“You Only Hit Where You Aim”

For those of you who don't know, in a past life" before I met my wife and, fell in love and had children, I ran around hustling pool.  I didn't play pool, I was the "stake horse" or the guy who put up the money for the hustler, Li'l Donnie Carlin, to play.  

We were pretty much a team...everyone in town knew Donnie and I ran together.  

Donnie, was 20 some years older than me, and was a real Peter Pan, if you know what I'm sayin'.

We had some fun times and some great stories...some of which I can't tell to this day!  Funny thing is I learned a LOT about business from hustling pool with Li'l Donnie and listening to his stories.  I cataloged a number of the stories in a book called "The Pool Hustler's MBA," which is out of print, but I am really seriously thinking about putting up a Kindle version.

So one day Li'l Donnie and I are at a pool hall in St Pete knocking around a few balls hoping someone would show up and want to play.  (Playing means there's money on the line, practicing means there's no cash on the game.)

Donnie was an infinitely better player than I was, as a matter of fact, I wasn't a very good pool player at all, but I did a nice job making sure the people Donnie beat didn't try and beat him up!

When I got down to take a shot, I was going to cut the object ball in the right far corner pocket and bank the cue so I would be left with a shot on one of 2 balls.  As I got down on the ball, I hadn't decided which of the 2 balls I wanted to end up behind. 

Carlin said "STOP STOP!  You can't land the ball in a spot you haven't chosen!  Look," and he walked back to the 2 balls I was looking at finishing behind, and said," you want to end your shot here (behind ball number 1) or here (behind ball number 2).  But if you don't decide which position you want, you'll end up here (in between the 2 ideal spots...but with no shot on any ball)"

I said, "You gonna let me shoot or not?"

"OK Steve, go ahead..."  (OK Steve was a code word for Donnie, it meant you were being an idiot and a know it all)

So I took my shot. Cut the object ball in nicely, but the cue ended up exactly in between the 2 places I wanted it to be.  I was amazed, Carlin had predicted to within a 1/8 of an inch where the cue would stop.

And Li'l Donnie took great pleasure in telling me how amazing it was that he had predicted it with such exacting accuracy.  lol

What he said next was, however, profound. "You can't hit a target you don't have, Everte.  You have to decide where you want to end up...period!  If you have 2 targets you'll hit right in between, and miss both."

A lot of marketing does exactly what I did on that pool table 12 13 years ago.  The entrepreneurs writing the ads want to brand themselves, generate leads, feed their ego, and impress the folks at the wife's club.  

Trying to hit all those targets means you don't hit any.

Of course, I'm a direct response guy, which means I think an ad should generate revenue, turn a  profitable ROI...period!  If we use pretty ads to do that, fine.  If we use ugly...fine.  Photos  If they're needed.  A lot of copy?  If the dollar fly in the door with it.

Generating money is the only reason to run an ad as far as I'm concerned.  Brand yourself with PR if you'd like, and it's a smart thing to do, but keep your ad budget reserved for profitable ventures!

To Your Success!
Everte Farnell

PS.  A lot of folks have been inquiring about creating a client relationship with me.  If you'd like to check on it, fax 1 page detailing your business to 941-761-5167 and we can set up a time to talk.  Please tell me a little about your business and a bit about what challenge you'd like to work on.  Thanks! Now go get a check!

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