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.