“The fact is, you don’t know what directing is until the sun is setting and you’ve got to get five shots and you’re only going to get two.” – David Fincher, Born May 10, 1962. One good thing I learned in art school is that a hard deadline is remarkably inspirational. You learn to make […]
Sunset Is Your Daily Deadline, So Make Hay While it Shines Read More »
“The metaphor is perhaps one of man’s most fruitful potentialities. Its efficacy verges on magic, and it seems a tool for creation which God forgot inside one of His creatures when He made him.” – Jose Ortega y Gasset, Born May 9, 1883. Persuasive writers are basically in the business of manipulating minds through metaphor.
Metaphors Make Manipulation Manageable Read More »
“When you stand alone and sell yourself, you can’t please everyone. But when you’re different, you can last.” – Don Rickles, Born May 8, 1926. There is no flavor that every tongue will find appealing. Hell, not even every taste bud on the same tongue will like every flavor it touches. But there are flavors
When Your Persona Is Your Product, You Must Give It a Flavor No One Else Has Read More »
“Never write anything that does not give you great pleasure. Emotion is easily transferred from the writer to the reader.” – Joseph Joubert, Born May 7, 1754. Maybe Joe here was only intending to write things that gave people pleasure. In which case, I would agree with the first part of his statement. But is
Write From a Place of Emotional Truth, and Transfer That Emotion to Your Reader Read More »
“Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.” – Sigmund Freud, Born May 6, 1856. But Siggy, what if people could have freedom, but WITHOUT the burden of responsibility? Wouldn’t that be the greatest thing since sliced bread? What would people pay for that kind
How to Sell By Telling People What They WILL NOT Get When They Buy Read More »
“When you sell a man a book, you don’t sell him 12 ounces of paper and ink and glue – you sell him a whole new life.” – Christopher Morley, Born May 5, 1890. And so it goes with everything. You aren’t selling the action you want the mark to take. Whether it’s buying, subscribing,
Don’t Sell Objects – Sell Results, Outcomes – Sell THE FUTURE Read More »
“Everyone who achieves success in a great venture, solves each problem as they came to it.” – W. Clement Stone, Born May 4, 1902. Generally, Stone is full of shit. But this is a good quote, and true to boot. Preparation is good, but it will not remain intact in the face of executing those
Future Possible Problems Aren’t Real – Only Present Problems Deserve Attention Read More »
“Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain.” – Niccolo Machiavelli, Born May 3, 1469. Darling Nicci. How I love you. Listen, so many people will tell you that you need to deeply probe the customer’s mind to be able to sell them. You need a 159 point
Even the Mirror Will Lie to You About What We Really Are… Read More »
“A hero is one who knows how to hang on one minute longer.” – Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenber (aka Novalis), Born May 2, 1772. There is a lot of talk in our line of work of becoming an authority figure in a market – a recognized expert. And this quote speaks to the
Stick it Out, Take it Further, and Discover Something Worth Selling to Other Seekers Read More »
“I really don’t think records should be made in the manner where you sit and write, and when you’re finished writing, you start recording. That just seems conventional and old-fashioned to me.” – Jay Reatard, Born May 1, 1980. Writing for the internet, for yourself, is pretty fucking punk. You don’t have time to engineer
You’re Not a Classical Composer – You’re a Punk Rock Shredder Read More »
