The Millionaire Messenger by Brendon Burchard

I recently got a copy of a new book by Brendon Burchard entitled, The Millionaire Messenger: Make a Difference and a Fortune Sharing Your Advice. It was published officially on March 7th, 2011, and it shot straight to the top of the Amazon and B&N sales charts (maybe others).

I met Brendon at a conference a couple of years ago and got a copy of his book, Life’s Golden Ticket: An Inspirational Novel.  It’s a great read.  Knowing a little about Brendon’s background, I decided to jump at an offer he put out recently to pre-order a copy of his newest book at a great discount.

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What’s a Millionaire Messenger?

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The Millionaire Messenger is about becoming known as an “expert” in some area and being paid Big Bucks to travel around and speak to others.  He gives an interesting example:  Would you want to listen to some guy talk about real estate investing if he had never owned a single piece of real estate in his life?  Probably not.

But what if this person had worked with and around several of the biggest real estate investment moguls in America for 20 years?

Working for someone like Donald Trump might not give you much hands-on experience with your own investment portfolio, but it sure would make you sound like an expert to people who are looking to build their own portfolios, right?
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Could You be a Millionaire Messenger?

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This book really speaks to me powerfully.  I’m the sort of person who loves to research, learn, and share my knowledge with others.  Unfortunately, not having a Ph.D. in anything, and not being a multi-gazillionaire, people aren’t exactly knocking down my door asking me to speak to them or their group.

But in terms of practical experience gained throughout my career, I’ve probably got the equivalent of three or four PhD’s and several Master’s Degrees.  The question I’ve frequently pondered is… how can I capitalize on this knowledge?

In my case, I’m quite aware of the knowledge and expertise I’ve accumulate in various fields.  But most people probably aren’t.

Brendon’s central thesis is simple: If you’ve managed to survive through 30, 40, 50, or more years of life, there are probably a few things you’ve learned that make you an “expert”.  Even if you don’t think so, there’s a relativistic component that’s omnipresent — you’re always a few steps (or even miles) ahead of tons of folks following (consciously or not) in your footsteps.

As a somewhat silly case in point, do you know there are more people learning English in China than all of the native English speakers living in America today?  Even Japanese companies will hire just about anyone who’s a native English speaker to teach English to their employees.  So if you’re an American reading this, chances are you’re a bona fide expert at communicating in English relative to most foreign countries!
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Millionaire Messengers Don’t Have To Be Boring

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If you’ve ever been to meetings with some “old guys” there, you know that some of them love to get up and pontificate about what they’ve learned or what they know.  It seems unavoidable at times.  Brendon’s book is clearly aimed at these folks.

But it’s also perfect for a much larger audience, like all the folks who’ve been down in the trenches, learning from the School of Hard Knocks, and have lots of war stories to tell about how they survived.

Strangely, this is a part of our culture that we seem to have lost.  Many other cultures revere and respect their elders, and love to tap them for their wisdom and expertise.  America has tended to cast older wiser folks aside.

Ironically, this has created a viable market where these people can stand up and become known as “experts” in some field.  It doesn’t take a PhD or becoming a bazillionaire.  Just a lot of great hands-on knowledge, experience, accumulated wisdom, and / or the willingness and ability to do a bunch of research.
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What Does The Millionaire Messenger cover?

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In his new book, The Millionaire Messenger, Brendon lays the groundwork for how to approach the “experts” market and position yourself as an “expert”.  The amazing thing is that, while companies don’t seem took keen on hiring many “fogies over forty” these days, consumers can and do spend good money to hear what they have to say and learn from them.  Again, this is a sad reflection of our contemporary culture, but it is nonetheless creating opportunities for many of us that didn’t exist previously.

If you have a sibling, parent, relative, or close friend who you think may have knowledge and wisdom worth sharing with others, but can’t imagine who’d be interested in listening to them, give them a copy of this book as a gift.  Or maybe that someone is you?

I know there’s a Millionaire Messenger hiding within a lot of us just waiting to be let out.
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