Bits and Pieces
Suffocating in a Cloud of Digital Detritus!
I received a letter from a family member recently. A typewritten letter – actually typewritten, not laser printed – on an 8 x 10 sheet of paper. I tried to remember the last time I’d seen one of those.
This morning, it was sitting, folded, on my bedside table where I had left it. It looked odd. Lonely. Out of place. A fragile relic of the past.
When I began to write on computers, I made photocopies of my poems and stories to protect them from loss. I didn’t trust the computer to store them.
When the iCloud appeared, I was even more skeptical. But then, gradually, I stopped making copies and backing up my files. I had come to believe that everything I put into my computer is not just stored in the Cloud, but stored in perpetuity. I have several ways to delete files. But I’m pretty sure they are never entirely gone. I may be able to erase my access to them, but they are still up there, somewhere in that Cloud.
And that has given rise to a new fear: the possibility that all of my false starts and bad ideas and unkind sentiments are permanently stored in some digital library owned and operated by some digital information tsar.
There’s an ecological issue, too. For it’s not just my digital detritus that is being stored. It’s the data from every single input from every single online human on the face of the Earth.
Trillions of gigabytes of coded and traceable information!
A huge and ever-expanding miasma of energetic waste that is being inserted into the universe, growing exponentially every single day!
Essential Skills for Budding Entrepreneurs
A reader writes…
“I am a 23 yr old looking to level up in life. I recently bought and read your book Ready, Fire, Aim. I want to act on what I have learned. Do you have any insight you would be willing to share on opportunities you see around us today? Is learning to write copy going to be as beneficial in entrepreneurial adventures?” – HS
Dear HS…
You are on the right track.
As a would-be entrepreneur, there are three essential business skills you should learn. Marketing, salesmanship, and product development. Of those three, salesmanship (knowing how to sell your company’s products and services) is the most important.
It is the most important for two reasons. It will give you the best chance of successfully getting through the first and most challenging stage of your company’s growth. And it will, if you maintain that skill by staying active on the selling side of your business, keep you at the helm of your company as it passes through stages two, three, and four.
There are basically three ways to sell something: on the phone (telemarketing), in person (door-to-door), and in print (copywriting).
Each of these modes of selling will teach you different things.
* Telemarketing (especially outbound telemarketing) will teach you humility – that success in selling is about subordinating your ego to the market.
* Person-to-person selling will teach you sensitivity – how important it is to be able to instantly “read” the prospect’s emotional state.
* Copywriting will teach you self-discipline – the importance of le mot juste.
If you want to become the best salesperson you can be, you must learn all three of these skills. And that means spending time doing each one.
So, let’s tie this back to the reason you asked about the future of copywriting in the first place: your interest in pursuing a career as an entrepreneur…
What I’ve told you is that you should learn how to sell your company’s products and services even before you start your business.
Brand advertising is still important, but it’s changing. General and commodity marketing have been on the way out for years. Direct and personalized selling are the future. So, focus your learning on the three forms of direct and personalized selling. And know that of these three, copywriting has (in my opinion, at least) the greatest growth potential.
If you come to copywriting with the experience of having first sold by phone and door-to-door, it will come faster to you. More important, you will have a deeper and more enduring sense of how to write strong, effective copy for your growing business.
Is Trump Done?
I hesitate to mention her name, because my liberal friends will dismiss whatever she says because they think of her as a right-wing nut. I’ve been reading her commentary for about a year now. She is a hard-core conservative. And she doesn’t pull any punches. Sometimes I cringe. But I don’t doubt her acumen.
Recently, she said something about Trump that surprised me:
“No one wants Trump. He’s fading faster than Sarah Palin did – and she was second place on a losing presidential ticket. In case you don’t remember, for three years following that loss, Palin was packing stadiums with tens of thousands of Trump-like fans.”
She made a good argument. It’s the first I’ve heard like it. I’m wondering why would that be? Perhaps it’s because the mainstream media, which has done so well railing against Trump, would like nothing better than to have him run again in 2024.
That’s speculation. But you can read her argument here.
Is Demand for Old Masters Ebbing?
On Jan. 27, Sotheby’s had its annual “Old Masters” auction in NYC. It brought in $88.6 million (after buyer fees). A significant drop from last year’s $115 million.
According to a friend that attended, the sale room was crowded but the “excitement wasn’t there.” Fifty-five pieces went on the block, and 41 of them (75%) sold.
Recently, Suzanne, my partner in Ford Fine Art, and I did a quick study of the price history of art at auctions over the past several decades. I was surprised to see that the demand for Old Masters appeared to be waning.
That was also true of many Modernist masters. I have a theory about why that is, which I’ll talk about in a future issue.
What I Believe
Every Truth has an Equal and Opposite Truth.
COVID Update
Because COVID quickly became a political (i.e., pro- and anti-Trump) issue, we’ve had a tough time getting unbiased information about it from the media. After two years of false claims on both sides, a few facts are becoming clear.
Debate: One of the most prominent debates was about immunity. The liberal media wanted us to believe that vaccinations were the best and perhaps the only defense against COVID. They disputed the conservative argument that natural immunity (from having had COVID) was equally good if not better protection.
Winner: In this debate, the conservative media turned out to be correct.
Facts: On Jan. 12, the CDC issued a statement attesting to the fact that natural immunity is stronger and lasts longer than immunity achieved through vaccinations. In the data cited, natural immunity was 29 times more effective in California and 15 times more effective in New York.
Honorary Mention: The liberal media didn’t lose the bet entirely. The same studies that showed that natural immunity was stronger than vaccination immunity also showed that the best protection was a combination of both – vaccinations and natural immunity. The infection rate for the smart and lucky people who had both was 33 times lower in California and 20 times lower in New York.
Debate: A second debate had to do with the effectiveness of cloth masks. On this issue, the liberal media was strongly in favor of them and the conservative media was skeptical.
Winner: The conservative media again.
Facts: “We have known for many months that COVID-19 is airborne and therefore a simple cloth mask is not going to cut it,” said Dr. Leana Wen, a public health professor at George Washington University. Finally, on Jan. 16, the CDC updated its guidelines. They didn’t come right out and say that we should avoid cloth masks, but did admit that, as compared to N95 and KN95 masks, they offer the least protection.
Interesting: Why Obese People Can’t Lose Weight
“It’s just calories in and calories burned.”
Obesity is not healthy. And, yes, some people are fat because they eat too much and exercise too little. But the science shows (and has repeatedly shown over the last 20+ years) that the primary reason for body size is metabolism, much of which is inherited.
Here’s a good breakdown on the difference between how an obese person processes food and how a normal person does…
Words to the Wise
* A word I want to use next time I’m in a flower shop: vermillion – a vivid red to orange. Example: “Oh yes! He loved yellow did good Vincent…. When the two of us were together in Arles, both of us insane, and constantly at war over beautiful colors, I adored red; where could I find a perfect vermilion?” (Paul Gauguin)
* A word I’ll wager I will want to use whenever I want to feel wise: alliteration – the repeated use of the same consonant in a phrase.
* A word I always misinterpret: canorous – I keep thinking it means an annoying or grating sound. It means quite the opposite, a melodious sound. Example: “Astounding, canorous, enchanting, alembicated and dramatic, the Chopin studies are exemplary essays in emotion and manner.” (Chopin: the Man and His Music by James Huneker)
