Guerilla Tunnels For Lead Generation

July 14, 2010 on 10:47 pm | In Internet Marketing | 24 Comments

Almost 10 years ago, I spent 6 weeks in Vietnam with a couple of friends, wending our way up from Saigon in the South to Hanoi in the North.

One of the most interesting experiences was visiting the Tunnels of Cu Chi: the underground maze about 70kms outside of Saigon, from which the Communist Viet Cong waged their successful guerilla war against the US-led South.

These days, the tunnels have been enlarged for venal Western tourists. Even so, it wasn’t easy shimmying down narrow ladders, squeezing through passages sideways and dragging ourselves through tiny chokepoints on our elbows.

From the surface, you would never have imagined the underground city below. The tunnel network even included makeshift operating theatres, lecture theatres, dormitories, mess halls and ammo dumps.

You’d think that “stuff” below the surface would have presented a big target for the Allied/Southern forces to take aim at. And they tried everything…

They tried bombing the hell out of the tunnels with 30,000 kg “bunker buster” bombs.

Unfortunately, the unique geological structure of the soil meant that even massive explosive ordnance would only collapse a very narrow radius as the earth soaked up the force like a sponge.

They tried flooding the tunnel network with megalitres of water. But the VC built watertight trapdoors to keep the water out.

Then they tried poison gas. But the guerillas installed water-filled “airlocks” that foiled that plan as well.

The only strategy that actually gained some traction was putting together a special squad, dubbed the “Tunnel Rats”, who were sent in one-by-one with a handgun and a bowie knife between their teeth (literally!) to root out the guerillas one by one.

Being a Tunnel Rat required nerves of steel. After all, they had to negotiate the sweltering tunnels literally inch-by-inch, keeping a keen eye out for booby traps loaded with grenades, razor-sharp spikes or poisonous snakes.

While the Tunnel Rats did make slow but costly progress, the war ended before they could complete their mission and the Tunnels of Cu Chi were credited by the North as one of the keys to their victory.

So here’s the marketing lesson in all this: truly world-class online lead generation systems are like a guerilla tunnel network, loaded with the marketing equivalent of tripwires, trapdoors and motion sensors that allow you to reach the right prospects with the right message at the right time.

When your guerilla tunnel network is built, not only can you communicate with everyone in your circle of influence in the most appropriate way and drive extraordinary ROI – but you also make it V-E-R-Y difficult for your competitors to work out how the $&*#^ you’re doing it, because so much lies “below the surface”.

Especially if you sell something expensive or complex – building guerilla tunnels into your lead generation process will pay off tremendously.

And don’t be put off by the apparent scale of the task. This is a step-by-step process where layers of complexity can be added, one at a time.

All you have to do is begin.

We are super-busy at the moment and are not in a position to accept new clients until at least September 1 (other than people we’re already talking with).

But what I have done, is put together an “Autoresponder Technology Guide” which explains the best automation systems for building your “Guerilla Tunnels”. Here’s where you can grab your copy:

Get the Autoresponder Technology Guide (no opt in required)

24 Comments »

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Thats amazing. Can you imagine crawling through body wide tunnels in pitch black. I could never do it. I would like to see where you went to view these!

Comment by infinity downline — July 15, 2010 #
Interesting story, nice comparison, great lesson! Thanks a lot for sharing the “Autoresponder Technology Guide”. I am using aweber and it’s great.

Comment by Andrew @ Blogging Guide — July 15, 2010 #
I feel my claustraphobia building just reading your description!

Thanks for the guide. Looks like I have a bit of light reading tonight.

Comment by Candida Pugliesi — July 19, 2010 #
Amazing write up and good comparison for teaching great lesson. Thanks for sharing the “Autoresponder Technology Guide”. How it feels to crawl in a tunnel I want to feel it. Has anyone here done it?

Comment by cathy @ Dubai Mortgages Blog — July 19, 2010 #
What an amazing piece of history used for a perfect object lesson in marketing. In the literal sense of crawling through those tight tunnels, I don’t think I would be able to do it without having some sort of claustrophobic attack. How on earth did you manage it?

Comment by Scientific Research and Experimental Development — July 20, 2010 #
Interesting story. A tall guy like you Will must have struggled in those tunnels!

I’ve downloaded the guide and look forward to reading it.

Comment by Stephen Hamilton — July 20, 2010 #
Very informative story!. This article will probably motivate many people in terms of marketing there business.
I’ll check the “Autoresponder Technology Guide”, and I downloaded it..I am now starting to read it.

Comment by Charlotte Lawyers — July 21, 2010 #
Your post is very catchy and made me curious, so I’ve downloaded the guide and i can’t wait to read it.

Comment by Jenny — July 21, 2010 #
What a great analogy!!! I very much admire your unconventional approach to marketing and cannot wait to finish reading your guide. I am on the drawing board making the preliminary plans for my own set of guerrilla tunnels!!

Comment by Greg Tsioros — July 22, 2010 #
The Tunnels of Cu Chi were amazing when I went there not so long ago. Being slightly (OK, very) claustrophobic, navigating the tunnels was a torrid experience – I’d hate to be there before they were widened for my benefit!

Comment by Steve Marino — July 22, 2010 #
I know exactly what you mean about those caves. We went to there a few years ago and my goodness it was tiny. Had to get out after a few minutes because of how claustrophobic it was. Glad that you had a good time though, it’s a wonderful country.

Comment by Kaitlyn Blacket — July 23, 2010 #
Could you imagine the nerves of steel those guys would have to have. As much as I don’t like tight spaces, that would be something that I wouldn’t want to do even in peace time.

Comment by Darrell Walters — July 24, 2010 #
I really liked your analogy along with it scaring the ‘bad marketing’ thoughts away. As someone said, those ‘tunnel rats’ must have had many, many nightmares. Poor souls, all of the people who had anything to do with those tunnels.

I am slowly learning that marketing is like building a good tunnel system too. You have to burrow in to your target market to find what they really need and then give it to them.

Comment by Jan — July 26, 2010 #
Interesting comparison . But yes, I do understand the main idea. I also have made private deals that are not visible to the public.

Comment by Aron — July 28, 2010 #
Very well put!

Having your lead generation system set up so you can gather ample amounts of information on your prospect and also with regards to what else they want/are looking for is the successful way to do it.

Interesting story by the way, it was amazing what those people went through in that war.

Comment by Josh — July 30, 2010 #
interesting topic you got there. I just knew this guerilla tactics now, and it’s is really nice of you in have that comparison from the strategy you mention in your article

Comment by Sarah — August 3, 2010 #
Thank you for sharing!I really liked your analogy along with it scaring the ‘bad marketing’ thoughts away. As someone said, those ‘tunnel rats’ must have had many, many nightmares. Poor souls, all of the people who had anything to do with those tunnels.Interesting story by the way, it was amazing what those people went through in that war.

Comment by juicycouture — August 3, 2010 #
Hi Will,

Tunnels are at the same time fascinating and scary if you don’t know your way around.

I didn’t know your company was also involved in lead generation or list building.

Thanks for the guide, I’ll check it out.

Vance

Comment by Vance Sova — August 4, 2010 #
Great comparison, unfortunately my ADD might kick in before I get the tunnels built. I hope to get better. I’m new to your blog but I like what I see so far.

Comment by Loan Mod Attorney — August 25, 2010 #
The story behind ‘cu chi’ tunnels was quite amazing and interesting comparison with the lead generation systems. well targeted massive networking and well-planned promotional strategies make great lead generation systems, especially in online marketing. Excellent post!

Comment by Ipraxa — September 3, 2010 #
Good story, nice comparison, great lesson! I will be downloading the “Autoresponder Technology Guide”.
Thanks!

Comment by Douglas Adams — September 11, 2010 #
I just started using autoresponders and am learning once again a different marketing system. Even though the technology side of it to set up is easy, the actual marketing and little tricks used are hard to figure out

Comment by tools for sale — September 15, 2010 #
I love the comparison to the tunnels and the background info on that. Great post!

Comment by Translation Agency — September 24, 2010 #
The way you compare two absolutely unrelated things is amazing. It gives perfect visualization and understanding of online lead generation systems.

Comment by Artur at Brokerage-Review.com — October 7, 2010 #