by ray | Sep 2, 2018 | Self Education
One of my areas of interest is copywriting. Specifically, direct response copywriting where the goal is to motivate the reader (listener/viewer) to take action (call, write, go to a website) and, ultimately, make a purchas
A friend of mine in college financed his education with direct marketing campaigns all the way to his PhD. He tried to convince me to get into the profession, but I was in broadcasting at the time and couldn’t “lower” myself to his level.
I didn’t really follow through on the study of this style of copywriting until about two years ago.
I started out wanting to write a book. I kept starting and stopping (mostly stopping) because the process didn’t engage me. Sitting at my computer for several hours to produce five-thousand words did not seem all that interesting
My friend contacted me after nearly forty years and convinced me to start reading ads from the thirties into the seventies to see how products were sold – especially the really quirky stuff.
I got hooked. In fact, I starting rewriting the ads to see if I could make them better.
About two months ago I started to think I might be able to make a living writing these kinds of ads. I’m making a commitment to work in that direction. Gonna see what I’m made of!
by ray | Sep 2, 2018 | Self Education
Welcome to the Labor Day weekend, 2018. An interesting time to start something new.
I recently read an article about Pat O’Day, a local legend in the Seattle broadcast market. At one time, in fact, he commanded 35% of the listening audience during his afternoon show.
In the article O’Day, who is 84, was asked for a piece of advice. He said, “Stay busy! You only get one shot on this Earth. How can you waste one day of it.”
I agree. At 71, I’ve been an employee for most of my professional career. I’ve worked for radio and television stations, worked for three major corporations as a technician, and, finally, ended up in the hotel business.
I even started repairing television sets and home refrigerators in high school. The color TV’s that left my shop were perfect. My home TV, however, had rainbows an spots of green around the edges. Why? Because no one was paying me to fix it.
When I turned 62 I tried to retire. It didn’t take. That’s how I got into the hotel business.
Now, however, its time for a change. In these daily blog posts, I am going to share my journey and, from time to time, sell some products and give what I hope might be some sage advice.
