"Operation Moneysuck"

So the copywriting legend John Carlton has a great concept he calls "Operation Moneysuck."

And he tells the story of how he learned it from the great Gary Halbert (who got no argument when he called himself "the world's greatest copywriter.")

One morning, Halbert and Carlton — these two all-time greats of copywriting — were working on a project together.

And as they sat down and prepared to get to work, two of Halbert's secretaries burst into the room with a bunch of bad news.

"?The owner of the main print shop is in the waiting room, looking grim."

"The computer just crashed."

"The building’s landlord is on hold, apparently pissed off."

John Carlton was disappointed — thinking their writing session was about to be postponed while Gary Halbert put out these "burning fires."

Except he didn't.

As Carlton said:

"Gary shooed the secretaries away and locked the door. And started writing ads. 'What about all those emergencies?' I asked. 'Screw ‘em,' he said. 'Our job is to bring in the money.'

"And we spent the next six hours doing just that. Writing ads and making phone-calls that brought in the money. This was Operation Moneysuck in full gear."

Carlton's point was that, as a marketer, YOU are the only one who knows how to "bring in the money." That's your one and only job.

And so every second you spend putting out fires and attending to things in your business that don't directly bring in money…

Is a waste.

So his advice is to laser-focus on "Operation Moneysuck (i.e., the single highest value thing you can do in your business), and either delegate, postpone, or entirely ignore everything else.

Powerful advice, if I do say so myself.

Especially since our natural reaction is to immediately attend to every so-called "fire" and trivial distraction that comes our way.

And it takes fierce discipline and an iron will to ignore them.

But it's essential if you want to produce real value.

Just something to think about, as I've been.

-Beau D. Schultz

P.S. This story comes from John Carlton's "Kick-Ass Copywriting Secrets" book. I've heard several top copywriters say it was one of the best copywriting books they ever read, and I completely agree. Highly recommended if you're a copywriter and haven't read it.