Business Growth Strategies » Mindset

Be Stingy with Testimonials

Ryan M. Healy — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:11:50 +0000

On the one hand, getting testimonials from colleagues and clients can boost your credibility in the market and help you get more business.

On the other hand, giving out testimonials can be risky business.

If you give somebody a testimonial or endorsement after only brief interaction with him, you’re playing with fire. You don’t really know the person in question, and you don’t know what that person may (or may not) do in the future.

Consistency in behavior… longevity in the market… these are the kinds of things that breed trust. This is why I only give testimonials and endorsements to people I’ve known and interacted with for a couple years.

It’s also why I’ve turned down a number of requests for testimonials. It’s just not worth the risk.

I realize it’s easy to get caught up in the “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” world of testimonial swapping, but my advice is… don’t.

If you’ve really done good work, the testimonials and endorsements will come in over time.

No need to rush or hurry things up by whoring yourself out to every marketer who asks for a piece of your credibility in hopes they’ll reciprocate.

Be stingy with testimonials.

Protect your credibility.

Because at the end of the day, it’s all you’ve got.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

Unexamined Opinions

Ryan M. Healy — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:28:07 +0000

The world is full of unexamined opinions. If you doubt this statement, here’s how to prove it to yourself:

Educate yourself deeply on just about any subject, then go engage somebody in a discussion. After that discussion, go have another. And another. And another.

Over the course of these discussions with your friends and family members — maybe even a few neighbors and co-workers — you’ll quickly discover just how common unexamined opinions are. You may even quietly wonder to yourself, “How could these people be so ignorant?!”

The thing is, we all have blind spots at different points in our lives. We’ve accepted certain things as truth — we’ve blindly accepted “the way things are” — without subjecting these assumptions to any kind of rigorous “truth filters.”

Would you be willing to challenge some of your cherished — but potentially unexamined or under-examined — opinions?

Would you be willing to read an author who has a contrary opinion?

Would you be willing to fully investigate a serious issue — reading even those opinions and theories that differ from yours?

I used to be afraid of such mental exercises, but no longer. Over the course of the last 10-plus years, I’ve become willing to examine my beliefs at a very deep level.

Now I relish this kind of self-examination. It challenges me. It pushes me to greater levels of understanding.

But not everybody can tolerate different viewpoints. When I quoted Howard Zinn recently, a disgruntled reader unsubscribed and lashed out at me. He wrote:

I don’t want my box cluttered by someone who appears to think Howard Zinn was a historian. Even liberal historians such as Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., have harsh words for him. Marxist historians like Zinn create “false consciousness”, not understanding.

Ignoring the fact that this reader contradicted himself in the span of three sentences and knows nothing of how much history I read, perhaps his criticism of Zinn is legitimate. That is why I still intend to examine his allegations in the near future.

Because I want to know the truth.

I’ve found very few people actually want to know the truth. Many claim they do, but their actions prove them otherwise. They’d rather read gossip mags, watch ESPN, and research their next big purchase.

I’m hoping you’re different.

I’m hoping you have the guts… and the raw mettle… to closely examine your opinions and pursue the truth no matter how much discomfort it causes you. Make this one of your resolutions for the new year.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

From Car Washer to Millionaire

Ryan M. Healy — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:33:19 +0000

A man named Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr., was the 2011 winner of the America’s Got Talent competition.

Prior to trying out for America’s Got Talent, Landau was washing cars in West Virginia.

Landau loves to sing. He would sing all day as he washed cars. And he would sing in his church on the weekends.

Yet it would be many years before the rest of the world discovered Landau’s unique voice and talent.

Success is largely a combination of two things: talent and timing.

Like Landau, you can have all the talent in the world, but still be washing cars. It takes the second “success ingredient” — timing — to finally step into your destiny.

You can’t predict or force your defining moment to show up. But by continuously practicing your craft and refining your talent, you’ll be ready for success when your time comes.

Today, Landau is the winner of a $1 million prize, as well as his own show in Las Vegas. From car washer to millionaire in about 6 months.

“It’s been a long, hard journey,” Landau said after learning he was the winner, “ever since I was a kid. And it’s finally paying off.”

What future are you preparing yourself for?

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

FOUND! The Perfect Client…

Ryan M. Healy — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 15:58:44 +0000

Yesterday’s post about copywriter burn-out really struck a chord with a lot of my readers.

Even though it was a U.S. holiday, there were lots of passionate and encouraging responses. (Thank you!)

One thing Jefferson said in the comments stuck out to me. After managing product launches for clients, he concludes: “Instead of doing launches for other clients, I’m going to do them for my best client of all: Me, Myself and I.”

The reason this stuck out to me is because of something else I had highlighted in a book more than two years ago. The book is not well-known. It’s called Anybody Can Be in Advertising… It Beats Working for a Living by Stan Cotton.

It’s a pretty good book. Stan outlines 12 steps to starting your own advertising business, then includes a bunch of space ads he wrote along with his analysis of why each one worked.

But the part I want to share with you here is actually… on the acknowledgment page… before the book even begins! Stan writes:

For over thirty years, I have searched world wide for the perfect client. At long last, I have found him. T’is I. Therefore, this book is dedicated to me.

No matter if you’re Claude Hopkins or Stan Cotton, it seems every working copywriter comes to the same conclusion: Writing copy for clients is good, but writing copy for yourself is better.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

How to Stand Up When You Get Smacked Down

Ryan M. Healy — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:27:24 +0000

Got a tough question in my inbox today…

Hi Ryan,

I have a question I can only ask a copywriter/marketer who is a parent.

See, since I don’t have kids, I have a different kind of pressure to face than you do.

Recently my main laptop crashed, which erased my entire product launch information.

While I back-up my stuff every week, well, let’s just say it crashed about one day before the weekly update.

This resulted in major stress, not being able to meet my personal deadline.

Since all this happened, I’ve re-written the entire product launch, but at the expense of any and all other productivity.

My question is this – since you’re a parent and you have to constantly keep your act together and keep going, what do you do to re-stabilize after the shit hits the fan?

Reading an email like this makes me cringe because I know the kind of anxiety you feel in the pit of your stomach when you lose hours of work.

That anxiety is magnified tenfold if you’re facing an imminent deadline.

There are a few things I do to recenter when I’ve gotten the proverbial smack down from things outside my control.

First, I remind myself that it’s times like these that define who you are. Are you going to give up? Or are you going to grit your teeth and just get ‘er done?

Second, I remind myself that I can’t control everything. It’s part of being human. But I can control my actions and behaviors. I can control how I react… and… what I do in this moment.

So I try not to waste too much emotional energy when bad stuff happens. “Don’t cry over spilled milk” and all that. I just get back to the grind with energies redoubled and do my best to make something good out of the bad.

Third, I usually have a couple Bible verses replaying in my mind, specifically Proverbs 24:16 and James 1:2. I find encouragement from these verses. Maybe you will, too.

“…for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again…” Proverbs 24:16

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds…” James 1:2

I find that memorizing a few key quotes can be especially helpful in tough situations. They don’t have to be Bible verses. Just some brief words of wisdom that help you quickly recenter.

Fourth, I visualize great moments when people have overcome insurmountable odds to win.

Have you ever seen a great football game where the underdogs prevailed? Reliving moments like these can galvanize you, light a fire in your belly, and give you great mental fortitude.

Borrow the emotion from other people’s heroic moments and that will help you become the hero you need to be when bad stuff happens.

Hope this helps.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

Pursue Your Obsession

Ryan M. Healy — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:45:47 +0000

Common business advice is to do what you love, the money will follow.

This works sometimes, but not always. There’s not always a “hungry market with money” for the things you love to do.

Better advice, I think, is to pursue your obsession.

This occurred to me while watching a world championship between the world’s best chocolatiers.

The man representing Mexico, Oscar Ortega, said, “It has to become an obsession in order for you to be a winner.”

Why are obsessions such a powerful force for good?

We obsess over things we want to make better.

Things we want to make better are often things other people will pay to be made better.

We become the best at our obsessions because they provide us with irrational drive.

Being obsessed with making something better is good for business.

What are you obsessed with making better?

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

The Importance of Staying Power

Ryan M. Healy — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 15:40:13 +0000

Staying power is an underrated concept.

I first began paying attention to it back in my Amway days. What I noticed was that the most successful distributors weren’t necessarily the best or brightest of the bunch. They were the ones who simply took consistent positive action longer than anybody else.

The people who “tried out” the business for a few months… usually fizzled out… and never had much success. But the ones who stuck around (and followed the system) seemed to do much better.

I then noticed this same phenomenon in other industries as well: real estate agents, mortgage brokers, even copywriters.

When I became I copywriter, I began thinking for the long haul. Of course, I had short-term goals — like how much I needed to make each month to pay my bills — but my overall goal was to outlast my competitors.

Because what you’ll notice after a couple years is that the competitive landscape changes. Some competitors leave, decide to pursue new opportunities.

Every time a competitor leaves, there’s a vacuum. And those who benefit the most are the guys and gals who are still standing. They get to pick up the business their competitor left behind.

Staying Power in the Bible

In Luke 14:28-30, Jesus says:

For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

When you set out to accomplish something — in your business or in your personal life — how much consideration do you give to what’s required to complete it?

If you’re like me, you probably start many things that are never finished because you’re in love with an idea. Rather than count the cost, you just get started.

But if you truly want to succeed, it’s critical to think about what will be required of you each and every month — and whether or not you can keep it up long enough to finish what you set out to accomplish… and… outlast your competitors.

That’s staying power.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. This is not an endorsement of Amway, by the way. If you discover you’re involved in something shady, fraudulent, cultish, etc. — get out!Similar Posts:

Your Whole Life Can Change in a Moment

Ryan M. Healy — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 15:52:05 +0000

Some days it’s wearisome to keep on fighting, to keep on doing what you know you’re meant to do, to be who you’re meant to be.

But keep on keepin’ on.

Learn to be happy with who you are — instead of what you have.

You don’t know what tomorrow holds. Or next week. Or next month. Or next year.

Your whole life can change in a moment. Even the most meticulous plans can take an unexpected turn for the better. Your breakthrough could happen any day now.

Just keep on fighting the good fight and doing what you know is right. Discipline yourself to give your best effort every moment of every day.

And then, one ordinary day, when it seems you can’t give anymore, you’ll reap the rewards and wear the winner’s wreath.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

Sneaking Bullets through Airport Security

Ryan M. Healy — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 15:54:21 +0000

On Tuesday, I took my parents to the airport.

As we drove up, we joked about mom getting stopped by airport security. We had a good laugh. But little did we know how prescient our joking was: my mom was about to have an encounter with federal security agents.

You see, I had driven to my parents’ house to pick them up. As I waited for them to finish packing, I stood at the kitchen island. I noticed a couple boxes of old bullets on the counter.

Strange, I thought.

I picked up one of the boxes.

Unfortunately, the boxes were so old that the flaps didn’t stay closed any more. So even with a just a slight tilt, all the bullets came tumbling out.

Bullets have a way of scattering quickly when they collide with granite countertops and hardwood floors.

It Was a Mess…

And not the best timing either. My parents were in a hurry to get out the door.

Anyway, I gathered up all the bullets I could find, put them back in the box, and apologized to my dad. (Plus, I politely recommended he tape the boxes shut.)

I thought that was the end of the story. But, in fact, it was just the beginning.

I did not know it at the time, but my mom’s purse had been lying on the floor at my feet. And a few stray bullets had slipped inside.

So when my mom’s purse was passing through the x-ray machine, federal agents quickly pulled her aside for questioning. They detained her for more than an hour as they did the routine background check, interrogation, etc.

Thankfully, my parents came out clean. Plus, they had arrived early enough that they were still able to catch their flight — although they were a bit angry and frustrated with the whole situation.

Here’s the lesson:

Always Plan for the Unexpected!

Who could have ever imagined that such a sequence of events would play out like they did?

Not me.

And I guess that’s the point. In business — as in life — you need to always plan for the unexpected.

What if you lose an anchor account?
What if your market is hard-hit by the recession?
What if an employee (or two, or three) unexpectedly quits?
What if a vendor you rely on goes bankrupt?
What if your merchant account gets shut down?

And so forth.

Always be anticipating what could go wrong in your business and plan accordingly.

You just never know when “bullets” may appear out of nowhere to try to shoot your business down.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. Speaking of bullets, I’ll be adding a new lesson about how to write bullets to Copywriting Code in the next week or two. Become a member now to get access to this new lesson — plus nearly 20 in-depth copywriting lessons that are already available.Similar Posts:

Forgiveness in an Age of Revenge

Ryan M. Healy — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:45:03 +0000

If somebody wrongs you, it’s natural to be upset. And it’s natural to want some kind of retribution or revenge.

Just look at how we as a nation reacted to 9/11. Everybody wanted to take up arms and go kill some terrorists. (In fact, we’re still on a witch hunt, killing people in countries who had nothing to do with 9/11.)

We could have reacted differently. We could have turned the other cheek, forgiven the perpetrators, and earned the world’s respect.

Unfortunately, we showed our true colors. To our detriment, we proved we are not a forgiving people.

The reason I’m writing this post today is because it’s WAY too easy to get bent out of shape when you are wronged. It’s WAY too easy to hold a grudge and boil in your own venom.

There is a better way.

It’s called forgiveness.

Just yesterday I was reading a post by Internet lawyer Mike Young. He writes, “Everyone makes mistakes. If perfection is the standard by which marketers are to be measured, none would meet it.”

I totally agree.

So while I did “name names” in Internet Marketing on Life Support, I did it to protect unsuspecting people from what I consider egregious abuses of trust. It was not to imply that I or anybody else is perfect.

A Better Way to Respond

Personally, I’ve been ripped off by multiple clients in the past. Some to the tune of thousands of dollars.

Of course, I could have moped about it, spent time thinking of ways to get even. But that kind of behavior is totally unproductive and not gratifying in the least.

In each case, I’ve made changes to prevent the same situation from happening again, then shifted my attention toward finding new (and better) clients. It’s paid off.

My advice: Keep short accounts with people.

As King Solomon advised in Proverbs 19:11, “A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression.”

So when somebody wrongs you (and it will happen), better to just chalk it up to experience and keep going. You’ll be a better human — and you’ll be more productive — if you learn to forgive, forget, and move on with your life.

-Ryan M. Healy

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