I count can on one, maybe two hands, the number of business owners who have created unique, helpful content during this corona nonsense.
All of the helpful ones are saying things like this:
“Don’t cave into fear.”
“It will be all right.”
“Get back to work.”
All the unhelpful ones are saying:
“We’ve closed our business.”
“Here’s a link to the CDC” (like that’s gonna fucking help anyone get 1 iota healthier).
“We are awaiting further instructions.”
???
Dafuq? Are you in kindergarten, waiting for permission to use the bathroom?
How does closing your shit down serve customers?…other than showing them how stupid and spiritually weak you are?
This is revealing people’s true colors.
Think for yourself?…Or let stupid ideas boss you around?
Good lord.
Right now, most businesses are copying and pasting canned material from someone else… slightly tweaking it, and blasting it to their email lists. (Usually the first email they’ve sent in a year.)
They’re telling us about all the “precautions” they’re taking…which have nothing to do with the fucking product or service they sell.
That is the opposite of truth-based, inspiring, anti-marketing content.
(I hope every single motherfucker that “copied and pasted” goes out of business. If you have to copy and paste, you don’t really love what you’re doing to begin with.)
You know what I did this weekend? I LIVED MY FUCKING LIFE. And wrote about it.
Dan flew in to Salt Lake City, I picked him at the airport. We dined at restaurants, ate amazing healthy food, worked out at two gyms, stayed in a hotel (the cleanest fucking one I’ve ever been in), went on hikes, walked two cute little dogs (Sox and Chloe!), and had deep conversations about life. We talked goals, challenges, and more.
Pretty much what we do all the time…
Oh, and I worked. Every 5-15 minute chunk of free time went to writing or editing a client article. I can barely keep up.
Dan met some of my family… I was embarrassed for those who “elbow bumped.” Seriously? I will remember you as a clown.
I gave huge hugs. “Fuck your fear.”
Since my gym just closed last night (asinine), I will be doing some sprints and squats outside, followed by the 18-Minute Workout (Advanced), and then some dance choreography.
Here are a few nuggets of positivity to cap off off this email (I personally believe all of this craziness is a spiritual metaphor — I don’t need it, but billions of asleep-at-the-wheel people do):
“There’s a ‘gift’ on the other side of this.”
“God is using this situation to squeeze out some of the unhelpful behaviors that aren’t serving humanity anymore.” (Like burning out the impurities.)
“Fuck the job you hate. Work at home. Commute less. Pollute the skies less. Spend more time with kids. This will heal you, and the earth.”
“The less TV you watch, the more awesome of a human being you are.”
“Choose who you’re ‘listening’ to.”
Michelle
Founder, The Anti-Marketing Manifesto
Michelle Lopez Boggs is a copywriter, copywriting mentor, and author of "The Anti-Marketing Manifesto: How to Sell Without Being a Sellout." She's helped her clients sell millions of dollars' worth of products and services online by using the MEI(S) principle — motivate, educate, and inspire, and sell. 