I recently watched a dirty little movie called Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is set on the French riviera. It stars Michael Caine as Lawrence, a dapper English scammer who charms rich and corrupt women for large sums of money… and Steve Martin as Freddie, a classless American jackass who milks the pity of any woman for tiny bits of money.
It’s been a few days since I saw the movie. The following monologue by Caine’s dapper scammer is what’s stuck in my mind:
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Freddie, as a younger man, I was a sculptor, and a painter, and a musician.
There was just one problem. I wasn’t very good. As a matter of fact, I was dreadful.
I finally came to the frustrating conclusion that I had taste and style, but not talent.
Fortunately, I discovered that taste and style are commodities that people desire.
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Like I said, this stuck with me. Maybe it will stick with you too.
You don’t have to scam anybody — that’s not what this is about.
But what Caine says about taste and style is true. They are commodities that people will pay for.
The amazing thing is that whatever your taste and style — ahem, obscure and campy 80s comedies — there are people out there who will appreciate it. And thanks to the miracle of the Internet, it’s easy and affordable to find such people.
I rely heavily on this, simply curating ideas, articles, movie scenes that I find interesting or funny or outrageous.
You can do the same. You can use your own taste and style, and simply share ideas that somehow impressed you or stuck with you.
That’s all you need to do, and you can be successful.
But if you want to do something a little bit extra with those ideas that impressed you or stuck with you, you can apply what I call the Most Valuable Email trick.
The result will be something that goes beyond what most other people will ever do.
In case you’re curious: