What the amazing, tragic, Tubby Hayes told me
> ->Does it apply to your business?
Do you know this old joke?
The secret of success is sincerity, if you can fake that you've got it made.
If you bear with me, I'll explain why I quoted it.
But first, let me ask a question.
Do you love music? I am crazy about it.
Almost any kind. Opera, flamenco, soul, jazz. You name it.
I've seen everyone from Louis Armstrong to Pavarotti to Count Basie with Ella Fitzgerald to B.B. King.
4 of my children have been musicians, three still are.
In my early teens, I got hooked on modern jazz.
I'd travel all over the place to hear someone great.
And Tubby Hayes was great - but also did a LOT of drugs.
So he died very young, though his memory has lingered - they made a film about him recently.
In the late 50's I went to a remote Yorkshire pub to hear him play.
We had drinks at the bar in the interval.
I still remember him saying "Man, every note I play has a soul."
If you are to truly succeed at anything I believe that caring is incredibly important.
One of the most flattering things ever said to me was after I sold my business to Ogilvy & Mather.
My boss said to me "The thing I like about you Drayton is that you care."
What does it take to care?
To care about persuading people?
You surely know it's incredibly hard to press a button and feel strongly about something you don't think is very important.
I recall saying to one of my young copywriters - "This isn't important, but what is important is that you get it right."
I get so excited that I often get into almost violent discussions with my colleagues.
The other day one who is a very good copywriter, sent me something he had written.
I told him it all made sense, but it lacked emotion.
You can't take a magic potion, though.
First you must study.
But after you study, and before you write, you must get excited.
If you sell something for a long time you have two problems.
First, it becomes too familiar - and you get stale.
Second, you can't get excited any more
If you find it hard to do so, don't worry.
We can do that for you.