I was born cocky.
When I was 17 years old, running a Baumfolder in a printing plant for $1.60 an hour ($64 a week; $3,328 a year -- before taxes!) – I was absolutely convinced I could write more compelling copy than I saw in the direct mail packages they had me working on ...
At 23, as I slaved over a hot IBM Selectric at an L.A. agency for $15,000 a year, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that my sales copy was by far the strongest stuff in the mail – probably the hottest copy anybody had ever written in the entire history of the direct response industry, period ...
And when I was 30, earning $300,000 plus overrides each year creating promotions for a $250-million-a-year financial newsletter and rare coin retailer – I was just too cool for school.
Sure – I had heroes; The stuff I saw Gary Bencivenga, Jim Rutz and Bill Bonner cranking out never failed to blow my mind. But with those exceptions, I was always the smartest guy in every room.
According to me.
And so, when a client offered me a bit of constructive criticism, I’d just smile and politely ignore him. And when I received invitations to attend seminars or conferences on copywriting or direct marketing, I just smirked, rolled my eyes and tossed them into the nearest “round file.”
After all – I was THE guy. I knew it all. Nobody could tell me anything about how to create blockbuster products or premiums or world-beating promotions. Nobody’s ideas were as good as mine were.
I was, as they say, a legend in my own mind.
Pretty dumb, huh?
Of course when I think about it, that youthful cockiness got me a long way.
It gave me the nerve to call total strangers, tell them their promotions were stinking up the room and offer to save them from their dismal mediocrity for a reasonable fee.
And it gave me the backbone to survive failures and to keep pluggin’ when a sane person would have just quit.
But more recently – in the last decade or so – I’ve noticed a subtle but significant change in my attitude. And that change has led me to many of the biggest winners and the biggest money of my entire career …
I Mellowed.
Maybe it’s the combined effect of the lessons I’ve learned from getting my butt whupped in the mail a few times a year over 35 years. Maybe it’s being married to a redhead who’s always right.
Or maybe, it’s because after seeing 55 summers, I am now officially older than dirt, and this “mellow” thing just comes with age. Like inflatable prostates, insomnia and the rheumatiz.
… But over the last decade or so, I’ve learned something astonishing: Other people have ideas, too!
In fact, LOTS of people have ideas. And believe it or not, some of them are actually good … a few are really great … and every once-in-a-while, one of them is truly spectacular.
Not only that: Other people are willing to share their ideas with me. All I have to do is maintain a modicum of humility … keep an open mind … listen carefully … think a while … write a while … and VOILA’! some of those ideas turn into money.
Sometimes, huge money.
Did you know any of this? I mean – how long has this been going on?
I can afford a lot of things;
Arrogance is NOT one of them!
I only mention this because lately, I’ve noticed that some folks don’t seem to have learned this lesson.
You see them all over the ‘Net. Some are self-appointed gurus with huge egos, abrasive attitudes and an insulting way of addressing you.
Others are just poseurs who haunt the forums and blogs like so many vultures, yearning for the opportunity to inflate their own egos by talking down to you or ridiculing your ideas.
You know the guys I’m talking about: They’re arrogant, obnoxious, churlish, a real pain in the patootie. And the last thing they’ll ever do is admit that they don’t know it all, or that there’s anything they can learn from anybody.
Like dogs trying establish who’s leader of the pack, they go around humping everything that moves.
Problem is, some poor, naive folks mistake their arrogance for authority – or worse, for knowledge or actual experience.
And that’s a shame. Because the true experts in this industry are some of the sweetest, most unassuming guys and gals on the planet.
Spend a few minutes with Gary Bencivenga, Arthur Johnson, Parris Lampropoulos, Kent Komae, Carline Anglade-Cole, Kim Krausse, David Deutsch, John Carlton – or any other of the real-deal copywriting champs out there and you’ll see what I mean.
Every one of them is a prince or a princess – and for good reason: Month after month, they hang it all on the line to challenge a client’s control: Their reputations, their egos, their future income, the whole shebang.
The ones they win keep them going. The ones they lose keep them humble.
The phonies haven’t learned humility because they don’t, won’t or can’t compete at these levels. And so they just promote themselves – and in a transparent attempt to mask their own incompetence, they strut and cackle like so many banty roosters.
My advice? The next time you see a promotion, or an article, or a forum or blog posting from an arrogant or insulting fool, do yourself a favor: Shine him on. Maybe if we all ignore them, they’ll just go away.
Now, that advice alone is probably worth about a billion times what you paid to subscribe to The Total Package.
But that’s not why I’m writing this. My real point – and I do have one – is …
A good idea is still the most powerful
thing on Earth.
This direct-response selling thing of ours – this “Cosa Vendere Nostra” – is fueled by ideas.
Product ideas. Premium ideas. Theme ideas. Headline ideas. Copy ideas. Offer ideas. Marketing strategy ideas. Media selection ideas.
In fact, the formula for direct response success can easily be boiled down to two, simple equations:
Good Ideas = Money.
Great Ideas = Beaucoup Money.
OK – so it’s not exactly “E=MC2” and I’m definitely no Einstein – but it’s true, nonetheless: The more good and great ideas you have, the more money you can make.
So how do you collect these ideas?
Well, staying humble, keeping an open mind and rejoicing in every opportunity to learn (e.g. the times when your promotion executes a flawless face-plant) is a great first step.
The second step is to get close to people like you who eat, sleep and breathe direct marketing, copywriting and design … who slug it out in the trenches day after day … and who have amassed an impressive record of amazing successes.
These are the guys and gals you need to get on a first-name basis with … to listen to … and to learn from.
Meet my Marketing Masterminds …
Over the years, I’ve surrounded myself with a handful of people I trust to bring me big response-boosting and money-making ideas: People I respect as being the very best at what they do.
These are the folks I call on when I need a fresh set of eyes on my copy … a breakthrough idea … or to solve a problem. And over the years, they’ve made me a bundle.
I’m talking about geniuses like Boardroom’s Brian Kurtz – the marketing brains behind the most successful soft-offer publisher in America and without a doubt, the best product developer I know.
And there’s on- and off-line marketing whiz Mary Ellen Tribby -- who created the most effective marketing division I’ve ever seen at Weiss and who’s now the boss lady at AgoraLearning’s superstar web company Early to Rise …
Then, there’s best-selling author and copywriting superstar Bob Bly – who helps me create kick-butt winners in the health market and also helps me help you, both in The Total Package and through our EasyWriters live events.
And there’s former copy cub and current copywriting superstar Kent Komae with whom I’m creating a promotion for a major client right now – and whose interview in these pages drew rave reviews.
For graphics help, I lean heavily on my friend Rob Davis -- hands-down, the most gifted, successful and sought–after direct mail designer in the business.
And although you may know Julie McManus and Daniel Levis through The Total Package, what you don’t know is that each one of them earned their place here only after earning their stripes (and making me a ton of money) in the direct marketing trenches.
When I need help with web strategy and copy, I speed-dial Daniel – the best web copywriter I know. And when I need to structure online campaigns, media buys and affiliate programs for my clients, I give Julie a ring. Julie and Daniel have so many hugely successful online campaigns between them – including a current customer acquisition campaign that’s generating ROIs of up to 450% -- it boggles my mind.
Then, there are my new friends: Tony Flores – who, in addition to editing The EasyWriters Marketing Club’s highly acclaimed Screaming Eagle print newsletter, is also a crackerjack copywriter I’m convinced will soon be a crackerjack seven-figure writer.
And veteran “A” level copywriter David Deutsch, who may also be the single most creative guy I know.
And of course, Troy White – the international management and marketing coach whose knack for transforming small businesses into big ones impressed me so much, I invited him to join my team.
Each one of these experts is creating hugely profitable promotions on the Web and in print – and exploding clients’ sales -- right now. Each is hard-wired into the strategies and tactics that are working best for our clients right now. Each one of them makes me money every day.
And if you get to know them, they can do the same for you.
Of all the questions I get asked by Total Package readers, one of the most popular ones goes something like this:
“They say you’re the highest-paid copywriter in America.
“How can I make the big bucks, too?”
My answer: “Surround yourself with experts who are best at doing the things you can’t do.”
I know – easier said than done. And that’s precisely why I hope to see you at Power Marketing Summit 2007. I want to share my team of marketing masterminds with you … and to help you form your own mastermind alliances with other attendees.
And even if you can’t make it to Washington DC in March, why not make it a point this week to begin building your marketing mastermind alliance? Make a list of the people you can call for advice … to brainstorm new product and promotion ideas … to critique your sales copy – whatever would accelerate your success.
Be available to help them if they’ll agree to help you.
Sure – to do that, you’ll first have to admit that you don’t know it all … that you’ll reach your goals more quickly with a little help from your friends.
But that’s a good thing.
Yours for Bigger Winners, More Often,
Clayton Makepeace, http://www.makepeacetotalpackage.com
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