I attended a chamber breakfast this week. I met a very self confident guy who told me about his dream. To build his million dollar empire without business cards. When he asked for my business card, I explained that I had real business cards and cards that I gave to people that I thought were going to be annoying. He took the ‘annoying’ card.
Today, I received this email.
From: IAmAwesome@yahoo.com
Rick,
Who needs business cards when you have email and text messaging? It was a pleasure meeting you earlier this week at the Chamber of Commerce meeting in Marlborough. My only regret is that we didn’t get much time to talk about who you are and what inspires you. I would sincerely appreciate scheduling a time for us to get together next week to talk. As of right now I am available Tuesday, Thursday and Friday morning. If a lunch appointment would work better for you please let me know and I will arrange my schedule accordingly. I am forever grateful for you taking the time out of your busy schedule to read this note. Have a great weekend.
Best Regards,
I Am Awesome
508-xxx-cell
p.s. I hope this email gets read before being placed in that “other” folder …
(Now, let’s face it. I warned him.)
I responded with:
Dear I Am Awesome,
A Yahoo address & and a cell phone aren’t enough to get you on my calendar. That’s why you have the card that I give to annoying people. Now it’s in the other folder.
Sent from my PDA.
He replied with:
Damn. Your tough. I have a Gmail and Hotmail address as well. I also live in a house in (a town that I know) which gives me a physical address. I guess you need to see some physical proof of that. Relationships are all about building trust – I get it.
Thanks for getting back to me – I think that’s a big step for our budding friendship.
Looking forward to staying in touch any way we can.
(To which I responded with a link to this blog.)
This guy is a winner. He’s strong, confident, and driven. He’s defining his mission and finding his way. Although he may act otherwise, re-read the recognition in his second email. So, I have two points.
From my perspective, just because someone appears to be a cocky, self absorbed ass, don’t assume that he is.
From his perspective, if you want to be a real business, get a real domain and use a real email address (not the ones the kids use) and a real phone number that’s attached to a street address.
More to follow?
RainMakers & Sales Rock Stars 
More power to Mr. Awesome! I got a big charge out of the “budding friendship” – I think you guys will get there quickly.(comment confirmed with my yahoo email address)
Questions: 1) Do you REALLY have two different business cards?2) Which one did you give me?3) Is Mr. Awesome trying to sell to you?4) Do you find his stated purpose of creating a $1M empire without business cards memorable?5) Does he sell some product or service that enables companies to operate paperlessly?6) Is IamAwsome@AwsomeConsulting.com a “real email address”? This guy has caught my attention. At least, I’d like to satisfy my curiosity about the reason that he doesn’t use business cards. . . .
Coincidentally, Mr. IAmAwesome was at the Growth Summit tonight. I introduced him to a few real people who had already met him virtually. I expect that he will comment himself.
It’d be awesome if “mr awesome” commented here. There’s nothing that you revealed about him that is anything to be embarrassed about. I’m sure you remember me when I was this greeen. With a bit of coaching, this kid sounds like he could make something of himself.
Pete,Entrepreneurs can be interesting. They can also be frustrating. Some are focused. Some just stubborn. Sometimes I help. Sometimes I just shake my head. Remember Sir? Remember all the people that we used to see Thursday mornings? Think about how many people there are in how many chapters. That’s a lot of head shaking.
I personally was introduced to I am amesome at the summit. He was nothing to blog about. Interesting guy but I walked away during his talk. There was a large cheese table that was very interesting
I was walking into a chamber ambassador meeting yesterday morning and coming across the garage was a very self possessed man with a messenger bag and a swagger. It was 36 degrees out, I was wearing a coat, he, a shirt. I heard him talk to people in the elevator about what an awesome day he was having. I didn’t ask, but rather wondered if all of his walks through a garage are AWESOME. Went to my meeting and there he was, having an awesome morning in the same meeting I was in. I noted that his PDA is a week at a glance calendar that I used to use before 3-Com invented Palm Pilots. Do you suppose he owns a coat? Post meeting, I talk with this blog’s moderator, he asks, did you meet Mr. Awesome? Yah, saw him coming across the garage being just AWESOME in his gait. So, being who I am, I logged onto the first computer that I could get my hands on and Mr. Awesome does indeed have an address, it’s his parent’s address, but I guess that they let him use it. No address of his own, no PDA, no coat, no domain and do we know what it is that he has for goals? (This sentence was deleted by the blog moderator to maintain Mr. Awesome’s anonymity. I’ll introduce him face to face as Mr. Awesome, but I want to be careful with the internet.) Maybe he’s showing us the way to a new kind of business revolution, better watch carefully!
Thank you, John. I thought all that you thought. Fake? Cocky? Future winner? Future con? Don’t know.One of the things that Dave Kurlan constantly needs to help me with is to resist the urge to judge. I constantly see people do stuff that I wouldn’t do. That doesn’t give me the right to assume that they’re stupid, crooked, or any other negative word. Example: In August, 2007, I wrote this post. He (Sir) and I don’t agree. We could judge each other. Fact is, my way produces results for my clients and his way has him starting his third business in three years because none of them has produced enough income to support him.Sometimes, it’s hard to look at the facts and not judge, but remember Matthew, “Judge not, lest ye be judged.”So, bottom line is that I don’t throw these two under the bus publicly because they are not worthy adversaries. For that definition, I steer you to Guy Kawasaki and How-Drive-Your-Competition-Crazy.
This is truly awesome. I appreciate all the kind words. Looking forward to seeing everyone in the very near future. I know Rick is not shy in introducing me to as many people as possible – something I will be forever indebted to him for. I really don’t expect everyone to have confidence in me – I haven’t proved anything to anyone yet. The thing I have learned through my quest in personal growth and development is it really doesn’t matter if other people don’t have confidence in me as long as I have confidence in myself. My mentor once told me not to set your sail by everyone else’s sail. Yes I am using the “Ready. Fire. Aim.” approach to my business, yes I use a Yahoo email address, yes I use my parents address for all incoming mail and yes I walk in the cold without a coat – I guess I just didn’t think it was that cold that day. All these things being said, that does that have any effect on my focus to where I will be in the future. In harmony small things grow. I am truly inspired by opportunity my parents, God and the world has given to me to live in this country where anything is possible. One of the most powerful things I have read listening states this: “The harvest is plenteous, but the labourers are few.” See everyone at the top!!
Finally, we hear from Mr.Awesome. I think I like him !! Actually, his attitude reminds me a little of Rick, in that, he believes in himself and will go his own way as long as it is profitable. I do have one comment to make — about anything being possible in this country — at the rate America is destroying itself from within — I would be very wary about the direction you take. Good Luck!!!!!
Thanks Mom. When you change the way you look at things. The things you look at change.
Can you believe the Irony, Your first thought, Mr. Awesome is nothing to blog about. Then oddly enough you find yourself sitting at your pc spending your valuable time blogging about Mr Awesome. I understand though your urge to blog, so far the most profound insights on this thread have originated by Mr. Awesome himself…..
Another yahoo address with no website… At least Mr.Awesome uses his real name when he comments.