So said the actress and star of one of my all-time favorite 80\u2019s horror movies (Night of the Comet) who has been consulting me on my Zombie Cop screenplay:<\/p>\n
Kelli Maroni.<\/p>\n
She has told me that several times.<\/p>\n
And the context is not to worry about what anyone necessarily thinks. Just write a cool story first and foremost. To illustrate this, she showed me a note written many years ago that said:<\/p>\n
To Dan O\u2019Bannon<\/strong><\/p>\n
Dear Dan:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Pursuant to our discussion, I am returning ALIEN.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Thank you for the submission.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Yours very truly,<\/strong><\/p>\n
Louis S. Arkoff<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Even ALIEN was rejected… by someone paid a lot of money who clearly did not know anything.<\/p>\n
Today the franchise has been (so far) worth nearly $2 billion.<\/p>\n
Nobody knows anything indeed.<\/p>\n
We got a lot of this in the direct marketing world, too.<\/p>\n
Case in point:<\/p>\n
One of my Email Players and I recently got to back-and-forthing over a question he had about segmenting and selling subscription offers up front or doing it later. And when answering his question I mentioned it was discussed at length (but not solved \u2014 there is no \u201cone\u201d solution to it, just options to try, test, and tinker with) in my upcoming entirely re-recorded and completely re-branded 10-Minute Workday program with AWAI (it won\u2019t be called 10-Minute Workday anymore, totally different offer, so much has changed since 2016\u2026)<\/p>\n
And I also told him:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe older I get, the more I realize nobody really knows anything. Which is ironic in a day and age where everyone thinks they know everything. What a time to be alive..\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So always remember:<\/p>\n
Nobody really knows anything. I don\u2019t care what their tests say. I don\u2019t care what your favorite goo-roo says. I don\u2019t even care what the old masters say, what I say, or what anyone else says. There\u2019s a big difference between \u201cwhat\u2019s working now\u201d for someone else\u2019s business and just “what works” for your business, whether anyone else agrees, blesses, or approves of it.<\/p>\n
Focus on the former and you\u2019ll be chasing the market from now until Christmas.<\/p>\n
Focus on the latter and the market will chase you.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s been my experience.<\/p>\n
To read more about the paid Email Players newsletter go here:<\/p>\n