You might be wondering what that yak is doing in this blog post. Well, there’s a very good reason for that (at least a half-way decent one) and I’m going to tell you what it is. But first…
The new Internet Business Mastery site design is right around the corner. We’re currently working with a designer that was chosen from the Internet Business Mastery community. We’re very excited by what we’ve seen so far. Development and testing continue and we hope to launch the new site in mid-April.
Once it’s all done, we’ll share some of the insights and strategies that went into the design. In the meantime, we want to start giving you some sneak peeks at what we’ve got cookin’.
That’s where the yak comes in. I wanted to share with you one of my favorite new features (if we can call it that) of the site.
We’re big proponents of entertaining while you inform your market. And what’s more entertaining than a yak?
For those who are thoroughly confused as to why we’ve chosen a yak (other than the fact that they are the coolest animals on the planet), here’s a rundown on the yak timeline.
Late 2005: Sterling puts a random question into the very first Internet Business Mastery survey to make Jay laugh: Are you afraid of Yaks? Jay decides to leave the question in the actual survey posted to the site. Pandemonium ensues.
Early 2006: Internet Business Mastery listener’s begin to slip jokes into email and comments such as “I drink yak’s milk every morning for breakfast!”
Mid 2006: Sterling coins the phrase “cash yak.” For kicks, Jay creates a mock-up image of a yak on a stash of cash with the caption “I won’t settle for a cash cow…I want a cash yak!”
My Lame Mock Up of the Yak Using Clipart
2007: Sterling and Jay’s yak humor takes a vacation as their shaggy friend disappears to his Himalayan home with no explanation.
2008: The cash yak returns after a year of intense Internet Business Mastery study, daily upper-body workouts and a trip to Polo Ralph Lauren. He explains to Sterling and Jay that he was tired of being “just a pretty face.” After intense contract negotiations, the yak secures his spot on the home page as the symbol of the ultimate internet business master and demands that he be given a name.
So there you have it. The origin and evolution of the yak. Below I’ve included a couple more shots. (I had to. It was in the contract negotiation, too). Now we need your help. What do we name him!? Let’s hear it in the comments. If you can’t think of a name, at least give us your best yak joke.

The Rough Draft Sketch from the Illustrator

The Yak in All His Glory For the Home Page of the New Site
Oh, man, this is too funny, you even mentioned my infamous quote!
I don’t suppose Zac Johnson would appreciate it if we called it Yak Johnson.
Does it have to be a good yak joke? How about this one: “What do you call a yak with two legs shorter than the other? Lean beef!” or “What do you call a yak with no legs? Ground beef!”
Okay, those aren’t even worth a chortle…
Looking forward to the new design!
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