Newbie on the Net Blog

An article By Clayton Makepeace

• The hard truth "get rich quick" gurus never tell you …
• What it really takes to hit the big time …
• Why what you do the rest of today matters …
• Much more …

Dear Business-Builder,

My great - whatever - Ty Cobb: Hard as nails.

My mom’s cousin married Ty Cobb’s son, Herschel. Since I’m not good at math, I can’t really tell you what that makes me. Ty Cobb’s grand nephew once removed? I dunno.

But still, I’ve always been proud to be related — even distantly — to the man who invented modern baseball. So a few years ago, I read Cobb: A Biography by Al Stump and later, watched the movie starring Tommy Lee Jones.

Great book; good flick. Not because they heralded Cobb’s exploits on the field, but because they painted a crystal-clear picture of the man behind the legend.

Cobb was not an easy man to like. He was aggressive, abrasive and quick to use his fists (or even a knife) on those who provoked him. He once jumped into the stands and mercilessly beat a heckling fan who had no hands.

He was also, some say, a bigot of monumental proportions — despite the fact that he funded a hospital and a scholarship fund that both welcomed African-Americans.

Cobb also publicly supported the decision to integrate baseball, saying that black athletes" … are to be complimented for their gentle conduct both on the field, and, as far as I know, off the field."

But what I love most about Ty Cobb is not his legendary ball-playing skill. I love him for his cantankerous, independent personality. Cobb was intense. Driven. Uncompromising. Disciplined. Hard as nails.

And he had a work ethic that was unrivalled among his peers.

As a result, Cobb set 90 Major League Baseball records during his career — and 80 years after he retired in 1928, he still holds the all-time record batting average and the record for earning the greatest number of career batting titles.

That’s why, when the Baseball Hall of Fame was inaugurated in 1936, Ty Cobb received the greatest number of votes for admission — more than the great Honus Wagner and more, even than the legendary Babe Ruth. Cy Young, the winningest pitcher in history, came in a distant eighth.

You have no right to be successful

In America today, we have taken the idea of "rights" to a ridiculous level. We are now told that we have the "right" to food, education, employment, a certain wage, housing, health care and to a comfortable retirement.

We have, we are told, the right to be cared for from the cradle to the grave.

This is, of course, complete idiocy. Utter nonsense. No such rights are mentioned anywhere in the Constitution or anywhere else, for that matter. Except of course by wacko liberal activists and the media morons who give them exposure.

Meanwhile, ironically, many of the same people who campaign for these non-existent rights are guilty of attempting to deny us the rights that actually are guaranteed us by the Constitution: The right to life … liberty … the pursuit of happiness. The right to free speech, privacy and to keep and bear arms, to name a few.

So, since here at The Total Package, we believe that words actually have meaning, let’s call a spade a spade: When a person, a church or a government gives you anything that you cannot or will not provide for yourself, it is charity. People who accept charity are, by definition, charity cases: Burdens on society.

Once upon a time, having to accept charity was humiliating. Like having a sign hung around your neck identifying you as lazy, irresponsible or a person who made foolish decisions. A loser.

Anyone with a modicum of self-respect would move mountains to avoid being labeled in such an insulting way. And those who counted on charity as a life strategy — who acted as though they were entitled to it — were quickly disappointed. There was a limit to the community’s generosity.

Today, though charity has been institutionalized as a "right" at the federal level. Those who accept it no longer suffer any insults to their dignity. And since the limits to how much charity is offered no longer exist, many live their entire lives feeling that they are entitled.

What it really takes to become a success

The other day in an interview, I was asked, "What are the most crucial qualities for an entrepreneur, a marketer or a copywriter to have?"

I’m sure the interviewer expected me to say something like, "You need to be a great writer. You need to be creative."

My answer: "Courage. Independence. Intensity. Persistence. And a mind-blowing work ethic."

• It takes courage and fierce independence to decline the comfort and security of a dead-end job … go out on your own … invest your own money and your own time … risk losing it all … and to take sole responsibility for your success or failure.
• It takes monumental amounts of intensity to learn what must be learned and to apply it in ways that produce the optimum result.
• It takes remarkable persistence to stick with it when the going gets tough; to pick yourself up after a failure … when all around you are urging you to quit and settle for the mediocrity and pseudo-security of worker bee.
• It takes an untiring commitment to excellence in every aspect of your work — and attention even to seemingly unimportant details — to produce work that will lift you head and shoulders among your competitors.
• And of course, to do all this, you’ll need the work ethic of a champion.

Of a Ty Cobb.

This ain’t no "lazy man’s way to riches."

It’s enough that, if you do it right, becoming an entrepreneur, a marketer or a copywriter CAN make you rich.

A society that does not condemn you to live out your days in a particular caste; that gives you both the opportunity and ample incentive to better yourself, to become rich and to provide a better life and greater opportunity for your family is all that we are owed.

From that point on, the person of dignity — the person who refuses to become anybody’s charity case — is pretty much on his or her own.

I’m constantly amazed by the number of people who believe that this marketing and copywriting is easy.

Somehow, they’ve come to believe they can hang out their shingle, let work take a back seat to their new life of "freedom," exert the bare minimum of effort and still hit the big time.

Let me tell you from personal experience, my friend: It isn’t going to happen.

Because like baseball, this direct response marketing thing is a bottom-line business. It’s not about being good-looking or having a sparkling personality or being able to B.S. your way out of sticky situations.

In this gig, the results you produce are measured in dollars and cents. Do the work, take it seriously and hang great numbers on the line and you’re a winner. Try to skate by on charm … sleepwalk through it … and you’ll get your head handed to you.

Everything you do today is a brush stroke on a canvas; a portrait of you ten years, twenty years, forty years from now.

The measure of success, reputation, wealth and quality of life you’ll enjoy later in your career is being determined right now; today by the amount of effort you’ll expend plus the quality of decisions you make in the next few hours, this week, this month, this year.

Your life will be little more and little less than what naturally happens to people who do what you do, exert the amount of effort you exert and make the decision you make.

So wouldn’t this be a good time to renew your commitment? To resolve to expend every iota of thought, energy and every hour you can to ensuring that your work achieves the standard of excellence required for success?

Give it a good think: What is it about your knowledge base … your skill mastery … the effort and depth of thought you invest in each project … the attention to detail in your finished work … that could be; should be improved?

Just do that this week, and the vast sum of money you’ve paid for your subscription to this blog will be well justified. I guarantee it.

Yours for Bigger Winners, More Often,

Clayton Makepeace
Publisher & Editor
THE TOTAL PACKAGE™

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