Sir Thomas Beecham and the lady cellist

>>?Are you just scratching away at it?

"Choose your parents carefully" runs the old?joke.

Mine gave me unlimited?love - and?a fine education on everything except sex.

I enjoyed the sex more than the education.

I?ran away from my first school and was?dragged back. My second?I hated?even more.

But one benefit was being?able to go to?concerts in the nearby city of Nottingham.

One of the most memorable was a performance?conducted?the great Sir Thomas Beecham.

I recall that?he shouted at the orchestra -??one of his eccentricities?when dissatisfied.

When Sir Thomas was annoyed you were unlikely to forget it.

On one occasion, infuriated by a lady cellist's playing, he?said:

"Madam: you have between your legs an instrument capable of giving immense pleasure, but you're just sitting there scratching at it."

But the story reminds me (you know I have the most peculiar mind) of copy.

That's?because it is one of the few subjects on which I consider myself vaguely equipped to comment.

Almost all copy I see operates on the same basis as did?the lady cellist.

It is capable of making you a millionaire, but most people?skirt around the margins of possibility.

Good copy, diligently applied, can change your business.

I discovered this once again during the Great Covid Catastrophe.

Almost all the emails I got asked?how we were doing. Fatuous as?hardly any of the senders?either knew or cared

I am reminded of the famous cartoon used during the first World War to encourage the tardy to enlist.

At the start of the Great Covid?Disaster, being a born pessimist, I decided my business was doomed to collapse.

When it didn't, I thought "I guess I better do what I know best."

So?I decided I would just try that little bit harder, mailing?not 4 or 5 times a week but every day.

I do recommend trying a bit harder: it makes a lot of difference.

The result of just trying this little bit harder has lead to my business more than doubling in just a year.

So there you are:?two truths.

1. I was getting lazy and not trying hard enough.

2. Even just a little more effort can make wonderful things happen.

Of course, you may be thinking "Well, I can't write things as good as Drayton or Gerald... what do I do?"

If that's the case, and you're not quite sure you're up to the job, get in touch.

We have a very good deal on emails.

You'll be amazed at the kind of results you can achieve.

Drop Gerald a line : he's ten times?more efficient than me.

Best,

Drayton