Those who don't listen, must feel...
Growing up, I heard that phrase a lot from my dad. Mainly directed at my rebellious younger brother. Usually right after he'd done something bone-headed... Like telling my mom that the spanking he just got didn't hurt... She made sure he felt it on round 2. He was always pushing limits. I was "the good son" lol. HOWEVER... When it comes to past partnerships? Man...I've felt a LOT of pain. I didn't listen to guys like Tony Teegarden or Travis Sago who'd already been through all the partnership pitfalls. Instead, I held on to partnerships way longer than I should have. My first partnership was with this very influential Chiropractor on YouTube. I'm a big fan of his videos... So I was completely star-struck when he reached out to me over one of my little blog articles about his technique. I was so excited that I'd nabbed a partner with a huge subscriber count... How much clout he had... And trying to prove I could be a great partner... That I ignored all the warning signs. When I ran a campaign for him to get more Chiropractors to adopt his technique? It bombed. Hard. Turns out there was zero affinity with email list. If I'd listened to those with partnership experience, I would've ended the test right there and moved on. But nooooo... I was dead set on making something work. Spent months working on a T3 and emails that were doomed from the start. I shifted my thinking from being a partner who calls the shots... To being a service provider trying to win approval. Call it pride or stubbornness... But, I like to overcome a challenge... Whether it's pushing myself harder with exercise... Or beating a really hard game where I've died fifty eleven times... I keep coming back for more abuse until I win. But when it comes to partnerships, we want to AVOID challenges. The thing is... Most newbie deal makers approach partnerships like a service provider looking to prove themselves even when its a bad partner. That's backwards. Partnership success comes from knowing how to spot the RIGHT partners upfront...