Networking

The top 3 factors to your success in life, ranked

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This morning, following a walk down to the beach, I rushed back to my apartment, jumped onto the couch, and started clapping my hands in excitement.

It was a close call, but I made it in time!

The next episode of my favorite new show was about to start. I wouldn’t want to miss it for the world.

The show is soooo good. You should definitely check it out. It’s called “How to Speak” and it stars a very funny and charming guy named Patrick Winston.

“How to Speak” was recorded in 2018. And really, it consists of only one episode, or maybe episode is the wrong term.

“How to Speak” is really the recording of a talk, given by Winston, at MIT, the university where he was a professor for over 40 years. For most of those 40+ years, Winston gave his “How to Speak” talk, each year to bigger and more enthusiastic crowds.

So fine. You got me. The only “true” bit of my story above is that I keep watching “How to Speak” over and over, like a favorite new TV show.

I watched it once already… now I’m on episode 2, I mean, the second rewatch… and I will probably keep bingeing on it until nausea sets it.

Why watch some MIT professor like he’s Seinfeld?

Well, Winston gives you a good reason right at the start of his talk. Your success in life, he says, will be determined by:

1. How well you speak…
2. How well you write…
3. The quality of your ideas…

… in that order. This “in that order” part is super important.

Yesterday, I talked about Stefan Georgi and a recent email he sent out about a $500k project he just finished.

The point that stuck out to me was that, here was Stefan, one of the best copywriters in the world, full of relevant samples and industry status… repeatedly writing unanswered emails to a business owner he had never met, trying to follow up and close a copywriting project.

Crickets. No response.

And then there was Stefan again, some time later, running into the same business owner at a conference, and instantly, deal gets closed, and for much more money than before.

In my mind, this is part of what Winston is saying above with that “Speaking, writing, ideas — in that order” stuff.

Of course, Stefan wasn’t at that conference to give a job talk, or to present his new research paper on “The Unreasonable Effectiveness Of The Unique Problem Mechanism.”

But the story still shows the power of personal, high-definition, warm interactions over even the most effective “cold” marketing and networking techniques.

That’s something to keep in mind, whether you are looking for success in your own product business… or as a copywriter working with clients.

All right, I gotta get back to bingeing on my cool new show. So my offer for you today is simple.

A few days ago, I sent out the first Most Valuable Postcard to my first 20 subscribers.

The premise of MVP that it’s an un-newsletter. Rather than telling you sexy secrets that sell for a lot but aren’t really worth much… MVP is all about fundamental factors to your success, which need to be regularly practiced, but which are guaranteed to produce big results.

The Most Valuable Postcard is not open to new subscribers right now. And given the amount of work it took me to produce the first one, I’m not sure it ever will be reopened.

But in case I do reopen it, and you would like to be notified, you can sign up to my email newsletter. The next episode of that particular show airs tonight.

I got paid $10k to listen to a dude talk for 20 minutes

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Last night, before I went to bed, an intriguing email landed in my inbox. The subject line read:

“I got paid $500k to write a 12-minute VSL”

The email came from copywriter Stefan Georgi. If you’re not on Stefan’s list or haven’t read the email yet, the gist is this:

* Stefan talked to a business owner about doing a VSL
* Stefan quoted $120k + a share of revenues
* The deal never happened
* Stefan kept following up, but got no response
* Months later, Stefan bumped into the business owner at a conference
* The business owner agreed to hire Stefan for a new project, a short 12-minute VSL
* Stefan ended up getting $500k in total, $250k up front, and another $250k as a “we’re so happy” bonus

Pretty crazy, right?

​​$500k for a 12-minute VSL?

​​Probably a thousand words total? $500 per word?

But there is a catch.

This business is a crypto project. And Stefan got paid in the tokens of that project.

These tokens might really be worth $500k one day. Or they might be worth more. Or they might turn out to be worse than monopoly money — not even the value of valueless paper.

If it sounds like I’m harping on the obvious like a jilted lover, that’s because this is a highly sensitive personal issue.

Back in 2017, a friend and I started a crypto news website.

2017 was the year of ICOs — crypto projects raising funds by selling their own tokens. Some projects were legit. Many were scams.

I had the idea to interview the founders of various ICO projects on camera. This would give investors a more realistic feel for who is a shyster and who is genuinely genuine.

The first founders I interviewed were from a project called CanYa, a kind of crypto Upwork.

I got on Zoom and listened to the founders of CanYa talk enthusiastically about their business for 20 minutes.

Once the call ended, the CanYa CEO said he wants to say thanks for the publicity (our YouTube channel had 4 subscribers). So he sent over $2k worth of CanYa coins.

“Pretty nice,” I thought, “though it might turn out to be monopoly money.”

But then, it happened. A few days later, CanYa started trading on a public exchange. And CanYa coins jumped from $1 to $5.

Suddenly, my 20 minutes of listening to some dude talk was worth $10k!

This was a hell of a business. “So long copywriting,” I said to myself. “Hello listening to people enthuse about their project at an effective hourly rate of $30,000 hour!”

Well.

​As you can see, I’m still in the copywriting and marketing world.

I no longer have that ICO news website with my friend.

And my former $10k treasure of CanYa coins, which I continue to sit on like a greedy dragon on his hoard, is today worth $22.02.

I’ve personally lost almost all my interest in crypto. I think that today, as in 2017, there are a few legit projects. As for the rest, it’s a bunch of hype and scams.

But you know, none of this is the point of why I told you about Stefan’s experience above.

The point is up there, hidden among those bullet points.

Maybe you can spot it. And if not, then read my email tomorrow. That’s where I will tell you the valuable point I have in mind, because today’s email is getting long.

To get that email when it comes out, you can sign up for my newsletter. The newsletter is free, though contributions of worthless crypto tokens are always welcome. Click here to sign up.

Near miss: 100-0 in business and private

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A tense and awkward situation today:

I was walking on a large, wide, empty road. Down the road, I saw a guy walking toward me.

I recognized him. I see him every time I go to the gym. I’ve never spoken to him, but I bet he recognized me, too.

So we were walking toward each other. There were no other people around, and no other distractions.

He saw me coming nearer.

I saw him coming nearer.

Would we say hello, even though we’d never spoken before?

Or would we ignore each other, even though we’d spent hours in close proximity?

At about 10 yards to impact, the guy dropped his gaze and started studying the pavement. I kept my eyes in the middle of his chest — a safe place in case he decided to look up at the last minute, but also not accusatory.

He didn’t look up. I kept quietly staring at the middle of his chest, without making any sudden movement. We passed by each other, as David Ogilvy says, like ships in the night.

Thank God. A near miss.

This brought to mind a post written by Brian Kurtz. You might know Brian as the former VP at direct response giant Boardroom.

Back in the 80s and 90s and 00s, Brian was the guy who hired all those copywriting legends like Gary Bencinvenga and Parris Lampropoulos and Jim Rutz. And today, Brian is still a very successful and well-connected guy in the direct response industry.

Anyways, Brian once shared an idea he called 100-0. 100-0 means you put in the extra effort to build and keep up your relationships. And you don’t grumble about it. Because it will be worth it.

It’s something I clearly need to work on, because it doesn’t come natural. I’m passing on Brian’s idea to you because maybe you are the same.

You can draw your own conclusions. But if, like me and like my nameless gym buddy, you keep waiting for others to make the first move… perhaps try 100-0 and see what it can do for you. In your private and your business life.

And maybe you’d like to start a modest relationship with me today.

Just by email. At least for now. In case you’re interested, here’s where to start.

A cold email to pierce the armor of Smaug the Magnificent

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Have you ever written a successful cold email to an internet influencer, such as a marketer, copywriter, or business owner with a large online following?

Over the years, I’ve written dozens of cold emails to such Internet personalities…

Telling them how I liked their content…

Or introducing myself and asking if I can be of any service…

Or making some kind of a pitch outright.

Almost always, these emails bounce right off, much like arrows shot at the dragon Smaug in Tolkien’s the Hobbit.

That’s not surprising. Internet influencers have thick armor protecting them against unsolicited advice, compliments, or pitches.

However, like Smaug, most Internet personalities also have weaknesses in their armor, particularly near their soft underbellies. And if you can spot such a weakness and shoot an arrow — I mean a cold email — straight at that hollow in their armor, you can get the influencer’s attention. In this way, you might even get access to the vast stores of treasure these influencers normally sleep on.

So for example, one cold emailing approach I’ve had success with has been to write to marketing and copywriting greats…

Tell them how I’ve applied some specific bit of their how-to advice…

And report the results it’s gotten for me.

In a nutshell, I’m giving them a results-based testimonial — and I’m setting myself apart from everybody else who simply writes, “Great stuff! Loved it! Keep it coming!”

Of course, in order to do this, you have to actually implement what these influencers are teaching.

This takes time and effort.

But in my own personal case, whenever I’ve sent a cold email like this, I’ve gotten back an enthusiastic response even from unreachable personalities…

And on a few occasions, I’ve even gotten some treasure as a result.

If you do take this approach to reaching influencers, write me an email and let me know how it’s worked for you.