Go Ahead. Swipe Others’ Stuff. Here’s Why…

I came across a cool quote yesterday from Carla Bley.

She was a jazz pianist and composer who passed away earlier this week, Austin Kleon shared her words in his newsletter:

“Listening is how I started. I didn’t start when I was a piano player. I didn’t start as a composer. I started as a listener.”

If you want to master an art or craft, tune into the masters. Listen and watch.

That’s true if you’re a musician and composer. That’s true if you’re a marketer.

In his must-read book “Overdeliver,” Brian Kurtz dives deep on this idea.

He writes: “Every lesson I learned throughout my career at Boardroom, and everything I’ve done since…has been based on original source material from the greatest marketers who ever lived.”

Brian encourages all of us to have a “swipe file.”

Collect great advertisements, marketing pieces, and other examples of mastery. Study them. File them away. Return to them for inspiration. Draw from them when they can help.

“Swipe files are your secret weapon,” he writes, “(They) are one of the most powerful tools in any marketers toolbox. Some people feel like it’s stealing to study and internalize the work of other people, but really it’s just being smart.”

Speaking of “greatest marketers who ever lived…”

…I put Brian Kurtz on that list.

Speaking of “being smart…”

…you’d be smart to sign up for the Mastermind Book Club and join us on Thursday when we discuss “Overdeliver.”

Brian will be in the Zoom room so this will be your chance to hang out with a marketing legend and pick his brain.

Every month, Ted Prodromou and I pick a book for Club members to read.

We meet — usually on the fourth Thursday — to discuss the book. This month’s meeting: Thursday, October 26, 2 p.m. ET.

There’s no charge to join the Club at MastermindBook.club. We email meeting reminders (with the Zoom link) to members.

I recommend the book’s audio version (read by Brian).

If you don’t have time to read the entire book, read the introduction.

You’ll have plenty to chew on for the meeting. You can finish the book (you’ll want to) when you have time.

Many members attend the meetings — and get lots of value — without reading the book.

One last thing…

…if you can’t join us on Oct. 26, join the club anyway. We record the meetings and post them in our online community.