I know what you're thinking.
What in the world do these three men (yes, you can count Justin Bieber as a man) have in common? And, most importantly, what do they have to do with me? Well, believe it or not, these guys are more alike than you know.
They each possess the one main trait that has not only brought them fame but success: They are the true definition of a Modern Trailblazer.
And, they've done it their way.
Actually, I like to call them "Rule Breakers.
" They never followed the formula, the traditional path.
Bieber, Locke and Jobs didn't find success taking the normal route, mostly because the regular path was blocked.
They were told they wouldn't be successful, that they wouldn't make it.
They were laughed at, ridiculed, even barred.
But they persevered.
That's because they each possessed another similar quality: NO QUIT.
If you want to make your dreams reality, whatever they are, you can learn from these guys.
They key takeaway is the essence of their spirit, their attitude, the one that said they weren't going to let anyone stop them until they got where they wanted.
We'll start with Justin Bieber.
You might like him or not, and sure, he might not be for your age group, but I'll tell you one thing, you know his name.
This wasn't by accident but hard work.
He's earned every single bit of his fame.
He's clawed, crawled and scratched his way to the top.
When Justin was getting started, no record label would pick him up.
They didn't understand him, couldn't put him in one of their pre-defined buckets.
Did he stop, give up on his dream? No, Justin is a 21st Century social media phenomenon.
He took his music directly to his audience, via social marketing, primarily through YouTube videos and Twitter.
Soon enough, he was viral.
And right after that, he was picked up by a major record label.
But get this: on his terms.
Next we have author John Locke who may not be a name you know but you should, especially if you like books.
Locke is the first self-published, independent author to sell 1 million books on Amazon.
Yes, over a million.
And, just like Justin Bieber, Locke did it after all the normal doors were slammed in his face.
Locke is another 21st Century marketing phenom.
He too used social marketing and rode the social media wave to beat the big boys, the known authors and their traditional publishers, at their own game.
Locke is blazing a path and making the old school book publishing model a dinosaur.
He's an in your face, tell it like it is kind of guy, and he stuck it to the big publishers.
But he isn't just a marketing success story.
He's an excellent writer and more importantly, he knows who is target audience is and how to communicate to them.
His success is entirely derived from courage, not taking "no" for an answer, and thinking outside the box.
When we talk outside the box, the original innovator and trailblazer, who continues to push the envelope and toss out what is considered normal, is Apple Computer's CEO, Founder and Visionary, Steve Jobs.
He's truly blazed new paths into the jungle where no one else dreamed of them, let alone saw them.
Jobs has been a game changer in his career not once but countless times.
First, he and and his co-founder, Steve Wozniak, were primarily responsible for the PC revolution, making a personal computer user friendly.
They took the ideas of fantasy and made them reality.
And, their PC was a thing of art.
Then, when Apple was on its death-bed in the late 1990's, Jobs triumphantly returned to Apple to breathe new life into the old company.
He launched the iMac and followed that with the ultimate game changer: iTunes and the iPod.
That led to a music revolution that saw the death of the record store and life support for CDs.
But Jobs didn't stop there.
He came out with the iPhone and iPad to finish out the 2000's.
The iPad might prove to be his greatest innovation.
And, this is where you come in.
These are normal people.
They weren't known until they did it.
And, they all started at zero.
All three men had been told "no", were blocked or not picked up by what was considered the "traditional" way you were supposed to do things for their industry and each one had the courage, perseverance and creative foresight to give the old guard the finger and reach amazing success.
And, you too have the opportunity to learn from these men and repeat the feat.
Whether you are selling an eBook and wanting to join the ePublishing Gold Rush, want to start a internet company, sell a product, or are a filmmaker who wants to do it differently, this is your chance to be a trailblazer.
That's because there are no longer the barriers of the old guard.
The Internet, Social Media, instant info, and short attention spans have leveled the playing field.
Now, you really can reach your target audience without big bucks, big corporations, and PR departments.
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Groupon, Living Social, etc.
have destroyed traditional advertising and marketing and given the average Steve, Bieber, Locke, and you the same weapons to compete against the big boys.
Those guys proved it can be done.
Now's your chance.
Be a trailblazer.
#Justin Bieber, #John Locke, #Steve Jobs