1. The 34.9 Billion Dollar Question
Harvard University. It is one of the most well known Universities in the world. It certainly is the richest one having an endowment fund of 34.9 billion dollars!
How does Harvard University achieve such stellar results? They use 2 strategies:
i. High Barrier to Entry
Harvard doesn’t accept anyone and everyone who applies to them. No. They are very choosy. They select only the cream of the crowd.
Harvard says No to more than 85% of students who apply to them! And because Harvard only works with the top students, when these students succeed, Harvard becomes popular with their success too! (Harvard boasts more than 40 Nobel laureates. More than any other institution in the world!)
ii. The Harvard University Press
But even more than their high barrier to entry, Harvard is popular because of one reason: their press. Harvard started their publishing unit in January of 1913. Over the years, they’ve published hundreds of books – many of them quite good.
As the books Harvard publishes become popular, they make Harvard even more popular than ever!
2. How To Use The Harvard Strategy To Become Successful
When I wanted to start my own marketing consultancy practice, I took a page out of Harvard University Success. And instead of getting a bunch of business cards printed and going to networking events to promote myself, I started a paid marketing newsletter!
I started collecting* and compiling marketing case studies and published them in the newsletter – which was called Marketing Hotsheet. A few hundred people paid me $72 a year to receive these Marketing Hotsheets. And quite a few of them went on to hire me to help them grow their businesses!
Marketing Hotsheet has been the best business card I could have!
* Another awesome side effect of collecting and writing marketing case studies is – it gave me a better education than any School or University could provide. Over a period of 4 years, 100 issues of Marketing Hotsheet were published. Which meant I had to research and write over 600 case studies! This endeavor taught me what worked and didn’t work in growing businesses. And allowed me to hone my marketing instincts and make them sharper than most others.
3. Three Free Issues of Marketing Hotsheet
Would you like to see what these Marketing Hotsheets looked like?
Action Summary:
- Write a book. Or even better, start a newsletter. They make the best business cards. They help you build credibility. And positions you as the authority figure in your field.
- Fire your bad clients. And only work with the best clients. Because when your clients succeed, your popularity will grow too.
Chapter 3: How To Get Smart People To Send You Cool Goodies For Free