The Buck Stops Here

Howdy Friend,

Are you passing the buck? What?? So soon in the New Year?

“Buck passing” or “passing the buck” has been going on for years. Personally I believe it to be a sign of weakness. As you know it’s a sign of passing or transferring responsibility to another person or party.

It’s also used in “power politics” when the actions of one country are blamed on another.

The phrase is also associated with poker playing. During the days of the old west, a bone handled knife was used to indicate whose turn it was to deal. If the player didn’t want to deal he could “pass the buck” to another player.

Similarly in today’s times you could also pass the buck to your ad agency if you’re not getting results or you simply don’t want to deal with the pressure of writing butt kickin’, cash flowing advertising copy.

Truth be known you shouldn’t be using an ad agency in the first place.

Why? Cuz most of these agency’s could create an ad that sells if their life depended upon it.  These guys are into glamor not grits. They’re all about how the ad should look or feel. Or maybe their all about building your “brand.”

Don’t let this crap fool you. Unless you got mucho dollars forget brand building and concentrate on making sales or bringing in qualified leads and turning them into sales.

Most “regular” ad agencies are not held accountable for results. You know . . . getting tangible results from your ad copy. So, your best bet is learning what direct response advertising is and how to judge good copy.

The good news is that it’s become much easier getting that education thanks to the Internet.

How to get mind boggling results from all of your marketing

Being the good guy that I am, here’s a little secret I’ll share with you. This is the same exact secret David Ogilvy called his “secret weapon.”

We mortals call this “direct response.”

You’ve probably heard of direct response marketing. It goes by other names such as mail order advertising, direct mail, selling direct and direct marketing. Smart companies all around the world use this secret weapon to build billion dollar babies (businesses).

Now you can too—with the right tools and attitude.

Become a student of direct response marketing. You’ll be a smart company too.

Here are my top 5 places to start your education:

1. http://www.carlinecole.com/ Carline is nothing less that pure direct marketing dynamite! She’s an A-list copywriter and marketing pro that seriously pumps up profits of her clients. What’s more if you listen to what she says you too will profit handsomely. I know I have!

2.    http://www.draytonbird.com/home  Drayton is one of long time players of the direct response game. And he’s damn good at it. Advertising legend the late David Ogilvy said he “knows more about more about direct marketing than anyone in the world.” This should give you a tiny clue as to just how good he really is.

3.    http://www.john-carlton.com/  Carlton, another one of my favorite teachers. He can quickly whip up your buying emotions quicker than you can say “cheese.” He’s one of the true direct response masters of our time. His ads are literally stalked by other copywriters and marketers. And John’s teaching skills are superb. You’ll profit handsomely by tuning into this blog.

4.    http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/  Halbert is another one of rare persons who has an uncanny ability of making advertising pay—and pay very well. Sadly we lost him on April 8, 2007. He passed away in his sleep at his home in Miami. The good news he left the rest of us a king’s ransom of marketing knowledge and how to information that’ll rock your direct marketing world! Well worth your time perusing—yes I said perusing his website. His surviving sons now maintain the site and do a damn good job keeping it alive.

5.    http://www.makepeacetotalpackage.com/  Clayton Makepeace has stuck to his knitting as a direct response copywriter for nearly 30 years. He graduated with honors from the school of hard knocks and has made his clients very wealthy in the process (not to mention earned himself a pretty penny too.) You should pay very close attention to what this man says. Heed his advice and you’ll be able to cash in big time!

6.    http://www.terrydean.org/ Recently, I worked with Terry as an Internet Marketing intern. All I can say is that the experience was fantastic! Terry is considered by many one of Internet Marketing Pioneers and earned lots and lots of money by figuring it all out. Bottom line is want to learn how to profitably marketing your business on the ‘Net, then you’ll want to visit Terry’s blog—and suck up all the wisdom he shares, then be ready to cash in on what you learn. .

Ok. I lied . . . I gave you six great resources to learn and profit from. You can thank me later! There you have it. No excuses to keep floundering in your marketing efforts. You’ll soon be armed and dangerous with real world, proven marketing action plans that’ll fill up your bank account fast!

Warmly,

Emette

Here’s A Cool Little Audio Tool

I’m always looking for different ways to get the “word” out. Being the smart Internet marketer that you are, you know staying in touch with your prospects, clients and customers is important.

What’s more the search engines love content. So if you publish posts, articles, audio and videos that actually give real value to your customers, you’ll be their hero.

Here’s a FREE little open source tool that allows you to creating streaming audios to your website quickly and easily.

This tool creates a compressed MP3 audio, and a set of Play, Pause, and Stop buttons. Your visitors will love the fact that they have full control over the audio.

The program generates the HTLM code so you can copy and paste into your website or use the built in FTP client and upload to your web server.

Just think of the possibilites this little gem can do for you . . .

• Create online info products that you can sell!
• Record sales information about your products!
• Create Podcasts on your subject!
• Hey, let your imagine run wild!

It’s super easy to use. You’ll be up and running in minutes. But if you get stumped –no worries. It comes with a robust help file that includes tutorial videos.

So what the heck are waiting for??

Get it here.

Cheers,

Emette

5 Things I’m Thankful For! And A Thanksgiving Gift For You!

Can you believe Thanksgiving Day is  here? Man, this year has gone by faster than a speeding bullet. Seems the older you get the faster it goes!

While I’m a firm believer everyday should be Thanksgiving Day, I’d like to take this time to express and give thanks for that live has so generously given me!

And in case you’re wondering there are waaaay more than 5 things that I’m thankful for. It just seemed like a good title.

In general I’m a thankful person. I find myself thanking God for another day on earth.

I find myself thanking others for helping out when things get squirrely at my day job.

I find myself thanking my wife for doing my laundry (and putting up with me).

I find myself thanking my two sons for doing their chores without having to be told.

I find myself thanking my friends for helping me and my family out of tight spot.

I find myself thanking my loving parents for teaching me responsibility.

I find myself thinking my mentors for sharing their wisdom.

I could go on and on!

Now as far as the “5” is concerned, I picked out 5 things that I oftentimes take for granted—namely food, family, friends, freedom, and fitness.

Take fitness for example. Actually I could have listed health cuz they sort of go hand in hand.

For starters I’m alive and still relatively good shape. Yes, I could stand to be in better shape but overall I’m still in decent condition.

During my life I’ve pulled quite a few  fool stunts and lived to tell about it. I won’t go into the gory details here but rest assured these little stunts were just plain stupid (sometimes life threatening).

Now as I’m a bit older and think back to a few of the circus-like activities, it’s a wonder I’m still living. I thank God that I’m still live and kicking.  And I must say . . . Life is good!

Ok how about food. Cooking, outdoor grilling, and eating are a few of my most enjoyable hobbies. Yes, I know I just got though telling you that I’m still in good shape. Well, yea, it’s true.

At least part of the reason I’m still in half way good shape is because I enjoy cooking up tasty grilled treats like lean beef, chicken, pork, and all sorts of veggies. Fresh fruits are always a treat.

This is not to say I always eat what’s best for me but I am conscience of what I eat. Sometimes a good ‘ol juicy burger  is hard to resist. I’m thankful for all the goodness grown right here in North Carolina!

Sometimes in the stillness of my mind I reflect back on times spent with my parents and grand parents and wonder where would I be without their past guidance.

You see, I’m lucky in that growing up and into early adulthood I had 4 excellent grand parents that cared greatly about me.

They taught me life lessons not from books, but by example. These lessons I will never forget.

The same is true for my parents. They provided for both me and my sister. They loved and cared for me and tried to teach me right from wrong, good from bad and how to love and respect others.

This friend, you can’t possibly put a value on—it’s simply too awesome! And I’m thankful for having them as my parents and grand parents!

Even though I served in the US Navy, I oftentimes forget freedom is not free. Our past and current military men and women have paid the ultimate price for our freedom.

Unless you’ve been to a 3rd world nation, you couldn’t possibly fathom the freedoms we have and enjoy.

I’ve seen houses with dirt floors, no plumbing as we know it, poor beyond belief. What’s more, these folks due to government control don’t even have the opportunity to better themselves.

So, yea I’m thankful for the freedom we have! God bless it!

I know you’ve heard the Beatles song lyrics, “I’ll get by with a little help from my friends.” There’s been (many) times my friends have pulled me through broke times, sad times, and stressful times.

I believe your friends are some of the greatest access you’ve ever have—bar none! True friends are always there when you need them. Be sure and take the time to say “thanks” for all your buddies. They’re adding value to your life more than you realize.

Furthermore, if you got just one true friend, you’re the richest person in the world. Sounds corny I know but I believe it to be true.

So tonight when you lay your head down to bed, I want to count your blessings instead of sheep. And be thankful for all that you have and all that you’ll get in the days ahead.

Lately I’d like to send out a great big, huge THANK YOU to all of the readers of my blog, Internet friends, mentors, and customers. You guys are reason I’m here!

Thanks!

Now for that Thanksgiving Gift I promised. I created a special illustrated edition of Claude Hopkins Scientific Advertising. This is the entire original text filled with his timeless marketing wisdom, along with a special swipe file collection of some of his most famous ads.

You can print these out, study them and boost your ad results by  paying attention to his genius.  These are hard to find ads you’d pay others hundreds of dollars to get. But now through this special offer they can be yours free!

This package is presented in PDF format is will be emailed to you as an attachment. To get you gift click here!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Emette

The Persuasion Skill That Will Set You Freee!

If you’re a contractor, doctor, internet marketer, freelance copywriter, electrician, plumber, chiropractor, lawyer or nearly any other service provider you can think of and you depend on paying customers to float your boat, then this article will set you free!

I feel your pain! You’ve read all the current  top business books on sales and marketing.

You’ve even hired marketing consultants secretly praying for a marketing miracle but nothing seems to work long term.

Now you’re frustrated and nearly ready to throw in the towel but you know something has got to give.

So what gives?

Many business owners just like you have asked that same question. Fortunately for some, they were able to crack the code by learning the power secrets of persuasion. If you were to take a close look at some of the smartest companies what you’ll find is a common denominator.

And this common denominator these smart companies understand and use is the techniques of power persuasion!

Let’s go below and take a closer look, shall we?

You know there’s been a ton upon tons of books written about persuasion. Funny thing is most are filled with an abundance of jargon, fluff and overly complicated explanations.

You could spend a lifetime going through all of the material of this fascinating subject and still not have a simple, clear understanding of persuasion and influence—until now!

As you can see not only is it frustrating trying to figure it out, it’s also sucking away your time and energy. Fear not my friend, there’s a better way.

The good news is you don’t have to drain your life away to become a powerful persuader. In fact is it is simple once you understand the basics.

To make it even easier to understand you’ll soon be in possession of a famous, now hard to find “One-Sentence Persuasion Course” that can help you become a power-persuader in no time flat.

Once you get this short course you’ll be able to tap a world you never knew existed. I will caution you however, these principles are extremely powerful and if used the wrong way could do serious damage.

In fact that why I’ve deliberately held off on making this special offer!

In this special report you’ll soon possess contains the exact 27 words that could literally change your world and set you free but also learn all of the basics of effective persuasion in about 15 minutes.

Once you finish this short persuasion course and apply what you learn, you’ll instantly become an almost frighteningly powerful persuader.

It’s a fact that most marketers need to connect with others at some time or the other.  These  five insights that are contained in this course will  allow those connections to pay off handsomely.

But here’s the best of all . . .  for a limited time you can get this special report for no cost or obligation. That’s right it’s free with no springs attached.

Here’s the deal. Just  email me and put OSP in the subject line.

Pretty simple, right?

Oh and by the way. I do respect your privacy. Your email address is safe and will never be sold, rented, or otherwise shared with any 3rd parties. PERIOD!

Enjoy,

Emette E. Massey

It’s Not Just About The Money . . . .It’s About The Lifestyle Too!

Give me ‘dat money. Money, money, money! You’re constantly being teased all over the Internet . . . biz opp headlines that provoke and promise like “High School Dropout Starts Internet Business. Earns $10,000 A Month . . . Within The First 4 Months

Of Business” or “The CEO’s Of Ebay . . .Amazon and Wal-Mart Are Tripping Over Their Own Feet To Give Me Money”

Yes, I’m here to tell you it is possible to earn boat loads of cashola. Thousands are running Internet Marketing Businesses

and raking in the bucks everyone. But it’s not always about the money.

Money is important. It provides the means to protect your family, have a nice a safe place to live, lets you buy birthday

gifts for loved ones, allows charities to fund programs for the less fortunate, and puts food on your table.

In America there are a million different vocations, trades, businesses you could choose to learn or operate. Practically no end to the possibilities. You could choose to become a dentist, a lawyer, a plumber, a business manager, an artist or writer—you name it.

But many of these vocations require lots of schooling, money to get started, licenses, government red tape, and while you can earn great money, these business suck the very life out of you. They require constant oversight, employees, and overhead.

Do you really want that? What good is it to have the money but have lots of stress to earn it and no time to enjoy it?

Now imagine a business you could start in your spare time with little cash, very little overhead, no and employees.

Your daily “commute” to the “office” is from your bedroom to your kitchen or any other room you choose. Again no office space to rent. No employees to deal with. No products to stock pile.

And what’s really cool is that you can setup your business to run practically automatically. It can bring in cash daily—while you’re on vacation, sleeping or away just goofing off!

This business has the potential to make you rich in a fairly short amount of time. You can enjoy a lifestyle of relaxation and security.

This business goes by many different names but I like to call it

the ultimate . . .

Internet Lifestyle Business

And I’m going to tell you how to get up and running in the quickest amount of time. You’ll soon learn how to start in your spare time, with little to no money.

Ok, here’s a hint: It’s called a mentorship. Some folks call it coaching. Some call it internship.

Call it what you will but it’s the fastest way to get up to up to speed because you learning and doing.

Today my loyal reader I have a special surprise for you. You see, I like to spread good cheer any chance I get. That’s part of my mission for this blog. So if I come across something that is worthwhile, will add value to your life or remove a marketing pain the I’m going to let you in.

So if you have ever tried to start an Internet business of any sorts but hit several road blocks or maybe business just wasn’t rolling along as fast as you’d hoped, today you’re in luck.

Recently I just completed an Internet Business internship with one Internet Marketing most successful and prolific marketers.

He is considered by many to be one of the Internet Marketing pioneers and has risen to become the most respected and successful marketers ever.

He a great teacher who teaches from his tried and true experience not from a textbook. He marketing principles are fresh and powerful and will earn you money if you follow his advice.

His teaching style is clear and concise and easy to understand. You’ll be able to quickly grasp his lessons and turn them into practical methods for your own business.

And here’s the best thing . . .  you can become one of his Interns for absolutely No Cost! Nada . . . Zilch . . . Zero!!

In case you didn’t get all that and didn’t read that correctly. It’s FREEEE!

His name is Terry Dean.

Here’s what you need to do now, don’t dink around (he reserves the right to pull his no cost intern program at any time . . .

after all he’s a busy, sough after coach).

Visit his website www.terrydean.org

And see what all the fuss is about.

Tell him Emette (aka “Ledward”) sent you.

You can thank me later.

Peace,

Emette

5 Glorious Ways To Beat Your Competition: Bullwhipping Methods

Would you like to leap ahead of your competitors? Make life more fulfilling? Rack in more dough all at the same time?

Yea? Great! You’re at the right place! And while you’re at it, why not consider sharing this little profit booster with your colleagues (but not your competitors).

Let’s get started.

I developed this originally as sort of a check list for keeping my marketing activities on track. Like many business owners I’m pulled a thousand different ways during the day and I needed a simple method for becoming more productive and my marketing rolling.

1.    Frog Eating for profit is what Brian Tracy calls “the thing that no one else will do.” This will make you the most money. You see, most folks operate at the minimum level. And by simply “eating the frog” you’re sure to become successful and leap and bounce on your feet ahead of nearly all of your competitors.

2.    ABM stands for “always be marketing.” Marketing is nothing more than building, enhancing, and nurturing relationships. Sounds pretty basic, huh? Well my friend it is. Now do not confuse marketing with selling. These are two distinct activities. Marketing is the act of communicating to your clients and prospects. It could be in the form of educating them about a new service or product or it could be a simple birthday greeting card you sent them. While selling is the act of trying to persuade your prospects or clients to buy something from you. See the difference? While the two distinct activities oftentimes merge and the end result can be the same, I believe you shouldn’t always be trying to sell something but you should be communicating with your prospects regularly. If your communication is always a pitch, you’re going to lose your prospects.

3.    Be systematic. Nothing is sweeter than passive income while you bust your buns for a while setting up a money machine, tweaking, testing and getting everything right and then relaxing while the system does the work for you. In other words you should be thinking about your operations and processes and wrap them up in a system that can be replicated and automated. Don’t reinvent the wheel for every area of your business. Once you get one money generator you can then be freed up to crank up another one. Leap frogin’ ahead of your competitors.

4.    Tune in to your customers. This ties into the ABM section above. It’s amazing how so many business owners are not in touch with their clients or prospects. It’s like they live in a vacuum or something. Get out of the office and talk to your clients. See what’s new with them, how they’ve been, what frustrating them, and you might be surprised just how out of touch you’ve been. Clayton Makepeace taps what he called the “dominant emotions” of his prospects. And people buy based on their emotions generally more so than their logic. Try it and see how far you’ll leap ahead of your competitors!

5.    ABT stands for “always be testing.” Most marketers or business owners do not test their advertising. Sadly most of their marketing and advertising is of the “institutional flavor” meaning they are not direct response type of advertising. Institutional type of advertising is generally fluff, image and egotistical and does not elicit any sort of response. While on the other hand direct response advertising does a complete selling job, answers objections, tells all of the reasons why the prospects should favor your business instead of the competitor down the road and ask for action, and attempts to close the sale. You should be testing and tracking every singe internet marketing activity, ad, sales letter, marketing communication you post or (God forbid) snail mail out. Testing allows you to maximize and get the best possible performance of any given ad. And the beauty of testing you know with scientific certainty what is working and what is not working.

The secret’s now out. You know and can prosper easier and stomp the competition better than ever before. Heck, before long you won’t even have any competitors. Soon you’ll smiling as you look waaaay back and see nothing but a cloud of dust where your competitors are standing.

Have fun and drop me a line sometime and let me know how you’ve used these tactics.

Emette

As the Internet Marketing World Turns

Wow it’s amazing how much the Internet Marketing world changes. Heck anything to do with any semblance of technology leaves you in the dust quicker than a New York minute!

My point? During the past several weeks I’ve been playing the role of Internet Marketing Intern compliments of Terry Dean.  Hey while on I’m in why not check out Terry’s excellent site at www.terrydean.org–you won’t be sorry, I promise!

All this made be realize how much the game has changed. For instance, I got my feet wet marketing on the ‘net by writing an ebook about real estate investing.

Not knowing the proper marketing basics I wrote the book first, then tried to figure out how to sell it.

And luckily by the seat of my pants I sold a few copies online. My website site consisted primarily of an 8 page sales letter and a “buy now” link to my Clickbank account so folks could use their credit card.

My marketing activities consisted of going to forums and making comments. At the end of my comments included a signature file that offered a free real estate investing mini-course. This drove traffic back to my website.

Cool, huh?

Today if you depended on this sort of marketing you’d starve. Nowadays you got to be plugged into social marketing, Adwords, article marketing, hit the blog carnivals, forums, and post videos to all the available video sites.

But  step number one is . . .  drumroll please . . . you must know where your market or prospects are hanging out. And with a bit of research it’s not too hard to find ‘em.

A great way to get clued in where you’re prospects are hiding is to do some research. Keyword research to be exact. Good free tools are available to help you do just that.

For example a great tool is http://tools.seobook.com/keyword-tools/seobook/.  Go there and start using this tool right now. You’ll learn where and how much traffic is flowing. Bottom line is this cool free tool will save you lot of time and frustration.

The point is that you don’t to waste your time creating a big, beautiful product only to find out there is very little interest. Simply put: you want to go fishing where the fish hang out.

Now while on the subject . . . you may be tempted to believe all gurus like Frank Kern and Joel Comm are just sitting around doing nothing but pushing buttons and making YouTube videos.

They may lead you to believe they are buzy doing nothing and raking in the big bucks but I’m here to tell you they have put in there dues–for years!

These magic cookies are like the golden goose. And once plugged in and tweaked  (and a decent amount of elbow grease) will  help you get your Internet business up and running much quicker.

The truth is making money on the Internet requires effort and lots of it. Plus you best be constantly tuned in to new Internet marketing methods that work.

Go get busy earning your Internet fortune today.

Warmly,

Emette

Sharing The Love

Hi Friends,

 If you are remotely interested in learning how to seriously rake in the big fungoloas selling info products, then you don’t want to miss this live event.

 Here’s the scoop. Info superstar Eben Pagan is sharing how he went from zilch (that’s $0 to over $25 MILLION creating and selling info products.

 And get this. None other than John Carlton will be hosting this live interview on Monday (May 11, 5pm Pacific, 8pm Eastern).

 The best part is that it’s freeeeeeeeee!

 What’s the catch? To spread the word about Eden’s Guru Mastermind  training. What else?

 Here’s a small taste of what Eden will share . . .

•  3 Info niches that make money consistently—and why this will be true for years to come!
•  How to name your product so that it practically sells itself.
• How to create your opt-in page that converts visitors to subscribers record rates.
•  The secret to putting your ideas into a book, or other info product quicker than greased lighting.
•  The right way to do email marketing and e-letters—and get 50% written without spending a single cent!

  And much, much more!

 But I gotta tell ya, this event is strictly limited so you best register now!

 Here’s the link: www.John-Carlton.com/recommends/guru-mastermind-call.html

I’ll be there. Hope you will too!

Peace,

Emette

Random Writing and Wasted Words

Hi friends & fans,

 

I’m feeling a little anxious today hence two postings in a single week. And in case you’ve been wondering (or even care) why I haven’t posted lately the reason’s really quite simple:

 

Time Out!

 

Sometimes you just have to stop what you’re doing and give yourself a time out. Sounds sort of silly, doesn’t it? I mean isn’t that what we parents give our children when they misbehave?

 

In my case it really didn’t have so much to do with misbehaving—or did it?

 

I started this blog on January 9^th, 2008 and promised to post a new article every 20 days or so. And as you can see it has not worked out that way. I’m not going to give you any excuses as to why. Besides you’re not here to read excuses anyway. You want insights and content that will help your business grow!

 

To be quite honest, despite the fact that I’ve been covered up with various projects, I still feel a bit guilty.

 

After all, the whole point is this blog is to give you little insights that will help make your business more moolah.

 

And how in the world can I possibility do this—if I’m not posting any articles? I think we both know the answer to that question, don’t we?

 

Note to self: Keep my blog posting schedule even it if kills me!

 

So now that I’ve had a chance to purge my brain, body and soul and recharged my batteries a bit, I’m back on the beat!

 

And thanks dear reader for being so patient and loyal in the meantime!

 

I’m reminded of a song the Allman Brothers did back in the 1970s. It is called Wasted Words. If you haven’t heard this song in a while, then boogie over to http://www.last.fm/music/The+Allman+Brothers+Band/_/Wasted+Words and check it out.

 

And speaking of wasted words is your ad copy landing on deaf ears? If so maybe you need to get reacquainted with your target market.

 

Taken straight from Dan Kennedy’s most excellent book, The Ultimate Sales Letter, “The goal is understanding. To persuade someone, to motivate someone, to sell someone, you really need to understand that person.”

 

By the way, if you haven’t read this little gem—well shame on you! Stop reading this post right now and get this book from your favorite bookseller—at well under $15 bucks it’s a steal. If fact anything written by Dan Kennedy is pure gold!

 

The point is that you want to find out everything you possibility can relating to your idea prospect.

 

Start by asking some questions about your target audience. Perhaps a little digging is in order here. . .

 

1. Who are you writing to? Are you talking to males? Females? Are you talking to plumbers, lawyers, politicians, kids, moms, who?

 

1. What’s their pain? What keeps them up at night?

 

1. What’s their pleasures? What turns them on?

 

1. What are their fears?

 

1. What are their major frustrations?

 

1. How does your prospect feel about their industry in general?

 

1. How do they feel when they purchase from you?

 

1. What are their interests?

 

 

If you can get inside your prospect’s head, then you may actually have a fair chance to grabbing a piece of direct response heaven. This is good!

 

Getting this information is not as difficult as you may think.  First start with the basics—by studying successful promos from your competitors. Look for clues that may be sprinkled throughout the mailing pieces—especially in the headline, subheads, guarantee and offer.

 

Your prospect is probably on some sort of mailing list related to what you’re offering. Review the list data card. There you will find basic demographic info such as the sex, age, and location, etc. You will also know what publications they are reading—after all they got on the mailing list, right?

 

OK, now you’re armed and dangerous! So let’s get busy creating that block buster control, ok?

 

Peace,

 

Emette Massey

 

P.S. Need help writing that block buster control? Or maybe you just don’t have the time or interest in writing it yourself? No problem! I can help. Call me today 828-758-7501 for a no risk, no obligation consultation.  Or if you prefer email me at eemassey@yahoo.com.

Water Heaters and Murphy’s Art

We all kick up our heals and rejoice when Saturday rolls around. ‘Saturday’ could be any old day of the week—as long as it’s your designated day away from the grindstone.

 

Often times my day off is spent tackling the usual “honey do” list my wife carefully places in my lap. And this particular Saturday was no different.

 

I cheerfully looked over the list and noticed fix water heater—the nerve of her putting water heater repair on top of the list. I mean really ‘hot water’? Who needs a device that will heat water automatically—without having to light a fire.

 

Seems my baby (aka my wife) likes those small conveniences like hot water, air conditioning, and other comforts.

 

Ok, ok I have a big confession to make here—I like all those small, trivial modern day conveniences too! And if I were a betting man, I’d bet you like them too, no?

 

You see, for several weeks now our water heater has been the silent partner, quietly purring along in the background doing its fair share helping my family with all the dish washing, laundry, and ensuring there’s plenty of hot water for bathing.

 

Despite this, the old water heater was giving us something else too: puddles of water in the basement.

 

At first the puddle was about the size of dinner plate. But as time went on the plate got bigger and bigger.

 

I tried all of the usual remedies: flushing the tank to rid itself of impurities, rust and the like—thinking that couldn’t hurt!

 

Boy was I wrong. Flushing the tank actually made it worse. I came home from work the next day and found the puddle the size of a small trampoline and water spewing like Yosemite.  Not good!

 

Luckily this was on a Friday and I could tackle my newest home project over the weekend.

 

As an X- heating and air guy, I knew my way around plumbing fixtures, propane torches, and the usual hand tools.

 

I was up for the challenge of tackling the replacement myself—plus I could save a buck or two by cutting out the contractor’s labor.

 

Saturday. Off to Lowes Home Improvement I go armed with a shopping list and a pocket full of change.

 

300 bucks later I’m back home with a brand spanking new water heater, various plumping fittings, pipe glue, a torch and few other accessories and I’ll ready to get started.

 

The old heater had been draining for several hours so it was near empty. With the help of my trusty pipe cutter and the flip of an electrical breaker, the old unit comes out pretty easy.

 

All’s well except one tiny, weenie little problem. Water was still flowing out of the cold pipe so I go back to the main cutoff valve located in the basement and wrench down and *snap* off comes the stem and handle to the valve.

 

This sucks. If you’ll recall I mention the word “Murphy” boldly in the title to this letter. At one time or another we all have been introduced to Murphy’s Law that broadly states—anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

 

Well, it gets better. Seems Murphy can also become a bit greedy—wants to claim Saturday—and the rest of the weekend all for himself!

 

Here’s what I mean.

 

Being that there’s water pouring all over the basement floor, I scramble to locate the shutoff at the meter. It’s getting dark and dirt covering the meter doesn’t help the matter. So armed with my little flash light I commence to digging desperately trying to find the dang shutoff valve.

 

Sadly it’s not where they are usually installed—towards the house. So it’s more digging. Finally I see a semblance of what appears to be a shutoff valve on the far side of the meter box.

 

And to be all I can barely reach it with my T-wrench. With a wing and a prayer I get the water shut off and pick up where I left off in the basement.

 

I start removing fittings off the old water heater hoping I can reuse them. No good. These fittings are so corroded you can hardly see though them. So it’s off to Lowes, trip number two.

 

When I get back home I realize that I didn’t get everything I needed—namely ¾” pipe. Sheesh! By this time it’s too late to make another trip to the building supply and I’m beginning to burn out.

 

Sunday. You learn to appreciate the simple pleasures of life—good food, good friends, and a hot bath! And boy was I needin’ one, not to mention the rest of my family.

 

I keep telling myself, “Mush on. You gotta keep going. Finish the job.”  You know how important it is to become you own cheer leader. A little encouragement goes a loooong way.

 

By now I’m becoming a “regular” at Lowes Home Improvement. The clerks are calling me by name, giving me home improvement tips, asking me if I’d like a job—you know like I’m one of the gang.

 

Heck, after all of that, it became pretty tempting. These folks are really nice!

 

Anyway, I decide to keep moving forward, get my parts and get the water turned back on.

 

Yippee! Everything is in place, final inspection, yes, yes it all looks good and no signs of any potential water leaks. I give it a while for the pipe cement to set and crank open the valves for a final leak test. So far, so good I take another look around all the joints—all’s well! No leaks.

 

I go upstairs and my son grabs me to help him find a toy on the second floor. It was then when I heard a psssss . . . pop . . . spew . . . it’s sounding like serious water flow.

 

Like an Olympic sprinter I zoom down to the basement, hoping what I’m hearing wasn’t true!

 

Damn! It’s Murphy! He’s struck again. Boy what a sight—water spraying like a geyser.

 

Working quickly, I shut the water off, and shook my head in disgust!

 

It’s back to the drawing board.

 

 

 

Muttering under my breath, dreading going and recounting how many times to the building supply I’ve endured I realize I have spare fittings.

 

Could it be that the tables are turning now? Maybe I’ll kick Murphy’s ass for a change? Maybe short turn.

 

I redo the piping once again but this time give extra time to for the cement to cure before cranking on the electricity and water.

 

Elapsed time approximately 45 to 50 minutes, I anxiously fire up the water heater hoping for the best.

 

Shower time is finally here! Big smiles coming from the entire family.

 

So what does this story have to do with marketing? I can tell you in just one word: Persistence.

 

That’s right, persistence. Keep working till you get it right. Successful marketing is about planning your work and working your plan.

 

Successful marketing isn’t about having all the latest, greatest website bells and whistles. It’s not about looking the flashiest or dumping a ton of money on all the latest software programs.

 

No! Successfully marketing is about learning what your target market wants, what pains they’re having, what problems they want solved and letting them know you’re the go to guy or gal who can help them.

 

Don’t quit. Don’t give up. I have seen oftentimes successful comes to those who are absolutely committed to staying in the game.

 

Are you willing to do this?

 

Warmly,

 

Emette Massey

 

P.S. What problems are you having in your business today? I very well may have just the solution you want to get where you want to be.