I hate conflict.
Some people yearn for battle. Not I.
Maybe it’s because I’m the middle child, bookended between a BIG big brother and a sassy, assertive little sister. I knew better than look for trouble, it was always there lying in wait.
And it didn’t help that my basic nature is to be – at times – more than just a little annoying. (I’ve always been essentially the company pest – now it’s my own company and I get to pester myself.)
So even though I’m not a fan of conflict, inevitably it finds me.
And recently, it’s involved a political debate with my nephew.
He’s an amazing young man, brilliant, talented, with a lovely wife and baby. A quality human being across the board.
But so wrong, so so wrong.
For the past month we’ve gone back and forth – via calls, email, texts – on a specific issue gracing today’s headlines.
I won’t bore you with the details of the debate itself – that’s a rabbit hole down which I have zero desire to explore any further.
My point – and realization – involved the fact that for the life of me, I could not get this kid to see the light.
No matter how much evidence, clarity, rationality, logic I applied. He just wouldn’t see things my way.
Fancy that?!
So we essentially agreed to disagree.
I guess it shouldn’t bother me. In fact, in thinking about it, I recognized that this is part and parcel of becoming a better copywriter.
You simply can’t win ’em all.
Because no matter how carefully crafted and compelling conveyed – some people just won’t take you up on that amazing offer.
It sucks. It hurts. It feels like failure. But it’s all in the game.
Thus, there’s no reason to over-invest time and energy in the creation of “the perfect pitch,” because there is no such thing.
In fact, the wiser course is to spend less time on the pitch and more time on identifying the perfect audience… a starving crowd so hungry that pretty much no matter what you build, they will come.
You can’t win ’em all.
But as the great Gretsky said, “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
Take some shots. Win what you can. Move on when you must.
Write Faster. Write Better. Right Now. -Jack Turk
“World’s Fastest Copywriter”