BOOK REVIEW

Copycat marketing 101

Author

Burke Hedges

The introduction of the book begins with the story of middle aged managers
struggling to pay his bills. He decides to take advice from financial advisor. The
author advices us that “If you continue to do what you’ve always done, you’ll
continue to get what you’re always gotten”.

The real definition of Copycat marketing is in the name. Simply put its copying the
marketing techniques of your competitors. Of course we do not have to follow
suit exactly but why fix something that isn’t broken?

In short competitors have found a strategy that works, we do the same. When
they’ve begin a new venture, you take a similar route. There is nothing wrong
when working with what we know. It is advantageous as long as we put our own
skill and is productive.

The meaning of Copycat marketing is reinventing not duplicating. The book has
seven chapters which is very interesting to read.

The first chapter is titled “We live in the world of Copycat”. The chapter begins
with the words of James Balwin, “Children have never been very good in listening
to their elders but they have never failed to imitate them”. Author says that each
one of us are blessed with certain talent and gifts that makes one of a kind
individuals. Some are great dancers, some have talent for art, and some are great
athletes where as other do not have these talents but one thing in each and every
one of us is good at without exception is Copycatting. Copycatting is one trait we
all excel at and that we all have in common. It starts the day we are born.

We even go to fares to copycat how we earn money. For thousands of years

children of farmers copycat their parents and become farmer, likewise
carpenters, shoemaker, smith and teller.

But there is a flip site to copycatting. Just because we copycat something does not
make it good or efficient of productive. In fact, copycatting get us lazy in our
thinking, we copy others and assume that we are copying the right people. We
should examine our assumptions about what we are copying.

Second chapter “What is true wealth”. The author begins the chapter by defining
wealth. He says that wealth is having enough money and enough time to do what
you want, when you want. To make his point clear he sites example of Bill Gates
and Chuck Feeny. Both Bill Gates and Chuck Feeny understand that true wealth
means having total freedom to choose how to spend your time and your money.
Gates is choosing to spend his time creating more wealth while Feeny is choosing
to spend his time giving his fortune away. Time is the most precious commodity
far more precious than gold because once it’s gone you can never get it back.

The third chapter “Linear Growth: Trading time for dollars”. The author
emphasizes that linear is “The outcome is proportional to the input”. In layman
terms that means we get out what we put in. Nothing more nothing less. In linear
income growth one unit of time equals to one unit of money. As a result the only
way to increase income based on linear growth is to more hours or get arise.

The title for the fourth chapter is “Leveraged growth: working smarter not
harder”. In this chapter the author discusses the meaning of leverages. He says
that the root word of leverage – lever comes from an old French word meaning
“to make lighter”, leverage increase productivity by maximizing time, effort and
money. For centuries enterprising people have been making their jobs “lighter”
that is more productive and more profitable through the concept of leverage.
That really what increase productivity is all about working smarter instead of
harder by finding a way to make a lot more money in a lot less time.
Fifth chapter is “Experimental growth: formula for building a fortune”. In this
chapter the author says that the most powerful, most democratic form of wealth
building leverage in the world is called compounding and it has the power to
transform paupers into the princess.

He quotes Oscole, “The secret to building a fortune is compounding interest”.

Webstais define compounding interest as the interest paid on both the principal
and the accumulated unpaid interest. The key word in this definition is
accumulated. If the principal or the interest is spent instead of reinvested, the
power of compounding is diminished.

Compounding or a doubling concept has created more fortunes than any other
single investment. With compounding our money is working for us even when we
are not working.

In chapter seven the author says that the duplication is the key to franchising
success and we have agreed that exponential growth through compounding is a
time honored way to create wealth. That’s why in network marketing the
‘ultimate synergism’ combine the best from the concept of franchising with the
best from the concept of exponential growth. Both concept combine to create
ultimate copycat system for wealth creation- network marketing.

Author further suggest that the key to build a large profitable franchise and to
build a large network marketing distributorship is the same. We need to take
advantage of our god given ability as master copycatter, a talent that we all
possess.

Although franchising and networking are both copycat system. Networking enjoys
several key advantages over franchises. Networking marketing takes the best
from franchising – the concept of a duplicable system and leave the rest.
Networking takes copycat marketing to whole new level that is why experts are
calling network marketing “the next step in the evolution of free enterprise.”
The author ends the book by suggesting to take advantage of the opportunity
before someone else does.

You’re a great copycatter

You have the skills to succeed

The timing could not be better

You deserve it

It’s your turn to copycat your way to wealth