird thing about the Pareto principle is this....
if you take the top 200 of the 1000 and look at their performance after selection, then only 40 of those 200 will contribute 80% of the value after that. It never ends. So you have to be constantly assessing.
Interestingly, those of us with similar outlooks will share the same top ones, I believe. So if I'm missing out, you can help me make sure I'm not anymore, and vice versa, do you agree?
Marc
Thanks, Ingrid. I'm proud to be part of the list ;-)
This topic is getting interesting.
I have been following whoever follows me because I want to be polite. I'm new here, but I'm sharing who I am and what I want as clearly and transparently as possible.
I have seen that only a few will keep in touch after a while, we cross paths and say goodbye constantly.
I'm happy to team up with people that resonate with my melody, if possible in harmony, so it does not become a boring Gregorian monochord canticle.
You can say that from my 300 followers 60 will be responsible for 80% of my productive interaction. I am not that optimistic, I'd be happy with 12...
Anyway, we are free to listen to a mermaid song or to a Gregorian monk or to a jazz band. It's our own choice.
I have to go now, but I'll be following this thread
I totally agree. I know that some may think
that your way of thinking is unfair, but we must
recognize that in life we all do the same thing.
We constantly select our friends, our colleagues
to be with those who resemble us. It is a natural
selection that we want it or not. We can't be everybody's
friend.
Cheers
Ingrid
You are a person full of surprise and complexity
that interests me a lot. I know I have a lot to learn
from you.
It's completely normal to follow everyone at the beginning,
You did it for a specific purpose and it was a great idea.
It's quite normal that you subsequently select, I will
do it too and everyone who will continue here will do it.
Cheers
Ingrid
Yes, I actually don't care if they think it's unfair reasoning. I'm open to debate my thoughts and biases on the matter.
I expect the same in return, of course :)
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts here! Marc
Marc, your post is Heaven sent. I'm beginning to understand what they say about the right teacher showing up when the pupil is ready.
I know the 80/20, I've studied this principle many years ago. And I know how useless the effort to get all the stage lights will be when your Susan Boyle's moment is over.
I'm a happy man. I don't have much money yet, I honestly don't care, because I know I may become a millionaire or a gazillionaire if I choose that mission.
For now, I enjoy working hard on my plan to find my 12 disciples, making some noise, perhaps, to draw attention, but with a clear goal in mind.
Thank you for making my vision less blurry.
I've bookmarked this blog.
Cheers,
Richard
You've enjoyed, nay, demonstrated, a rocket-like launch to the upper echelons of WA!
I'm looking forward to seeing what you intend to do with it to help the rest of us :)
Marc
I'm honored by your attention, Marc.
I have a golden opportunity here in WA and I love challenges.
I'll keep you posted.
Jesus used the Pareto principle?
Now that's something new to me :)
Thanks for the awesome post Marc!
I agree 100%
that was a bit of dramatic license, I suppose.
The point being that Jesus could not select everyone to be his disciples :)
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You would certainly be one of those
i really want to wOrk with
🌿
wow that's a real complement! After your last blog on leadership I feel I have a LOT to learn :) cheers and thank you! Marc
You are too modest...