The secret of the black triangle
Published: Fri, 01/17/20
— Samwell Tarly - explaining how he cured an incurable deadly disease
“Game of Thrones”
A cautionary story for the ages:
Back in 5th grade my teacher handed the class a list of tasks to do. The first task was to draw a triangle and color it in with pencil as dark as possible — so it couldn't be completely erased. So we all went along and did all the tasks on the list, one after another, all easy tasks, thinking we were clever until the last task — which was to "Ignore task #1". And almost in unison we were all trying to erase the un-erasable black triangle we created, ripping the paper with our fat erasers, etc.
Doh.
Busted for not reading carefully before acting.
We got a bit of this in the grownup world, too.
Case in point:
Troy Broussard recently sent me a message saying, “I don’t understand what is so complicated about people following instructions to get your app.” That’s not to say there have not been some tech hiccups. We’ve definitely had a few, and Troy — even though he is on a cruise with spotty wi-fi, as I type this — has been trying his best to handle them for the handful of people with legitimate tech issues. But, that is not what he is referring to. He’s talking about people who cannot, for whatever reason, follow the simple instructions I’ve been putting in the emails this week to get my new App.
Maybe the directions are too simple?
All I can tell people is:
It is literally go to http://www.elBenbo.com, opt-in, wait 5-10 minutes to get your username & password, then download the App and use said username & password to get in.
Yet some people can’t help but want to get creative.
i.e. they ignore the URL & instructions, and go direct to the App store.
Or they are just too lazy to read. Like, for example, the handful of people emailing me about tech questions, when the page clearly, and in as simple of language as we could muster, says:
“If you have any problems, please email help@membrandt.com for assistance and my partner Troy will get you taken care of.”
It’s even bolded…
It’s astonishing to watch, and is very telling.
Especially when otherwise very intelligent folks have been eagerly coloring in the triangle with pencil instead. One blue light special just a few minutes ago even got butt hurt when he came to me with his question about getting his user name & password, and I told him his question was exactly why we have a support email.
The point of all this?
The obvious one is it gives me an “excuse” to mail about my App again.
To paraphrase a Chicago politician:
“Never let a dumb question go to waste”
But the other point is, it goes to prove what we talk about in the content I added to the App last weekend about how to potentially run a 6 or 7 figure business from your mobile phone, about simplicity, and how so many people can't help but want to complicate everything. We were talking about people willingly complicating their businesses by trying to build out elaborate funnels & needlessly complex onboarding sequences before even having an offer to sell, taking on lots of debt, hiring VA’s & big teams not because they need to but just because, etc. But apparently, this compulsive obsession with wanting to make life complicated extends even to something as 5th grade simple as going to a URL, and following the instructions.
It’s all very educational to watch from my end.
And I won't pretend I don't do the same thing sometimes, which is why I find as amusing as my 5th grade teacher probably did watching the whole class frantically try to erase a black triangle.
Whatever the case, if you want to get my new App, here’s what to do:
1. Go to http://www.elBenbo.com with your mobile phone (not desktop or iPad, this is a mobile App)
2. Following the instructions
If you have a legitimate tech problem, email the address there.
Do this and there will be peace…
Ben Settle