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PS to 12-String Lesson
I just received an email containing several pictures of the guitar I was so hypnotically drawn to, that I wrote about in my previous post: a custom made 12-string Taylor 655ce black w/Florentine Cutaway.
I like what I see and just ordered it. It will be here on Tuesday.
The lesson: Hypnotic copy with clear graphics helps lead to a sale – which is the musical sound of money coming your way.
Or, in this case, going out of my way and on to Kentucky.
But money has to circulate, and I know that the more I spend, the more I receive.
Ao Akua,
Joe
www.mrfire.com
PS — Don’t tell Pat I bought this collectible guitar. He’s gonna be sooo jealous. 🙂
A 12-String Copywriting Lesson
Pat O’Bryan stopped by the house recently and showed me his 12-string guitar. I have plenty of guitars, but not a 12-string. I decided I wanted one, especially after I heard Pat make his sing.
Plus I still needed to reward myself for the major accomplishment of speaking before 2,000 speakers at NSA last week.
(Tip: Always reward yourself when you do something challenging in your life. It builds confidence and encourages you to do more challenging things. Plus it’s fun.)
I poked around the net, searching for 12-string guitars, but found most descriptions of guitars to be pretty lame.
They didn’t give details.
They didn’t evoke my imagination.
They weren’t, well, hypnotic.
But then I stumbled across Steilberg String Instruments at http://store.stringinstruments.com/
They are in Louisville, Kentucky, been there for over two decades, and seem to truly love their work.
As I browsed their listings for 12-string guitars, imagine what I felt when I read the following:
Taylor 655ce Black w/Florentine Cutaway
We have never seen anything quite so awesome. It’s unlikely that you have either, since this is likely one of a kind. A Maple jumbo 12-string guitar customized with the recently re-introduced Florentine (sharp) cutaway, ES electronics, and an Opaque Black Finish.
Seriously, this thing looks incredible. We sincerely doubt anyone could walk by this without a double take. The White binding and Mother of Pearl inlays are the perfect contrast to the black finish, framing the tantalizing curves of the Jumbo body like Hot Rod pin-striping.
But then you play it………..and you forget what it looks like because all you can concentrate on is the vast world of musical sounds that seem to come flying out of this box. It’s got power and presence, volume with subtlety, and the seemingly full range of a grand piano. Plug it in and it sounds equally great with the Taylor ES Electronics. It’s perfect marriage of looks, sound and functionality. If it only came with it’s own adoring fans, you’d be set. This guitar might help you make some anyway.
I could just see the looks on people’s faces as they saw me holding that baby.
And when I began to play, I could imagine everyone turning to look, to see where the awesome sound was coming from.
And to think that the guitar had hot rod-like pin-striping made me wonder if Francine would like it, too.
In short, the copy was riveting.
It made the guitar come to life in my mind.
It made me want it.
The only problem on the Steilberg website was the lack of a photo for the Taylor 655ce, which made me really want to see it.
Aren’t you curious about how it looks, too?
So I called the store. I told them I was interested in the guitar. They told me they would call me back in about ten minutes. They were going to take pictures of the guitar right then and there.
Now that’s service.
Well, they called back an hour later. They took pictures but their Internet was down so they couldn’t upload them yet.
At this point I still haven’t seen the guitar.
And naturally I haven’t bought it, either.
In short, great copy can lead to a sale, but sometimes you need a great graphic to close it.
Ao Akua,
Joe
www.mrfire.com
PS – Pat and I just released a DVD set revealing what I’m calling “Knee-Slapping Marketing” though it could just as easily be called “Zany Marketing” or “Outrageous Marketing.” Go see www.patobryan.com/aasp3.htm
The Story of Fit-A-Rita
Where do you find ideas for products? Whenever you say, “I wish someone would solve this — (fill in the blank)”, there’s a clue. Here’s my own example….
Fit-A-Rita™ – World’s First 6-calorie zero-sugar zero-carb all-natural margarita mix hits market – as a result of a weight-loss joke
(Austin,
“This is the first alcoholic drink mix designed for the health-conscious customer,” says Jeff Sargent, product formulator for Frontier Nutritional Research.
The mix was born when Joe Vitale, a star in the hit movie The Secret, wanted a margarita but realized with 200 to 600 calories in the average one, that they wouldn’t help him lose any weight. He jokingly said he wanted a “Bodybuilder’s Margarita.”
He went to Marcus Gitterle, M.D., a product creator, and Jeff Sargent, a former health food store owner, and asked them to create a margarita mix with no sugar. “I wanted a healthy margarita,” Vitale, 53, said. “I suspected they could sweeten it with a natural herb.”
The result is Fit-a-Rita™, which hit the market today at www.fit-a-rita.com and is already signed into Latin area distribution.
According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), since 2002, U.S. imports of tequila have grown 28 percent — an average rate of 8.6 percent per year. In 2005 alone, a total of 9.2 million 9-liter cases, and 9.8 million cases in 2006, were sold.
Tequila is now the fastest growing spirits category of them all, even besting vodkas. Tequila sales represent a multi-billion dollar market and most of this tequila is consumed in the form of margaritas.
Frontier Nutritional Research designed Fit-a-Rita™ to appeal to the market segment that appreciates a tasty margarita but would rather avoid the sugar, calories and of course, the hangover. Just add one packet of Fit-A-Rita™ to 6 oz of water, add one shot of your favorite Tequila, and mix. “It contains as much anti-oxidants as two glasses of red wine,” says Dr. Gitterle.
Frontier will consider distributorships for established dietary supplement, food, beverage or liquor distributors within the United States. Their toll free line is 800-396-5942.
The official Fit-a-Rita™ website for US customers or US distributors is www.fit-a-rita.com
How to Get Rich
Not enough people want to get rich.
They want to get by.
They want to make a little money online.
They want to make life a little easier for themselves.
But wanting to get rich— and by rich I mean independently wealthy so nothing, from bills to health insurance to emergencies to big dreams to much else, ever bothers you — is a tiny sliver of any population.
If you’re in that small group, then I have good news for you.
I almost got sunburned sitting by the pool and reading the truly eccentric yet wise new book, How To Get Rich, by Felix Dennis.
Dennis is one of Britain’s wealthiest self-made entrepreneurs. He’s opinionated, articulate, literary, poetic, visionary, and brilliant.
His book is well written, smooth, conversational, controversial, peppered with poetry he wrote and insights he gained from his life in business. Reading it is like listening to him talk over dinner and (lots of) wine, only in my own accent.
I’m digging his book and not wanting it to end. Fortunately it’s a large book (277 pages) and I have to slow down my reading to laugh, ponder, or take notes. Or get out of the sun.
I’ve been carrying this book around with me for days now. That’s unusual for me, as few (oh so few) books are so hypnotic that they keep me focused and thinking.
Dennis is clear that money does not buy happiness. He is equally clear that most of us don’t ever try to get rich because of fear. His basic advice there is to get cozy with it. You’ll never get rich if you give in to your fears.
In my own experience, I’ve found that your wealth is hiding right under your fear.
I never wanted to release The Attractor Factor because of my fear that people would ridicule me.
Well, look what happened: that book got me in the movie The Secret, on Larry King twice, and has led to more book sales and reprints and translations (and more books, such as Zero Limits and the forthcoming, The Key) than I could have ever imagined.
Forget fear.
Your wealth may also be hiding right under your rear.
Dennis is adamant — and I totally agree with him — that nothing happens until you take action. He is not a new agey guy and his book is not a touchy-feely one. He insists that “the big idea” is worthless unless you implement it.
In short, you have to get off your rear and get into gear and despite any fear.
I don’t agree with Dennis about everything, and I’m sure he wouldn’t want me to. His belief that focusing on getting rich may ruin other areas of your life is just that: a belief. It can be true, but it doesn’t have to be true.
Of course, he’s playing on a different field than me. He’s got homes in London, New York City, Connecticut, and one on an island in the Caribbean. His big goal right now is to plant a forest (!) in the heart of England.
Like Donald Trump, he’s thinking BIG.
And maybe like Trump, or more accurately like Van Gogh, Dennis has allowed his single-minded quest to get rich to unbalance his life. At least until his later years.
Again, it doesn’t have to be that way.
How to Get Rich is brand new, published in Britain, but available though Amazon here and abroad. There are direct links to order it on the official Felix Dennis site at www.felixdennis.com
I suggest you get it.
But only if you truly want to get rich.
Ao Akua,
Joe
www.mrfire.com
PS — If you want help in facing any fear, be looking for our next subliminal manifestation DVD.
Soul Song
Jennifer McLean just told me she made an audio combining concepts in Zero Limits with the song of the earth. It’s free at www.soulsongoffer.com
