Most people in our industry give very little thought to how they’re perceived by others (and it ends up costing them a lot of money in the long run).
I’ll give you an example of this from my own life…
A few years back when I was at Traffic & Conversion in San Diego, I ended up at a rooftop party at the Hard Rock.
Everyone in the industry was there…
I talked to Chris Haddad…
I chatted with Craig Collins and Danette May…
I caught up with Dave Sinick…
We were all laughing, having fun, and enjoying the beautiful 70 degree weather.
At one point in the night, an attractive blonde woman came over to our group and said hi.
I didn’t think anything of it…
I figured she knew someone in the group…
But as the night went on, I noticed she was talking to me more and more.
She kept asking me questions…
And laughing at shit I said that wasn’t even funny.
Finally after a few minutes, it dawned on me that she was into me (sometimes I need to be hit over the head with a hammer to see the obvious).
Anyways…
We kept chatting…
And as the night went on, she got flirtier and flirtier with me.
At first it was little things like punching my arm when I teased her…
Then it was “accidentally” rubbing her hand up against mine…
I didn’t escalate anything.
I kept it platonic.
But as the night was winding down…
She started making hints that we should “get out of here”.
I knew what that meant.
And I wasn’t gonna take her up on it…
So I simply said…
“Listen, you’re very attractive and I’ve had a good time chatting with you, but this is not going any further than us talking. I don’t do the one night thing with people I’m in the same industry as. In fact I don’t even date anyone in this industry. I have too much to lose and it’s simply not worth it.”
She was a little shocked by my answer.
And tried to get me to stay…
But I knew nothing good would come of it…
So I simply gave her a hug, and told her “I had a good time, I hope you have a good night”.
And then I hopped in the elevator…
And went home.
That was the entire night.
There’s no juicy ending to this…
No sultry story.
And for good reason.
It’s because when it comes to anything involving my business…
I’m always thinking about the “long game”.
I’m thinking about how this will make me look…
And how it could potentially go wrong…
On a purely short term basis, would I have liked to go home with that woman?
Of course.
She was super cute and we had a good vibe going.
But that’s short term thinking.
In the long term, there was nothing good that could have come from it.
I could have easily been labeled as the guy who’s always hitting on girls at industry events…
Or even worse…
She could have been crazy and started telling people I took advantage of her…
None of that would have been good.
So I didn’t even entertain it.
The way I see it is that I have a business that brings in 7-figures a year…
And that business relies heavily on my reputation.
So I’m gonna protect that reputation as much as I can.
Even if it means passing on “short term fun”.
That’s how I look at it.
And I’d suggest you start thinking the same way.
Cause everything you do, people are using it to form an opinion about you.
So how you carry yourself at events…
Or what you post on Facebook…
Or what you say to clients…
It all matters.
So my advice?
Give more thought to your actions…
And before you do something…
Think about how it’s going to affect you in the long term.
Is it gonna help you?
Is it gonna hurt you?
If you start thinking “long term”, you’ll put yourself on a level above everyone else.
And you’ll be better off for it.
So always think about the “long term”.
– Justin
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