club-throwing contest

I recently picked up Your Creative Power, a book written by Alex Osborn — the “O” in BBDO (an advertising agency that still exists today), who was friends with Bruce Barton (one of the “B’s” in BBDO) — because I read an ad written by Victor Schwab (one of the most famous direct response copywriters of all time whose claim to fame was writing Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People sales letter - the book went on to sell over 30 million copies and still rakes in a hefty quarter of a million a year in sales - despite the book being published in the ripe year of 1936) promoting Osborn’s book as the low-ticket entry into a book club subscription. 

One of the hidden secrets of reviewing the old school great direct response writers is actually buying what they promoted in old and forgotten sales letters. 

Your Creative Power is one such treasure I discovered recently. 

The gist of the book is pretty simple - creativity is the key to all of life’s problems.

The execution isn’t great though. For example, I’m four chapters in as I write this, and the vast majority of the book so far has been name-dropping forgotten household names and their quotes about creativity. 

Alas, the book was published in a vastly different time in America: In 1948, when most women were still satisfied with being housewives, most men were satisfied being another cog in the machine (or at least, not being thrown into a war), and almost nobody understood the power of creativity. 

Despite the shoddy execution (which I fully expect to improve once Osborn “sells” the idea that creativity ain’t same airy-fairy bullshyt), there have still been quite a few anecdotes that make the book well worth the 1233% increase in price from Schwab’s sales letter to Amazon. 

Like, for example: 

The annual club-throwing content hosted by A.J. Musselman. After creating the coaster brake (you’ve used one if you’ve ever ridden a bike) and hundreds of other inventions that led to making millions in a lifetime where millions was a metric fvckton compared to what it is now, he built a private golf course in Kentucky. 

Problem was, Musselman struggled to spread awareness about his golf course. The public can’t go to a place they aren’t aware of. 

That’s when Musselman decided to host a weird annual event to capture the public’s eyes:

A club-throwing contest. 

I’m not sure if you’ve ever played golf, but I’ve only tossed a club a handful of times. Each was out of pure frustration. It never even crossed my mind to throw a golf club for fun or for sport. 

And yet, this is what Musselman’s creative brain came up with… and it was a hoot. 

Moral of the story? 

As a copywriter or business owner, creativity is mayhap the most important skill you can learn. 

The more creative your ideas, the more profitable they will be. 

Now, there ain’t an exact science to creativity and imagination. At least, not one that’s sexy and simple. 

It takes work. 

Then more work. 

Then, still, even more work. 

This is often too much for business owners who also LARP as the lead marketer for their business (social media, email, content, etc.) 

And that’s one, of the seemingly endless ways, of why partnering with a professional like your MIA daily-ish email host here, pays fat dividends. 

Not only do you leverage my creativity when it comes to writing entertaining, engaging, and profitable emails… but you also free up your creative tank to focus on your unique super power. 

Wanna see the real world impact one simple decision like this could make? 

Hit reply, and let’s chat. 

John