Encouraging Mediocrity: Everyday I'm Shufflin'

This post is a thinly-veiled excuse to highlight what I'm proposing we make the anthem of the Gold-Making Nation: Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO.


There's been grumbling in the community lately on what exactly constitutes a "good" gold-making strategy. Some in the "old guard" would like nothing better than to have gold-makers switch off their brains and follow time-worn (and frankly quite thread-bare) gold making strategies until end of time.

Today I'm going to talk about the best gold-making tool in all of Azeroth: your brain.

Engage Your Brain

If there is one thing I've tried to instill in the readers of this blog it would be to think for yourself. Develop critical thinking skills. The ability to not simply go through the motions but to strive to understand the underlying principles involved in gold-making.

Anyone can read and implement simple gold tips they pick up from blogs into their daily routines. This in and of it self is not a bad thing. Gold-making blogs provide multiple perspectives and real-world-tested strategies that can often lead to very positive gold returns but gold-making tactics are far too often time-dependent. IN short they have an expiration date.

The old adage goes "Give a man a fish he'll eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever." But what if that man not only learns how to fish but also then teaches himself how to hunt. How to farm. At that point he's engaged his brain. He no longer has to simply eat fish forever. He can now eat steak and potatoes.

The Consumer

In talking with other gold-making bloggers I've come to the conclusion that there are as many different types of gold-makers as their are stars in the sky. Some people who read gold blogs do so looking for simplistic "tell me exactly what to sell and how much to sell it for" types of strategies. Perhaps they are new to gold-making and are looking for some concrete ideas to get their gold-making endeavors off the ground. The other possibility is that they are unimaginative and/or simply lack the energy/motivation to think for themselves.

These type of readers are always wanting people to "give them fish". They want others to come up with all the "good" ideas. They want to be able to simply pick up strategies and often employ them with little or no modification (often resulting in terrible returns).

I have nothing against this type of gold-maker. In many ways I often am this type of gold-maker. I'm always on the look out for new techniques or strategies by reading gold-making blogs. The problem is that these type of gold-makers become reliant on gold-making blogs for all their ideas. On top of that they contribute very little back to the community in the form of  new gold-making ideas or techniques. They are not bad players or terrible gold-makers they just never make the conceptual leap from being a consumer of ideas to being a producer of ideas.

The Producer

The next segment of readers are what I call the "producers". These are readers who take techniques they read on gold blogs and analyze/adapt them to fit their own server conditions. They become self-sufficient. They become powerful and most importantly they become independent.

They no longer need gold blogs (*sniffle*). They have all the tools necessary to not only implement any strategy that may come along (in the stream of gold-making blog posts etc.) but are also hard at work on their own tips tricks and techniques. They've learned how to fish. They've taught themselves how to hunt. How to farm. They are prepared for any fluctuation in the market. They are ready to adjust to anything a competitor, patch or hotfix may bring.

They produce their own ideas. They engaged their brains. They're off to the races. (Insert any analogy you'd like here for someone who can make it on their own.) This is the type of reader I strive to help create here at Power Word: Gold. (From the comments and emails I receive there is little doubt in my mind we have the smartest, most intelligent and amazing group of readers anywhere in the gold-making community.)

You Are Amazing

You have a brain. Think. Waiting for a battleground? Think. Standing at the auction house? Think. Gathering your completed auction profits? What sold? Why? Watch. Think. Learn.

When you hear people say things like "there is nothing new in gold-making" or "that is a terrible gold-making idea" stop. Think. Make your own decision. There is a chance something you read on a gold-making blog may be a truly terrible idea. You know what? If you've engaged your brain you will be able to spot it for yourself.

Gold-making will never "run out of ideas". As long as there is gold to me made there will be brilliant players (like you) working, digging, thinking and analyzing new and exciting gold-making ideas and strategies.

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