A-d-a-p-t-a-t-i-o-n Once upon a time.... There were only BASEBALL trading cards. Somebody thought: why not football? Basketball? Soccer? World Wrestling Federation? Somebody else thought: naked women. Famous criminals.
Only BANKS had drive-in windows. Then restaurants. Dry cleaners. The sports betting operation at the Imperial Palace. Liquor stores. Wedding chapels. Why not drive-up instant tax refunds? Drive-up confessionals?
There was the BOOK of the month club. Then fruit, cheese, wine, steaks, beer. Records, 8-tracks, cassettes, CD's. DVD's, Cosmetics. Lingerie. Why not a "themed night out of the month? promoted by a local restaurant?
Re-Cycling Once upon a time.... There was THE GONG SHOW. (American Idol). There was CHARLES ATLAS, then JACK LA-LANNE. (Body By Jake). There was the STATION WAGON. (Mini-van, Sport Utility, and Crossovers)
A Market For Anything You remember the Easter weekend that consisted of the #1 movie 'Passion Of The Christ'. #2 was 'Hellboy.'. Within walking distance, on Camelback Road in Phoenix, Marriott Courtyard and the Ritz-Carlton. George Foreman sells healthy, fat-free grilling machines and pants with expandable waistbands for fat guys.
What might you conclude from these three ideas? My friend, the world belongs to the person with a marketing mind. The more you train and condition and discipline your mind to think like a marketer, a marketing oriented entrepreneur, the better. A relative few view everything around them and everything that happens to them through the same prism; how can this convert to opportunity, to cash?
I now temper that finely honed instinct with great selectivity and even reluctance to take on anything new. But it is this distinct way of thinking that seems to distinguish the ultra-successful from all others. This is the result of deliberate conditioning, not accident or genetics.