I write things
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How to Improve When You’re Not “Naturally” Talented
PSA: The Copy Workshop is open for enrollment for our January 2022 session. The workshop is $1,200 but for the next week, Akimbo is offering it for $800 in celebration of something I’ll tell you about later. For now, what you need to know is the price for the workshop will increase in one week. If you’d (…)
How It’s Always Been Done
Each year on the week of Thanksgiving, lawyers and financial planners all over America send me clip art. The clip art comes with a note that says some version of, “We are grateful for the opportunity to serve our clients. Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at Reese Holdings, LLC.” We’ve created a culture that finds these (…)
Fine, I’ll Get Back On LinkedIn
At the urging of my friend Louis, I have returned to LinkedIn. I’d avoided it for years because I’m not in the market for a “job,” and find the dialogue on there to be vapid, performative, and – I cannot emphasize this point enough – emphatically boring. Forced hot takes, feigned “excitement” over things (…)
How To Reach Someone Who Doesn’t Want To Listen
A topic that has come up a lot in my life lately is “people you can’t reach.” How do you reach someone who doesn’t want to hear what you have to say? How do you *convince* them to see your point of view? How do you help someone change their mind? Open their eyes? Get (…)
Sooo easy
In 2017, I wrote a piece on Hustle Guilt where I argued that we’ve put the wrong values on a pedestal when it comes to what we call “hard work” and “sacrifice.” It’s hold hat 🎩now. Once Mrs. Huffington collapsed on her desk and Peterson’s burnout piece went viral the world took a collective, “oh shit.” And (…)
Wine and Writing For Normal People
Perception almost always outweighs science when it comes to wine. I’ll fight anyone who says Cabernets taste the same in a solo cup as they do in a glass with a wide base and narrow top. I’ll cite some fact about oxygen (“oxygenation”) that I stole from a sommelier. I’ll die on that hill if (…)
What The Inner Game of Tennis Can Teach You About Copywriting
We recently moved to a new city in which I have approximately two IRL friends. Those two friends thought it would be fun to play tennis. I did not. I do not play tennis nor am I interested in learning tennis. At my spouse’s urging to invest in new relationships (also peer pressure) I accepted (…)
Toddler Book Teardown (Also My Yom Kippur Sermon on Forgiveness)
My kid has this book about making mistakes called, “It’s Ok To Make Mistakes.” It’s cute and means well, but there is one page that drives me nuts. There is an elephant standing on a diving board over a pool who clearly does not want to jump off that diving board into that pool. And the copy (…)
Holding Onto The Dream of Being a “Real” Writer
I don’t know about you, but I’m still waiting for the day I get pulled aside by a teacher who lets me in on a secret. And the secret is I’m a precocious genius who has unparalleled talent, unlike anything she’s ever seen before. And if I would just get over my horrible attitude! the (…)
How To Write Cold Emails That Get Opened
The latest bro marketing trend, which you will recognize from your spam folder, is offering business owners a “chance to be featured” in a bogus media outlet for the low low price of $2,500. That pitch isn’t the problem. It’s not my cup of tea, but I’m willing to bet there is a market for (…)