Seduction
Most marketers approach their prospects like an army would attack a walled city: with a full frontal assault. We come at them with flags flying, trumpets blaring, and missiles flying. Our siege machines hurl fiery projectiles, our archers darken the sky with arrows, and we send row after row of…
READ MOREThe Language Perfectionist: “The Mischief of Language”
For the title of this year’s annual April Fools’ Day column, I’ve borrowed a phrase from Leo Rosten (1908-1997), the humorist and screenwriter. As devotees of “recreational linguistics” know, English isn’t just rules and grammar. It has a fun side, too. Wordplay can assume an astonishing variety of forms. Here’s…
READ MOREKilimanjaro
I never wanted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. In fact, I never wanted to climb anything. Still, I couldn’t say no to Dr. Al Sears again. He is a good friend and an important client. And I’d been demurring on all sorts of hiking and climbing invitations from him for about…
READ MOREThe Magic Formula for Online Business
Through juniper and sagebrush and parched grasslands. Past herds of mule deer, elk, and pronghorn antelope. On and on, we drove… into the primeval forest of southeast Oregon. I took last week off. Really off. Disconnected from most things electronic, except for my trusty laptop, my wife and I embarked…
READ MOREWhy You Should Consider a Career as a Freelance Copywriter
When you check your mail and e-mail today, keep an eye out. Did you get a renewal letter for any magazines you subscribe to, perhaps offering a discount or a free gift? How about an offer from a bank to sign up for a new credit card? You’re prequalified and…
READ MORELet It Go — Babies Do!
We drove upstate from Manhattan for a while, parked, and headed out into the forest. The first two hours were just fine. We had an enjoyable late lunch. I didn’t want to litter, so I put the empty root beer bottles back in my pack, and we set out again.…
READ MOREThe Language Perfectionist: “Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope”
Can you see anything wrong with the following sentences? “No longer able to cope, she reluctantly decides to leave.” “I just can’t cope anymore…. Most of the time I can cope pretty well.” “Homer and the rest of the family have trouble coping without Marge.” Or how about the title…
READ MOREA Highly Profitable, Laughably Simple Lesson From the Great Depression
I have a daughter in Montclair, New Jersey — hometown of the inimitable Yogi Berra. As a result, I have made a bit of a study of his remarks, and one of my favorites is, “You can observe a lot just by looking.” Well, one thing I have observed a…
READ MOREWhy Positive Thinking Is Bad for You
The “power of positive thinking” is so firmly enshrined in our culture that knocking it is a little like attacking motherhood or apple pie. Many people swear by positive thinking, and quite a few have been helped by it. Nevertheless, it is not a very effective success tool — and…
READ MOREThe Four-Legged Stool
Years ago, I was given a challenge by a client of mine. They asked me to help them create stronger direct-mail advertising packages than those being used by their main competitor. Problem was, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with the packages my client was using. They had good…
READ MOREThe Language Perfectionist: Stillborn Words
New words, or neologisms, are coined all the time. Not so long ago, we didn’t have blog, downsize, iPod, megatrend, shareware, Wi-Fi… and many others. But not every newly coined word becomes widely used or even enters the language. As you might expect, there’s a term for this phenomenon: nonce…
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