I’ve been feeling a little down over the last half-week. It’s as if I’ve lost my mojo.

That’s no way to be.

And I wasn’t sure why. But then when I was talking with my wife last night (who is a trained counsellor. (note: my office is also next to three therapy rooms. Is that telling me something?) and she asked me a few
questions.

It turns out that when I dug down a little deeper the reason I am feeling down is because I am comparing myself to everyone else.

You see, every week I talk to people who are far wealthier than I am. Yesterday I was on the phone to a guy who’s younger than me but made almost a million dollars in a weekend.

I spoke with another guy whose company turned over millions upon millions last year. And another guy last week who made several hundred thousand dollars in a day during a product launch.

Basically, many of the people I relate to on a weekly basis are in the top 1% to 5% of the highest income earners in the country. So I feel like a failure because I’m only turning over in the multiples of six figures.

Aside from the fact that I seem to be overly obsessed with money (not a bad thing in moderation, but one can go overboard), I also need to realise that we all have our own journey and I must run my own race.

In therapy terms it’s called marginalisation. It’s also used in copywriting where the writer taps into the desire for the reader to keep up with the guy next door.

For instance, the Two Young Men letter by the Wall Street Journal (often referred to as the most successful letter of all time) is based on this theory. Two young men… one became the president of the company, the
other was a normal employee. What made the difference?

Knowledge.

But the reality is marginalising ourselves against others makes us unhappy. And while it may be useful in some ways to learn from others and use this knowledge as a kick-in-the-pants to get our act together… I think this paragraph from the Desiderata poem rings true…

“”If you compare yourself to others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself”"

So run your own race. Listen to your own gut feeling. And trust your own inner wisdom to guide you towards
your dreams.

All for now,

Scott Bywater

P.S. Many people see the big things that others are doing and chase after dreams which really aren’t part of their race. The reality is that there is a hidden fortune living inside most businesses, but most people don’t know how to tap into it. If you are looking for opportunities outside of your business – STOP – and consider the hidden goldmines you can leverage based on the business you’ve built to date. You can find out how by subscribing to more customers made easy or getting your hands on Cashflow Advertising

My wife’s been getting into watching a lot of cooking shows of late. And I’m certainly the last one to complain.

Last night she added a few other elements to a fish and baked vege dinner including roasted garlic, roasted onion and lemons.

Funny, how those little extra make such an amazing difference to the taste.

Anyway, last night we were sitting in front of one of Jamie Oliver’s shows… watching him meet monks in Italy… get his cooking critiqued by some upper class Italian residents… and much, much more.

And I got to thinking…

What makes Jamie Oliver so successful?

And this is the conclusion I came to -

There are plenty of great chefs out there. There are plenty of ambitious chefs out there. And while there’s no doubting that Jamie Oliver is an awesome chef, I think there’s more behind his success.

And it all boils down to one word: infotainment.

I remember hearing Anthony Robbins speak about this years ago when I promoted one of his seminars before he visited Sydney.

The world today doesn’t just want to be educated. They also want to be entertained. And that’s where the word “”infotainment”" comes from.

And while I believe the world of selling in business today has moved away from…

SELL
SELL
SELL

and towards…

EDUCATE
EDUCATE
EDUCATE

… I believe there’s an even deeper level.

ENTERTAIN & EDUCATE
ENTERTAIN & EDUCATE
ENTERTAIN & EDUCATE

So how does one do this exactly? Well, let’s look at Jamie Oliver as an example. He doesn’t just sit in his kitchen, cook and show you his recipes.

He visits local Italian villages. He spends time with Monks.

He goes into schools and works with parents to turn around the methods of nutrition. He puts his life on the line to teach ‘down & out’ kids how to open up their own restaurants.

And he’s personal and real. He shares things about himself, his family and what’s going on for him. No, he doesn’t put across a corporate, professional, “”how do you do”" image.

It’s just him going down to the local butcher, inviting his mates over for dinner and being real.

And that’s where so many businesses miss the point. They believe it’s all about being serious and professional.

And the reality is business should be about having FUN.

I’m laughing as I write this, because the saying “”You teach what you most need to learn”" certainly rings true here. I am guilty of mentally whipping myself into action more than most and having one part of my personality (the master part) treat the other part like a slave.

More about that in another email.

But the reality is we need to find ways to have fun…entertain our customers… be real… be authentic…and just be ourselves.

It has certainly worked for Jamie Oliver. Perhaps it can work for you and I too

See ya,

Scott Bywater
Copywriting That SELLS

1300 88 21 91

Woody Allen has a widely quoted saying that states: 80% of success is just showing up.

That sounds a bit far fetched, don’t you think? So was Woody Allen just being eccentric when he made this statement? Or is there more to it?

Well, let’s dig a little deeper and find out.

In my mind, “”showing up”" means getting off the starting blocks.

For instance, it can be pretty damn hard to get my sorry butt out of bed in the morning. But once I have taken that step, all I need to do is follow the steps to getting out the door…

Have 2 glasses of water… Take my vitamins & fish oil…change my little man’s nappy and give him a bottle (if he is awake)… get my meals ready… etc.

That’s the easy step. The hard part is getting started. After that, everything flows like a chain reaction.

Advertising is no different.

The hardest part of setting up my online lead generation campaign was writing the copy and getting the web site up and running. Now all I do is sit back and the leads roll in.

The hardest part about writing this email was writing the first sentence. Since then, everything has just flowed (note: that’s the secret to overcoming writers block).

The hardest part of writing my daily sales copy is opening up Microsoft Word and starting. Seems pretty easy, doesn’t it?

But if you consider all the research, thinking and words I have to write after I open it up, it may just be easier to click on my outlook icon, fiddle away with twitter or facebook and avoid getting anything done.

My point is it’s really quite easy to do anything once you get the momentum flowing and once you have started.

But when it comes to getting new customers, most people don’t know where to get started. And that’s why I
created – More Customers Made Easy – so that all you needed to do to…

Create joint ventures was open up lesson #2 and follow the steps

Set up an online lead generation system was open up lesson # 5 and follow the steps

Get a fax marketing campaign up and running, was open up lesson # 8 and model my examples… contact the appropriate company and send an email.

Save up to 65% off your advertising was open up lesson #9 and modify the template letter I’ve put together
for you.

Get a flood of referrals was open up lesson #10 and follow my step-by-step recommendation and examples

Remember, 80% of success is just showing up. Show up now by ordering -and then show up immediately again by following the steps in lesson #1 to use classified & small lead generation ads to get a flood of new customers for your business. As early as this week!

All for now,

Scott Bywater

P.S. Having trouble getting your sales letters off the starting blocks? You might also want to check out this