There was a marketing professor in a large college that had some exchange students in the class.
One day while the class was in creating a project, the Prof noticed one young man, an exchange student, who kept struggling with the assignment.
The young man looked at the professor and asked a strange question…
He asked: “Do you know how to catch wild pigs?”
The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said that it was no joke. “You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground.
The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming.
When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side.
The pigs, which are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat that free corn again. You then slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd.
Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn .
They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.”
The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening in online marketing . The gurus will keep pushing free corn out in the form of new programs, the next best thing, , training, no obligation, follow us, brainwashing (they won’t use those words, but that’s what they do), etc. All the while slowly building the fence until they have trapped you into doing things their way… for them.
One should always remember two truths: 1) There is no such thing as a free lunch, someone (probably you!) is paying for it. 2) and when you begin to think that having program owners provide for you and make your decisions is ok, realize that you’ve also given up the freedom that goes with making your own choices and owning your own business.
If you see that all of this wonderful ’help’ as a problem confronting the future of internet marketing , you might want to inform your friends. Be the fence maker and create your own online success.
If you think a “free ride” is essential to your way of life, then you will probably ignore this blog post. But God help your marketing career when the gate slams shut!
Free corn is great, but your goal should not be to become comfortable being the wild pig, but to gain knowledge and resources so you can become the fence maker!
