This is NOT the Greatest Email Ever Made (and That’s Good)…

When the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson heard The Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” in December 1965, he was blown away…

…and he was inspired. 

Legend has it he told his wife, Marilyn, he was going to produce “the greatest rock album ever made.” 

(Holy Ambition, Batman!)

Six months later, on this day (May 16) in 1966, The Beach Boys released “Pet Sounds.”

If you want to see what man-pursuing-perfection looks like, check out the movie “Love & Mercy.” Paul Dano portrays young Brian Wilson making “Pet Sounds.” 

It’s fascinating – and a bit terrifying – to see the master at work. Never satisfied. Always tinkering. Driving the studio musicians crazy. Driving himself crazy.

This is a cautionary tale about the relentless pursuit of perfection. 

The album cost $70,000 to produce (a fortune in those days). 

And after all that, the album flopped – at least by Beach Boys’ standards. 

It hit #10 on the US charts. Not bad, but worse than the previous 10 Beach Boys albums. 

American fans and critics didn’t know what to make of the album’s lush orchestration and introspective lyrics. They wanted catchy pop songs about about surfin’ and cars and girls. 

Their lukewarm response devastated Brian. His wife Marilyn later said, “That really hurt him badly, he couldn’t understand it. It’s like, why put your heart and soul into something? I think that had a lot to do with slowing him down.”

Reminds me of some business owners I know. They sit down to write an email, and they give it the Brian Wilson treatment. Never satisfied. Always tinkering. 

I met with one business owner the other day who told me she struggles to write emails because she worries constantly whether they’re good enough. I assured her: 

You don’t have to produce the greatest email ever made.  

Don’t set out to be perfect. Set out to create a lot of content that is informative, relevant, and entertaining.

Release your work. Rinse and repeat. You’ll get better and better as you go.  

It’s better to be prolific than perfect.

(Anyone can discover how to be prolific and effective. No one’s perfect.)

Next month, I’m launching a do-it-with-you mastermind where I’ll reveal strategies, tactics, systems, and tools to be a prolific, client-attracting, content creator. 

If you’d like to know more, reply to this email with “I want to be prolific,” and I’ll circle back with the details.