VOLUME 23, ISSUE 3 – MARCH 2024
THIS MONTH’S MENU:
I.SMALL-BIZ COACH: FOCUS ON GAINING YARDS
Stop Obsessing About Results; Focus on Actions
II. AI: MUST I DISCLOSE ITS USE? (YES!)
Article: Why It Matters (& Its Relevance to Us…)
III. GOT YOUR “LEAD-GEN” WORKING?
Atlanta Copywriter Creates “Wow” Piece to Attract Work
I. SMALL-BIZ COACH: FOCUS ON GAINING YARDS
Stop Obsessing About Results; Focus on Actions
Love this piece from friend, colleague, “business-building coach for writers and copywriters” and E-PUB regular, Ed Gandia. Take it to heart and you’ll dramatically reduce your stress. Thanks, Ed!
We all want to see tangible results in our business. But an obsession over specific goals and outcomes can also be counter-productive because it takes our focus away from the day-to-day action-taking.
Here’s the thing. Once you start implementing your action plan, an obsession with outcomes is like planting a seed in the ground and digging it up every day to see if it’s actually sprouting and growing.
Instead, you’re better off focusing on the steady and expert deployment of your strategy.
Week by week, day by day, hour by hour. Steady, deliberate practice.
Even when you don’t see immediate results from your actions. Even when you’re discouraged. Even when it all seems hopeless.
NFL teams that routinely move the ball down the field tend to score more points. That shouldn’t be a surprise.
But according to an article I read recently, of the top 10 teams in average yards per game, nine of them consistently make the playoffs!
The lesson? Focus on gaining yards. Focus on moving the ball down field, one play at a time. Don’t look at the scoreboard. And if you do, don’t obsess over it.
Instead, obsess over the current play—the only thing you have control over right now. That means the actions you can take today, at this moment, to make progress.
Those small, individual plays eventually add up to big wins, even if we don’t know when, where or how those wins will come.
PB: I’ve invoked the same principle in TWFW in the chapter on cold-calling (pp. 87-88), advising folks to focus on the actions you take (i.e., making a lot of calls), NOT the results you hope to get from those calls.
Focusing on results (which you can’t control) just ratchets up the anxiety level if you’re not seeing those results. Yet the Law of Averages is ironclad: take enough action (which you can control), and you will see results.
II. AI: MUST I DISCLOSE ITS USE? (YES!)
Article: Why It Matters (& Its Relevance to Us…)
Came across techy-guru Christopher S. Penn (co-founder of Trust Insights) sometime back. The man’s on the leading edge of AI, and his always-interesting posts make him worth keeping tabs on.
This recent piece tackled the question: Do I need to disclose when content I’m claiming as my own, was AI-generated? The answer is yes, but for ethical, not legal (yet) reasons. And there’s nuance here, as this snippet shows:
“[I]f you use AI to create images, text, etc – that content cannot be copyrighted because machine-created content is ineligible for copyright. However, if you have machines do outlines or sketches, and then a human does the final output, as long as humans have generated the final output, it can be protected by copyright.”
Reading between the lines, I get this:
If you use AI to generate copy that’s a starting “lump of clay,” which you then rework and otherwise fine-tune, that final product wasn’t AI-generated.
And if your goal is effective marketing copy for clients who demand more than fluff, then that lump of clay is about the best that AI can deliver.
You might also consider posting your process on your website, where you discuss HOW you use AI (i.e., as the starting point, only to be reworked into a very different final product).
That way, your clients understand how you’re marrying the latest AI tools with crucial human input.
III. GOT YOUR “LEAD-GEN” WORKING?
Atlanta Copywriter Creates “Wow” Piece to Attract Work
Got this way-cool and polished lead-generation idea from Atlanta copywriter and web content writer, Tom Tortorici.
Tom works directly with businesses, web designers and marketing agencies, helping companies make a genuine connection with their audience.
Tom writes: Just wanted to share an educational ebook I send to potential clients as a follow-up or keep-in-touch piece. The response I’m fishing for is, “These ideas make sense, but we don’t know how to apply them ourselves.
“These days, sales often means putting something of value forward before asking for something in return.”
How true. And as you’ll see in the piece, Tom does an excellent job letting clients know the range of his skills, while the high-quality production value of the piece clearly demonstrates his professionalism.