The Recipe Is Not The Cake

 by Bonnie Boots

Semanticist Alford Korzybski came up with the phrase "the map is not the territory," meaning that the model of a thing should not be mistaken for the thing itself. Today, I'm riding on Korzybski's coat tails to point out that the recipe is not the cake. Here's why:

Some of my clients are Big Dogs in the world of information publishing. They write a book, give a seminar on the book, then create books and videos from the seminar. You can see how this system turns into a sort of perpetual motion money machine.

These "info-preneuers" make great money, so you'd think they'd all be as happy as cows in clover. But they're not. And YOU are the source of their discontent.

Some of them are perturbed that people ignore their best advice. These speakers and writers and marketers all work hard to deliver accurate information. They expect to get a good dollar for that information, and they do, but beyond that, they expect that people will actually use the information.

But all too often, that doesn't happen.

The fact is, only about 1 out of every 100 people take any sort of action after attending a workshop or seminar. The majority of people get energized, excited and do a lot of talking, but once they get home, that energy evaporates.

The same is true of books and videos. People buy audios and don't listen. They buy videos and don't watch. They buy books and never read past the second chapter.

That's what gets some infopreneuers down. They KNOW their information is useful. They want to see people benefit from buying it. But very few people do. And worse, those that don't sometimes point back to the infopreneuers and cry "Fraud! I went to your seminar, bought your book, enrolled in your system and I haven't made a cent on the internet."

I recently got a peek inside a brouhaha that broke out between an infopreneuer and a disgruntled customer. One fellow was selling a system that guaranteed you would make a certain amount of money on the internet in one month IF you followed the system step-by-step. He offered a 100%, no questions asked, money back guarantee.

The other fellow bought the system. After 30 days he hadn't made one cent. He asked for his money back, and immediately got it. But then he went on several forums and posted flaming letters accusing the infopreneuer of being a rip-off artist, selling pie-in-the-sky dreams to people hungry for overnight riches. He presented himself as an example of someone that had been duped and warned people "Don't be suckered into buying this system. It's doesn't work."

The infopreneuer, naturally, heard about this. He was probably hopping mad, but his response was polite and diplomatic. He called the disgruntled gentleman and talked him though the entire system, step by step, asking "Did you do step 1? Did you do step 2?"

And that's when the real story came out. The buyer admitted he hadn't even read through all the material. He started to take step 1, but stopped in the middle and never went back. 30 days later, when a big, juicy check did NOT arrive in his mail box, he got hopping made, got his refund and started flaming.

This inforpreneuer 's patient probing uncovered the real reason his system had "failed" with this customer. The customer was so embarrassed that he went back, worked through the system step-by-step, actually made money, then was man enough to post new messages in several forums, recanting his earlier rants.

The fellow that purchased the system made a classic mistake. He failed to realize that the map is not the territory; that the recipe is not the cake.

Let me illustrate. Can you imagine anyone going on eBay, paying $2.99 for a recipe for "Mom's Best Chocolate Cake," then leaving feedback saying " Ripoff! I printed out your recipe and it tasted like cardboard!"

Of course you can't. You expect that anyone buying a recipe for chocolate cake understands that what they're buying is not cake, but step-by-step instructions for making cake. They know that they will have to take action-either making a cake or coercing someone else to make a cake-- before any cake will actually be available for the eating.

Many people buy cookbooks and never make the recipes inside, just as many people buy business information and never read it, let alone take action on it.

But only a few will go so far as to blame the information itself for their failure to apply it, which is exactly the same as blaming the recipe for not making the cake.

That's something information marketers want you to understand. Those I know put a great deal of work into providing the very best information they can. They want you to benefit from it. And it makes them sad when you don't. They're like chefs that cook up a marvelous banquet. Hundreds of people pay good money to attend the meal, but almost everyone's wandering around aimlessly, not eating a bite.

Before you attend one more seminar or buy one more book or audio or video, stop a moment and look at what you've already purchased. Have you honestly made good use of what you already have, or are you patiently waiting for one of those recipes to bake you a cake?


About the author--

:Bonnie Boots is the publisher/editor of The Internet Wizards Magazine for people who want to create their own products and market on the internet. Register for your free 1-year subscription at http://www.theinternetwizards.com