Wizard of Ads Monday Morning Memo

Michael Dell and Shaquille O’Neal planned their work and worked their plans.Dell understood the formulas, and followed the rules, of efficiency.O’Neal understood the formulas and followed the rules of basketball.Each of them faithfully followed a Structural plan.Michael Dell invented nothing, improvised nothing, and innovated only once. But that single innovation made him a billionaire. Dell’s innovation was to bring tested, reliable, proven methods of cost-cutting to the manufacturing and distribution of computers. When all his competitors were selling through retailers, Dell sold direct to consumer. This made his costs lower and his profits higher.Michael Dell’s strengths are discipline, professionalism, and Structural thinking.Likewise, Shaq says, “I didn’t invent basketball, but I am really good at executing the plays.” Discipline, professionalism, and Structural thinking made Shaq an extraordinary basketball player. These same characteristics also made him an amazing operator of fast-food franchises.“The most Shaq ever made playing in the NBA was $29.5 million per year. Now, it’s estimated that the big man is bringing in roughly $60 million per year, much of which is coming from his portfolio of fast-food businesses around the U.S.”– 24/7wallst.comShaq didn’t invent car washes or Five Guys Burgers and Fries, but he owns more than 150 of each.Michael Dell and Shaquille O’Neal are masters of Structural planning and thinking.Structural thinking relies on proven elements and best practices. “Gather the best pieces and processes and connect them together like LEGO blocks. What could possibly go wrong?”Structural planning and thinking:Invent, Improvise, Innovate?“NO, because those things are untested. We want to avoid mistakes.”Reliable, Tested, Proven?“YES!”Steve Jobs and Michael Jordon are masters of Gestalt planning and thinking.Gestalt planning and thinking:Invent, Improvise, Innovate?“YES!“Reliable, Tested, Proven?“NO, because those things are predictable. We want to be different.“The fundamental idea of Gestalt thinking is that the behavior of the whole is not determined by its individual elements; but rather that the behavior of the individual elements are determined by the intrinsic nature of the whole.It is the goal of Gestalt thinking to determine the nature of the whole, the finished product.Gestalt thinkers who can fund their experiments and survive their mistakes often become paradigm shifters and world-changers.Steve Jobs got off to a slow start because he refused to use MS-DOS, the operating system that everyone else was using. But he was sensitive to the needs and hungers of the marketplace. When Steve Jobs had a crystal-clear vision of the things that people would purchase if those things existed, he brought those things into existence.Structural thinkers rely on planning and execution. Gestalt thinkers rely on poise and flexibility, often deciding on small details at the last split-second. Ask a Gestalt thinker why they do this and most of them will tell you, “I decide at the last minute because that is when I have the most information.”The reason you never knew what Michael Jordan was going to do is because Michael Jordan had not yet decided. Michael’s internal vision was simple and clear: “Put the basketball through the hoop.” With the clarity of that crystal vision shining brightly in his mind, Michael could figure out everything else along the way.Gestalt thinkers like Steve Jobs and Michael Jordan always “begin with the end in mind.”When a Gestalt thinker has a crystal-clear vision, they have everything they need need to create all the little bits and pieces that will be required to bring that vision into reality.Gestalt thinkers cannot give you the details of their process in advance, because they have not yet invented the process. But when a Gestalt thinker has achieved the hard clarity of a crystal-sharp vision, they are often perceived as being an “uncompromising perfectionist.”Steve Jobs, Brian Scudamore, Jeff Bezos, Elon Muskrat.Good News: Structural Thinkers and Gestalt Thinkers are equally likely to become successful.The bad news is that I don’t believe we get to choose which one we will be. I think that “details first” Structural people and “details last” Gestalt people are both born that way.Structural and Gestalt need each other.A Gestalt ad writer needs a Structural business owner to deliver what his Gestalt ads will promise. And a Structural business owner needs a Gestalt ad writer to envision a way for his products and services to be more highly desired than those of his competitors.Separately, Structural and Gestalt will both struggle.But together, they can take over the world.That’s the money, right there.Roy H. WilliamsTalya Rotbart is shepherding our roving reporter and his deputy, Maxwell, this week in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, that lovely city where the 2026 Winter Olympics will be held. The Rotbarts are being escorted by Maxwell’s sister, Avital, and her husband Ben, who live in vivacious Vicenza, Italy, just two hours away.The roving Reporter and deputy Maxwell will return with a new episode of MondayMorningRadio on Monday, May 5th. – Aroo, Indy Beagle

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”“Life… Liberty… and the pursuit of Happiness.”We published those words 229 years ago when we declared our independence from Britain. That document was the earliest expression of what has come to be known as the American dream.Jefferson’s Declaration did not free us from the tyranny of Britain. It merely communicated our collective desire to be unfettered and unrestrained.Do we now feel unfettered and unrestrained? I think not.It seems to me that our current view of the American dream sees raw ambition as “the pursuit of happiness.”Ambition is like sexual hunger. It is satisfied with accomplishment only for a moment, and then the hunger returns. Ambition will lead you to momentary satisfaction, but it will not lead you to happiness.John D. Rockefeller, the world’s first billionaire, was worth 1% of the entire U.S. economy when he was asked,“How much money does it take to make a man happy?”Rockefeller answered, “Just a little bit more.”Ambition is never contented.Am I condemning ambition? I promise you that I am not. I am merely pointing out the deep chasm that separates the unending hunger of ambition from the high and lofty contentment of happiness.An old man named Paul wrote a letter to a young man named Timothy 2,000 years ago. Near the end of that letter, Paul wrote about old people and hypocrites and slavery and wealth.Paul then added two sentences that have echoed in my brain for the past 60 years.“To know God and to be deeply contented is the true definition of wealth. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.”Happiness cannot spread its wings while wearing the handcuffs of our ambitions. The shining light of Hope is made of a stronger and happier substance than our dark dreams of future accomplishment.Ambition can bring you recognition, reputation, and riches. But those are no substitute for friendships, family, and contentment; for these are the three strong cords from which happiness is woven.Have you figured it out yet? Happiness is not material. It is relational.With whom do you have a meaningful relationship?Roy H. WilliamsWe have solved the mystery of the roving reporter!The wizard received this email from Italy a couple of days ago:Dear Roy and Pennie,Talya and I found this quaint restaurant with tables in its wine cellar and thought you’d love this place. (I don’t drink, but thought it appropriate to pose with a glass of wine — which our son-in-law ordered.) If your future plans bring you to Vincenza, Italy, this is one stop you won’t regret. Avital sends her warmest regards.– DEAN(You will find the photo that accompanied this email on the final page of today’s rabbit hole. I’m Ian Rogers.)EMAIL NEWSLETTERSign up to receive the Monday Morning Memo in your inbox!Download the PDF "Dictionary of the Cognoscenti of Wizard Academy"RANDOM QUOTE:“As we start looking for the good, our focus automatically is taken off the bad.”- Susan JeffersTHE WIZARD TRILOGY

The discussion dives into the contrast between value creation and value extraction in marketing. It warns against the pitfalls of performance marketing that prioritizes quick profits over brand reputation. The host emphasizes the necessity of building a strong brand before attempting to extract its value. Sustainable marketing practices are highlighted as a superior alternative, advocating for the cultivation of relationships rather than exploiting existing ones. A memorable analogy from cinema rounds off the enlightening exploration.

I was watching a few of Evan Puschak’s “Nerdwriter” videos when I heard my own inner voice composing a thank you note to him. In the quiet of my mind, I told Evan that I have always found his analysis of literature, movies, music, photographs, and paintings to be incisive and insightful.IncisiveInsightfulThose two words, back-to-back, hit me so hard that I stumbled and fell backward into a bottomless chasm of grief over the loss of Andrew Cross.Evan Puschak is incisive.Andrew Cross was insightful.“Incisive” conjures the precision of a scalpel as it slices open a surface to reveal what is hidden inside.“Insightful” describes the inner workings of intuition as it quietly assembles a mosaic in the mind.I was going to say that I have a “parasocial relationship” with Evan Puschak and Andrew Cross, but then I decided that I should check to make sure that “parasocial relationship” means what I think it does. Here’s what Captain Google told me.“A parasocial relationship is a one-sided, imagined connection or bond a person develops with someone they don’t know personally, usually a media figure or celebrity, often feeling a sense of intimacy or familiarity despite the lack of reciprocity.”Yep. It means exactly what I thought it did. 🙂This is Andrew Cross, the Desert Drifter.“Years ago, I ventured into a canyon alone. I thought I saw something perched high on a cliff. I looked closer. It was an ancient ruin of some kind. I assessed the climb to reach it, and I backed down. It looked too intimidating, but I’m not who I was back then.”“Nerdwriter” Evan Puschak has built a YouTube channel of 3.2 million subscribers over the past 13 years.“Desert Drifter” Andrew Cross built a YouTube channel of 484,000 subscribers in just 13 months. Both men are 36 years old.I continue to watch with anxiety as Andrew climbs impossible stone cliffs,hundreds of feet high, to examine the ruins of 1,000-year-old Native American cliff dwellings.I never suspected that Death would be waiting for Andrew at the corner of 1st Street and North Avenue near his home in Grand Junction, Colorado.While he was still with us, Andrew took hundreds of thousands of people like me with him – one at a time – to explore remote places that few people will ever see. And he never failed to share his wonder:“I had finally arrived. Arrived at what? Was the ruin itself what I was really searching for after all? As I looked around at the remnants of what once was, I pondered the reason I do all of this in the first place.”“Confucius once said, ‘By three methods we may learn wisdom. First by Reflection, which is noblist. Second by Imitation, which is easiest. And third by Experience, which is the bitterest.’”“These open desert spaces provide opportunities for all three of those. And they always beckon me to return. As long as I am able, I will answer their call, to discover more about myself and the people who have called this place ‘home.’ As you join me, my hope is for you, too, to find space for reflection, and the pursuit of wisdom.”“Thank you for accompanying me on this journey.”It was a delight to spend those hours with you, Andrew.The world is smaller now that you are gone.Roy H. WilliamsMichael Drew helps authors turn their big ideas into nationwide influence and income. He has guided more than 130 book authors onto major bestseller lists — including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. His methods are not just for seasoned authors. Michael has helped business owners, entrepreneurs, and professionals turn their ideas into books that people buy and read. A bestselling book translates into higher speaking fees and the ability to stand out in a crowded marketplace. Roving reporter Rotbart says, “If podcasts had bestseller lists, this week’s episode would surely be a top-ten contender.” Listen and learn about the inner workings of what it takes to make a bestseller happen. MondayMorningRadio.comOn the last page of today’s rabbit hole, I have hidden a secret, limited-time-only recording of Michael Drew explaining the surprising way that The New York Times bestsellers list is compiled. It’s not the way that most people think! Aroo. – Indy Beagle

Magical Thinking is often misunderstood.Jason Segel plays a psychologist in the Apple + TV show, “Shrinking.” He is talking to a patient with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.He looks at her. “This again?” She is holding her breath. He says, “You looked at the clock and now you have to hold your breath until the minute changes?” Holding her breath, she nods her head. He says, “Look, I know you feel like this compulsion is gonna help keep bad things from happening, but that’s called magical thinking.”Medical News Today says, “Magical thinking means that a person believes their thoughts, feelings, or rituals can influence events in the material world, either intentionally or unintentionally.”But the summary of that article says, “This type of thinking does not always cause harm. In fact, it can have benefits.”The benefits of magical thinking are – according to me – exquisite.Magical thinking is the least destructive way to escape reality. When you compare it to alcohol, gambling, drugs, or adrenaline-producing dangerous behaviors, magical thinking is about as dangerous as eating raw cookie dough.Magical thinking is a requirement when you are:looking forward to a vacation, a wedding, or other happy event. Every time you imagine the future, you are visiting a world that does not exist.enjoying a television series, a movie, a novel, a poem, a song, a cartoon, or any other type of fiction. Half of your brain knows these things never happened, but the other half of your brain doesn’t care.being persuaded by a well-written bit of advertising.Life is happier when it’s less cluttered.Your house will be bigger.Your teeth will be whiter.Angels will sing.You’ll be a better dancer.Go to 1800GOTJUNK.comAnd prepare to be amazed.Words create realities in the mind.Magical realism is a type of writing characterized by elements of the fantastic – woven with a deadpan sense of presentation – into an otherwise true story.If you exaggerate, people won’t trust you. But if you say something so impossible that it cannot possibly be true, people will be delighted by the possibility you popped into their mind.SARAH:  When your home feels clean and happy, the people inside feel clean and happy.BRIAN: I’ve got a partner who lives down the street from you and we’re anxious to bring you a truckload of SPRINGTIME. [sfx magic sparkle]SARAH: You don’t have to lift a finger!Predictability is the silent assassin of advertising.Magical realism focuses the imagination, disarms the assassin, and delights the mind.BRIAN: We make junk disappear. [sfx magic sparkle]SARAH: All you have to do is point.Magical thinking is good for your soul.Magical realism is good for your business.Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.Roy H. WilliamsThe reinvention of Gigi Meier is nothing short of remarkable. After three decades at the boardroom level of a multi-billion-dollar bank, Gigi reinvented herself as a romance writer. Gigi has published 16 books, some quite steamy, across three ongoing series. Did Gigi to draw on her extensive banking experience to fuel her publishing success? No! She tells roving reporter Rotbart that the opposite is true! Gigi has discovered valuable insights as a romance publisher that would have been useful during her banking career! No one has guests as interesting as roving reporter Rotbart. Am I right! This party will get started the moment you arrive at MondayMorningRadio.com

Learn how to captivate audiences on social media with proven strategies from a master of engagement. Discover why YouTube remains the go-to platform for authenticity and growth, even if you think you’re late to the game. Hear about the challenge of navigating Facebook's pay-to-play model versus building an organic fanbase. Plus, get tips on crafting compelling stories that resonate with followers. Perfect for anyone looking to boost their online presence!

“Features and benefits” were once the most loudly shouted secrets of customer acquisition in Business to Consumer advertising (B2C). I even wrote a chapter in my first book – The Wizard of Ads – on the use of “which means” as a word-bridge between:1. naming a feature of your product and2. naming the benefit it delivers to your customer.But that was 27 years ago.When “features and benefits” became predictable in B2C advertising, they quickly tumbled into the gutters of “Ad-speak” and lost all of their effectiveness.Naming features and benefits is still the right thing to do in Business to Business advertising (B2B) and in Direct Response ads. In those environments, your customers already know they are in the cross hairs of a sales pitch. So name a feature, followed by “which means,” and then tell them about the benefit they will experience.Here’s how that Direct Response ad might sound:“TwinkleWhite toothpaste contains Polychromaticite® which means your teeth will be whiter, your breath will be fresher, and everyone will be attracted to you. TwinkleWhite toothpaste is the choice of 93% of billionaires and 97% of supermodels worldwide, which means Polychromaticite® is an essential ingredient in the creation of personal wealth and beauty. This miracle toothpaste isn’t sold in stores, which means you will save 65 percent when your order TwinkleWhite directly from the laboratory at TwinkleWhite.com”Direct Response advertising is a unique monster who lives and dies by its own special rules.1. It is judged by its ability to generate an immediate result.2. It offers no continuing benefit to the advertiser.Direct Response is the preferred method of advertising for people who are selling a stand-alone product, tickets to an event, or a quick solution for a short-term problem, such as roof repair after a hurricane. None of these people is building a brand.Although ads for B2C sales activation can sound similar to B2B ads and Direct Response ads like the one above, different rules apply.I will now whisper to you the quiet secrets of B2C sales activation in 2025.Every Powerful Message Comes at a Cost. Vulnerability is the currency that buys trust in today’s over-communicated world. Financial vulnerability, emotional vulnerability, and relational vulnerability demonstrate your sincerity.When you don’t have cash, spend time instead. Brad Casebier owned a tiny plumbing company in a town that doesn’t have enough water. So he calculated how much water a running toilet wastes every day, then advertised that he would install a new toilet flapper for free in every home that had a running toilet. No strings attached. Brad became a superstar and his company became huge. Interestingly, the average person who needed a new toilet flapper spent about $800 on other things they needed done.These diamond earrings whisper, “I love you.” Customer interest skyrockets when inanimate objects have thoughts, feelings, or the ability to speak.Promote your slowest day of the week. I rarely visit my favorite restaurant on Mondays because it is always too crowded. Their offer of “Buy a Burger and Get One Free” packs the house with people who buy lots of appetizers, side dishes, desserts, and drinks from the bar because they saved a couple of bucks on a burger. The offer is for dine-in only.Don’t think like a business owner. Think like the customer. Do not try to unload your buying mistakes through sales activation. Your company will be judged as out-of-touch and unfashionable.In-house financing at 0% interest is a friendly offer. It makes things buyable that would otherwise be out-of-reach.Powerful offers work, even when they don’t.The 40% of sales activation ads in your customer bonding campaign will accelerate the impact of the remaining 60%.Sales activation sends a signal that says, “This company is on the move. They’re putting a lot of energy into everything they do.”Some people lump sales activation ads and direct response ads into a common basket called “performance marketing.” My partner Johnny Molson recently highlighted an important point in a new 100-page research paper called The Multiplier Effect that says, “The payback of performance advertising is only as strong as the equity of the brand.” In other words, a stronger brand means you can have a better sale. And stronger brands are the result of customer bonding.The objective of your B2C customer bonding campaign is to make customers like you, trust you, and immediately think of you when they need what you sell.Nourish the seeds of relationship that you plant in the hearts of your customers with the water and sunlight of delightful sales activation.Customer bonding operates on the timeless principles of seedtime and harvest.This is why you can trust it.Roy H. WilliamsAndrew Matthews and his wife, Julie, have sold more than 8 million copies of their inspirational books about happiness and resilience. His first visit with us was one of 2024’s most popular episodes of Monday Morning Radio. In this, his second appearance, Andrew talks about the persistence, relationship-building and adaptability that are required to achieve success. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3. Persistence, Relationship-building, and Adaptability. We’ll get started as soon as you arrive at MondayMorningRadio.com

Philip Dusenberry once said, “I have always believed that writing advertisements is the second most profitable form of writing. The first, of course, is ransom notes.”I can testify that Dusenberry is correct. The best ad writers make more money than the most highly paid lawyers and heart surgeons.Great advertising makes an enormous difference in the top line revenue of a company. A reputation for being able to write great ads makes an enormous difference in your bank account. But only if you get paid according to the growth of the businesses you write for.Did you notice that I ended that sentence with a preposition? A pedantic will tell you that I should have said, “But only if you get paid according to the growth of the businesses for whom you write ads.” But I chose not to do that. If you can tell me why, you might have the makings of an ad writer.Do you have a friend who reads the books of the world’s most famous authors?If you say, “Call me Ishmael,” and your friend says, “Moby Dick,” your friend has the ingredients to bake a wordcake.Say to your friend, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.”If your friend says, “Robert Frost,” he or she has the ability to lead people to places they have never been.Say, “The price of self-destiny is never cheap, and in certain situations it is unthinkable. But to achieve the marvelous, it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought.”If your friend looks at you and says, “Tom Robbins died last month,” they definitely have the makings of ad writer.“As you read, so will you write.”If the cadence and rhythm and unpredictable phrases singular to poets, screenwriters and novelists are echoing in your brain, your mind will spew rainbows of words like ocean water from the blowhole of a whale.Luke records Jesus as having said, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” If you want to know what is inside a person, listen to what they say and read what they write.The minds of great writers are filled with the music of other great writers. Music cannot flow from your fingertips if it does not live in your mind.I don’t mean to be unkind, but most writers have no music in their mind.Tom Robbins told NPR in 2014, “I would tell stories aloud to himself, but always out in the yard with a stick in my hand. I would beat the ground as I told the story. And we moved fairly frequently. We would leave houses behind where one section of the yard was completely bare from where I had destroyed the grass. But I realized much later in life that what I was doing was drumming. I was building a rhythm. Even today as a writer I pay a lot of attention to the rhythm in my work.”When Tom Robbins died, hypnotic passages from his bestselling novels were quoted by NPR and The New York Times in their eulogies of his life.Character dialogue written by Aaron Sorkin is the standard by which all screenwriting is judged. Aaron says, “It’s not just that dialogue sounds like music to me. It actually is music. Anytime someone is speaking for the purpose of performance, whether they’re doing it from a pulpit in a church, whether it’s a candidate on the stump or an actor on a stage, anytime they’re speaking for the purposes of performance, all the rules of music apply.”The workload of my 81 Wizard of Ads partners will soon be at maximum capacity.I am looking for brilliant ad writers. Between now and the end of the year I will onboard a small group of writers who are worth a lot more money than they are currently being paid. They will attend the partner meeting this autumn.Selection, orientation, and enculturation requires diligence and patience on both sides.Our journey will begin when you send exactly 12 things you have written to corrine@wizardofads.com. Choose the work that best represents you.Know that it will probably be summertime before you hear anything back from us.The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.Do you have the courage to begin?Roy H. Williams

Twenty-four thousand men were crowded into Knockaloe Interment Camp in 1914 because they had been found guilty of being in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong last name.Tightly confined behind barbed wire, those men grew increasingly weak, feeble, stiff and awkward until a man named Joseph was shoved through their gate on September 12, 1915.He gave his fellow prisoners strength, stamina, flexibility and grace.They never forgot him.When the war was over and those men were released, Joseph boarded a ship for America. While onboard that ship, he fell in love with a woman named Clara who was also headed to America. When they arrived in New York, Joseph and Clara opened a studio on 8th street that would send ripples across the world.The rest of this story is about how those ripples became a wave.George Balanchine sent his ballet dancers to Joseph on 8th street to gain strength, stamina, flexibility and grace.Martha Graham sent her modern dancers to Joseph on 8th street to gain strength, stamina, flexibility and grace.The best dancers on Broadway went to Joseph on 8th Street to gain strength, stamina, flexibility and grace.George Balanchine became known as “The Father of Modern Ballet.”Martha Graham is shown in Apple’s famous “Think Different” video as one of the 17 people that Steve Jobs felt had changed the world.Broadway, Ballet, and Modern Dance were lifted to new heights.When those ripples from 8th Street reached California, the “Golden Age of Hollywood” began.Gene Kelley danced with a light post and sang in the rain to the thundering applause of America.Slim, elegant, and incredibly strong, Fred Astaire did impossible things effortlessly.Ginger Rodgers did exactly what Fred did, but backwards and in high heels.A young man was known for his slogan, “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” He brought strength, stamina, flexibility and grace to the world of boxing.Like Martha Graham, this young boxer was chosen to appear in Apple’s famous “Think Different” video as one of the 17 “crazy ones” who changed the world.He had been the heavyweight champion of the world for 5 years when a 10-year-old boy named Michael elevated dancing to an even higher place with the help of his 4 older brothers. Those 8th Street ripples of strength, stamina, flexibility and grace had splashed back from the California coast and were now rippling through Motown.Charles Atlas and Joseph Pilates were born one year apart and lived an almost identical lifespan.Charles Atlas gave men bulging biceps that other people could admire.Joseph Pilates told us how to gain the strength, stamina, flexibility, and grace to do whatever we want to do.What do you want to do?– Roy H. WilliamsPS – Joseph loved Clara until the day he died.Are your employees happy to follow you, or do they avoid you like a skunk at a garden party? Phillip Wilson says the more accessible you are as a leader, the more your business will thrive. But when leaders create a gap between themselves and their employees, they lose top talent and nudge workers toward unionization. Listen in as the famous Phillip Wilson explains to roving reporter Rotbart why “Approachable Leadership” is the only elevator that can lift employee morale, productivity, and retention. The button has been pressed and this elevator is about to up-up-up! But we’re holding the door open for you, hoping that you’ll join us at MondayMorningRadio.com

The biggest decisions I ever made didn’t seem big at the time.I’ll bet the same is true for you.Pivotal changes in direction seem obvious to us 10 years later, but during that tiny moment when we alter our course a little, it feels like a very small thing.Here are 4 small, pivotal moments that loom large in my mind today.Moment #1: I was a 22-year-old advertising salesman who was rapidly going bald. Every business owner I met was trying to decide, “Where should I invest my ad budget?”One morning I heard myself answer, “I don’t care where you spend your money. The thing that matters most is what you say in your ads.”The man didn’t believe me.But I believed me.The direction of my future was altered by a few degrees in that singular, magical moment.Moment #2, about 18 months later:I was writing exceptional ads and everyone was dancing except me. I knew something was missing, but I didn’t know what. And it was bugging me.I looked into my own eyes in the bathroom mirror for about a minute one morning. And then I said out loud, “Why am I not seeing better results?”My reflection reached out from that mirror, slapped my face, grabbed my collar and pulled me in so closely that my nose was pressed into the glass. I could feel its breath on my ear as it whispered, “You are reaching too many people with too little repetition.”You never forget a thing like that.Moment #3: I was pondering the “Reach and Frequency Analysis” of my media schedule that had been calculated for me by the most famous data company in America and It said everything was fine. But I knew I was reaching too many people with too little repetition. That was the problem.I found the cause of that problem – and the solution to it – buried deep in the methodology of how advertising everywhere is measured, sold, purchased, and evaluated.Good science is distorted by our erroneous assumptions. We gather perfectly accurate data and then misinterpret it. We rarely question our assumptions, especially when they are part of the universally accepted way of “How Things are Done.”If you could see the mistakes that hide in your blind spot, it would not be called “a blind spot.”Misinterpretation of data is an irresistible tide that carries every boat in the wrong direction.The first fatal mistake occurs so early in the process of data processing that we never really question it.The second fatal mistake happens during the implementation stage. You assume that spreading your small ad budget across different media is the right thing to do because everyone does it. This idea of a “media mix” is practiced by all the largest advertisers and taught in every university. They say to their marketing students, “This is what the biggest companies do. You should imitate them.”But here’s the dead fly in that bowl of soup: When a company has a much bigger ad budget than everyone else in their category, they can aim that firehouse across several media and soak everyone with relentless repetition.But you don’t have a firehouse. You have a watering can.If you use your watering can properly, you’ll be able to afford a garden hose. And if you use that garden hose properly, you will soon be able to afford a fire hose.The water in your watering can should be used to water all the people you can reach with sufficient repetition.“with sufficient repetition.”“with sufficient repetition.”Repetition is the non-negotiable you must protect at all cost.When you reach too many people with too little repetition, no one gets wet, and you stay small.NOTE: I am dangerously oversimplifying the solution when I say that you can achieve automatic, involuntary recall (known as procedural memory) by reaching the average person at least 2.5 times per week, every week, with a magnetically memorable message.That’s how you become a household word.That simple explanation is dangerous because the reports that are most commonly generated from the data will confirm you are achieving a weekly repetition of 2.5 when you are not, in fact, achieving it.Let’s review:(A.) When you are buying media, never forget that figures lie, and liars figure. You have to know more about data analysis than the media sellers who want to put your ad budget in their pocket.(B.) You will always be attracted to the media that is most easily measured, not the one that is the most effective. You must resist this fatal attraction.(C.) You will assume that the secret to success in advertising is “to reach the right people.” FACT: I have never seen a business fail due to reaching the wrong people.(D.) Your ads will need to win the heart, knowing that the mind will follow. FACT: The mind will always find logic to justify what the heart has already decided.(E.) Winning the hearts of people is amazingly affordable if you(1.) have patience and(2.) know how to write great ads.(F.) Winning those hearts at the last minute is extremely expensive. Don’t put it off until the last minute.When I discovered the secret of making miracles, I began making millionaires.Moment #4: I decided to quit charging by the hour when I was about 30 years old. My new plan was to charge a flat rate per month for one year, then adjust that monthly salary up or down by the same percentage the client’s top line had increased or decreased during the previous 12 months.This aligned my best interests with their best interests.Note to Great Ad Writers: Don’t be paid according to how much your client spends.Be paid according to how much they grow.That is how you will become the world’s most highly paid ad writer.The same is true for media buyers.Roy H. WilliamsPS – You definitely want to see page one in the rabbit hole today. To see page one, click the image of the sunset at the top of this page. If you are listening to the audio version of this memo, go to MondayMorningMemo.com and look in the archives for February 27, 2025. “Moments that Change Everything.”NOTE 1: Advertising professionals will notice that I refer to “reach and frequency” as “reach and repetition” throughout this essay. Roy does this because he writes for people who never took advertising classes in college. It has been our experience that people will often misinterpret the word “frequency,” but they always understand the word “repetition.”NOTE 2: Everything the wizard told you today applies only to B2C advertising (Business-to-Consumer.) It does not apply to B2B advertising (Business to Business). And Direct Response advertising is its own special monster.