The Scariest Uber Ride Ever

As soon as the car pulled out of the airport, I knew I was in trouble.But, locked in the back seat for the next 45 minutes, I had no way to escape.After explaining how he'd spent decades in the military as a trained killer, my Uber driver began telling me how he'd spent years in Afghanistan and Iraq guarding a top secret team of U.S. archaeologists that were searching for the ancient remains of a secret alien ship that could be used as a weapon of mass destruction.I also learned that, according to my driver, one family secretly controls 75 percent of the governments, countries and wealth on the entire planet, Americans have been intentionally brainwashed since birth starting with the nursery rhymes(!) we're taught, and that catastrophic, earth-shaking events are imminent thanks to a "pole shift" that could happen any day now.Did I mention the ride was 45 minutes long?Your Worldview + Certainty is Everything in MarketingWhat was most fascinating (and terrifying) about this driver was his certainty regarding his worldview.He had zero doubt that these crackpot conspiracy theories were absolute fact.Nothing I could say (and I tried not to say much) was going to change his mind.It reminds me of this from Seth Godin's book, "All Marketers Are Liars":"A consumer's worldview affects the way he notices things and understands them. If a story is framed in terms of that worldview, he’s more likely to believe it ... no marketing succeeds if it can’t find an audience that already wants to believe the story being told."Now, if I were selling an online course about conspiracy theories, I have zero doubt my driver would have pulled out his wallet on the spot and signed up.Alas, I didn't think he was going to be a fit for my online trainings on how to sell with webinars or how to use LinkedIn for lead generation.The Key - Find People Who Want The Story You're Telling!Here's my point - if you're a Business Coach, Consultant or someone else wanting to generate leads, build your client base and grow your business online, you have to find an audience that is going to share your worldview when it comes to your area of expertise.For example, the audience I want to serve through my online courses has this worldview:"I know I need to take my business and lead generation efforts online, but I just don't know how. I'm willing to invest in strategies and systems that are going to help me do that."However, if your worldview is "No, you can't do personalized, 1-on-1, authentic interaction and lead generation with LinkedIn," then I'm not going to waste my time arguing with you.In reality, I have scores of case studies and testimonials from Business Coaches and Consultants proving my side of things, but, as Godin notes:“Don’t try to change someone’s worldview is the strategy smart marketers follow. Don’t try to use facts to prove your case and to insist that people change their biases. You don’t have enough time and you don’t have enough money. Instead, identify a population with a certain worldview, frame your story in terms of that worldview and you win.”Take that same lesson and apply it to your marketing messages and stories with your ideal customers and clients, and success will follow.Finding Your Next RideBack to the Uber driver.Somehow, I made it to my destination (a special Business Mastermind event at a resort in the Pacific Northwest) in one piece."Hey, do you need a ride back after your event?" the driver asked me as I threw the back door of the car open and jumped onto the sidewalk.I'm thinking, "Dude, I will walk back to the airport before I get in a car with you again!"Instead, I mumbled something about already having transportation lined up, thanked him, and ran for the hotel lobby like my hair was on fire.Can't wait to see what lessons my next Uber ride contains!