A few weeks ago, I found myself at an open-air club in Barcelona, talking to Tony the drug dealer.
Tony didn’t speak very good English.
When he couldn’t find the right word, he would shake his fist at the sky and yell, “TEACHER!!!”
In spite of his habit of selling drugs for a living, Tony didn’t do too many drugs himself.
“Just a little ketamine right now,” he told me. “It opens up the pineal gland.” He pointed to the back of his head to illustrate where the pineal gland is.
Now, from my previous readings, I know the the pineal gland is supposed to be the seat of the soul.
If it gets clogged up, then you find it hard to see God.
When it gets cleansed, say with a bit of ketamine, then you start to see the true nature of reality.
Maybe you don’t believe in any of this.
So let me tell you about marketing instead.
I just had my first call with my new marketing and copywriting coach.
Earlier this afternoon, I was thinking to myself how I’m already a pretty good writer and I know a lot about marketing.
I wonder what this guy is gonna be able to tell me,” I thought.
Well, I’ve just had my pineal gland opened.
And I feel like I got a short but powerful glimpse of the true nature of marketing reality.
I had a similar though less powerful experience the first time I started hand-copying successful ads many years back.
There’s such a big difference between reading about copywriting theory online and seeing real ads that actually made millions of dollars.
And there’s an even bigger difference between working on moderate copywriting projects, and seeing behind the curtain of someone who works on some of the most successful current promotions.
So if you’re wondering what this has to do with you, here’s all I can say:
Find some way of cleansing your own doors of marketing perception and opening up your own pineal gland.
Maybe you can start by looking at historically successful ads.
Maybe you can find a mentor or a coach, like I’m doing now.
Or maybe you can get a job in a fast-moving and successful marketing organization, where you can get a lot of experience very quickly.
Speaking of which, a past client of mine, Josh Dunlop, got in touch with me a few days ago.
Josh runs a very big and successful photography instruction website called Expert Photography.
I wrote some emails for Josh in my first year as a copywriter. He’s now looking for somebody to hire full-time.
I’m not interested. But you might be. So in case you want to find out more about the copywriting position that Josh is advertising, check out the following page: