Is your marketing a train wreck of Matthew Newton proportions?
I just got back from a quick trip to the US and Canada, spending a week with one of my mentors Trevor ‘ToeCracker’ Crook. And in between drinking and sightseeing, we managed to spend a bit of time on marketing and copywriting. And you can be pretty sure nothing was sugarcoated, and that’s just the way I like it.
We didn’t talk about Matthew Newton, but I’ll explain in a minute where that guy comes into it
We talked about my business. Take my own prospecting and marketing for copy clients. Basically, I wasn’t doing enough of it. Few do. Whatever I thought previously was enough, turns out it’s pretty much like pissing into a damn stiff breeze . . . doesn’t take a genius to figure out you’re not gonna achieve much.
The main thing I took away though, was a much better understanding of what it takes to write copy which sells.
From just a few ideas Trevor mentioned, over a beer at The Winking Judge, or over a Poutine (Awesome comfort food I’ve only seen in Vancouver, but would sell like iPhones anywhere it’s not too hot), just a small handful of techniques Trevor explained to me, mean I’m about a thousand times better now at writing cash spitting copy, than I ever have been in my career.
But on the way home, I thought about the other path not traveled – what if I had NOT invested the time and cash to do this? If I wasn’t interested in learning, growing, devouring any and all relevant information I could get my hands on, where would I ultimately end up?
Maybe like the guy on the Warrior Forum, who posted that his facebook ads are not converting? Sure, maybe they need some work, he didn’t reveal the ads, but he did reveal that his total spend on clicks was 60 cents.
Yep, 60 cents. Mate, 60 cents is NOT a test, it’s a guy who wants a nice car, house, travel, money, etc, but lacks the stones to become a genuine marketer. He’s facing a credit card bill of a couple of bucks and he’s ready to throw in the towel. He’s NOT ready to do the hard yards.
I don’t know Matthew Newton, and I do my best to limit my exposure to news & current affairs, but I do know the guy has said to the cop who arrested him something along the lines of:
“You can’t treat me like this, I’m Australian”
As if the cop would smile and say “Throw another shrimp on the barbie mate”. Even if the cop was the world’s biggest Crocodile Dundee fan, how is that line going to help?
I think what he meant to say was “You can’t treat me like this, I’m entitled”
I’m guessing a lot of folks would think they were entitled to preferential treatment if they were the son of a TV star, himself some kind of celebrity, even a minor one. Reminds me of the old story about the keynote speaker in the restaurant, saying to the waiter “Don’t you know who I am? They flew me in, etc, and I want another pat of butter” And the waiter replies “Don’t you know who I am? I’m the guy in charge of the butter”.
But what it really says to me is, this guy isn’t ready to do the hard yards. Given his position in life, is he wants to be well known and travel the world, especially on someone else’s back, there are things to be done, respect to be paid, even to a person you don’t know, who you may never see again.
You probably can’t relate, unless you’re mother or father is rich or famous. But I’m sure you can appreciate that any success you want comes along with work, both mental and physical, especially for those of us not born with any advantages.
And I’m damn sure that if you’re like me, you hate to see any life, any time, wasted on avoidable stints in jails in any country.
Most of us don’t get the head start Matthew Newton has – and if you’re reading this, I’m betting you wouldn’t waste it making news for all the wrong reasons. So when you get handed virtually nothing to start off with, like you and I and most people reading this page, this kind of waste seems so stupid to be punishable. The question is: Are YOU wasting what you DO have?
