I Don’t Speak Chinese
Ian Lurie Sep 20 2006
A colleague of mine (Lenora Edwards) told me a great story today: A friend of hers signed her daughter up for Chinese language classes. Her daughter didn’t want to go. When asked why, she said “Because I don’t speak Chinese”.
Every day I talk to folks who don’t want to work with me until they understand internet marketing. In other words, they don’t want to learn Chinese until they can already speak it. You see the problem.
The solution is easy: Let go. Be ready to learn, and understand that when you work with an internet marketer (or any other consultant, for that matter) you need to know how to hold them accountable, and that’s it. You can hold them accountable through things you already know: Are they increasing your sales? Are you getting more leads? Are you saving money? You manage risk by focusing on what you know, not by obsessing about what you don’t.
Stick to common sense. Let the expert do their job, so you don’t have to become one. And who knows, somewhere along the way you may learn Chinese.
End of sermon.
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Ian Lurie
CEO
Ian Lurie is CEO and founder of Portent Inc. He's recorded training for Lynda.com, writes regularly for the Portent Blog and has been published on AllThingsD, Forbes.com and TechCrunch. Ian speaks at conferences around the world, including SearchLove, MozCon, SIC and ad:Tech. Follow him on Twitter at portentint. He also just published a book about strategy for services businesses: One Trick Ponies Get Shot, available on Kindle. Read More