Even the heaviest vault doors still swing on small hinges…
“Little hinges swing big doors.”
You’ve probably heard that quote from W. Clement Stone. A direct student of Napoleon Hill’s, and the founder (with Hill) of the Positive Mental Attitude movement.
It’s more than just a trite saying. Those words mean something.
The day I almost died…
On Christmas Eve, 2001, I was driving to my parents’ church with my girlfriend at the time. It was a snowy, icy night, and we were late. The parking lot was full, so I had to cross a 4-lane road to parking on the other side. My light was blinking red, the 4-lane had a blinking yellow. Cars, ice, and snow somewhat blocked my view.
I was in a Mercury Tracer station wagon. The truck was a Chevy 1500.
He had no chance of stopping. He smashed into the driver’s side of the car.
I don’t remember the next 20-30 minutes. Although I never lost consciousness, I blacked out. I think it was a concussion.
By the time I was oriented to my surroundings, the police and ambulance were there.
I was able to get out of the car on my own. My girlfriend was fine.
The car, totaled.
He’d smashed into the back door, and entire back side of my car.
If I’d been just three or four feet back from where I was, I would’ve eaten the grill of the truck.
Although I was able to walk away, I still count that as the day I almost died.
I was incredibly lucky that night.
Even as it was, in a few seconds, my life changed.
Some things that hadn’t been clear in my life became immediately so.
So much of who I am today would likely not be so if it weren’t for that accident.
That accident — those mere seconds it took for me to pull out in front of a truck barreling down an icy road — were a little hinge that swung a very big door.
Some more…
The book that changed my life…
Somehow, some way, in early 2005, I’d heard about this thing called copywriting. I ordered a book off the internet called “The Well-Fed Writer.” I could have ordered any number of different books or other items that day — or nothing. My latest internet order had been, I think, a music CD.
But this book introduced me to the world of “Freelance Commercial Writing,” as the author Peter Bowerman called it. Copywriting.
It introduced me to a way to make a living with my writing skills.
Maybe I would have found copywriting and direct marketing without that book. Maybe I was well on that path. But maybe not.
The investment that changed my life…
I’d been working in a marketing department since late 2005, but in 2009 I was finally forcing myself into becoming a freelance copywriter.
So I sucked it up and invested in AWAI’s Bootcamp, an investment I’d put off for years.
With pressure to make this investment in myself pay off, I launched my full-time freelance career within three months and three days.
The piece of paper that changed my life…
At that Bootcamp, Clayton Makepeace’s wife, Wendy, handed me a piece of paper that contained a “pretty darn good outline” for writing sales copy. For years, I used that outline on every promotion I wrote.
I generated tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees and royalties thanks to that outline, and made my reputation in this business.
All from an outline on a piece of paper.
The relationships that changed my life…
I can count on one hand the number of people that I’ve worked with closely who’ve had a big impact on my copywriting ability. Mentors who’ve really sat down with me and helped me raise my game.
And my marketing mentors, those folks who’ve been with me as I’ve developed and gotten a complete understanding of what it takes to grow a business on the back of solid marketing systems.
Out of hundreds of people I’ve known, it’s these few that have made all the difference.
If you don’t believe little hinges swing big doors, you’re not looking for the doors…
When you start pushing on those doors — whether it’s a big breakthrough in your copywriting, building your business, getting ahead in life, whatever — you’ll find the little things that make a big difference.
I have a handful of people who’ve started pushing on the big door of getting ahead in their copywriting careers…
Folks who said, “Now is my time…”
Who decided to retain me under my unlimited copy coaching program…
In the short time each has been with me, I can see them developing their own businesses for themselves…
Creating opportunities that wouldn’t have been there if it weren’t for talks we’d had…
Going for goals they wouldn’t have had the confidence to achieve it weren’t for knowing I’d be there to catch them if they fall…
Writing copy unlike anything they’ve ever written, because of tiny pieces of feedback I’ve given them…
And until midnight tonight, if you choose to start this “unlimited access” program for yourself, you can attend my Advanced Direct Response Copywriting Workshop this November, at no additional charge…
I’ve offered this once before — before I even “officially” announced the workshop. I’m offering it now. But I’ll probably never offer it again.
Click here and scroll to the bottom for the details on the “unlimited access” program.
Sometimes the little hinge that swings a big door is simply saying “yes.”
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
Editor, Breakthrough Marketing Secrets
