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Wizard of Ads Monday Morning Memo

Wizard of Ads Monday Morning Memo
Author: Roy H. Williams
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℗ & © 2006 Roy H. Williams
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Thousands of people are starting their workweeks with smiles of invigoration as they log on to their computers to find their Monday Morning Memo just waiting to be devoured. Straight from the middle-of-the-night keystrokes of Roy H. Williams, the MMMemo is an insightful and provocative series of well-crafted thoughts about the life of business and the business of life.
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Buying advertising is a lot like buying diamonds.Allow me to explain.Anyone who talks to a jeweler will be told that diamonds are graded according to the 4 C’s: Color, Clarity, Carat weight, and Cut.Customers ask the jeweler, “Which of the 4 Cs is most important?”This seems like a perfectly reasonable question, but the truth is that the 4 C’s cannot be compared to one another. There is no rubric, no metric, no algorithm that can equate them. The 4 C’s are distinctly separate from one another. They are not interchangeable.Advertising is like that. Each of the characteristics of highly effective advertising are distinctly separate from one another. They are not interchangeable.Natural diamonds can be an infinite number of shades of yellow, grey, brown, green, blue, red, or a mixture thereof. Diamonds can also be colorless.The only thing more valuable than a colorless diamond is an extremely colorful one.Color is a measurement of rarity, not beauty.Clarity is another measurement of rarity, not beauty.“Flawless” clarity refers to a diamond which is free of inclusions under 10x magnification. But under 40x magnification every flawless diamond is swimming with inclusions that cannot be seen under 10x. So get this idea of “flawless” out of your head, okay? It is a myth.Seven clarity grades below flawless is another clarity known as SI2, which looks flawless to the naked eye. Not even a jeweler can tell the difference without 10x magnification. But there is a huge difference in price between flawless and SI2 because Clarity is a measurement of rarity, not beauty, remember?Carat weight is how the size of a diamond is measured. We’ll come back to this in a minute.Cut does not refer to the shape of the diamond, but to the ability of the diamond to gather light, bounce it between the facets, and then shine it upward toward the eyes. When diamonds are cut perfectly, they do not leak light out of the bottom of the diamond. A perfectly cut diamond returns 100% of internalized light upward and outward in a wild spectacle of sparkles.You want sparkles, but you also want carat weight.When you cut a diamond crystal perfectly, you lose more than half of that diamond’s Carat weight. But if you cheat the cut a little, the diamond won’t sparkle as much but it will weigh more and sell for more money.If you cut the diamond with a thick girdle and a deep pavilion, the diamond will be dull because its internal mirrors will be misaligned, but it will be much heavier than if it were cut properly.A Carat is a unit of weight. There are 141.748 Carats in an ounce. This means that a small pouch of 1-Carat diamonds worth just $4,000 each will cost you $567,000 an ounce.Pure gold is less than $3,000 an ounce.Are you beginning to understand why diamond cutters are loath to grind away precious carat weight in the quest for maximum sparkle?Your logical mind tells you that it should be possible to create a diamond algorithm that says, “one colorgrade = 0.05 carats = 0.78 of a clarity grade = 2.13% excess weight above the projected carat weight for a perfectly cut diamond of this diameter.”Your logical mind tells you this because you continue to believe that dissimilar properties such as color, clarity, carat weight, and cut can be quantified, codified, and reconciled.In truth, they cannot.Buying advertising is even more complicated than buying diamonds.The rubric used to calculate the Gross Rating Points achieved in media schedules makes perfect sense until you realize it equates dissimilar properties and treats them as though they are...
I recently sent you two memos about our need for positive hope.“Hollywood’s Broken Angel” was the true story of a woman who desperately needed a friend to encourage her.“Hope and a Future” explained how easy it is to recharge the emotional batteries of a friend whose light has dimmed.Positive hope crackles with the vibrant energy of life itself. It radiates honesty, openness, forgiveness, acceptance, optimism, loyalty and love.Positive hope illuminates the heart and drives away the darkness.But there is also such a thing as negative hope. It promises salvation but delivers only hubris, which is desperation disguised as confidence.Negative hope is attractive, addictive, and cruel.Gamblers sitting around a poker table are the perfect portrait of negative hope. They ride a rollercoaster of elation and despair but tell themselves they have a system.A second portrait of negative hope is a lottery ticket, a receipt issued by the government to citizens who pay a voluntary tax because they believe in lucky numbers and are extremely bad at math.Bernie Madoff was a salesman of negative hope. He wore the mask of a self-made billionaire, but behind that mask was a desperate little con man who stole money from innocent people who believed they had been admitted into the inner circle of a genius who had a secret system.The world is full of elegant and attractive people who sell negative hope. One of them will sell you a worthless education by promising you a better-paying job. Another will sell you a garage full of crap by convincing you of the miracle of multilevel marketing. A third will sell you the promise of inner peace by convincing you they have it, and that it can be transferred to you for money.Negative hope is attractive, but you can easily recognize it now that you know what to look for.I’m really glad we got that out of the way because now I’ve got some great news for you: inner peace is real.And here’s some even better news: you can have it for free, no strings attached.Inner peace is honesty, openness, forgiveness, acceptance, optimism, loyalty and love. All of these can be yours for free. But first you have to give them away.It is a simple but fascinating system. The more you give these 7 things to others, the more richly they accumulate in you.Five hundred and eleven Christmases have come and gone since Giovanni Giocondo sent his Christmas letter to a friend in 1513. It said, “No peace lies in the future that is not hidden in this present little instant. Take peace!”Likewise, I say to you, inner peace is hidden in this present little instant.Reach out and take it. It’s yours.Roy H. WilliamsWhen roving reporter Rotbart was a financial columnist with The Wall Street Journal, he met a young man named Steve Jobs who left a lasting impression on him. “When I spoke with Jason Schappert,” Rotbart says, “it felt like I was talking with Steve Jobs again.” Jason Schappert recently launched an AI-powered investment platform for middle-class consumers, providing the same insights and tools typically reserved for the ultra-rich. Today you have an opportunity to learn from Jason Schappert about how to identify opportunities, make bold decisions, and leverage your passion as roving reporter Rotbart meets with him at MondayMorningRadio.com
Fifty years ago, I was a teenager with an unreliable automobile. But that’s never a problem for an Oklahoma boy who has knowledge, tools, and daylight.My knowledge and tools were always with me, but the daylight disappeared at the worst possible time, no matter how badly I needed it.Cell phones had not yet been invented.When the batteries in my flashlight died, nothing could be seen but the desperation, defeat, and despair of a boy at the side of the road trying to repair a car in the darkness.Any person who stopped to help me with a bright beam of light seemed like an angel sent from God.People who are lost, lonely and frightened are all around us but we seldom see them because fear, sadness, and despair look exactly like preoccupation, concentration, and distraction. This is how people in pain disappear into the scenery around us.But sometimes the beam of light within you will reveal a person directly in front of you who needs your help. Will you pass by on the other side of the road, or will you stop and share your light?I’m not just talking about random strangers. I’m talking about people whose names you know, people who are already in your life; coworkers, colleagues and employees who are walking with an invisible limp, people whose sunlight has receded below the horizon.You can shine some light into their darkness:Find a moment when it is just the two of you.Look at them and say their name.Say, “Do you know what I’ve always admired about you?”Describe specific moments that quietly impressed you.Tell them the truth about themselves. Remind them of who they are, and how much they matter, and why they belong.This is often all it takes to recharge a person’s batteries and help them get their motor running again. When you shine your light into their heart, you elevate their hope and brighten their future.The mark of a strong leader who is deeply loved is that they lift up the people around them by speaking the encouraging truth into their lives, regardless of whether a person needs it or not.It is a gift that is always welcome.Roy H. Williams“Leadership is not a static trait but an evolving journey,” says Bob Kaplan, a high-level management expert with over three decades of experience. “Even ‘born leaders,’ need training, desire, and experience to achieve real greatness,” he says, and then he adds, “The most challenging people to manage are always the leaders themselves.” Bob Kaplan believes CEOs and other C-suite executives should continually invite feedback — good and bad — and then concentrate on eliminating their shortcomings as they continually refine their skills. Hey! Do you want to run with the big dogs or stay on the porch? Roving reporter Rotbart says he will begin his interview of Bob Kaplan the moment you arrive at MondayMorningRadio.com. Aroo!
Her name was Lillian Millicent Entwistle, “Peg” to her friends. She was born in 1908.At the age of 19, Peg married Robert Keith, 10 years older than she. Then she discovered that he had been married before and had a 6 year-old son. The couple was soon divorced.“I’ll move to a new place and get a new start,” she thought. “Goodbye, New York. Hello, L.A. I’m going to become an actress.”But hopes and dreams are fragile things and hearts are easily broken.At the age of 24 “She decided she’d failed,” says David Wallace, author of Hollywoodland. “She was very dejected and one day in 1932 she came up to the Hollywood sign, found a maintenance ladder by the ‘H,’ climbed up to the top and presumably took one last look over the city she had failed to conquer, and jumped.”Her body was discovered two days later by a hiker.A handwritten note was found in her purse. “I am afraid I am a coward. I am sorry for everything. If I had done this a long time ago, it would have saved a lot of pain.”A letter arrived at her home on the same day her body was discovered. It was from The Beverly Hills Playhouse. They wanted her to star in their next production.Are you ready for this? It was to be a play about a young girl who loses all hope and commits suicide in the final act.Peg, if only you could’ve hung on. Things are never as bad as they seem. But now all we have left of you is a photograph and a note.Remember that 6-year-old son of Robert Keith you heard about in the second paragraph?That boy, Brian Keith, grew up to be a famous actor, best known for his role as “Uncle Bill” on the hit TV show, “Family Affair.” He also played the perfect Teddy Roosevelt opposite Sean Connery in “The Wind and the Lion,” (1975).I have seen that movie 14 times. Brian Keith made Teddy Roosevelt come alive for me.Brian Keith shot himself in 1997.Yes, hopes and dreams are fragile things and hearts are easily broken.Be gentle with the hearts that have been entrusted to you.Roy H. WilliamsMike Frick started a side hustle as a way to help his college-student son earn extra cash. Today that business sells its products nationwide to construction sites, quarries, farms, mines, and the US military. “Our products are simple, durable, and cost effective,” Mike tells roving reporter Rotbart. In spite of heavy competition from Chinese knock-offs, Mike and his company continue to thrive by manufacturing their products only in America. It’s a story of focus, humility, and fantastic success. Because that’s how we roll at MondayMorningRadio.com.
I asked Google, “What are thoughts made of?”Google said, “According to current scientific understanding, thoughts are essentially made up of electrical signals generated by the firing of neurons in the brain, which communicate with each other through chemical messengers called neurotransmitters; essentially, a thought is a complex pattern of neural activity within the brain, triggered by sensory input, memories, and other factors.”Google’s answer to my question is true, but it isn’t useful. My goal is to place a thought into the mind of another person. I want to change what they are thinking and feeling.In 2003 I proposed a theory that has come to be known as “The 12 Languages of the Mind.” It explains how thoughts are constructed from pre-thought particles.Stay with me. This is about to get interesting.A neuron is a nerve cell, the basic unit of the nervous system. It is responsible for sending and receiving electrical signals. A synapse is the tiny gap between two neurons. This is where information is transferred from one neuron to another through the release of chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. Essentially, a neuron is the cell itself, and a synapse is the connection point between two neurons where communication occurs.Sounds a little bit like a computer, doesn’t it?A computer is of little value without an operating system.The 12 Languages of the Mind are the operating system of the brain.Let’s look at it another way.We know that all the matter in the universe is made from just 3 primaries: protons, neutrons, and electrons. These form atoms, the smallest units of matter.Atoms of elements combine to create molecules of compounds; two atoms of hydrogen plus one atom of oxygen create a single molecule of water, H2O.There are 118 different kinds of atoms organized in The Periodic Table of the Elements. We can create new substances because we now understand the constituent components that underlie all the matter in the universe.Just as protons, neutrons, and electrons can be arranged to form matter, The 12 Languages of the Mind can be arranged to communicate thoughts and trigger the emotions, opinions, and reactions that follow those thoughts.Symbols are one of The 12 languages of the Mind. Motion is another.Hydrogen + Oxygen = Water.Symbol + Motion = Ritual.Our material universe is created from just 3 primaries.Likewise, all the colors we see are created from just 3 primaries, red, yellow, and blue in subtractive color, red, yellow, and blue in subtractive color. But red, green, and blue in additive color. It depends on whether your eye is absorbing the light waves, which is additive, or whether you are seeing reflected light from a substance that has absorbed part of the light spectrum. That is called subtractive color.Created from 12 primaries, how much bigger is the universe of your mind?Your body contains about a 100 million sensory receptors that allow you to see, feel, taste, hear, and smell physical reality. But your brain contains about 10,000 billion synapses. This means you are approximately 100,000 times better equipped to experience a world that does not exist, than a world that does. It is these
The Wizard Academy tower sits on a plateau 900 feet above the city of Austin. The view from the stardeck is stunning.When you attend our free public seminar on the afternoon of March 17, you will be in Tuscan Hall just 500 feet from the tower. If you have some extra time on campus, perhaps Dave Young will be willing to press the button that lifts you from the underground art gallery up to the stardeck so that you can look around.This is what I will teach you in Tuscan Hall:How to create a magnetic personality for your brand. It’s easier than you think.How to use personification to breathe life into all your corporate communications, beginning with your advertising.How to use character banter and magical thinking to help customers understand that your company has beliefs, values, motives, can make choices, and that it has life.How to gather these techniques into an operating plan that will integrate this magnetic new personality into every touchpoint of your business.How to measure the trajectory and momentum of your rejuvenated brand.You’re going to have a good time. I will include lots of examples of PowerSelling ads that have lifted people to new heights.Q: PowerSelling. What is it?A: PowerSelling is an advertising technique that makes your name the one people think of first – and feel the best about – when they need what you sell.Q: Does it work for B2B? (Business to Business)A: Not really. B2B requires tight targeting and significantly more logic than is required to win the hearts of the public. [NOTE: If today’s memo feels different than the typical Monday Morning Memo, it is because this is probably the first example of B2B writing that you have ever seen me write. Are you noticing the additional logic? – RHW]Q: Does it work for Direct Response offers?A: No. Direct Response offers are built almost entirely on features and benefits, the so-called “value proposition,” enhanced by an urgent call-to-action, usually with a final bit of “added value” if you “act now.”Q: So what’s it good for?A: PowerSelling is for products and services that have a long purchase cycle and a relatively high price tag; things like diamond engagement rings, legal services, medical services, and home services like plumbing, air conditioning, roofing, and electrical. PowerSelling is strictly B2C (Business to Consumer) and it almost always employs mass media; television or radio, sometimes with billboards added.Q: Will there be recordings made, or perhaps a livestream?A: Sorry, but no. The Wizards of Ads® have little desire to debate – or educate – a world full of traditional ad writers that have been trained on the tripe that is taught in college.*You are going to learn the explosive techniques that will make your advertising leap off the launchpad with fire and smoke as you begin your journey to the stars. You will feel your acceleration grow to the point where your cheeks are pulled back and your eyes become slits as the corners of your mouth touch your earlobes.Or maybe you are just smiling.If you are ready for the ride of your life, be in Austin on March 17th.Roy H. Williams|“Running a big company is like...
Your heart tells you who you are. Your heart contains all your beliefs.PowerSelling radiates outward from the pulsating fact that people don’t bond with companies; people bond with people; personalities that share their beliefs.Your company needs a personality if you want your customers to feel a connection to it. Does your company have a personality?Are you communicating that personality in your advertising?Personification puts the power in PowerSelling.When you speak about something that cannot think as though it can think, you are using the art of personification.“The shattered water made a misty din.Great waves looked over others coming inand thought of doing something to the shorethat water never did to land before.”When you speak about something that cannot ask questions as though it can ask questions, you are using personification.“My little horse must think it queerto stop without a farmhouse nearbetween the woods and frozen lakethe darkest evening of the year.He gives his harness bells a shaketo ask if there is some mistake.”When you speak about something that cannot move as though it can move, you are using the art of personification.“It rained endlessly and the forests wept.The darkness fell and the trees moved closer.”When you can breathe life into something that is not alive, you are a god.Robert Frost and John Steinbeck were able to provide us with those examples of personification because they are Nobel Prize-winning writers. But we couldn’t write like that, could we?“Your house will giggle with glee when it sees the smart thermostat you bought for it.”Your logical mind tells you that your customers wouldn’t fall for that, but they’ve been falling for it all their lives. Superman is merely ink on a page or pixels on a screen, but your customers know that Superman can fly, squeeze a lump of coal into a diamond, and that he is in love with Lois Lane.The book of Genesis tells us that God spoke our universe into existence, then it tells us that we are made in the image of God.Did it ever occur to you that you speak new worlds into existence in the minds of others every time you describe a possible future?Personification is powerful because it uses magical thinking to open a portal into that world of imagination where hope is alive and well and singing in the shower, where the glass slipper fits the foot of Cinderella, and a wooden puppet named Pinocchio becomes a real live human boy.I am now going to shake you by the shoulders to wake you up. What I am about to say is hard to hear, but I am saying it because I love you: If you believe a brand is a logo, a color palette, a slogan, a visual style guide, and a company name that people have heard of, then your company is just another dreary, drab, and bland corporation in an ocean of bland corporations. Your company has no soul.Remember: People don’t bond with companies; people bond with personalities that share their beliefs.PowerSelling happens when you win the customer’s heart, knowing that their mind will follow. Their mind will always create logic to justify what their heart has already decided.This is what you must learn to do if you want to create a bond with your customers:Breathe life into your company through the skillful use of personification in all your corporate communications, beginning with your advertising.Employ magical thinking to deepen the public perception that your company has beliefs, values, motives, can make choices, and that it has life.Bond with customers who believe in the
Curiosity is a beagle running through the forest with its nose to the ground.Curiosity is the cure for boredom. There is no cure for curiosity.Curious, I asked, “How did the Kardashians become famous?” I wish I hadn’t.“Through different ventures, several members of the family have assets of over $1 billion. Kim Kardashian became a celebrity in 2007, after selling a pornographic film featuring ex-boyfriend, singer Ray J, which enabled the family to rise to stardom.” – GoogleThe reason I asked Google, “How did the Kardashians become famous?” is because I was talking with a client last week when I said, “Vulnerability – letting people see you ‘real’ – is the only currency that can purchase real trust.” Then I spontaneously added, “You have to choose between being vulnerable or going full Kardashian.”I thought I had invented a new phrase, but as it turns out, “going full Kardashian” was already a thing.Google has its own definition of what it means to “go full Kardashian,” and Indy posted that list in the rabbit hole for you.But this is my list:If you believe, “Whoever dies with the most toys, wins,” you are in danger of going full Kardashian.People are more important than possessions.If you believe that looking good is more important than doing good, you are in danger of going full Kardashian.Beauty, fame, and wealth are outside your skin. Kindness, generosity, and joy are within.If you believe it’s okay to do things that are unethical, immoral, and destructive as long as you are doing nothing illegal, you are in danger of going full Kardashian.A society grows great when old people plant trees under whose shade they will never sit.I try to surround myself with tree planters. Jeremy Grigg is one of them.In our weekly Friday gathering of like-minded men, Jeremy said,“When a business is evaluating whether or not they can trust you, the attributes they are measuring are, 1. Ability, 2. Integrity, and 3. Benevolence. These are their unspoken questions: ‘Are you good at your job?’ ‘Will you tell me the truth?’ ‘Are you truly trying to help me?’ Most of us focus on ability to the exclusion of integrity and benevolence. After all, when you are petitioning to win work, you want to make sure that the person who can do it for you is actually competent at their job. But in the longer term, honoring your promises, which is integrity and most importantly, giving a damn about the success of what they’re trying to achieve is what really determines whether you are the sort of long-term partner that they’re looking for.”Jeremy is an international consultant to multibillion-dollar IT services companies.Natalie Doyle Oldfield studies the drivers of customer loyalty and business growth. She says that half of all customers are willing to pay more for the same product or service if the seller has earned their trust. According to Natalie, “Trust is the critical value that top companies rely on to secure their market dominance and drive their growth.”I know for a fact that what Natalie is saying is true.I’ve been helping people do it for more than 40 years.Roy H....
Last week’s Monday Morning Memo included a photograph of a diamond pendant and the promise of a $1,000 cash prize to whoever could use AI to write the 60-second radio ad that would sell the largest number of that pendant for Valentine’s Day.I was given that photo by a jewelry client. In a moment we will look at the 60-second radio ad I wrote for the client before I issued the AI prompter challenge. But first, here are 10 things I have learned from the advertising results (and lack of results) I have seen during my 40 years as an ad writer.The most effective ads don’t sound like ads.Most jewelry ads are filled with cliches and schmaltz.The Large Language Models used by AI are educated by the most often used phrases.This is why jewelry ads written by AI are filled with cliches and schmaltz.Most of the ads written by AI are better than what the average citizen would write.The average citizen has not received specific data about the results delivered by each of the thousands of ads they have written during the past 40 years.My challenge to AI prompters included a photograph of the pendant, but none of the ads written by AI were specific to that pendant.Specifics are more persuasive than generalities.The non-specific ads written by AI sold only the idea of a diamond pendant; an idea that can be fulfilled by any diamond pendant sold by any jewelry store, anywhere.Advertisers who use these “generalized” ads are not advertising for their store alone, but for all their competitors as well.Q: Would the AI radio ads “work”?A: If what you mean is, “Would they generate a result?” Then yes, but that result would not be the highest and best use of your ad dollars. Not by a long shot.AI is great at a lot of things, but effective ad writing is not among them.Radio cannot reveal visual images except in the imagination. That’s what makes radio the perfect medium to deliver this ad. It is the radio ad I wrote to sell that specific pendant:JACOB: David, have you seen it?DAVID: Oh yes! I’ve seen it.JACOB: What did it say to you?DAVID: There is only one thing it CAN say.JACOB: Sometimes an artist will say something incredibly specific without using any words at all.DAVID: We’ve all heard music that can tell a story without words.JACOB: And we’ve all seen paintings that can tell a story without words.DAVID: But this time a jewelry designer did it.JACOB: The moment you see it, you know what it is saying.DAVID: I understood the message immediately.JACOB: [slowly] “The long and the short of it is we’re in this together.”DAVID: “The long and the short of it is we’re in this together.”JACOB: It has wit, and whimsy, and humor, and warmthDAVID: and commitment.JACOB: It made me smile when I saw it.DAVID: Me, too.MONICA: [SFX cell phone ring] Hello.SARAH: Did they see it?MONICA: Oh yes, they saw...
The General Social Survey has been conducted every second year since 1972 and the most recent one contained both good and bad news about us. GOOD NEWS: Our bonds with our families and friends are as strong as ever.BAD NEWS: The bridges we once extended to strangers have collapsed.Jesus talks about a socially unacceptable “Samaritan” man who sacrificed his time, energy, and money to help an unconscious stranger who had been robbed and left to die at the side of the road. According to Jesus, two different religious people had already seen the wounded man, but crossed over to the other side of the road so they could pretend they hadn’t seen him.They saw a stranger in need and felt nothing.Empathy – feeling the pain of others – is the price we pay for being fully human.The internet promised to bring us closer together through instantaneous, worldwide, one-on-one communication.But then came the algorithms, those digital sheepdogs that segregate us into echo chambers where every voice we hear sounds exactly like our own.The easiest way to build an online audience – or a church – is to criticize and demonize “them,” the people who are “not like you… not like us.” Algorithms will help you do this. All you have to do is craft a message that says, “All the world’s problems are caused by ‘them,’ and it is up to ‘us’ to save the future, and America, and the world, from ‘them.'”You don’t build bridges to people that you believe are “getting what they deserve.”Generosity and Inclusion are the tools of peacemakers.“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” – JesusDavid Brooks recently posted a YouTube video that will make you feel wonderful and give you hope.I hope you will invest the time to watch it. In fact, I challenge you to watch the first 3 minutes. The odds are extremely high that you will happily choose to watch the remaining 18 minutes.That YouTube video is titled “David Brooks: Making People Feel Seen: How to Do It Right.”I’m betting it will be your favorite 21 minutes of the week.It will also be a signal to the algorithm that you are headed in a new direction.Merry Christmas.– Roy H. Williams“If people looked at the stars each night, they’d live a lot differently. When you look into infinity, you realize that there are more important things than what people do all day.” – Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes
John Steinbeck wrote a letter to Carlton Sheffield about a conversation he’d had with his wife, Elaine.“Once I said to her, ‘I don’t want the barbarity of funeral for myself.’ And she said, ‘Don’t be silly. A funeral isn’t for the dead. You’ll simply be a stage set for a kind of festival, maybe. And besides, you won’t even be there.'”– Steinbeck: A Life in Letters, p 829Henry Fonda – one of the most famous actors of his generation – stood up at John Steinbeck’s funeral and recited a piece of a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson:Bright is the ring of wordsWhen the right man rings them,Fair the fall of songsWhen the singer sings them.Still they are carolled and said –On wings they are carried –After the singer is deadAnd the maker is buried.– Robert Louis StevensonWe know Henry Fonda spoke those words because Elaine Steinbeck, John’s wife, describes the scene in a letter to her friend, Jean Vounder-Davis.What will people say when you are gone? Will memories of you ring like bells in the hearts you left behind?How will you be remembered?You cannot build a reputation on what you intend to do.The saddest eulogy ever carved on a tombstone said, “He Had Potential.”Will you be remembered for having a lot of money?“You can have money stacked to the ceiling, but the size of your funeral will still depend on the weather.” – Chuck TannerWill you be remembered as a selfish person, or a generous one?“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” – Winston ChurchillI have never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul trainer.“We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” – Paul’s letter to Timothy, ch. 6Will you be remembered as a critical person, or as an encourager?“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya AngelouThere is nothing standing in the way of you being a different person today than you were yesterday. Do you remember what I wrote to you in last week’s Monday Morning Memo?“Escaping the past is easy. The hard part is choosing to start over.”If we make the right decision, we’ll have more to be thankful for next Thanksgiving than we did this year.Ciao for Niao,Roy H. WilliamsDouglas Katz is a West Point graduate, a disabled Army veteran, and a culinary enthusiast (also known as a foodie.) Douglas, like many other people who suffer from limited mobility, struggled to use kitchen utensils that require upper extremity strength. Aided by an army of friends and military veterans, Doug retreated to his workshop to invent a new type of kitchen knife, the first in a series of “adaptive” kitchen products he plans to introduce. Doug is building a cutting-edge company (pun intended) dedicated to radical innovation and inclusive kitchen design. It’s happening and it’s happening right now, with roving reporter Rotbart and you at MondayMorningRadio.com.
The future is unknowable. The past is unrecoverable.If you are anxious, you are living in the future.Don’t live your life in an imaginary tomorrow. Find joy while it is still today.If you are depressed, you are living in the past.Escaping the past is easy. The hard part is choosing to start over.Let me give you The Seven Secrets to Crystal Days:Do not let the perfect become the enemy of the good.“Perfectionism may look good in his shiny shoes but he’s a little bit of an asshole and no one invites him to their pool parties.” – Ze FrankGood enough, by definition, is good enough.Learn to celebrate the ordinary.“Celebrate! Celebrate! Celebrate!” – Dewey JenkinsSuccess and failure are temporary conditions.“Do not let either of them define you.”The most precious thing you can find is a friend.“A friend is always loyal, a sibling that helps in times of trouble.”Hatred is the only luxury more costly than an enemy.“Hatred is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”All the little things in life add up to your life.“If you don’t get it right, nothing else matters.”Autumn is upon us. Cold air sweeps summertime over the hilltop fast and sharp like an old woman sweeping dust out a doorway. The dust washes the landscape with brown and orange, speckled with rusty red, the colors of old cars whose enamel has been erased by the rain in the junkyard of time.I suspect Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes in the autumn. You remember what he wrote, don’t you?“Everything has its moment.There is a moment of ripening and a moment of falling away.A moment of being born and a moment of dying.A moment of planting and a moment of harvest.A moment of killing and a moment of healing.A moment of destroying and a moment of building.A moment of weeping and a moment of laughter.A moment of sorrow and a moment of dancing.A moment of scattering and a moment of gathering.A moment of togetherness and a moment of distance.A moment of finding and a moment of losing.A moments of grasping and a moment of release.A moment of ripping and a moment of sewing back together.A moment of silence and a moment of speech.A moment of love and a moment of hate.A moment of fighting and a moment of peace.”Autumn walks among us, quiet and invisible, like a Mexican ghost on the Day of the Dead.This is the time of year when I become reflective.Perhaps you do, too.Roy H. WilliamsAndrew Matthews has inspired more than 1,000 global corporations, including Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Honda, and Citibank. In addition to that, Andrew and his wife produce uplifting books that have sold over 8 million copies in 70 countries and 48 languages by presenting timeless wisdom in fresh, engaging ways. This week, Andrew reveals his creative process to roving reporter Rotbart and explains how anyone – even you – can use that process to connect, inspire, and succeed in every nation of the world. Wouldn’t this be a great day to stop and recharge your batteries at MondayMorningRadio.com?
My observation during the past 40+ years as an ad writer has been that television and radio professionals spend so much time trying to sell television and radio ads, they have no time to learn how to make those ads work.When you know how to make ads work, and can prove it, television and radio are incredibly easy to sell.Instead of asking a salesperson to help you with your ads, let me tell you everything you need to know.“Q” represents your unspoken questions.“A” represents my answers to those questions.Q: Who should I be targeting?A: I’ve never seen a business fail because they were reaching the wrong people. But I have seen lots of businesses fail because they were saying the wrong things in their ads.Q: Are you saying you don’t believe in targeting?A: The most effective way to target is to write ad copy that speaks directly to the felt needs of your customer. Targeting isn’t accomplished by reaching the right address, but by demonstrating to people that you feel the way they feel, and that you believe the things they believe.Q: Are you saying I can write ads that target specific types of people in mass media?A: Yes, but you get a lot more than that. Mass media reaches not only your target; it reaches all the influencers of your target. Is there anyone that you don’t want to know you, like you, and say good things about you? Every person is an influencer, and decisions are never made in a vacuum.Q: If targeting the right person is no longer my primary objective, what is?A: You want to become the solution provider that people think of first and feel the best about. When you say the right things to the largest number of people you can afford to reach with sufficient repetition, you become a household word.Q: Which media will work best for my business?A: The media doesn’t make your ad work. Your ad makes the media work. The media is just a vehicle that delivers your message, your ad. The wrong message will fail in every media, and the right message will work in every media. It is the message, not the media, that either works or does not.Q: Is there a proven way to create the right message?A: Win the heart and the mind will follow. The mind will always create logic to justify what the heart has already decided.Q: Can you give me some specific tips?A: Sure. Here are 4 of them.Talk to the customer about what the customer already cares about. Most ads answer questions that no one was asking. This is why people hate most advertising.Always say something new, surprising, and different. Never say what people expect you to say. Predictability is what makes ads sound like ads.Don’t just describe the process of what you do and how you do it. “We use only the freshest ingredients, and everything is made from scratch.” The process is informational. The outcome is motivational. Describe the outcome. “Food so good your head will explode.”Bad ads are about you and your company. Good ads are about your customer and their happiness. Ads filled with “me, my, we,” and “our,” are about you and your company. Ads filled with the words “you” and “your” are about the customer and the happiness you want to bring them.Q: Should every ad have a call to action?A: No, because if they did, your ads would be predictable.Q: Are you saying that NO ad should have a call to...
Billy Sunday was born in 1862, the second year of America’s Civil War. He died in 1935, during the Great Depression. Billy was a wildly flamboyant and controversial preacher, but he made an interesting observation:“More men fail through lack of purpose than lack of talent.”We’ll talk more about purpose in just a minute, but first we need to talk about possibilities.I will say it plainly:What you see in the mirror isn’t you.Look inside yourself and take inventory of what you find there.Realize that this is all you have to work with.Make the best of it.I will say it as Confucius might have said it:Gilded paper and bright ribbons adorn an empty vessel while gold hides in a rough wooden box.You will not find what is not there. But what lies inside you is easy to see.Everything within you is all that you have.Therefore, it must be enough.I will say it like an old warrior:Fancy uniforms don’t win battles.It’s not the size of the dog in the fight that matters, it’s the size of fight in the dog.If you don’t have it in you, it doesn’t exist.Learn to use what you’ve got.This is how Yoda would have said it:Be invisible, you will.Inside yourself, you must look.Hmm. Flaws, you shall find.Magic, these are.I will say it as someone who loves you:You are the perfect you.No one else can be you as well as you can.You will be you for the rest of your life.It is time to discover what you can do.And now it is time to talk about purpose again.A sad voice inside you whispers: “Everyone talks about purpose, but no one can tell me what it is, or where to find it.”Quit listening to that whiner. Purpose is given to you by what you care about. Is there anything you care about?Of course there is.Are you ready for the real mind-blower?Purpose is given to you by everything you care about. You are overflowing with purpose. The problem is that you care about so many things that you are having a hard time choosing a purpose.Here is the good and happy news: You can have more than one purpose!In fact, you already do; and you have what it takes to make a difference.How many differences do you want to make?Pick two or three of them to get started. You can add other ones later, when you have taken these first ones as far as you choose to go. Sooner or later, you’ll choose a few that will sink deep roots in you.Every oak tree begins as an acorn.Now go. Get started.Roy H. WilliamsPS – “It is better to burn the candle at both ends, and in the middle, too, than to put it away in the closet and let the mice eat it.” – Henry van DykeDavid Sauers used to be a commercial banker, but today he runs a service business with 50 branches nationwide. It’s not the type of business that most people dream about owning. The nature of his business – and the powerful lessons you can learn from his success – will be revealed in this week’s story. But here’s an interesting twist: In a private note to Roy, roving reporter Rotbart wrote, “I love unusual guests and David Sauers definitely fits the bill.” The roving reporter is at it again! MondayMorningRadio.com
One hundred and two years ago, Benito organized a March on Rome with the intention of forcing the king of Italy to yield the government to him. It worked, and Benito was appointed prime minister.Thirty-two-year-old Antonio had a problem with that, and spoke out against Benito.Benito got tired of Antonio’s criticism and had him thrown into prison, where he died 11 years later.But while he was still with us, he wrote 30 notebooks containing more than 3,000 pages of history and analysis. The prison notebooks of Antonio Gramsci are considered by historians to be highly original contributions to 20th-century political theory.Wizard Academy vice-chancellor Dave Young brought Antonio to my attention last week when he forwarded to me a glistening quote written by this shackled young writer:“The old world is dying. And the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.”Those words of Antonio Gramsci dance and sting like honeybees, don’t they?In return for his gift of Antonio Gramsci, I sent Dave a couple of the enthusiastic ramblings of American scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson:“I will defend AD and BC, year of the Lord, AD, ‘Ano Domini,’ and BC, ‘Before Christ.’ I’ll defend the use of those because a lot of hard work went into creating that calendar – the Gregorian calendar – which is now used worldwide. It’s based on a Christian construct, but it had a lot of very interesting science that went in behind it.I’m not just going to ‘swap out’ the words to dereligify it. I don’t mind leaving credit where it’s due.I don’t know any atheist that still uses AD and BC. They use ‘Common Era,’ CE, and BCE, ‘Before Common Era.’But who are they fooling? It’s the same numbers of years. They’re just trying to ‘paint over’ a religious reference.I don’t have that much objection to the religious participation in civilization.”But this next comment of Neil deGrasse Tyson serves as a sort of counterbalance to that first one:“Ben Franklin was the world’s most famous scientist in his day. But he’s not remembered in America as that; he’s remembered as a founding father.He invented the lightning rod.What’s the tallest structure back then? The steeple makes the church the tallest structure in any city. What is the most susceptible to a lightning strike? The tallest structure. So lightning was taking out churches left and right, and if you were the other church that wasn’t taken out, you had good argument for saying the people in the church that burned down were worshiping in the wrong way.Ben Franklin then invents the lightning rod, which does two things: It dissipates charges that build up under your structure that would otherwise be part of the lightning strike, and it sends them back into the air without the benefit of lightning. So that makes you less susceptible to begin with. And if the lightning strikes it, then it directs all of the charge through the metal and not through your house.So Ben Franklin does this, and churches are no longer destroyed by lightning, even if they’re hit, and he’s accused of heresy for thwarting the will of God.”Neil deGrasse Tyson is famous for his atheism but he vigorously defends the use of the Christian system of dating the history of the world in years that count backward and forward from the day that Jesus was born.Benjamin Franklin doubted the divinity of Jesus, but he invented the lightning rod to make sure that churches did not burn down. And they accused him of heresy for it.*As I consider articulate Antonio and bumbling Benito of Italy, I recall the words of a delightful American writer who was born in the same year Antonio was born. When she was accused of being too critical, the delightful Dorothy Parker responded:“How could I possibly overthrow the government when I can’t even keep my dog down?”Me...
As you round the corner and see your destination, the inconveniences of travel evaporate from your mind.Poof. You are here now, and everything is new again.Your children will carry the joy of this place wherever they go. The adventures we have for them are unimaginable.Leave them with us. We promise they won’t miss you.Everything you see here is real. This is not a Hollywood facade.Now you understand why we don’t have to advertise.You knew you were in love before you got here. Your partner knew it, too. But neither of you are prepared for the wonder of how deeply in love you really are.Remember. We promise the kids won’t miss you.It takes only about 20 seconds to read those 118 words, but they leave a hovering question mark that vibrates with curiosity. Where is this place? What is “Everything I see here…”? What caused me to experience “the wonder of how deeply in love I really am”?I didn’t have to provide those details, because I knew you would.“Begin with a happy outcome” is one of the secrets of the world’s best ad writers. You must illuminate the imagination of the customer and cause them to supply the details that you have no way of knowing. The customer is the star of a movie you are directing in their mind. Cause them to see themselves smiling joyfully. The hovering question mark that vibrates in their mind is called customer engagement. Lights. Camera. Action.Great companies puts their energies into the creation of a process that will ensure the happiness of their customer.Then they insist that their ad writers describe every detail of that process until there is nothing left to surprise and delight you. Until the customer desires the outcome, they have no interest in the process. If you want them to watch your movie, make sure it begins with a happy ending.Several things were ungrammatical in my 118-word call-to-action,one of which was a shift from past-tense to present-tense within a sequence of connected sentences. “You knew you were in love before you got here. Your partner knew it, too.” The past-tense verbs within those two sentences take you into a possible future and cause you to look back at an experience you have not yet had. Then I shifted into present-tense verbs. “But neither of you are prepared for the wonder of how deeply in love you really are.” Your mind is now imagining the experiences you will share at this place you have never been, and don’t know how to get to. I never said it was the most romantic spot on earth. You did.Roy H. WilliamsDuane Scott Cerny is an expert on dead people. (Or, more precisely, he is an expert at selling their possessions when they’re gone.) A best-selling author, music producer, lyricist, and newspaper columnist, Duane runs Chicago’s largest antiques mall and fully understands the formula for business success. Thanks to his ability to listen closely to his customers and adapt to ever-changing tastes, Duane is celebrating his mall’s 34th anniversary this year. “Not only is Duane business savvy,” says roving reporter Rotbart, “he is a born entertainer and storyteller. I had a marvelous time doing this interview.” The time is now. The place is MondayMorningRadio.com.
Calvin is looking up into a star-filled sky when he says to his tiger friend Hobbes,“If people looked at the stars each night, I bet they’d live a lot differently. When you look into infinity, you realize that there are more important things than what people do all day.”My friends are Calvin. I am Hobbes.Last week Hobbes was complaining to Jeffrey Eisenberg about his frustration with a company that had “upgraded” its website, making it impossible for Hobbes to buy what they were trying to sell. Jeffrey responded like Calvin,“The only things that matter online are Motivation, Momentum, and Friction. It sounds like this company has introduced so much Friction into the buying process that your decision to purchase has lost its Momentum and your Motivation is about to disappear. Am I right?”Jeffrey’s summary was so piercingly accurate that all I could do was vibrate my head up and down in a sort of big-eyed, high-frequency nod.Motivation, Momentum, and Friction are the only three dials that matter on the e-commerce machine.Turn the knobs of the first two dials all the way to the right.Turn the knob of the third dial all the way to the left.Stand under the spout where the money gushes out.Enjoy being rich.The next day I got a text from Tim Storm.” I think this needs to be understood: We are literally time travelers.”A few moments later, a second text appeared.“I don’t use drugs, but that felt profound to realize.”Tim is right, of course. Physically, we are 3-dimensional creatures traveling through a 4th dimension called time.Friends say insightful things if you’re listening.Perhaps the most impactful thing a friend ever shared with me happened 48 years ago. He said,“Depression is unfocused despair. You can rise above it by trying to help someone else. When you see a person who is sad or worried or afraid, take a few minutes to encourage them. Forget about your own problems and focus on theirs. Find a person who needs help and help them! If they’re trying to carry something heavy, help them carry it. If they need someone to help them scrape bubblegum off the bottoms of school desks, help them do it. When you make a series of little differences, you win a series of little victories. Keep this up and the cloud over your head will fade away and the sun will shine again. This has always worked for me. Perhaps it will work for you, too.”He was right. It has always worked for me.Perhaps it will work for you, too.His name was David. You would have liked him.Roy H. Williams
Rock-hard sandstone used to be just plain old sand, the kind you see at the beach.If you lie down on beach sand, you will leave your imprint on it.But if you lie down on sandstone, it will leave its imprint on you.Every person who starts a business hopes to leave their mark in the sand. If that businessperson is disciplined, committed, and consistent, their mark will become sandstone and leave its mark on future employees.Did it ever occur to you that the processes and procedures, policies and warranties of a company are a direct reflection of the preferences and beliefs of the CEO?Company culture, commitment, and camaraderie – or any lack thereof – are merely a reflection of the shape of that CEO.Look closely at how a company’s employees are recruited, evaluated, motivated and compensated, and you will see the precise size and shape of that company’s CEO.Listen to how a company’s employees talk about their job, their boss, their products, and their hopes for the future, and you will hear an audible echo of the soul of the CEO.Companies don’t spring into existence on their own. They are born in the imagination of an entrepreneur when he or she lies down in the sand, then brought into reality through the magic of time, energy, and money. And if that company endures, every future customer will experience the values and beliefs and priorities of its long-ago CEO every time they interact with the company that CEO left behind.You realize that I’m talking about more than just business owners and their businesses, don’t you?I’m talking about grandparents and parents and their children and their children’s children and schools and religions and colleges and cultures and prisons and wars and the movies we make and the books we read and the hobbies to which we devote our time and money.I’m talking our collective journey across the sands of time.When you lie down on sand, you leave your imprint on it.When you lie down on sandstone, it leaves it imprint on you.Roy H. WilliamsPeter Spitz is an MIT-trained chemical engineer and a renowned expert in petrochemicals. He holds seven patents and started a company that grew to $20 million in annual sales before being acquired by IBM. Peter’s most recent book is about the history of inventions.When we turn on a television, use a computer, heat dinner in a microwave, open a refrigerator, drive a car, or take an antibiotic, we are using technologies that took root in the Industrial Revolution of England 300 years ago. Peter wasn’t around back then, but with a razor-sharp mind at 98 years of age, he has far-reaching insights on how to create successful inventions and how each of them will impact our modern world.Sit back, turn up the volume and listen as deputy rover Maxwell Rotbart pulls a mesmerizing tale from the magical mind of Peter Spitz. Where else but MondayMorningRadio.com?
I don’t claim to speak for anyone but myself, and maybe it’s a generational thing, but America, to my way of thinking, is less of a place and more of a belief system; a way of looking at the world and the people in it.Americans believe in opportunity and equality.Americans believe, “Treat others as you would like others to treat you.”Americans believe in defending the weak from the strong who would abuse them.Americans believe in lifting people up, dusting them off, giving them a big smile and telling them to try again.Americans don’t scare easily, and we don’t leave anyone behind.Shortly after the Mayflower arrived at Plymouth Rock in 1620, men and women from every corner of the world began meeting here, mingling here, and producing mixed-race children here.We’ve been doing it for 400 years.This place has gathered people from every nation that has ever flown a flag. Some of these people came voluntarily. Others were brought here against their will. But none of that matters because children do not get to choose their parents.Americans are not purebred showdogs. We are mixed-breed puppies born in a howling wilderness.Alexander Hamilton was born out of wedlock on the island of Nevis in the Caribbean, but he came to this country and became one of its Founding Fathers. We have printed that man’s face on 27 billion ten-dollar bills and the Broadway play about his life was a stunning success.That play, by the way, was written by an American whose DNA is Puerto Rican, Mexican, English, and African. His parents named him “Lin-Manuel” after a poem about the Vietnam War.Is America portable? I believe it is. America is kindness and generosity.If you believe in opportunity and equality, defending the weak, lifting people up, dusting them off, smiling and telling them to try again, you are an American.If you don’t scare easily and don’t leave anyone behind, you are an American.If you believe in love with its sleeves rolled up, you are an American.Take America with you wherever you go.Be an American today, okay?Roy H. WilliamsPS – Do you live outside the U.S.? Not one of the virtues I mentioned today is exclusive to America. Most people-groups believe in exactly these same things. I wrote directly to the people of America today – calling them out by name – because we have been fighting about some really stupid things for a long time.The virtues I wrote about today live in the hearts of the people of your nation, too, and of every other nation on earth. Wouldn’t it be great if we focused on our similarities instead of our differences?*At any given time, there are about 2.5 billion ten-dollar-bills in circulation, but the average ten-dollar-bill is replaced by the Treasury Department every 5.3 years. We have been using Hamilton’s portrait on the ten since 1928 (96 years).96 years/5.3 years = 1818 x 2.5 billion = 27 billion portraits of good brother AlexanderHow would Walt Disney run your company? Even though he died in 1966, his company and his disciples continue to spread his beliefs. Among these disciples is Brian Collins, a former Disney Imagineer who helped create the magic for many of the world’s most beloved theme parks and is today teaching brainstorming and innovation and the cross-pollinization of technology to large and small companies around the world. Roving reporter Rotbart tells us that Brian Collins is a living example Walt Disney’s statement, “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” Put on your Mouse Ears and get ready for a Disney
PART THREE of SEVEN SECRETS OF SALES ACTIVATIONThe objective of a Customer Bonding campaign is to make your name the one that people think of first and feel the best about.When you have not successfully bonded with your customer, any attempt at sales activation is simply an experiment in direct marketing. This can certainly work for awhile if you’re good at it, but it will work less and less well the longer you keep doing it.The world of marketing is full of people who will tell you exciting success stories about high-impact offers that made them a lot of money quickly. But have you ever noticed that all of those stories are told using past-tense verbs?They are telling you about something that happened, but is no longer happening now.Give that some thought.“Have you ever done anything that worked really well?” is a question I have asked a couple of thousand business owners over the past forty years.“Oh, yes!” they answer.“Tell me about it!” I say with bright eyes.After they explain to me what they did and how awesome it was, I say, “Wow, that sounds great! Are you still doing it?”When they say “No,” (which they always do,) I wear the expression of a puzzled puppy and ask, “Why not?”Yes, I am a tiny bit evil. But the simple truth is that I want them to realize their mistake, own it, regret it, and decide – on their own – never to do ask me to temporarily fluff up their sales numbers by resorting to the meth-laced crack cocaine of lies, gimmicks, artificial urgency, ambiguous offers, or misleading messages.It’s just not the way to build a company.Few business owners have the patience to win the hearts of the public.But if you have what it takes to become the company that people think of first and feel the best about when they need what you sell, a new day will dawn for you and your business.In golden glow of that goodwill, up to 40 percent of the ads in your Customer Bonding campaign can include happy, healthy, sustainable Sales Activation.These are the ways to do it:Remarkable Item, Remarkable Story.A 30-year client, Kesslers Diamonds, recently conducted a contest among their designers with the winning designer honored by name in a radio ad.RICK: I’m really looking forward to this.SARAH: Me, too.RICK: She absolutely nailed it.MONICA: Are you talking about Jenni Sambolin?SARAH: Yeah, Jenni and her pendant, “The Music in a Mother’s Heart.”JENNI: [SFX Door Opening] Hi Rick. Hi Sarah. Hi Monica.MONICA: Hi Jenni!SARAH: Hi Jenni!RICK: Jenni, we’re going to produce your pendant design as a limited-edition collector’s item and put a few of them in all 8 Kesslers stores.MONICA: Congratulations, Jenni!JENNI: Wow! This is HUGE!SARAH: Jenni, we expect “The Music in a Mother’s Heart”to sell out very quickly.RICK: We’ll also make a few available online.JENNI: I designed that pendant from the memory of how my Mother made me feel when we would sing together.MONICA: How often did that happen?JENNI: Constantly. We would sing along with whatever was playing on the radio, or sometimes we would watch a musical on TV and sing along with that.SARAH: At just 124 dollars, “The Music in a Mother’s Heart” is going to sell out lightning fast.RICK: I’m buying...
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