Honor, horrible parenting, tears of gratitude

Last night, after a huge Chinese meal with friends, and then some exercise (not a good combo, let me tell ya) I watched a documentary on HBO called, "The Recruiter" which followed the lives of Sergeant Clay Usie, one of the most successful U.S. military recruiters and four of his recruits during and after basic training, up until some deploy in Iraq.

There were a number of business and life success messages in this intriguing film - both of the positive and negative side.

On the positive side. Sergeant Usie was a MASTER salesperson. And lest you think otherwise, he has one of the toughest sales jobs on the planet. He prospected by phone, made speeches and talk to young men and women one on one. After lead generating, he then had to close his prospects.

Why was he so successful? Did he use tricky sales techniques and fancy closes?

No. He was totally PASSIONATE about what he was selling. He believed 100% in his product - never wavering in the slightest. He fully associated on an EMOTIONAL level to the importance of what he was doing - Protecting the country, protecting his buddies in combat and protecting his family.

Working for the Army is Sergeant Usie's mission in life, his passion. It is what he must do above all else - including cancelling a vacation with his family much to the dismay of his annoyed but adoring and proud wife. (All men should re-read this paragraph because it contains some very important relationship information that's counter-intuitive and powerful.)

On the negative side, one of the female recruits' single mother, a woman who has obviously had a tough life, gives her daughter, who also has had a tough life, this piece of "sage" advice when she mentions that she is having second thoughts about enlisting, (I am paraphrasing.) "Let me tell you something. You are always going to be having someone telling you what to do. You are always going to have someone who bosses you around. You are always going to be working in a little shit job that you hate."

Wow. It really hit me that the majority of people actually believe that about life. And this very destructive lie is being perpetuated by parents, who don't know any better and actually think that they are preaching truth.

Maybe someone actually said that kind of stuff to you and you rose above it. Whatever the case, might I suggest that you encourage other people by telling them the TRUTH? That they can make money doing something they love to do. That they can take charge of their lives.

I recently received an INCREDIBLE honor from Lee Smith, a soldier in Afghanistan. He sent me an amazing letter about how my work and writings inspire him and that when he comes back home, he is going to kick his personal training business into high gear. Along with the beautiful letter was a United States Flag that had been flown in the combat zone. I am not ashamed to say that tears of gratitude rolled down my face. Here is a REAL hero, thanking me.

I sent Lee a package of my products to help him explode his business and I would like to make the same offer to any of our men and women who are currently serving in the Armed Forces. If you or anyone you know is an entrepreneur in the military and you would like to get a business building gift from me, please email me at david@davedee.com with the subject line, "Armed Forces Marketing Gift" along with your name and your military address. It would be my honor to send you or someone you know, this gift.

If you run across one of our heroes in the Armed Forces, stop and thank them for giving us the freedom to pursue our passion.

(As always, your comments are welcome and I do read every one of them.)

Kick butt, make mucho dee-nero!

Dave Dee

P.S. As I said yesterday, I am taking Dan Kennedy's advice and raise the price of my most popular product, "Your Marketing Department In A Box." On Monday, if not before, the price goes up significantly to reflect it's true value. So, if you've been sitting on the fence about getting this, now is the time to jump off and race over to http://www.davedee.com/box and get your personal copy now.