The business world is crawling with S’s
Published: Sat, 04/18/20
To the point:
Anyway, while talking she made an off-hand remark that reminded me of why I so coldly and ruthlessly blacklist and cut people out of my business, as well as why certain people in general frustrate the hell out of me through no fault of their own.
What did she say?
She said:
“Most people are S’s.”
S’s are the opposite of N’s in the Myers-Briggs.
They are people who simply cannot wrap their heads around any concept, idea, or possibility in a forward-thinking way.
It has nothing to do with intelligence or experience, either.
They simply aren’t “wired” for forward or longterm, big picture thinking.
Take, for example, a story Ken McCarthy talked about in his magnificent “System Club Letters” book. Back in the early to mid 1990’s, when a lot of “name” gurus were still figuring out what they wanted to be when they grow up… he sold an 8-page newspaper called "The Internet Gazette", that had a circulation of 25,000 people.
And, one of the articles was about internet video.
The multi-media expert he hired couldn’t understand why Ken wanted to write about that.
“You want me to write about THAT? Why? No one can do it.”
“But someday people will be able to and when they can it will be the most powerful thing on the Internet. Let’s be ready.”
Back then, it took a half hour to download even a 4mb clip. It was agonizingly slow. And S’s — like the reporter I am guessing was, or at least sounded like he was — simply could not understand the reality that it wouldn’t always be that way, despite intellectually knowing the speed and rate at which technology was growing. But Ken, being an especially strong N (I don’t see how he couldn’t be one, from what I know of him), not only saw it, but I suspect was often frustrated with all the S’s in silicon valley who didn’t even see what he clearly saw with things like click-thrus being a way to measure response online (which even Time Magazine credits Ken with discovering). Yes, my fine feathered little pigeon… Ken “saw” the potential of videos, webinars, livestreams, etc almost 20 years before they became mainstream, as well as social media, too, as he was preaching community-building long before blogging was fashionable or before Facebook
was even a brain fart.
Take Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street, as another example of S'ery.
He is a very strong S in the movie.
And, like a lot of S’s, incredibly good at one-on-one sales.
Since he was (mostly) in the here & now, he wasn’t always trying to guess what a prospect was thinking or going to say so much as dealing with what is. But, when he tried to be forward thinking — timing his drug consumption, writing manipulative sales scripts, and constantly dreaming up more money-schemes, for example — he ended up self-sabotaging himself and landing on the FBI's radar.
That is the plight of the S:
Great at "here & now" tasks & tactics - for selling, negotiation, martial arts, etc.
But almost no foresight.
Or strategically thinking ahead.
Or being able to fully comprehend the future consequences of their current actions or inactions, even if they want to and intellectually know they should.
Again, it’s not an intelligence thing.
It’s simply how an S sees the world.
Which brings me to the point of this whole Sha-bang:
I always knew there were certain people who were horrible customers for what I sell and teach. I could not pin-point it. But I knew, at a gut-level, there were certain people who just irritated the hell out of me whenever I did any kind of coaching, consulting, or client work. They are the same people who are so caught up in the moment currently with the economy, virus, etc they clearly cannot see the obvious bountiful harvest of opportunities such times always have historically created and are already creating now.
Those people are always, almost without exception, S’s in my experience.
And, it’s why I now spend as much time turning the really "hyper" versions of them away as I do on selling the people (mostly N's) who do make great customers for what I offer.
My worldview is totally different than an S's.
And, they make decisions that make zero sense whatsoever to me.
Like, for example, this guy who subscribed to “Email Players”, made a lot of money (by his own admission) for the two or three months he was on it… but then said, “I am two issues behind, OMG, I have to cancel!”
To an S reading this, that kind of hamster spinning probably makes perfect sense.
But to an N such as your faithful storyteller?
It's insane.
That is hyper-S behavior at its worst.
And to an N reading it, it probably sounds almost like I am exaggerating.
But this is simply a hyper-S's worldview. And if that is you, I can assure you that you are much better off buying an endless string of one-off eBooks or downloading free pdfs, or whatever S's do to make themselves feel warm & fuzzy than buying anything I sell - book, newsletter, affiliate offer, or anything else.
This is especially true with the upcoming May “Email Players” issue.
Specifically, it’s about how to build your own media empire for your business by 'stacking' and manipulating various media platforms to your will the exact way I've been doing it for over a decade, and especially the last couple years - where I've been tripling down on it all due to the mass de-platformings and ridiculously profitable opportunities technology has been creating.
Having your own medias lets you do massive world-building very rapidly.
It gives you your own platform(s) to sell, educate, and engage from.
And, it makes it so struggling to get clients and customers simply isn't a thing if you do it right.
Anyway, this is easily the single most valuable issue I’ve written to date.
But long term thinking and ignoring the mainstream media Narrative right now is absolutely required. Mixing, matching, and contemplating changes in medias that are available now, will be available later, and using even ancient media technology people laugh at online, is not something an S will easily grasp.
Okay, enough.
Here’s the link to subscribe to get the May issue:
http://www.EmailPlayers.com
Ben Settle