Paul Woods

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37:  If it is going to more than 10 people - send it to someone else to check before you unleash the message on the masses… two, three, four pairs of eyes are better than one.

and how about…

38:  If you want me to respond, put me on the To: line.  If you don’t want a response, CC: me please (actually you should just reconsider if need to read it at all!)

… you can read #1 - #36 of the Email Checklist over at Seth’s blog.

The other day I got an email inviting me to contribute to Brazen Careerist.  What is Brazen Careerist? In my words, it is basically a group of ‘younger folk’ like me who are passionate about their fields, and ready to change the game.

Or in their words…

What’s this site all about?
Remember those college career centers that you never used? You probably wish you had taken advantage of them (like we do), but now (maybe) it’s too late. Well that’s what we’re here for. We’re an online career center aimed at Generation Y — young professionals who want to design and define their careers using the new rules for success.

What’s a Brazen Careerist?
A Brazen Careerist knows that defining your own career, finding the right field, and pursuing it are key ingredients to a fulfilling life. Like the tag line suggests, when you define your career on your own terms first, you control your life.

Where are all the good bloggers?
Right here, of course. The Internet is loaded with talented writers, but there is no way to easily search for them. The Brazen Careerist network is made up of a vibrant, curious and ambitious group of career-minded bloggers, passionately covering a variety of fields: personal development, entrepreneurship, public relations, technology, marketing, and politics, each blog offers a unique, informed perspective to our ever-expanding audience.

So make sure you check out some of my new friends at BrazenCareerist.com  Check out my Brazen Careerist profile  and my articles here.

… was posted by Brian Clark on CopyBlogger this morning.  If you ever wanted to figure out how to increase conversions, whether you are a B2C or B2B marketer - check out this great collection of landing page resources.

As a marketer servicing a dozen or so internal customers… all with their ideas of what marketing is and what it should be… I am inspired to pull this one out of the bag every now and then.  Whether it is a campaign or a piece of copy… I think this would get my point across!

(From the Pacifica Group blog)

This is a true story.

Steve Cosmopulos is an old art director in Boston.
(Hill Holiday Connors & Cosmopulos was his for awhile.
It got too big and he left, but he left his name on the door.)
He’s a tough little fireplug of a high-school-educated Greek guy.
Always wears a tailored suit and tie.
Always.

He walks into a presentation.
Late.
Big conference table at client offices.
Everyone sitting expectantly.
Silence.
He has a duffel bag.
Sets the bag on his chair.
He doesn’t sit.
From out of the bag he pulls a board.
With a bed of 100 nails sticking up out of this board.
Sets it carefully on table.
Pulls out an aluminum frying pan.
One of those nonstick Silverstone jobs.
Silence.
Holds up frying pan.
Silence.
Slams it down as hard as he can on bed of nails.
Repeatedly.
Holds up frying pan.
Shows dings in bottom.
Silence.
Puts board back in bag.
Pulls out another identical board.
But this one with just one nail.
Puts it on table.
Silence.
Slams down the frying pan on the single nail.
Pries frying pan off nail.
Holds up frying pan.
Hole in bottom.
Shows it slowly to everyone.
Asks:
"Now how many copy points do you want to put in this ad?"

Proof that an art director named Stavros Cosmopulos is
THE PATRON SAINT OF MARTYRED COPYWRITERS.
This is not only a Boston legend, it’s a true story.
I asked him.

I am off to buy some nails now!

At the moment I am participating in a little experiment called "Use New Marketing to Prove New Marketing" (UNM2PNM) being run by Joseph Jaffe.

What is Joseph trying to achieve?  Apart from spreading his ideas and selling a few more copies of his book, ultimately it is about proving if this whole social media thing actually works, if it is measurable etc.  Pretty interesting stuff for a marketer like me.

Here is the deal - Joseph asks for people to participate (I put my hand up).  His publisher sends a copy of the book (free book for me!), I read it, write a review and post it online.  He gets link love, I get link love.  He gets free PR, I get a free book and a good read.  He gets rich, I get smarter (hopefully!).  Now that is new/social media at work.

My copy of Joseph Jaffe’s book "Join the Conversation" arrived at work yesterday (the one thing holding back society as we know it is the fact that it takes 4 weeks for stuff to ship from the US by snail mail!)… so it is time to hold up my end of the bargain.  Stay tuned for my review of the book, coming soon.

And if you are interested in reading the book - buy it here - proceeds are going to charity