The 10x rule ffirs indd I 3/14/11 10: 22: 47 AM ffirs indd II 3/14/11 10: 22: 47 am the 10x rule The Only Difference Between Success and Failure Grant Cardone John Wiley & Sons, Inc

because they offend customers but because they don’t take enough 
action to make these individuals customers in the fi rst place. And 
I assure you that these very same companies hold one meeting 
after another on improving customer satisfaction. They will 
survey those who buy from them instead of taking the time 
to ask those who didn’t why. Add to this the fact that most 
of these surveys focus on what the sales associate did wrong 
rather than on what is inadequate about the organization’s 
thinking and processes. 
Remember the operative order of importance: customer 
acquisition is the primary target, followed by customer loyalty, 
followed by customers who spread the word about you. This 
approach allows a company to continue to invest in prod-
uct development and improvement, enhance processes, and 
increase promotion—which ultimately creates real customer 
satisfaction.
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Customer Satisfaction Is the Wrong Target
145
Exercise
Have you ever been surveyed by a company that you 
didn’t buy from?
What is more important than customer satisfaction? 
1.
2.
Why do most businesses fail?
What might be some survey questions you could use 
when you don’t acquire a customer?
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147
CHAPTER
20
Omnipresence
T
he word “omnipresence” conveys the concept of being 
everywhere—in all places, at all times. Can you imagine 
what it would be like if you, your brand, and your company 
could be everywhere all the time—and how much power this 
would give you? Although it may seem impossible, this should 
be your goal. The things that are assigned the most value on 
this planet are believed to be available everywhere. It is impos-
sible to amass true success without thinking in terms of making 
your ideas, products, services, or brand universal. The things 
upon which people depend most are omnipresent, from the 
oxygen you breathe to the water you drink to the fuel you burn 
in your car to the electricity that runs through your home to 
the most impressively branded products on earth. What these 
items have in common is that they’re accessible everywhere. 
You see them, constantly, depend on them, and have become 
used to needing them, in most cases, on a daily basis.
Consider something as seemingly obvious as the news. 
TV channels, newspapers, radio, and the Internet deliver the 
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148
THE 10X RULE
news 24/7—so that’s usually what’s on people’s minds most 
frequently. We see it when we wake up, we talk about it at 
the water cooler, we hear about it throughout the day, and we 
watch it on television before we go to sleep.
This is the kind of mind-set from which you must 
operate—to make yourself available everywhere. You want 
people to see you so often that they think of you constantly 
and instantaneously identify your face or name or logo with 
not just the offering you represent but even the offering made 
by those similar to you. Many people incorrectly assume 
that they can make a handful of phone calls, a personal visit 
or two, and send out some e-mails and somehow command 
people’s attention. But the truth is that none of these actions 
will cause people to think about you enough to have a con-
siderable effect. Are you operating at the right level of target-
ing, and thinking big enough? If you’re not already, you need 
to expand your approach and enlarge your footprint with the 
goal of dominating and being everywhere.
My goal these days is to get more than 6 billion people to 
hear my name constantly, know it when they hear it, and then 
when they think sales training, they think of me. Although 
this may seem unrealistic, probably unattainable, it is the right 
target, thinking, footprint, and concept for my business—to 
be everywhere. The mere commitment to doing something 
this big will be an adventure in and of itself. Even before I’m 
able to fully attain my goal, I will achieve some greater level 
of success in the attempt. Will money come as a result? Abso-
lutely! Will people buy my products? For sure! Will I create 
success for my ideas and get support for whatever I am trying 
to accomplish? Guaranteed!
This mind-set will then allow for us to make all our deci-
sions with the goal of moving me in the direction of getting 
everyone on the planet to know about me, my products, my 
company, and my efforts! Every decision we make at my com-
pany is based on this one mission: Introduce the entire planet 
to Grant Cardone. Although our targets have to be funded, 
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Omnipresence 
149
money is not our primary interest. We know profi ts will come 
as a result of our efforts to be everywhere at the same time. 
We don’t ask what a project will cost or whether it fi ts in the 
budget or if we have time to do something. We ask, does it 
help us accomplish the mission of being everywhere? We don’t 
stop to fi gure out whether I want to travel or speak to a smaller 
group or what the outcome may be. We simply do not allow 
any excuses and distractions that could limit expansion. In the 
same way, any attempt you make to have yourself, your brand, 
your product, or your service be omnipresent will automati-
cally guide your actions and decisions.
Is this kind of thinking too big? For most people, it is. Is 
it absolutely necessary? Well, not if you are willing to settle 
for average. However, if you are considering that, go back and 
reread the chapters on why average goals will fail you and why 
normal does not work. Show me one great company that has 
not accomplished omnipresence. Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, 
Google, Starbucks, Phillip Morris, AT&T, La-Z-Boy, Bank of 
America, World Disney, Fox TV, Apple, Ernst & Young, Ford 
Motor Company, Visa, American Express, Macy’s, Wal-Mart, 
Best Buy—these names are everywhere. Each of these compa-
nies is in every city—some on every street corner—and most 
are available around the world. You see their ads, you know 
what their logos look like, and you can even hum some of their 
jingles and use their names to describe not just their products; 
but in some cases, their competitors’ products as well. 
There are also individuals who have accomplished 
omnipresence so well that the world immediately recog-
nizes their names, such as Oprah, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, 
George Bush, Barack Obama, Abe Lincoln, Elvis, the Beat-
les, Led Zeppelin, Walt Disney, Will Smith, Mother Teresa, 
Muhammad Ali, Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan, and so 
on. Whether you like them or not, each of these people has 
created such a name for himself or herself that most people 
know who they are—or at the very least, recognize their name 
and align it with importance. The way in which they man-
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THE 10X RULE
age and control their brands will determine their long-term 
success and survivability. 
My father always gave me the following valuable advice: 
“Your name is your most important asset. [People] can take 
everything away from you—but they can’t take your name.” 
Although I agree with my dad’s emphasis on the importance of 
names, it of course becomes less important if no one knows it. 
Unless people know who you are, no one will pay attention to 
what you represent. You have to get people to know you, which 
means that you have to get attention. The more attention you 
get, the more places you will be; the more people you are with, 
the more you can be everywhere. And all of this will improve 
your chances of using your good name to do good work. 
Have you ever heard the saying, “It is enough if you can 
just help one person”? Although it’s surely a good thing to help 
one person—and certainly better than helping no one—I per-
sonally don’t really believe helping just one person is enough. 
I know it sounds good and that this saying emphasizes the 
importance of helping others, but there are 6.8 billion people 
on this planet, and most of them need some kind of help. Your 
goal must—and can—be bigger than “just one person.” And 
in order for this to happen, people must know who you are 
and what you represent! Otherwise, you will not be able to 
help even one person—much less make a dent in 6.8 billion.
You must think in terms of being everywhere at all times. 
This is the kind of 10X mind-set necessary to dominate your 
sector. If you commit to taking 10X actions consistently, fol-
lowed up with more 10X actions, then I assure you that you 
will be propelled into situations where you fi nd yourself every-
where. The fi rst thing you have to do is burst through obscu-
rity and let the world know what you can do for it—and then 
do it relentlessly. Although it might sound like a grind, it will 
only be a chore if your goals are too small, self-serving—and 
unattained. I promise it won’t feel like a grind when you come 
out on top. You may want to get rich—but why? What do you 
want to use the money for? Do you have a higher purpose 
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Omnipresence 
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you’re looking to serve? After all, you can only accumulate 
so much personal wealth before it doesn’t matter anymore. 
Maybe you want to amass riches in order to help more people 
and improve conditions for all mankind. That would require 
you to be omnipresent—everywhere, all the time.
The higher your purpose, the more fuel it will provide for 
your 10X actions. This is what it takes to rocket to omnipres-
ence. People of fame and infl uence achieve this status because 
they are compelled to fulfi ll their purpose by writing books, 
doing interviews, blogging, writing articles, accepting speak-
ing engagements, and saying yes constantly to get attention for 
themselves, their companies, and their projects. These are the 
results of thinking big. This isn’t a grind; this is passion. It is 
only a grind when your mind-set and actions are too small and 
will not create enough of a payoff. You are capable of much 
more than you’re doing now. Once you match your mind-set 
with the right purpose, you will start taking 10X actions—and 
fi nd yourself simultaneously propelled into more places than 
you ever thought possible. 
In order for your life not to feel like “work”—or like 
you’re running on a hamster wheel—you must think in terms 
of the right volumes. Omnipresence—the goal of being every-
where at all times and at the same time—is exactly the kind of 
massive thinking that is missing from most people’s expecta-
tions of themselves and their dreams. 
You must fi rst make a vow to have your brand, idea, con-
cept, company, product, or service make a footprint on the 
planet. To do so, you have to get involved with your com-
munity, school system, neighborhood, and local politics. You 
have to attend and be seen at events, write in the local paper, 
and get connected to the players in your community. Once 
involved do everything possible to stay active, have people see 
you, read you, hear you, and think about you. Say yes to every 
opportunity to get your word out. Write about it, talk about 
it, give lectures on what you do, and even bark on the street 
corners if you have to. Commit to omnipresence!
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THE 10X RULE
I didn’t learn this incredibly important lesson myself until 
I was under major attack by people who didn’t want to see 
me doing well and I had to fi gure out how to counter it. My 
gut reaction was to retaliate immediately by way of infl icting 
physical harm (which I felt in a fl eeting moment of insanity). 
However, my wife reminded me of my own saying: “The best 
revenge is massive success.” She advised me to move forward 
with such great momentum and so much of a presence that 
every time these people woke up, turned the TV on, or made 
a business move, they would see my face—and be reminded 
of how well I was doing. Hearing the truth from my sane and 
positive wife immediately put me at ease—and made it clear 
to me that the best payback possible was not force of any kind 
but simply amassing more success. 
Rather than spending energy on retaliating, I spent all 
my energy, resources, and creativity on becoming omnipresent 
and expanding my footprint. This is a much better investment 
in energy than chasing someone else down. Consider how you 
can use this illustration to fi gure out how you can be in more 
places at the same time. Immediately after this attack, I got 
very busy making sure I was seen everywhere all the time. I 
wrote my fi rst book and followed it up with another one three 
months later. I then fi nished my third book, and members of 
my group spent months doing everything possible to make it a