Yesterday the “greatest of all time,” Muhammad Ali, celebrated his 71st birthday. He is one of the most loved men in the world. Why is he so loved? Sure it’s because he’s the former undisputed heavy weight champion of the world, but it’s so much more than that.

Sure, talent matters, but LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Terrell Owens, Dan O’Brien and others are undoubtedly super talented athletes, but there’s something about Jesse Owens, Emmitt Smith, Michael Jordan, Deion Sanders, even Lance Armstrong, in his now infamy, that draws us to want to believe everything they tell us.

Whatever “it” is, they believe it. The “it” factor is– they believe “it” themselves. If “it” is that they’re the greatest, they believe it, if it’s that they can fly, they believe it and they believe it so deeply, we believe it too.

and I find myself searching for clips of him on YouTube to catch a glimpse of the “greatest”. Muhammad Ali is the master of what John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing calls an astonishing guarantee.  He made such astonishing guarantees that were more than catchy rhymes, they were promises, it became his brand.

“I’m not the greatest; I’m the double greatest. Not only do I knock ’em out, I pick the round.” –Muhammad Ali

Sure there are athletes who make astonishing statements, but without the strength of character to back up what they’ve said, it doesn’t matter if they are great because so much about who they are contradict the hero we want them to be, the astonishing guarantee isn’t there.

“Champions aren’t made in gyms, champions are made from something they have deep inside them–a desire, a dream, a vision” –Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali spoke like the champion he was and it encompasses the legend he is now. His personal brand, his message, is demonstrated in the way he carries himself. Just as in marketing, when your message is more than just an intelligently crafted positioning statement, when your message is developed out of the character of your business and the promises on which you continue to over-deliver, your message will literally pull people into you.

 

I’m drawn to Muhammad Ali because how he strives to live speaks to the essence of how I strive to be in all aspects of my life, including my business. We may have different views in certain areas, but his respect and love for humanity is a compelling and magnetic message that speaks to the core of what I too believe.

 

“Wouldn’t it be a beautiful world if just 10 percent of the people who believe in the power of love would compete with one another to see who could do the most food for the most people?” from The Soul of a Butterfly

When you choose to put the needs of others before your own everyday, when you strive to help others reach their goals and be better versions of themselves, when you’re at your happiest when you’re able to bring happiness to others and service is a way of life and not just a mission statement, in my eyes you are the greatest.

Many people have heard the theory proposed by Malcolm Gladwell that it takes 10,000 hours of dedication and practice to become an expert at anything. In a 40 hour work week, assuming you work all 52 weeks, to reach that 10,000 mark it would take you 5 years to become an expert in any given field. The hard part about inbound marketing is that aside from some core values, it is constantly adapting at the same rate of technology, by the time you become an expert, you are already 5 years behind the inbound marketing trends.

How do we define an expert? Is an expert more influential or knowledgeable? Granted it is important to have both, but does one outweigh the other?  The best thing you can do is build both areas simultaneously. Below are three easy tips on how to become a marketing expert in less than 10,000 hours:

1) Gain followers in your field.  

The best way to become an expert is to let others know that you are becoming an expert. On social media sites make sure you are adding/following the most influential people. On Twitter for example, if you start following the big time marketers (Chris Brogan, Jeff Bullas, etc.) you will begin to gain other followers who are following them as well. People want to be connect with other people who share the same interests. Furthermore, if you RSS these powerful top dogs, you can begin to blog/tweet about their material and have your own opinion on their take of tips and tricks of marketing.

2) Make content that is trend-setting.

I was told along time ago that there are only 3 ways to develop something in life. Cheap, Fast, and Good. You can have two out of the three, but never all three. If you want to be the first one to post something about a recent event, i.e. the Graph Search that was announced by Facebook today, most articles on this event are up moments after the press release, but the chances of the article being anything but scratching the surface are slim to none. Try to find a happy medium by doing some more in depth  research on your topical content before posting.

3) Share your content. 1+2=3

Combine the previous steps to begin to develop your own credibility. The more you repeat steps one and two the faster your expertise in marketing will grow. The great thing about becoming an expert is the closer you get to becoming one to your peers, the easier it gets to be one. Follow these steps and you will begin to see blogs referencing your content and retweets about your now vital information to the public.

If you still believe in Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hour theory, then by all means, try it. The infograph provided by Zintroblog shows two examples of who the theory is based off of. It highlights the art of practicing perfection, but the most important information in the infograph are the 7 Steps to Cheat the Rule.

Marketing Expert for smart marketing