At a seminar in San Francisco several years back, one of my fellow attendees was incredulous that people “still” read long copy online. 

“That’s all changed, hasn’t it?” she asked, innocently.

With the brouhaha of Web 2.0 going strong, she can be excused for her doubts. And the fact is, if I woke up tomorrow and realized the universe had changed in such a way that a decent sales pitch no longer required persuasion, proof, credibility, believable offers, and all the other classic ingredients… and we could now create sales with just a smidgen of copy here and there, like dabs of gray ink in the colorful wonder of an over-designed Web page… well, I’d be the first one writing short copy that day.

I don’t write long copy because I like long copy.

I write long copy… because that’s what works.

You start at the beginning of your sales message… cover the points your prospect needs to hear in order to make a decision… urge him toward the right decision (to buy your stuff)… and close with panache.

When you can do that in a few terse sentences – or in a single, brief, whiz-bang video – let me know. I’ll be right on your heels with my next pitch.

After almost three decades in the front-line trenches of business, though – slogging through the fog and chaos of multiple technological upheavals – I’m not holding my breath.

[Ed. Note: John Carlton is an expert copywriter, a pioneer in online marketing, and a teacher of killer sales copy. He knows marketing inside and out. Discover how to get your hands on the kick-ass secrets of the world's smartest, happiest, and wealthiest marketers.

Great copy is vital to a successful marketing campaign. But your prospect list, product, offer... are just as important. Find out how to put them all together with Changing the Channel: 12 Easy Ways to Make Millions for Your Business.] 

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As a writer on language, I’m especially sensitive to mistakes I encounter while reading. They seem to leap off the page, and I gleefully seize them as potential material for this column. 

Here are some of my recent “catches,” all from major newspapers:

• “The restaurant is offering a prefix dinner menu with a choice of two courses….”

Unless the eatery also serves suffixes, the correct spelling isprix-fixe (meaning “fixed price”). This French expression can be misspelled in multiple ways, and I suspect that I’ve seen every possible permutation. 

• “During those Games, [Mark Spitz] also famously tried to psyche out a Russian coach….”

The slang expression for messing with the head of an opponent, a verb, is spelled psych (and pronounced SIKE). The nounpsyche (pronounced SY-kee), refers to the mind or spirit. 

• “But the details on how each [cellphone] carrier handles or transfers contacts can be a little dicey.”

The word dicey means involving danger or risk. The writer surely meant that the details were unclear or uncertain.

• “[The pastor greeted] handsome young men in his church with warm hugs and hair-tussling horseplay….”

The verb tussle means struggle or scuffle. It might make sense here, in a strained way, but the writer probably meant hair-tousling. 

[Ed Note: For more than three decades, Don Hauptman was an award-winning independent direct-response copywriter and creative consultant. He is author of The Versatile Freelancer, an e-book recently published by AWAI that shows writers and other creative professionals how to diversify their careers into speaking, consulting, training, and critiquing.] 

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Michael Masterson has mentioned that the good and decent acts of friends, family, associates, and strangers have inspired him to make it one of his New Year’s resolutions – every year – to become a better person.

How about you? What inspires you to be a better person?

I consider myself to be still “under construction.” As such, I use goal setting as a way to design my life to match my hopes and ambitions.

When I turned age 50 nearly 10 years ago, I honestly evaluated who I was and who I wanted to be. One of the things I recognized was that whenever I used a “my way or the highway” approach, I inevitably limited my success and slowed down the achievement of my goals.

I consciously began to do what Michael does at the beginning of every year. I set an annual goal of taking action to be a better person. And I invite you to make this one of your goals, too… starting today!

Finding your own faults requires a certain amount of objectivity and candor… and it can be a bit painful emotionally. The second step – figuring out how to overcome those faults – can be tough. And the most difficult part of the process is to take action – to make these changes day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year… until you become the person you envisioned.

Easy? No. But as I can tell you from my personal experience, it is well worth the effort.

[Ed. Note: Bob Cox teaches goal setting 365 days a year with ETR's Total Success Achievement Program. link ETRgoalsetting
Bob also teaches dozens of success skills that he discovered while working with four businessmen who went on to become billionaires.

Find out how to get your hands on his "billionaire secrets" right here.]

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Much of what you read in ETR is directed at helping you earn more money and achieve financial independence. But what many people mistake for wealth is pure junk: the oversized plasma TV, the 2010 Ferrari, the custom-built estate home.

In fact, a big part of living rich is getting rid of most of that stuff. The truly rich don’t clutter their lives with overpriced baubles. They prefer to lead their lives with fewer but more valuable things. They spend their days doing what pleases them and shunning what doesn’t.

That’s what we all want, isn’t it? Yet how few of us succeed! Still, it’s perfectly possible for people on an ordinary income to live as the really rich (balance-sheet rich rather than income-statement rich) do.

We’ve talked about many practical strategies to do that in past issues of Early to Rise. You can make a great start by following what I call the “simplicity imperative.”

By that I mean getting rid of the junk experiences and possessions that crowd your life and give you stress and replacing them with quality experiences and possessions that bring you enduring pleasure.

Let me give you a few examples:

• Trade in that oversized house you can’t afford. Move into something modest that you can gradually fix up and fill with furniture and art that mean something to you. Make it your own little paradise. Make it the kind of house that will make friends feel welcome and comfortable.

• Instead of buying the hottest, most expensive new car on the market, buy a slightly used high-quality car that you can enjoy driving for 10 years or more.

• Give away two-thirds of your clothes and wear only those that make you feel great. You know which ones they are already. Do it and see how quickly you feel richer.

And that is just the beginning. You can apply this simplification strategy to your work, and even your relationships.

Simplifying your life is not an option if you want to live rich. It is an absolute necessity.

Having two beautifully tailored suits or dresses that fit you perfectly makes you feel infinitely classier than having two dozen that will look dated in a matter of months. Having one small home that is well maintained and contains a treasure trove of little artifacts that say something good about you – your character, your values, your interests – is a hundred times more impressive than living in a 10,000-square-foot McMansion that somebody else decorated for you.

And when it comes to how you spend your time, clearing out the junk activities will make you richer too. Turn off the TV, the computer, and the video games and you’ll turn on your spirit to a world full of gratifying experiences.

Less in your life will give you more. More productivity. More passion. More meaning, love, friendship, serenity, etc.

This isn’t a new idea – but though most of us acknowledge that it’s true, we need to be reminded of it from time to time. I’ve been recently reminded of it by a wonderful new book written by Alex Green.

In The Secret of Shelter Island, Alex explains how you can employ the simplicity imperative to start living a truly rich life.

“I’m not a moon-eyed idealist who believes that money does not matter,” Alex says. “It does. But an individual who is driven by his lust for ‘more’ is hardly different than the donkey who is propelled onward by a carrot dangling at the end of a stick.”

Drawing on some of today’s best minds and many of history’s greatest thinkers, The Secret of Shelter Island is both a much-needed source of inspiration and an illuminating look at the pursuit of the good life.

The book is organized around four central themes that you, as an ETR reader, are familiar with.

In Part I, “A Rich Mind,” Alex takes a look at the main “disease” affecting Americans – affluenza. He explores the importance of money in your life – including what it gives you and what it costs you. He discusses the difference between getting rich and being rich. And he addresses the true meaning of success.

In Part II, “What Matters Most,” he explains how to calculate your real net worth – without using a financial statement. He helps you recognize the most valuable thing you own. And he reveals how to live a better, more relaxed life.

In Part III, “Attitudes and Gratitude,” Alex offers powerful insights based on a deceptively simple philosophy of life. He delves into the importance of gratitude, the destructiveness of greed and envy, and the transformative power of adversity.

In the final section of the book – “The Search for Meaning” – he delivers a refreshing take on the universal principles that guide us all – or should.

The Secret of Shelter Island is full of practical wisdom and thought-provoking commentary on what it means to be truly wealthy.

In difficult financial times, we are prompted to reexamine what really matters in our lives – a process that can open up amazing opportunities. The Secret of Shelter Islandprovides fresh perspectives, compelling ideas, and a profound understanding of how to lead a richer life. And the writing is shockingly good.

You can get a copy immediately right here.

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