Hi everyone,

I trust everyone is having a great (and better) week.

It's been a lot of action at the forum lately - with Super Sponsors being dropped, tempers flaring (and then subsiding thankfully), people registering shock, dismay and -- a whole gamut of emotions has been on display here. I think that goes to show that there is such a lot of human bonding and value here at the forum - new friendships and partnerships developing.

I've been reading through various posts and threads the last few days, and I've been thinking about things a bit. So pardon me if this thread is a bit reflective in nature.

Rick, my dear friend here at the forum, pulled a real fast one on me, saying I was dropped too. (Good one!) I didn't know at first because I missed the webinar, being too tired from a lot of performances. Of course, thankfully, I wasn't - this time. (He said he was dying to do this to me ... so now he's dead of course   Just you wait, Professor Higgins, just you wait!)

But hey! Reality check!

Anyhow, jokes apart, I started thinking about that - what if I did get dropped - and that can happen any time, because nothing can be taken for granted. Especially if I don't maintain the 'cutting edge' - the axe might fall (no puns intended either). And that's fine too, really.

But one thing came to me: whatever we say here or any other place on the internet is there to stay - mostly, right?

If I have been a SS for some time, and I've been helpful to people, I have established some sort of reputation - a 'brand' if you will - then that's putting me in a place of 'authority' on some subject - eventually. Although I'm not doing things with that in mind. There are lots of people in here at the forum who I see as pretty knowledgeable, and I learn from them - many of them not Super Sponsors.

Now that is a lot of investment towards your 'brand' and that is something that is built over time. With the transparency we have in here, with the new features we have here (namely the ability to take any thread or posts and convert them into referral links), we have incredible tools to push and capitalize on the branding side of things.

When people come here to the forum, and they click on our profile and go to our posts and topics, this is the brand that they will see. See what I mean?

When we react in haste, let our tempers fly, etc., we are undermining and undoing what we have done over the last little while, where we have established a reputation - consciously or sub-consciously. Our Super Sponsor status may come and go, but if we have maintained that dignity of spirit and composure, regardless of our position, then that's still building our brand.

Let's remember, folks, the Super Sponsor status is only a means to an end. We are not here to be SS. That is not the goal. We are here to build a business. Of course, the SS status helps us in our business, not just monetarily, but with the branding side of things too. And at the same time, what Tissa and the SS program are doing is: reinforcing the fact that only by offering value to people can we build a relationship, that by helping others succeed, we pave the road to our own success.

If I get dropped tomorrow as a Super Sponsor, it doesn't mean I should 'lose it' in a moment of haste. If I do, I will damage all the good I have done. (Now I'm not implying
that every time we post, it should have this 'premeditated' ulterior motive, but generally, if we truly have the spirit of a Super Sponsor, it will just come naturally, and the branding will follow). I might lose my SS status for a month, but I have a chance to bounce back next time around. But I can't undo the damage I will have done, should I lose my cool and consequently, I am harming my longer-term goals.

There have been people who have had some 'bad hair days' here at the forum, and everyone has those. I do too. But I really wanted to encourage everyone (Super Sponsor or not): You have a reputation you have built. I see you as giants - standing tall, and you have earned my respect - for your wealth of information and resources, for your qualities of unselfish helping out of others, for being prompt to respond to a need. Don't tear that down and don't wreck it. I hold you in high esteem for what you have done.

Let's keep the long term vision - that this reputation will pay off in the long run, because people will know you as someone who is worth following, worth signing up under, because they Know you, they Like you, and they Trust you.

The truth of the matter is: if we are a Super Sponsor at heart, then it doesn't really matter whether we have the title or not, because that will come back soon enough.

The other thing is: I know how difficult it must be for Tissa and Gary to do this. But hey! The bar has to be raised - after all, they are offering even more value - starting next month - with the extra $100 for advertising.

I hope this makes sense to people. I'm just thinking as I'm writing, and it's possible that I'm meandering and straying off the topic here, but I just thought to mention this. I know, I know. Maybe it's easy for me to talk - I wasn't relieved of my title. At least not yet.

This reality check is also helping to motivate and push me into building my business - to build a cushion, so I can take the 'hit' - if it happens. So it works out for good in the end - because it's taking me closer to my main goal anyways.

So what is the moral of this story? Rick's dead and I'm still alive Now to pay him back!

Somesh.

P.S.: Here are the lyrics to a song I sometimes sing that's quite funny, but has a lesson for us all:

TWO FROGS - written by Jeremy Spencer - founder member, Fleetwood Mac (based on an old poem he read somewhere)

Two frogs fell into a can of cream,
Or so I heard it told.
The sides of the can were shiny and steep,
The cream was deep and cold.
"Oh, what's the use?" croaked number one.
"We're lost! No help's around!
Good bye, my friend, this is the end!"
And sinking in, he drowned.--

But number two, who wasn't through,
Refused to compromise.
He jutted out his creamy chin
And dried his creamy eyes.
"I'll keep on swimmin'! Where there's life
There's always hope!" He said.
"It really wouldn't help the world
If one more frog were dead!"

Chorus 1
Don't give up when you're sinkin'
And feelin' down!
Don't give up when you're sinkin',
You don't have to drown!

[Repeat Chorus 1]

For many an hour he kicked and splashed,
At last he stopped to sputter,
"Why, look at that! I can hop right out!
I've whipped the cream to butter!"
So if sometimes your problems make you
Feel you want to scream,
Remember how the froggy churned
The butter out of cream!

[Repeat Chorus 1]

Chorus 2
Don't give up when you're sinkin'
And feelin' down! [Don't you give up!]
Don't give up when you're sinkin',
You don't have to drown,
You don't have to drown,
You don't have to drown!

Last edited by Somesh Thakur (2010-01-13 20:08:58)