The Least Used Muscle…
August 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment
This is probably unlike any marketing letter you’ve ever read.
And after the next few moments, you may actually think that this copywriter’s gone bonkers.
Heck, I’ve been called worse.
So here’s what this is all about…
This week, I remembered to exercise a muscle I don’t pay nearly enough attention to… at all.
In fact, it’s probably the least used muscle in most people’s bodies.
Okay, okay, I’m not really talking about a muscle.
It’s a whole lot more powerful than that.
What I’m talking about is your IMAGINATION.
And not many people have one these days. Even fewer people use the one they’ve got.
After all, we weren’t taught to have an imagination. We were taught NOT to have one.
“Look at what everyone else around you is doing and act accordingly.”
“Don’t step out of line.”
“Make sure you fit in.”
Little did anyone know that those are the absolute worst skills for business. Sure, you’ll blend in… and go broke in the process.
There’s a marketing myth out there that creativity has nothing to do with marketing or business… just do what works, they say.
Sounds believable, doesn’t it?
It’s baloney.
Following thinking like that is the reason your inbox is clogged with one miracle product offer after another. The reason that you get 5 or 6 “gurus” plugging the EXACT same product, on the EXACT same day to the EXACT same lists of people.
Some people call it a joint venture. But when you get 5 or 6 of them at once, I call it being exceptionally lazy AND boring.
Just this week I came to an important realization in my business and in my life.
It’s time for me to imagine further. (Yes, I take my own medicine.)
It’s time to step out of the “daily grind” and put on my creating hat.
To direct my energy towards something that HASN’T been created before. To imagine it in every detail… and then make it real.
Sure, I might add a few more spectacular failures to my collection. But the home runs I end up hitting will be far more profitable.
And a whole lot more fun.
So what about you?
Think you’re putting your imagination to its fullest use in your business? In your life?
I’m confident you haven’t even begun to scratch the surface.
Because once you do, your true genius will make its way out into the world. And once that happens, you’ll be unstoppable.
Now imagine that.
What are you doing NOW?
August 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment
My legs STILL hurt…
I’ve been in the car for the past 4 days, moving to Flagstaff Arizona. 3 kids, 2 adults and a WHOLE lot of stuff packed into a Honda CR-V. One of the most uncomfortable cars ever created.
It’s a good move… In fact, here’s a picture I took from my kitchen window the first night we were here.
A beautiful moment in Flagstaff… and that’s why I’m writing today.
I just finished Eckhart Tolle’s book, “The Power of Now.”
Clearly, the book was never meant to be a “business book.” But I often find some of my best ideas outside the business world altogether.
And for my big business lesson of the week, I didn’t have to look much farther than the title of Eckhart’s book: “The Power of NOW.”
Here’s what I mean…
A whole lot of entrepreneurs suffering from “Guruitis” are on the never ending “gotta learn just one more thing” treadmill.
This course, that course. This book, that book. The newest marketing technique… the latest technology.
It’s an exciting (and tiring) way to live.
I should know… I’m a poster child for the Eternal Student Society.
But here’s the problem…
You Can’t Learn and DO at the Same Time.
I guess it’s a little like breathing. Most of us can’t breathe in and out at the same time, right? At least I haven’t figured out how to do it.
Of course, the point isn’t to stop learning. The point is just to be very conscious of what you ARE doing with each moment you have.
Are you learning or are you doing?
In business, both are necessary. But you only get paid for one of them.
The biggest asset you have as a business owner is this:
You have NOW… this very moment–to take action and create something in your business that wasn’t there before.
To provide value to your clients and customers in new and powerful ways.
So what are YOU doing NOW?
Think about it for a moment. Because this moment is all you’ve got.
The Truth is Always Simple
August 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Just finished up No Attachments No Aversions by Lester Levenson.
It’s his autobiography… A close look at probably one of the happiest people on earth. Who he was and how he became that way.
Basically, it’s the story of his journey from B.C. (before consciousness) to the period in his life he calls A.C. (after consciousness). The story of how he “fell” into happiness and his recommendations for how you can do the same thing.
You can read it in about 90 minutes. And it will probably change your life.
Don’t let its length fool you. Its truth is simple and profound.
As I get deeper and deeper into all of this, that’s usually how things turn out: the more profound the truth, the more important it is, the simpler it is as well.
Simple things are easy to miss. And that’s the problem.
Is “The Secret” Just a Bunch of Hype?
August 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment
With all of the “fit hitting the shan” about “The Secret” and its debut (via Oprah) into the mainstream, I took some time to think about whether “The Secret” really is anything more than the marketing hype so many folks are calling it.
After a bit of thinking, I settled on a simple answer:
Who cares?
Live your life. Make your own decisions. If you don’t like something, don’t do it.
But why waste your time criticizing the guy who does want to do it?
Who exactly is that helping?
So maybe “The Secret” changed your life.
Maybe you think it’s a bunch of hot air.
Either way, I agree. Congratulations.
They can’t buy it if they don’t know about it…
August 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Sometimes I marvel at how stupid I was two weeks ago.
Last year, shortly after Thanksgiving, I had a product launch for an internet business I run.
——MINI-RANT——–
Yes, I have an internet business. Several in fact. And I actually make money without teaching other people how to make money. I’m the best copywriting client I’ve ever had 
———————–
When I launched the product, I sent out an email to my list pointing them to the sales letter–and voila, sales came in…
I checked my sales reports the other day and found that after the initial flurry of activity, the sales for this new product were pretty bleak.
(Here comes the part where I was stupid… )
But when I looked a little closer to find out why, it turns out I told my list about the new product exactly one time…
Once!
So I spent a few minutes, put the whole sales letter into an email and sent it out…
In less than 30 minutes, the sales started coming in… and they’re still coming…
Sometimes I come down with a bad case of Entrepreneurial-itis. I start something new before giving the old the “full treatment.” Clearly, it cost me quite a few dollars this time around.
Moral of the story: If you have a product that can really help people, tell them about it already. Then tell them again. And again…
It’s irresponsible not to.
Don’t forget to put it on your calendar, because you’ll probably forget. Trust me.
No Steve, it’s about responsibility…
August 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Just came across this video on Mark Victor Hansen’s website. It’s a short clip of Anderson Cooper (CNN) hosting a debate between Mark and Steve Salerno, critic and author of “Sham: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless.”
The premise of Steve’s book is that the Self-Help movement is little more than addiction - that no real proof exists that any of it really helps people.
He cites the lack of any real credentials (citing Dr. Laura) of some of the gurus…
Or the hypocrisy of others (like Dr. Phil)…
And his conclusion is that the industry ends up hurting people and making America “helpless.”
Hmmm…
Isn’t most every human being hypocritical in some way or another?
All of his arguments ignore one of the basic rules for being a human:
you are personally responsible for your own life
No one can make you helpless. That’s an affliction you’ve got to give yourself.
Nor can anyone change your life by waving their magic wand. That’s your responsibility, too.
Get the help to do it wherever you want.
Oprah Knows the Secret
August 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment
I first saw the movie The Secret last year when it was making its rounds online.
And just the other week, it made an appearance on Oprah.
You can see the clips here.
Sorry to hear that Esther and Jerry Hicks aren’t still involved (they were in the original version), but I’m sure it’s all for the best.
I actually got my first copywriting client from Joe Vitale, who was in the movie…
I attracted it, you could say.
I used “The Secret.”
It will be interesting to see how the world receives this message.
I know that it took me a while to begin to see “The Secret” for what it really is:
Not a list of to-dos for becoming rich and famous, but a way of living that will help you find happiness right now and attract more of it along the way.
Why I’m Still Alive…
August 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Yesterday was a good day.
I got a reminder from the universe that I am here to enjoy life, not race through it.
I was on my way to Indianapolis for a short vacation with my wife when a routine trip down the highway turned into an up close and personal meeting with the guard rail.
There was an accident up ahead that had brought all of the traffic on Route 74 to a standstill. Nobody was moving…
But I didn’t see it in time to stop. The roads were slick in that spot and I was only a few feet from ramming into an 18 wheeler.
Luckily, I managed to swerve to my right and hug the guard rail for a few feet until I slowed down enough to regain control of my car.
It was scary. It was weird. Oddly enough, it was just what I asked for.
Just a few moments before, we were talking about needing to slow down - to focus less on where we’re going and more on enjoying where we are.
We often use long car rides to hold impromptu business and life meetings. We talk about our various ventures and think of ways to make them more successful - and brainstorm ways to make them more closely fit the lifestyle we want to live.
We were having problems making a decision about one part of our life, so we asked for a sign.
It came.
I was just suprised to see it so soon.
Total elapsed time: about 3 minutes.
Some people might say it was unlucky that we got into an accident.
That’s just not the way I live.
It was a gift. And I am grateful.
I’m still alive. Apparently, I’ve got some more living to do.
The Biggest Problem with Self-Help
August 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment
The biggest problem with self-help stuff is that it’s really easy to forget the goal you’re supposed to be working towards.
The goal isn’t to become someone else.
It’s not to create a carbon copy of someone else’s success.
In fact, every time I’ve tried to chase success by following someone else’s path, I’ve ended up completely frustrated.
The real goal of self-help is to become a better version of who you already are. I like to think of it as becoming more of myself.
And it’s exactly the same in business and marketing.
Sometimes, it’s easy to feel like a pin-pong ball. You bounce back from this guy’s marketing technique… then you try out that diva’s marketing ideas (the ones that made her a million bucks last week)…
It gets old very quickly.
So after every copywriting course I take, article I read or book I add to my library, I always have to remind myself:
You are still Jason Leister.
You have something to offer that no one else (ever) can. The fun is to find out exactly what that is.
So while I may learn a lot from Gary Halbert, Gary Bencivenga or Eugene Schwartz… trying to follow their path is not my way to success.
It took me a while to realize that.
Like Eugene Schwartz always said about writing copy:
Your job is not to create… it is to take things that exist and recombine them in new ways, in better ways.
That includes yourself…
Neville Goddard: Where Have You Been All This Time?
August 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment
I grew up in a world where Bible stories were interpreted as literal accounts of events that actually happened. To suggest otherwise put you in some pretty hot water.
In fact, I think it was my sister who wrote something in the school newspaper that questioned the whole idea. I think she suggested that maybe some of those stories in the Bible were meant as…. (gulp) metaphors.
That article prompted a visit from a faculty member “concerned” for the well-being of her soul.
So imagine my surprise when I came across the well known (and yet oddly obscure) Neville Goddard.
A man who suggests that the Bible is actually the greatest psychological book ever written… because its stories are meant as symbols of the drama that is going on inside our consciousness. That our realities are simply manifestations of the images that we hold inside our mind. And because we control those images within us, we have the power to control our outer reality as well.
I am not going to try to paraphrase his thoughts and ideas, because you need to read them for yourself. But if there is something in your life that isn’t how you want it to be, then you might just want to check him out.
My only question is: why didn’t I find this guy earlier?
I guess that whole idea of “the teacher will appear when the student is ready” might have some truth to it.
You can download a few of his works as ebooks here. Of course, Amazon has them all too.