I must have heard this hundreds of times over
the years: “”It’s not what you know, it’s who
you know.”"

And while there may an element of truth to
this, it seems like a damn fine excuse for anyone
who isn’t born into the right social circle…

“”It’s not my fault I can’t get ahead. I just don’t
have the right contacts”"

“”John is so lucky. But he did have the contacts,
after all, didn’t he”"

“”What do you expect? I wasn’t born with a silver
spoon in my mouth”"

… of course, there are a million different
‘excuse variations’, but they all have one thing
in common.

They hold you back.

Don’t get me wrong. Some people do get luckier than
others. For instance, I know someone who was handed
a business from a family member… got free rent for
months… and had dozens upon dozens of pre-qualified
clients sent his way.

No prospecting… no hard knocks… just hang out
your shingle and you’re on your way.

But most of us don’t have it quite that easy.

You and I have to hustle. You and I have to work
hard. You and I have to put in the hours to get ahead.
You and I have to think hard on a daily basis.

But you and I should not EVER fall into the victim
thinking that we can’t succeed because we’re not
in the right social circle.

There is another way.

I call it the “”What you know determines who you
know”" philosophy.

And it’s worked for me.

Here’s what I mean: the contacts you make are determined
by what you know.

For instance, as a copywriter, I now have many well
known friends and acquaintances in the direct marketing
circle.

And the reason we make time for each other is because
we both know something which can help each other out.

But the truth is “”If I didn’t know anything about direct
response marketing, I wouldn’t have that relationship
with them.”"

If all I wanted to do was call up and chat with them
about nothing or TAKE… TAKE… TAKE… and not give
anything in return, obviously they wouldn’t return my
calls and the relationship would not be there.

And when you consider there are six degrees of separation
between you and anyone else on the planet, once you
have a handful of contacts, it’s not hard to get in
touch with virtually anyone… if you really set your
mind to it.

And that’s why WHAT you know determines WHO you know.

But I’m not just talking so much about university education
that everyone else knows. I am also referring to getting
information nobody else knows. I am talking about being
able to add so much value to other people that they
want to keep you in their “”inner circle”" of contacts.

Because we’re all busy. And successful people are even
busier. Therefore if you want to know them and get all
of the advantages of being in the “”inner circle”" you
need to know stuff other people don’t know.

Stuff which you can find at this web site (or this one )
which not 1 in 100 business owners truly understands.

Anyway, this is an important point we all must keep in
mind for the rest of our lives:

What we know determines who we know.

Print it out and tape it up on the wall next to your
computer for a month if you want to ensure you don’t
forget it.

All for now,
Scott Bywater