Why Simple Writing Works Better
Someone once asked me… Why I would, so often… (at least in copy)… Use so many… One-line paragraphs… And so many… well… of these things: “…” Of course, the above is exaggerated. But there’s no getting around it… Many copywriters really do use a lot of one-line paragraphs. Or even one-word…
READ MOREThe Right Way to Ask For, and Get, Referrals
Asking a client for a referral is no big deal. Provided the timing is right, there’s no reason to worry that you’ll look pushy, presumptuous, or out of place. To boost your chances of success, however, it’s important to know just how to ask.
READ MORELessons on Internet Marketing from Society
There are two kinds of customers you must pay special attention to: (1) the excellent customer, and (2) the extremely unhappy customer. The excellent customer is someone who can’t stop buying your products, has been easy to service, and raves about you to everyone he knows. Only now he’s asking…
READ MOREList Price Doesn’t Matter
One of the mistakes many new real estate investors make is thinking they got a good deal just because they managed to purchase a property for less than list price. Don’t confuse list price with property value. In many cases, list price is just the wish price of the seller…
READ MOREThe Language Perfectionist: “Say What?!” Funny Misunderstandings
A mondegreen is a phrase that has been misheard and thus misunderstood, usually with humorous results. Here’s an example: A TV commercial claiming that a car was carved from “a single block of steel” was heard by a viewer as “a single glockenspiel.” Another example: A 2008 news story about…
READ MOREPeople Who Talk to Themselves Have a Captive Audience
How many people talk to themselves? As you’re reading this, you might even be saying to yourself, “Who me? I don’t talk to myself.” There are those who think people who talk to themselves are crazy, but nothing could be further from the truth. People who talk to themselves are…
READ MOREFinding Gratitude and Purpose
I couldn’t help but listen in. RB, an upperclassman, was reveling in his “accomplishment” over the weekend. “We found a gate into the pasture and drove out toward where they were sleeping,” he said, lowering his voice. “The first one woke up and ran off, just as we got close.…
READ MOREThe Other Seven Wonders of the World
A group of students was asked to list what they thought were the present “Seven Wonders of the World.” Though there were some disagreements, the following received the most votes: 1. Egypt’s Great Pyramids 2. Taj Mahal 3. Grand Canyon 4. Panama Canal 5. Empire State Building 6. St. Peter’s…
READ MOREProgress, No Matter What
I make it a point to follow up with everyone who asks me a question about setting up an Internet business. It takes me just a few seconds, and it usually motivates them to take action.
Usually. But not always. After my most recent follow-up e-mail to "Bob," for example, I received this response…
READ MORENobody Owes You Anything: From Gardener to Entrepreneur
The average Nicaraguan is born in a shack with a dirt floor. He earns less than $15 a week. “E,” my gardener in Nicaragua, does much better than that. But he is still, by U.S. standards, poor. Since I am in daily contact with E when I’m there, I often…
READ MOREThinking: It’s One of the Most Difficult Tasks We Do
Henry Ford once hired an efficiency expert to go through his plant. Ford directed him to find the nonproductive employees and, he said, “I will fire them!” When the expert finished his evaluation, he reported to Ford that he was particularly concerned with one of his administrators. “Every time I…
READ MOREThe Language Perfectionist: Redundancies Redux
A year ago, I devoted a column to the topic of redundant expressions. This error continues to be widespread, as the following examples, recently culled from the media, demonstrate: “I have come to realize that the seeming constancy of the harbor symbolized a false myth about nature.” (The phrase false…
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