I was reminded of my own mortality today. I guess you can say I had a near death experience, though
death I experienced was not my own. No, I was never in any danger, nor was my life ever threatened. In fact, I was sitting in air conditioned comfort of my home office sipping a nice cup of coffee and watching dogs run around yard when moment came.
The sun was shining. The birds were chirping. Life was going along just fine.
Death was furthest thing from my mind.
Then news came that Corey Rudl had been killed in a high speed crash at a race track in California. At moment of his death at young age of 34, Corey was a passenger in a Porsche that hit a retaining wall at over 100 miles per hour, killing him instantly and driver shortly thereafter. The track had been rented by a local car club so that Corey and his buddies could take their expensive, powerful cars to track to see how fast they could go.
Corey died doing what he loved. Those closest to him say he would not have had it any other way.
Corey Rudl was not a professional race car driver. He was an entrepreneur, and one of best of his breed.
Most of you who read this column probably have no idea who Corey Rudl was or what he accomplished during his short life, and that’s OK. You also have no idea of imprint he made on me and millions of others who make our living (at least in part) as online marketers. Again, that’s OK. For all his accomplishments, those who knew him well have said that Corey was more concerned about building his businesses than being a public figure. By those accounts, Corey never really cared about being in public limelight, even though he was probably most visible and successful entrepreneur in his field.
Perhaps that’s why Corey Rudl was so successful. He knew what was really important when it came to building a business. The limelight came easy to him, but his focus always seemed to be on making his business stronger, serving his customers better. He also knew that there was life beyond business, and he pursued that life with a passion and energy that most of us can only imagine.
Corey Rudl’s story is classic entrepreneur’s tale. He started his business from his kitchen table just a few short years ago selling a homemade booklet he had written on how to get best deal on a new car. From that modest start Corey built an internet marketing empire that has generated $40 million dollars in revenue in just a few years.
Corey was definitive internet marketing guru. He was young, energetic, and highly passionate about his business and his industry. He wrote and spoke frequently on topics of internet marketing and business success and that’s where he and I briefly crossed paths. We were both expert columnists for Entrepreneur.com and exchanged several polite emails, nothing really personal, mind you, mostly swapping compliments of each others work.
Much of Corey’s time in recent years was spent teaching others how to do what he had done: build a successful online business from scratch. For a man of just 34 years, he packed in decades of expertise and knowledge and he shared it with anyone who would listen, including yours truly.
