Yesterday I received a rather strange email. It was from someone who’d seen a comment I’d made on Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula blog a couple of years ago. The sender mentioned that he’d seen my comment and asked me to tell him the amount of sales we’d made from our product launch at the time.

Although I’d written that comment – and launched the product in question – in 2006 (I think), the product launch went well and I still recall the results we achieved. Moreover, since it was a simple question my first instinct was to reply with the answer. (There’s a psychological/marketing lesson in this… be sure to read my comment at the end of this article.)

But then it occurred to me that… I don’t even know this person! Here they are – a complete stranger – sending me an email asking me to tell them about my company’s financial results.

Now the story might be different if I went around crowing about how much money we made from the launch in question and someone was asking me to clarify or confirm my claims. (Although, even then, I might want to know WHO I was giving this information to!). But in this case I didn’t do anything of the sort.

I don’t know about you, but I was raised to believe that it was RUDE to ask people how much they earned.

Obviously, those in the Internet marketing and money-making niches have no problem telling all and sundry about how much money they supposedly make. In fact, they do so specifically to help sell their products. Such marketers are, in my opinion, fair game for questions asking for clarification – or proof of – their claims.

But since when was it okay to send people you don’t even know (and who do NOT make sales or earnings claims) how much money they make? Isn’t that just plain rude? Or has the Internet - or Internet marketing - created an environment where good manners no longer matters?

Okay, here’s the psychological/marketing lesson: if you ask someone a question, their first instinct is to think of the answer. Their second instinct is to tell you the answer. Hmmm… how can you use this in your marketing?

A few months ago I saw the documentary film, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007). The film portrays Steve Wiebe’s attempt to achieve the world record score in the arcade game Donkey Kong, and in so doing dethrone the reigning champion Billy Mitchell.

I LOVED this film.

Among other things, the film conveys - in a powerful, compelling and fun way - what it takes to be a winner. And having watched this film, I am more convinced than ever that TALENT is essential but never enough. Nor is an average level of competitiveness.

To consistently win, you need to be obsessed with being the best.

The film, in its portrayal of Steve and Billy, conveys the distinction between someone who is born to win… and someone who learns to win.

Billy is a born winner. His “default” position in anything he does is to win. Coming second doesn’t even register. No question he has talent, but that overwhelming competitiveness drives him to succeed again and again, while others who may be equally as talented - but lack competitive zeal or are easily intimidated - fade away.

Steve, on the other hand, is someone with abundant talent. But in previous endeavours, his instinct to “move on to something else” whenever he meets with an obstacle sabotages his success. Finally, after discovering his talent for Donkey Kong he faces one of those obstacles again. But this time - whether it’s due to a supportive circle of friends and family, or something inside him that says “this time I’m NOT giving up” or both, he pushes onward. Finally, talent meets with an obsessive, competitive drive, and Steve becomes the champion.

I am sure there will be those who watch this film and just don’t “get it”. They’ll wonder how anyone could be obsessed with a video game or want to devote so much of their time and energy to becoming the absolute best at something. Maybe that’s most of the population. But for those of us who feel we are here on this planet to do something special… to be the best at something… or at least be the very best we can be… this film is a “must-see”.

And if, like Steve Wiebe, you want to know why, when you have so much talent, you haven’t achieved the success you deserve, maybe it will become apparent to you now: it’s about never, ever giving up.