Hey Rainmaker, I’m pumped up!
Although by the time you’re reading this it will already be Thursday evening, I’m squeezing in a few minutes this morning to make sure it’s written and ready to send to you.
So as I write this, it’s early Thursday morning, and we’ve just had the first evening of the AWAI Bootcamp.
And I picked up one really important and actionable idea for how to sift and sort and screen potential clients from Bob Bly’s opening talk.
But actually…
I was getting breakthrough ideas to share with you before I even got to Delray Beach!
I told you my 5-10 actionable ideas can come from lots of places — not just what’s said from stage.
And on the way here, I read two books. Essentialism, and Built to Sell.
There was actually one really important theme that crossed those two books, involving how to get ahead in your business.
Focus. Namely, focusing on your one really important item.
In my video next week, I’ll be sharing a lot of details on HOW to do that and make it an everyday practice in your business.
But it also stimulated my memory about…
Mark Ford (aka Michael Masterson), the man behind The Power of One and so many other brilliant insights on copywriting, marketing, and business.
The OTHER big actionable idea I got from my first AWAI Bootcamp back in 2009…
And this one definitely stuck with me this long, and has become a part of how I write — including these essays and sales copy.
The Power of One.
Focus is important in your business, AND it’s important in your copy.
Prior to that first Bootcamp, I was definitely guilty of unfocused copy. Especially when I was trying to write long copy sales letters. After all, if it was going to be long, I would have to put a lot of info into it! (Or so I thought.)
Then, from stage, Michael Masterson (Mark Ford), shared his idea of The Power of One.
Every great piece of copy, he said, was built around one clear core idea. Driving people to take one desired action.
Yes, you can use tangents on that one idea to flesh it out, make it multi-dimensional and more compelling and real.
But you have to focus on, elaborate on, build on, and really drive your way through presenting that ONE IDEA that’s going to move your readers.
Try to fit more than one idea into a selling message — even a very long one — and suddenly your reader loses clarity and the will to respond.
This completely changed the way I approached writing copy…
The Clayton Makepeace outline I shared yesterday really gave me a tangible structure on which I could hang my message. And The Power of One gave me strategic thinking for when I was planning my message, for what I needed to focus on.
Together, those two ideas really stuck and were a launchpad for me making a name for myself in my first year as a freelance copywriter.
And here’s the really interesting thing.
They are as relevant today as they ever were.
Not just in copy, but in building your copywriting business.
You see, many copywriter need to use The Power of One in creating more clear and compelling copy.
But they could also benefit tremendously from applying it to their business, and how they offer their services.
If you don’t use The Power of One to offer your copywriting services, you end up trapped in something I call the WWFF Fallacy, which can lead to spinning your wheels and never getting nearly as far ahead as you should based on the work you’re doing.
That idea — and the corresponding solution — is actually the subject of this webinar called The #1 Reason Copywriters Fail To Make A Great Living (And How To Fix It).
I strongly recommend you watch that video this week, if you haven’t yet.
Although I didn’t say it this way in that video, it’s really about how to apply The Power of One to your copywriting BUSINESS, and get further ahead, faster as a result.
Go ahead, click this link and watch it (in full!) today.
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
Editor, Breakthrough Marketing Secrets
