by Jack Campitelli | July 22nd, 2010
Late night email to my sister:
MJ –
I just did a routine check of your kids’ names on the internet.
The good news is that I didn’t find pictures of them throwing up in the bushes on Facebook.
The bad news is that I can tell they are making no effort to “brand” themselves in an enduring way and to develop a following on the internet. The “what about” is unimportant. The formula is “name” (domain name of their name); lawful interesting activity that people like to follow; frequent postings; increasing rankings of the domain name. After you reach a certain ranking, if you don’t have a specific product to sell, or are an “information site,” you can place ads for other people’s stuff and pick up some money each month. I don’t think you even have to go to college to remember those steps.
You’ll notice I didn’t say blogspot or somebody else’s commercial “free” website. I said THEIRS — that they can keep for life!
Look, I’m 65 and I know how important this is. At my present sales rate, by the grace of God, my book will make some money that I really need in the next 12 months. All from one book that I work everyday to keep fresh and publicize. The book’s website is ranked 49,000+ in the United States. It’s ranked 198,000 in the world. This has taken nearly 10 years to accomplish with a lot of help — and it could be all gone tomorrow, of course. But until then it puts the book’s website in the top 1% of both the U.S. and the world.
My point — viral marketing (of name or brand recognition) takes time and effort. It does pay off eventually. I learn more everyday and, compared to others, I know very little about the power of the internet to feed you, let alone make you rich. Imagine what fresh minds could accomplish!
You have, without a doubt, the best kids in the world and they’re doing great at college. But developing an “internet presence” is something that cannot be done overnight when they suddenly realize the true value of it. I don’t know what kind of world, let alone job market, will be there for them when they graduate. No matter what they decide to do in life, a recognizable name and following is worth a fortune — and if not that, it’s at least worth a job ahead of the guy who didn’t make himself standout on the web. It’s worth a little thought, I think, to grow your recognition on the internet. It’s as good a “habit” or hobby to develop as any.
The demographics of my readers are 45 to 65, some college, and buying my book from home. That means that people MY age are buying this to start websites to make extra money for retirement or to supplant lost income from a lost job. I’ll tell YOU and them that this is a rotten age to have to learn a new trade and new skills and risk time and capital to get it started — neither of which we have much of any more. I guess it’s hard to tell kids raised on fairy tales the real truth about life. This is not the innocent days of the 1950s. I don’t know if they were really “innocent” days — they were probably just as corrupt as today. But they looked different. They felt different. I guess we were our kids in some back-to-the-future turn of events. But I just know that there are a lot of scared people out there who should be “set” by now but who instead are trying to save their ass, or their retirement,from crashed IRAs and pension plans and layoffs — who would all kill for 10 years of viral marketing (that they started at age 35) already behind them.
And I’m one of them. When someone pays $100 for the little wisdom I can give them, I know I owe them to try to make their lives better. They are not customers to me. I may not know their faces, but everyone of them believed in me and I owe them. I know who they are. They are me. And together we’re all in a leaky boat on our way to nowhere and trying to keep afloat long enough to find a shore that will have us, that we can afford — “the sailor home from the sea, the hunter home from the hill.”
You’re a good parent. How do you tell your kids how important this is?
I wrote this with a pure heart, but now that I read it, I think you’ll see it on my website for all parents.
Of course, their kids won’t listen either, so don’t feel bad.
Jack
