No Direct Marketing For Me!

I got all excited about Direct Response Advertising a couple weeks ago. I've heard about it for years, but I never thought I wanted to write junk mail. Well, I looked into a little more and found out I was right: I don't want to engage in Direct Response Advertising.

There are several factors involved in this venture that don't appear on the first level of interest. I watched a video or two and read some reports to get a better understanding of it. The claims are wonderful! You can make a six figure income with two or three hours of work one or two days a week. Sounds good doesn't it? If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

You can make that kind of money if you have built up a client list of companies that need your services and keep you writing a lot. You will have to learn the tricks of the trade which includes some almost shady promises and guarantees of the product you are pushing. I say almost because none of this is intended to be illegal. It is mostly hype and hope. 

Forget the short, easy work week. Think in terms of classes and conferences to strengthen your writing skills and shaping your words to fit a company's product line or service. This is all done by contracts with various companies. You have no job security, insurance, or benefits. The first thing I learned was the Direct Response Marketing is a victim of it's own product. 

It has to sell you on the idea that you can do this; then it has to sell you on the idea that watching a video they charge you for will make it easy and quick; then they assure you that companies are lining up at the door to hire you; but first you will have to write some high pressure sales pitch and spend endless hours in research learning business principles and technical terms you never thought you needed.

Some people have made a career in this field. But I have looked into it, and I don't think it's for me. Let's be fair. I am presenting this in a very negative light. My warning focuses on the fact that they do one thing and they do to promote their own view. Be warned: It ain't as easy as it sounds!

Writing Letters

Writing letters is becoming a lost art. The computer age has replaced letters with e-mail, just as informative, but less personal, and texting has lost all sense of grammar and spelling. 

Writing a letter means you have a tangible item that will find its way to a friend or loved one far away. The letter you send will carry your message of love or hope or condolence to some one you may not have seen in person for a while.  I have a collection of letters written by my grandfather to my grandmother beginning in 1888 and ending with their marriage in 1893. It is sentimental and revealing and filled with hints and facts and suspicions most of which I will never prove. But each letter is precious. I like to picture her when she received it and him as he struggled to convey the depth of his feeling. It connects me to them in ways I never could have imagined. 

I write a few letters now, but somehow, I don't feel the magic I used to about letters. Maybe the internet has taken the thrill out of it. My E-mail box fills up everyday and I delete most of them without even a second glance. Getting a letter in the mail is still pretty special. Of course sometimes we call, but a letter is different. It required thought and preparation, and I can share it with others. It can last for many years and reveal the special message somebody sent me. 

Maybe it is still the best way to receive a message from a loved one who is far away.

Want to Write Junk Mail?

When is it too late to start over? 

I have had an inspiration to do something new. Well, it's just new to me. I've read about it for years, and it is writing, but I thought it wasn't the kind of writing I wanted to do. I'm not very successful doing the kind of writing I want to do, at least I'll never make any money at it; this is something I've never tried before, but I have seen the ads. Somebody is doing very well at it. Why not me?

It's writing Junk Mail. You know, those promotional letters we all get in the mail box every day. It sounds almost shameful because it really is junk, but the companies that send it to you, seem to find it profitable, and apparently they pay their writers very. I want to join their ranks. It won't cost me anything to try and it may provide me an amusing adventure.

I'll let you know how it turns out. Wish me luck!

Call the Housekeeper

My mother was a good housekeeper. I did not inherit this trait, but I'm still working on it. I excused myself when I had kids making messes as fast as I cleaned them up, but now I have no one to blame for the mess on my desk but me. 

It's funny how most of the house can look tidy, but one corner be in total disarray. The worst part is that it looks O. K. to me, until I start looking for something, then I see the pile of papers, the book, the bills, the letters and realize it is truly a mess.

The mess is not trash, it's just disorganized. I need to put things where they belong. I'm really not good at that. As long as I know what it is, I don't register that it's out of place. 

I wonder if my brain is as disorganized as my desk? Is this why I can't remember appointments? Is this why bills are overdue? Maybe if I put the physical things in order, the mental tasks will follow suit.

It's a trend worth pursuing. At least I'll get the desk cleaned up.