Q: What does it really take to be a Troublemaker?
A: Action.
That’s it. That’s all that separates people who are successful from everyone else. You have an idea. You take action.
What most people experience is the law of diminishing intent. The longer you delay something, the less likely you are to do it. As every hour ticks by the idea becomes less and less motivating, the threats seem more and more likely and…nothing happens. So if you are wondering why some people are getting ahead of you and rocketing up the entrepreneurial ladder, chances are they actually did something with that idea in their head.
Successful troublemakers have an idea and put it into action immediately, they don’t sit and think it through or get it perfect or weigh up the odds. Have an idea, put it into action. That idea then becomes a real live thing out in the world and amazing things happen from there. If you think “I’ll do that tomorrow” it’s not going to happen. Do it now.
To illustrate this point I’d like to tell you a story. A story that made this headline. ‘21-Year-Old Sells the MCG for Under $500’. That’s the marketing strategy that moved young Australian Pete Williams from a dreamer to an entrepreneur and he did it with true troublemaker flare.
Troublemaker Sells the MCG For $500
Pete was working at the sales counter at Athletes Foot and he was reading a (really great book) The One Minute Millionaire by Mark Victor Hansen and Robert Allen. In that book was a story about a guy who sold planks of the Brooklyn Bridge, for only a few bucks per plank. He was in demand and made a million. Pete’s passion is sports and a hobby of his is collecting sports memorabilia. At the time the MCG was being renovated for the Commonwealth Games. Pete took immediate action. He didn’t think about it, he didn’t analyse it he picked up the phone and located the timber from the MCG.
“I was able to get a hold of the wrecking company that was doing the demolition and said to them, Do you have any of the timber?’
They said, “It’s just sitting here in our warehouse doing nothing. If you want to come and buy it, by all means, you’re an idiot.” And it wasn’t just timber but also the famous MCC crested carpet.
Pete purchased the second-hand goods right there and then, unseen, using a friend’s credit card (he had no funds himself). I say this again courage and action is essential but the other key ingredient from the troublemaker’s essential handbook is a mate who will back you up. Who else would hand over a credit card and look after the details while Pete stayed working at The Athlete’s Foot full time – yes, the troublemaker’s wingman. As I always say, your network is your net worth!
And that’s when things started. They didn’t start with Pete reading The One Minute Millionaire, lots of people have read it and not become millionaires. It didn’t start with the idea, (so many people have really incredible ideas). It started when he took action, found the materials and made the purchase.
He took a risk, but that risk wasn’t on his mind or of the wingman’s, all they knew was there was an amazing opportunity here. He moved on that.
Build Your Team of Troublemakers
Pete then outsourced. He knew he didn’t have the skills to create the pieces to sell himself. His neighbour was a carpenter and was able to use the second-hand wood to make a frame. He used his own memorabilia guy to then turn that into a product that was mounted, numbered and collected by a courier.
The memorabilia man was local, worked out of his garage, and Pete personally used and liked his work. Massive lesson here. There’s no need to get fancy and no need to go big. Look at what you already have around you that works. Look at what you are passionate about and leverage your strengths.
Pete worked smart. All the items were to be made to order and all orders were paid in full when filled.
A Sale is not a Sale Until the Money is in the Bank
Knowing this would be a challenge Pete set up his customer expectations from the start. They let everyone know that due to high demand there would be a two to three-week turnaround time.
That meant that Pete had positive cash flow from day one. He initiated the project and put steps in place for it to be carried out. Once the system was prepared, it moved on its own.
“From the moment I read that chapter to actually picking up the phone and started tracking down the wrecking company, I would say, was no more than 10 or 15 minutes.”
So there was step one, implementation, purchase, product and crew. Step two was marketing. Having the product means nothing if people don’t know about it. So how to your broadcast in the most effective way? You get disruptive.
Disruptive Marketing Techniques
That’s where Pete’s headline came in.
‘21-Year-Old Sells the MCG for Under $500’
He sent that out as a press release and got a mammoth response. Radio, metro newspapers, TV coverage on the national news. From that exposure he got traffic, and in that traffic he got sales.
This is actually also a really great example of how an avatar works effectively. Pete sent a message that everyone took notice of, however, not everyone would want to buy his product. It was very clear from the outset that only MCG fans or those who collect sports memorabilia would be the ones to purchase. So the message reached far and wide, but it was always known that only the avatar would come back through.
He also made sure his work was carefully made and the quality showed.
For a little more disruption Pete later shot a video of himself clicking through competitors websites, looking at what they had for sale and using their faults as his strengths. ‘Limited to ONLY 2000! That’s not limited, that’s manufactured to 2000. Mine are genuinely exclusive.’ He also clicked through frames that were a similar size and overpriced, which showed Pete’s price to be amazingly good value (and of a better design).
You could simplify things and say that Pete read The One Minute Millionaire and made a million dollars, however, there are steps that go in between reading and enjoying the figures in your bank account.
Those steps are: Be a Troublemaker.
If you want to be a genuine entrepreneur put the calendar with start dates away and move on your project now, put it into action, tell everyone about it and see what happens.
I dare you.
Matt Catling
