Or tells you something you always suspected about yourself but never really put into words because you were afraid it just might be too ugly to look at? Or too hard to change?

I wish I’d written these gems, but that honour belongs to Regina Brett, a columnist at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio. Many happy returns, Ms. Brett.

“To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I’ve ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short – enjoy it.

4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick.
Your friends and family will.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don’t have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.

7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.

8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheque.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.

12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don’t compare your life to others’.
You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye
But don’t worry; God never blinks.

16.. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful.
Clutter weighs you down in many ways.

18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It’s never too late to be happy.
But it’s all up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life,
don’t take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie.
Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words
“In five years, will this matter?”

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive but don’t forget.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is,
not because of anything you did or didn’t do.

35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative of dying young.

37. Your children only get one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s,
we’d grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time.
Accept what you already have, not what you want.

42. The best is yet to come…

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.”

What life lessons would you add to the list?
I’ll get us started:

46. This, too, shall pass.

47. All good things must come to a…start.

48. Never eat the last cookie.

Another chestnut: “Figures can’t lie and liars can’t figure”. (This will be proven wrong below!).

Direct response advertising is all about delivering measurable results.

Whether you’re running a directory ad, writing web copy or even crafting a letter, your words should compel and propel your reader to take one specific action.

One.

There’s power in one. Beauty. Simplicity.

Call.
Buy now.
Learn more.
Sign up for our newsletter.
Here’s the single most important benefit this product will give you.

Check out Lou Costello’s marketing math in this priceless clip.

http://www.dump.com/2011/09/05/7-times-13-equals-28-video/

Will his (vacuum) sales suck?

Will yours?

Do the math. Just be sure your answer is always ONE.

PS – If anyONE out there is reading these posts, I’d be forever grateful to hear your comments. Thanks! LA

Because I’m a cranberry sauce snob.

This year, my hostess said, “Oh, don’t worry about it. No one even likes cranberry sauce.”

Uh-huh. That’s only because they grew up on the same stuff I did. That uniformly red gelatinous blob that slithers out of a can then rests wobbling on a dish of your mother’s best china.

Other entrées on that festive table tantalize all our senses.

But there sits that homely jelly. Untouched. Unloved. Usually uneaten, its quivering round sides still bearing the imprint of grooves, like stretch marks from the lowly tin can that birthed it.

Weeks before a holiday, we scour the flyers to flush out the bargains as we hunt for the perfect bird to grace our table. Choosing the side dishes is a marketing plan of a different, but no less critical nature.

Guests would scoff, never to return, if we stooped so low as to serve instant mashed with that magnificent, beautifully browned bird.

Wherefore, then, the bland canned cran?

Because it’s cheap? Convenient? Easy?

Maybe that’s just the way you’ve always done it?

Making it from scratch takes all of ten minutes. It’s delicious, full of antioxidants and vitamin C. It’s a gorgeous ruby red, redolent with the scent of orange.

Here’s how. (Stay with me here. There IS a point!).

Easy Cranberry Sauce with Orange & Grand Marnier

In a heavy saucepan, bring 1 cup of water and ¼ to ½ cup of white sugar to a boil.

Make sure all the sugar has dissolved.

Rinse 1 bag of fresh cranberries and pick out any spoiled ones (with brown or mushy spots).

Add the berries to the boiling sugar water and stir frequently.

Add a handful of coarsely grated fresh orange peel.

After about 8 minutes, the berries will start to “pop”.

Smoosh them with your wooden spoon so you see crushed, not whole, berries.

Remove from heat and stir in 1-2 oz of Grand Marnier liqueur.

The sauce will thicken as it cools.

Store in refrigerator or freeze. Bring up to room temp to serve.

Leftover cranberry sauce is delicious stirred and baked into lemon loaf or muffins.

That got me thinking about all the ads I see that do nothing to tempt us or engage our senses, no matter how appetizing the product or starved the reader.

Just follow the same recipe!

Start with quality ingredients: fresh ideas, words and concepts, not canned. Cull the bad ones. Go with the gems.

Sweeten the pot as needed: discount, bonus, some kind of offer.

Apply as much heat as necessary to get the job done: time limit, scarcity, fear of missing out.

Stir emotions with all five senses. Emotion sells, logic justifies.

Make sure your copy “pops”. Choose tasty, tempting words.

Like a proven recipe, a guarantee will reverse the consumer’s risk.

Serve and enjoy the fruits of your labour: use a direct call to action for measurable results.

Leftovers? Recycle or repurpose the content, if possible.

YIELD: Copy that COOKS!

Now you can stuff those advertising turkeys. As Mr. Carlson learned the hard way at WKRP, they just don’t fly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST01bZJPuE0

What’s your recipe for advertising success?

In her song, Anticipation, Carly Simon penned: “These ARE the good old days…”

Why do we look back with fondness and ahead with fear?

In 1980, I got my first “real” job, fresh out of university. My starting salary was a measly $13K. I felt rich! In a few short years of hard work that I loved, it tripled. Things just got better and better.

See what’s happening? Here I am, looking back fondly. But fear and massive change were constants then, too. People’s moods were very dark. Remember?

Back then, the world was in recession. Interest rates and fuel prices were sky-high. Everything seemed so expensive.

It was also a time of tremendous change. The IBM PC debuted in 1982 but we copywriters were still clacking away on manual typewriters.

When we finally got computers, one of my colleagues used to take Polaroid pictures of his screen to save his work because he didn’t trust the technology!

A few years from now, we’ll all be looking back at where we are today. Fondly!

The pain and fear we feel now will be long forgotten – no doubt replaced by newer challenges and the same old anxieties.

Well, I don’t know about you, but my plan for 2012 is to live this year without fear. I’m tired of mourning my old life, missing those I’ve lost and regretting past mistakes.

Someday, I’ll look back on 2012 and call these the good old days for all the RIGHT reasons. Because I dared to dream. Take action and risks. Move forward. And, I hope, take some of you along with me.

A friend sent me this link over the holidays.

If Shakespeare got it right in saying that what is past is prologue, may this sweet remembrance of auld acquaintance foreshadow our amazing futures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x91rBzNKvlc&NR=1

Here’s to our year without fear!

How are YOU going to make this your best year ever?

The stockings aren’t hung
By the chimney with care.
Why, there’s not enough time
To sleep if I dare!

Bake cookies? Forget it.
And shop at the mall?
When this copy needs writing
And new clients call?

There’s no time for blogging
Or Facebook or Tweets
When calendar year-end
A freelancer meets.

Dear clients, I love you.
I wish you the best.
And once this month’s over
I know I can rest.

‘Til then I’ll keep working
To make your cash ring
By choosing the words
That add dash, zip and zing.

Without you I’m nothing.
I know that it’s true.
For no writer can spell
“Success” without “U”.

A very Merry Christmas to you and yours!
It has been my pleasure to serve you this year.
Thank you kindly for that opportunity.

I wish you good health and every happiness
this holiday season and for 2012.

And now, if you’ll excuse me until January,
I have a lot of Christmas catching up to do.
It really IS the most wonderful time of the year!

Cheers!

That’s what Seth Godin does for me. In one of his posts, he talks about a violin student at Julliard. She asked him: “In The Dip, you talk about the advantage of mastery vs. being a mediocre jack of all trades. So does it make sense for me to continue focusing on mastering the violin?”

As he explained in his blog post, it was highly unlikely that she would ever be the world’s top violinist. Even Joshua Bell may not be the most technically proficient. However, Bell is the best gosh-darned Joshua Bell the world has ever known! And that Julliard student has the chance to be her best, too.

And so it is. There will never be another you. Or me. Or anyone else.

Are we making the most of that?

What a powerful differentiator!

Every once in a while, we meet someone who squeezes every ounce of juice they can out of life. They’re joyful. Vibrant. A pleasure to be around. You feel yourself absorbing their incredible energy.

That potential is there for all of us. But we usually don’t believe in ourselves enough to realize it.

Stop it!

The year is almost over. There’s a chance to start anew.

I’ll never be the world’s greatest copywriter. Best cook. Smartest thinker. Most talented musician or most graceful athlete. But by gum! I’ll always be the best gosh-darned me you’ll ever know.

And so will you.

Being our best is more than enough for anybody.

Mother Teresa said, “What I do, you cannot do; but what you do, I cannot do. The needs are great. And none of us, including me, ever does great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful.”

And you-know-who said, “There’s still time to change the road you’re on.”

My year-end challenge to you is this.

Think of three things about yourself you can love, celebrate and make even better. Giving more space to the good steals space away from the bad.

Then carry those three positive qualities with you wherever you go – in life, in friendship, in business – wherever.

You might be surprised at just how great you can be.

Please share your thoughts, comments, promises.

You even organize your spice jars in alphabetical order and put a list of which letters are missing in your collection inside the cupboard door. Sheesh…

I know your type.

My lists are usually in my head, which is why I often come home from the supermarket without at least one must-have item.

But I’ve just created a list for you – and me! It seems like every day, clients and friends are asking me how I know so much about social media. So I’m going to share some resources with you that I’ve found very helpful.

First, though, a confession. My natural tendency is to think, rather than do. I’m a theoretical introvert, dreamer, perpetual learner.

However, when I have a particular goal in mind, I become a doer.

Then I’ll take massive action and work tirelessly to achieve it come hell or high water.

Especially if I’m doing it for someone else’s benefit.

Why am I telling you this?

It’s a case of “do as I say, not as I do” with this list!

I may have learned the theory in some cases, but I have yet to apply the knowledge for myself.

When I have, however, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the results and I hope you will be, too.

Here’s my list of three recommended websites to help you understand and harness the potential power of social media for your business:

1) http://www.roederstudios.com
Laura Roeder was a frustrated web designer who saw that her understanding of social media could help entrepreneurs in their businesses. I met Laura when she spoke at Eben Pagan’s information marketing bootcamp in Los Angeles a couple years ago. She was recently honoured as one of the top 100 young entrepreneurs in a ceremony at the White House.

If you can’t figure out Twitter, check out Laura’s online course: Backstage Pass to Twitter. She’ll take you from total twit to tweeter in no time. Her content is designed for business owners to maximize results in minimal time. There’s no time-wasting fluffy stuff.

Her signature course is called “Creating Fame”. She can also help you understand and leverage the power of Facebook.

2) http://www.socialtriggers.com
Derek Halpern dishes up some terrific advice, all backed with solid research. You’ll find tons of helpful free content about the psychology of consumer behaviour and how to design your website to maximize conversion. He even explains which type fonts to use to sell more product!

3) http://www.lewishowes.com
Lewis Howes has literally written the book on how to master LinkedIn. He also has an online course called LinkedInfluence. I’m still working my way through it because there’s so much great information but I can tell you that following just one of his tips moved me up in the ranks to be among the first in my category.

If you explore the possibilities above, please come back and share what tips you learned and implemented.

Success stories are always welcome. They inspire us all!

Twitter artwork used with permission.

The subtle, pleasant smell of paper and ink working together to create an escape or experience?

Reading a book on a computer screen, mobile phone or e-reader just doesn’t have the same cachet.

We’re supposed to snuggle up with a glass of wine or hot chocolate to read our book in front of a warm fire, not a cold screen!

And yet, I’ve been buying e-books for years (as downloadable PDFs I read on my computer). I love being able to access a world of information immediately.

No waiting 2 to 3 weeks for delivery. No library reserve lists.

Here are some interesting stats about e-books, based on composite online sources:

E-book sales grew by 177% in 2010 over 2009. Stats are not yet available for 2011 but indications are this growth will continue, if not accelerate.

Apple iPad users downloaded more than 5 million e-books in the first 65 days of the device’s introduction.

There’s a revolution going on, the likes of which probably rival the introduction of the Gutenburg press.

That technological marvel put books and literacy in the hands of the masses. It allowed authors to reach a greater audience at a lower cost.

Sound familiar?

It has never been easier to publish your own material and reach a wide audience.

For small business owners, writing and publishing an e-book can quickly elevate you to the status of a trusted authority in your market. Not to mention, create a passive income stream!

Chiropractors, accountants, lawyers, trades people – all can benefit from creating an e-book to share their knowledge and expertise.

As many of you know, my alter-ego co-owns Enzepplopedia Publishing, Inc. with my brother, Frank Reddon. We self-published his hardcover book about Led Zeppelin and have created a few e-books as downloadable PDFs.

However, as of this week, our e-book version of his hardcover book, Sonic Boom: The Impact of Led Zeppelin. Volume 1 – Break & Enter, is now available in PDF as well as formats for Amazon Kindle, Apple iPad, Kobo and other mobile and e-reader devices.

It has been a very interesting learning experience!

If you would like to create and publish your own e-book, I would be happy to help you benefit from our adventure, offer some pointers and share with you the resources that helped make it happen.

You can preview our new e-book for free at Amazon.com. Just search for “Sonic Boom”.

To purchase it in your choice of format, please visit this link.

Our e-book is 540+ pages with a foreword by renowned Led Zeppelin authority, Dave Lewis.

Here’s to your e-publishing success!

If you’ve published your own e-book, please tell us about it and include a link!

Typos and malapropisms abound these days.

Here are three troublesome pairs I’ve spotted or have been asked about.

Complimentary vs Complementary

Complimentary means there’s no cost. It’s free. With someone’s compliments.

Complementary almost contains the word “complete”. If you think of it that way, then two things that work together to form one would be complementary. They add to each other. Enhance each other.

When complementary angles are added together, they equal 90o or a right angle.

Adieu vs Ado

This one really surprises me because I read or hear it so often: “Without further adieu”. That makes absolutely no sense at all!

“Adieu” means “farewell” or “good-bye”. Literally, the French expression “à Dieu” means “to God” so perhaps “Godspeed” is a more appropriate figurative translation.

You would never say, “Without further farewell” when you really mean without further fuss, trouble or messing about. We’re getting on with it.

Affect vs Effect

To “affect” means to “have an influence on”. To “effect” means to “bring about” or “cause to happen”.

Associate the soft “a” sound with being tender and kind, as in “affectionate” (emotional). And the long “e” sound of “effect” with the same sound in “event” (factual).

Learning to use these pairs of words correctly will really help your writing stand out from the crowd.

What are your pet peeves or bugaboos? (Love that word!)
Do you have trouble with other pairs I might help you with?

In 1970, Canadian folk singer, Joni Mitchell, wrote those lyrics to her environmental protest song, Big Yellow Taxi.

This week, as Canadians prepare to observe Remembrance Day on November 11, her words could also apply to freedom.

The veterans we honour this week fought their battles so far away that their sacrifices often fade into the mists of time, forgotten and unappreciated. Unlike Europeans’, our daily lives don’t include stark reminders of World War II.

Few of us have family members still living who were directly touched by the Holocaust.

We don’t walk past bombed-out ruins on our way to school, see the deeply scarred earth where battles were fought or recall being separated from our siblings and parents when we were kids.

Until the events of September 11, 2001, we North Americans had never experienced acts of war on our home soil. At least, not in our lifetimes.

On November 11, 2001, I happened to be in Ottawa, our nation’s capital. It was a day I’ll never forget.

Parliament Hill was thronged with people, despite the very cold but sunny day. Reports estimated our number at over 100,000. I’d never been in a crowd that large, equal to the population of a whole city.

I happened to be standing directly opposite then Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson who were there to review the parade of active and retired veterans who would march along the pathway between us.

First came the cute little Cubs and Brownies, followed by the older Boy Scouts and Girl Guides. Next were the Air Cadets. Then members of the reserve and active military.

Last but not least, it was their turn. The veterans.

The abler-bodied among them marched tall and proud past the dignitaries. Others walked, many with the aid of a cane or a friend. Some were pushed in wheel chairs, bundled up in blankets against the chill.

Then the most amazing thing happened.

One by one, softly at first and building to an echoing crescendo, people started saying “thank you” and “merci” to the veterans as they walked by. Nothing else.

Simple words called out in heartfelt gratitude for the peace, freedom and way of life we’d all taken for granted.

Silent tears flowed down the faces of the vets, washing away the pain of their tremendous sacrifices at long last recognized and fully appreciated. Perhaps only now fully understood in the wake of 9/11.

We owe them our gratitude. We owe them for the freedom we enjoy today. We owe them our lives.

Thank you. Merci.

Lest we forget.

Please share your thoughts, remembrances or thanks.
Will you observe a minute of silence at 11am on 11/11?