Good Examples
It’s Pablo Picasso’s birthday today (Oct. 25)… …which reminds me of something he said: “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” Chew on that for a while – especially if you’ve ever thought you’re not “creative.” A lot of business people tell me they’re not…
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Back in the 1980s, copywriting legend Gary Halbert once claimed: “More people read any single issue of The (National) Enquirer than have read The Bible since it was first printed!” (Zoinks!) Halbert did not share the “sickening statistic” (his words) to bash The Bible. He was heaping praise on The Enquirer whose writers were, according to Halbert, “among the best…
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Before he stood out as one of the world’s great copywriters, Gary Bencivenga was stuck. So he enrolled in a course called “Overcoming Writer’s Block.” Turns out the course was a bust. The instructor “didn’t have a clue how to cure this problem.” And his classmates turned each day’s class into a whine-and-moan session. Lots…
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A few months ago, my friend Nora called to tell me about the new client she landed. He called me “out of the blue,” she said. “We met the next week, and he signed a contract that day.” The quickest, easiest sale ever, right!? Well, here’s the thing… That “out of the blue” client was…
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A VIP member of my Content Transformation Academy asked me last week: What’s the ideal length for a subject line? “Provocative question,” I replied. My answer: “Size doesn’t matter.” The VIP shot back: “I read ‘shorter is better.’” “Yeah,” I replied, “Some say short. Some say long.” I Googled “what’s the proper length for a…
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A few years ago I got an email that claimed to be from my friend Mark. It said, “Hope you are doing well? It takes me great pain to write this email to you and I feel so devastated. My family and I had a trip visiting Manila,(Philippines) unannounced some days back for a short…
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Last week, I re-watched Romeo + Juliet — the 1996 version starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. I love the scene where the star-crossed lovers meet. Love at first sight around a tropical fish tank. Here’s the video clip… Audiences enjoy love at first sight stories. (This clip — which is one of many on YouTube showing this scene…
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Last month, I met with a VIP member of my Content Transformation Academy to help her tune-up her sales funnel. Sarah worried she might be turning away good prospects. She’s a business coach who offers a free discovery session to prospects. They have to complete a form to schedule that session. And that form asks…
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Storytelling standout Bill Mueller shared a tale recently about a critic who told him “I don’t read emails with long copy.” Said the critic: “98% of the people who open email give you 3 seconds of their time.” That caught my eye… …because I write… …ummm… …you know. Still with me? Depending on your reading…
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I heard Dan Kennedy say this yesterday… “I believe in brand. I have brands of my own that I relied on my entire career – starting with ‘No BS…’ But I’ve never spent a nickel trying to BUY awareness for that brand…Instead of spending money, figure out ways to get paid to build a valuable…
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