Wizard of Ads Monday Morning Memo

“Facts tell, stories sell,” is a principle known to every top-tier ad writer.Stories change people while statistics give them something to argue about.People remember stories long after bullet-points are forgotten.Tom Robbins said, “I mean we are all, as human beings, caught up in a web of narration, this great narrative web, and we have always defined ourselves, human beings, through narration, through stories.”In his final speech to broadcasters on March 8, 2003, Paul Harvey said,“And should you visit my skyscraper offices in Chicago – and you’re always welcome – your attention will focus first on a large portrait on the reception room wall. It’s a portrait of a young boy. His clothing dates itself to a generation past, the plus-fours are wretchedly wrinkled, the misshapen shoes are worn out. One of them is worn through. But the boy, leaning forward on one elbow, is listening enrapt to a 1930s-vintage cathedral-shaped, multi-dial radio. The boy does not resemble any person in particular, except to me. The artist is an Oklahoman named Jim Daly, whom I have never met, but with his painting he included this note. He said, ‘There is no way for me to express the pleasure I received from listening to the old radio programs. In my mind, those wonderful heroes were magnificent. No movie, no television program, not even real-life could have equated what my imagination could conjure up. Amazingly, all of those heroes’ he says, ‘looked a bit like me… And all of those heroes,’ he described, ‘looked a bit like me.'”The first American census was taken in 1790, fourteen years after the nation declared its independence from Britain; 3,893,635 persons were in that final count, which included 694,280 slaves. In other words, the total population of the United States was slightly smaller than today’s metropolitan Atlanta, slightly bigger than modern Detroit.1790 was just 228 years ago. Only 6 or 7 generations.I could say, “America became America because of the stories we told ourselves,” but that might lead you to believe that America has become what it will always be. But the new and different stories we are telling ourselves today are reshaping us, making us a different America.We become what we tell ourselves.“Those who tell the stories hold the power in society. Today television tells most of the stories to most of the people, most of the time.” – George Gerbner“Whether you read a newspaper, watch TV or follow the news online, only 14 percent of the stories you hear about were developed by journalists defining an issue and pursuing it. A staggering 86 percent of the stories were fed to broadcasters by official sources and press releases. In 1960 the PR agent-to-journalist ratio operating in the US was 0.75 to 1. Today the ratio is 5 to 1.” – John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney, The Death and Life of American Journalism Paul Harvey concluded his speech in 2003 by saying,“Isn’t it a shame that with noisy, distressing, depressing news hour after hour, day-in and day-out; by our emphasis on all of the bad things, crime and inflation and pollution and floods and fires and discord and discontent; by our persistent preoccupation with negatives, we tend to un-sell ourselves and our children on a way of life which in fact is the envy of the rest of the world. And that repetition is effective. I tell you, repetition is effective. Repetition is effective.”You and I speak a world into existence every day.And the kind of world we createDepends onlyOn the kinds of storiesWe tell.Roy H. Williams

Seek the teacher who is a mentor to apprentices. She will give you expert advice and examples, then evaluate your ability to do as she has taught. Her name is Wisdom and you should always listen to her voice.But Wisdom’s teacher allowed young Wisdom to follow any path she chose!Wisdom learned her lessons from Consequences, the greatest teacher of all.Wisdom can give you interesting examples because of all the fascinating things she learned from Consequences. You will know you are in the presence of Wisdom when you see her scars.Wisdom and Consequences are happy teachers who guide students through the adventures of life.A sad teacher repeats only what she’s been told, then grades you on how well you can repeat it back to her. She is a parrot, and she teaches other parrots.A smart person makes a mistake, learns from it, and never makes that mistake again.A wise person finds a smart person, and learns how to avoid that mistake altogether.A fool listens to a parrot, and believes what he is told.“But wait a minute, didn’t you say a wise person finds a smart person so they can learn how to avoid the mistake altogether?”“Yes, but the parrot is not a smart person. She never made the mistake and learned from it. She is just repeating what she’s been told.”“And why is that dangerous?”“When the experience of Consequences has been removed from the classroom, the majestic principles of Wisdom quickly degrade into small and silly rules.”The great fire-breathing dragonbecomes a tiny lizardwho lives in a little rulebook.Every bureaucrat was once a young parrot taught by a sad teacher.But was there ever a child who, late at night, lay under the covers and dreamed of someday becoming the enforcer of small and petty policies?No. But there are children who were unlucky enough to be protected from Consequences by a misguided someone who did not understand the value of scars.Roy H. Williams

Competition can be entertaining, but I do not consider it to be “play.”Is than un-American of me?Play, for me, can have no objective; no element of strategy or combat or debate.Writing for The New Yorker on Nov.14, 2011, John McPhee shares an anecdote about George Hartzog, a man who understood my kind of play, and Tony Buford, a man who did not.“It was Hartzog who took a set of plans that had been lying dormant for fifteen years and built the great arch of St. Louis. Those who know the story of the arch say that had it not been for Hartzog there would be no arch. Hartzog the ranger is a hero in St. Louis, but at this moment he is not a hero to Tony Buford. ‘God damn it, George, this river is a mess. There is no point fishing this God-damned river, George. The fishing here is no good.'”“Hartzog looks at Buford for a long moment, and the expression on his face indicates affectionate pity. He says, ‘Tony, fishing is always good.’ The essential difference between these friends is that Buford is an aggressive fisherman and Hartzog is a passive fisherman. Spread before Buford on the bow deck of his jon boat is an open, three-tiered tackle box that resembles the keyboard of a large theatre organ.”Likewise, John Ciardi understood the importance of true play, as does every great poet. Here is a portion of his essay, How Does a Poem Mean?Robert Frost knew precisely what the German critic Baumgarten meant when he spoke of the central impulse toward poetry – and toward all art – as the Spieltrieb, the play impulse.An excellent native example of the play impulse in poetry is the child clapping its hands in response to a Mother Goose rhyme. What does a child care for “meaning”? What on earth is the “meaning” of the following poem?High Diddle diddleThe cat and the fiddleThe cow jumped over the moon;The little dog laughedTo see such craftAnd the dish ran away with the spoon.“Preposterous,” says Mr. Gradgrind. But the child is wiser: he is busy having a good time with the poem. The poem pleases and involves him. He responds to it in an immediate muscular way. He recognizes its performance at once and wants to act with it.This is the first level of play, as rhythm is the first element of music. The child claps hands, has fun, and the play involves practically no thoughtful activity. Beyond this level of response, there begins the kind of play whose pleasure lies for the poet in overcoming meaningful and thoughtful (and ‘feelingful’) difficulties, and for the reader in identifying with the poet in that activity.My purpose today is to remind you of the delight to be had exploring ideas without purpose or plan or agenda.All you have to do is follow your curiosity. This can be done alone or with friends who understand the rules.Rules? Rules for play?Yes. Here they are. For an activity to be play, it must be:intrinsically motivating.If you play because you want to win, you’re not truly playing.freely chosen.If you play because you have to, you’re not playing.actively engaging.If you’re disinterested, you’re not playing.fun. You must derive pleasure from it.Some people would call such activities “wasting time.”But time cannot be wasted, it can only be spent.This is what time spent playing can buy:relaxation of the mind,restoration of optimism,rejuvenation of the soul.Are you up for it?If so, Indy Beagle and I have a proposal for you in today’s rabbit hole.To enter the rabbit hole, all you have to do is click the image of the person in the swing beneath the treehouse.I see adventurein your future.Roy H. Williams

The strangeness of our world is demonstrated by the things we take for granted.I bought a used book. The previous owner’s name was Mary Lou. I know this because she used the stub of her boarding pass as a book marker.A few years ago, Mary Lou took United Airlines flight 5409 from San Diego to Los Angeles on New Year’s Day. She sat in seat 10C.No big deal, right? You can read all that on the stub of the boarding pass.But then I also know that she’s 44 years old with short, blonde hair and bright blue eyes. I know the sound of her voice and the name of her 11-year-old son and her home address in Minneapolis. I can name each of the 8 companies that have employed her as an events coordinator. And I know that she is a very private person.It took me less than 5 minutes to learn these things and I was only mildly curious.All I had to do was ask the companion in my pocket. She knows everything.My companion even gives me directions when I’m driving. “Turn here. Get in the left lane to turn left at the next intersection. Your destination will be on the right.” She knows every nook and cranny of every city, town and village on earth.She showed me a photo of the house where Mary Lou lives with her husband and her son.The strangeness of our world is demonstrated by the things we take for granted.There is a multicolored dog who lives across the street, two houses down.He races me for about 100 yards every morning when I drive past his house. We both know the finish line. He doesn’t growl or bark or act like he’s protecting his territory, he just likes to see if he can outrun my pickup truck.Strangely, he doesn’t race with Pennie or with anyone else.Only me.And he doesn’t race with me when I’m driving Pennie’s car.I don’t know the dog’s name, so I asked the companion in my pocket.She doesn’t know, either.Roy H. Williams

The feminine ideal was different a hundred years ago. Less sex, more charm.It was her charm that attracted us to young Anastasia Romanov, the daughter of Czar Nicholas II of Russia. This is why we refused to believe it when she was murdered in 1918 following the Bolshevik Revolution. For the next 50 years we embraced every impostor who claimed to be her.Elegant, effortless charm remained a feminine ideal as recently as 50 years ago. It’s what attracted us to the movies of Audrey Hepburn.Anastasia and Audrey represent the Regal Queen, one of the four feminine archetypes of Carl Jung.But Anastasia and Audrey were bumped aside by the blonde bombshells of Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, poster girls for the objectification of women. And I mean “poster girls” quite literally. Marilyn was the centerfold in the first-ever issue of Playboy magazine, with Jayne following in her footsteps 17 months later.Marilyn and Jayne represent the Erotic Lover, another of the four feminine archetypes.Just as the Regal Queen was in vogue 100 years ago, so was the impudent ingénue. America was riveted by the antics of Alice Roosevelt, the mischievous young daughter of Teddy. And when Alice exited the White House, we replaced her with young Shirley Temple, the impetuous embodiment of Little Orphan Annie.This young “court jester” persona of Alice and Shirley and Little Orphan Annie is a sub-type of the Wise Woman archetype,which is the feminine variation of the masculine Wizard or Magician. It continues to this day as an icon of female empowerment in characters such as Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games, Lara Croft from Tomb Raider, Bella Swan from Twilight, and Hermione Grainger from the Harry Potter series.Girl Power.I’ve saved the first of the female archetypes for last, however, because Mother Eve is the least appreciated and most misunderstood.I blame the translators of the 1611 King James Bible.We meet Eve in the second chapter of Genesis when God says, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make him an ezer kenegdo.” The King James version translates this as, “a help meet for him,” while other translations say “helpmate” or “helper.” (In 1611, meet meant appropriate.)This mistranslation in 1611 caused Christians to believe that the proper role of women was to be the “assistant,” or servant, to their man.The Hebrew term ezer kenegdo is notoriously difficult to translate. In fact, it appears nowhere in the Bible except the second chapter of Genesis.But we know for certain that it doesn’t mean “helper.” A more accurate translation would be “lifesaver.”Let’s look at the two separate words that form ezer kenegdo.Ezer is always interpreted as “power” or “strength” or “rescue.”Throughout the Bible, it speaks only of God, especially when you desperately need him to come through for you.“There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens to be your ezer.” – Deut. 33:26“Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is your shield and ezer and your glorious sword.’ – Deut. 33:29“I lift up my eyes to the hills-where does my ezer come from? My ezer comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.’ – Ps. 121:1-2“May the LORD answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May he send you ezer.” – Ps. 20:1-2Kenegdo means “facing.” It can also mean “opposite.” Thus,“It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a power facing him.”“I will make him a strength opposite him.”“I will make him a rescuer that looks him in the face.”Each of these translations is vastly more accurate than “helpmate” or “helper”.Remember when Arwen saves Frodo in The Lord of the Rings?*Arwen is a princess, a beautiful elf maiden. She comes into the story in the nick of time to rescue Frodo just as the poisoned knife wound is about to claim him.ARWEN: He’s fading. He’s not going to last. We must get him to my father. I’ve been looking for you for two days. There are five wraiths behind you. Where the other four are, I do not know.ARAGORN: Stay with the hobbits. I’ll send horses for you.ARWEN: I’m the faster rider. I’ll take him.ARAGORN: The road is too dangerous.ARWEN: I do not fear them.ARAGORN: (relinquishing, he takes her hand.) Arwen, ride hard. Don’t look back.It is she, not the warrior Aragorn, who rides with glory and speed. She is Frodo’s only hope. She is the one entrusted with his life and with him, the future of all Middle Earth.She is his ezer kenegdo.The Mother Eve archetype corresponds to the masculine Warrior archetype.You didn’t see that coming, did you?Can you imagine how history might have unfolded differently if those translators in 1611 had found the courage to translate what the Bible really says?Roy H. Williams* The Lord of the Rings example is taken from the book Captivating by John & Stasi Eldredge.

Do you have favorite books and movies?Are there songs you love and stories that captivate you?Is there art that speaks to your heart?Paintings and plays, movies and music, stories and sculptures: art is valuable to the degree that it triggers emotion. But it isn’t always the art, itself, that triggers the emotion. Sometimes the art is merely a point-of-contact with an idea – or an ideal – with which we identify.We’re attracted to art when itstands for something we believe in,shows us a reflection of our own values,gives us a glimpse of our own inner face.An icon symbolizes a thought or a feeling for which we do not have sufficient words.But when the symbolism of an icon becomes too obvious, we call it a cliché.We are attracted to mysterious icons.We are repelled by predictable clichés.“Mr. LeSage, sir, I’ve got a tender new script about a sensitive young subway guard that just stinks of courage and integrity. And I know, sir, that next to scripts that are Tender and Poignant, you love scripts that have Courage and Integrity. This one, sir, as I say, stinks of both. It’s full of melting-pot types. It’s sentimental. It’s violent in the right places. And just when the sensitive young subway guard’s problems are getting the best of him, destroying his faith in Mankind and the Little People, his nine-year-old niece comes home from school and gives him some nice, pat chauvinistic philosophy handed down to us through posterity and P.S. 564 all the way from Andrew Jackson’s backwoods wife. It can’t miss, sir! It’s down-to-earth, it’s simple, it’s untrue, and it’s familiar enough and trivial enough to be understood and loved by our greedy, nervous, illiterate sponsors.”– J. D. Salinger, from “Zooey,” published in The New Yorker in 1957According to W. H. Auden, “Great art is clear thinking about mixed feelings.”And according to Rob Kapilow, sappy clichés are “clear thinking about clear feelings.”I share this with you today in the hope that you will be able to use the richness of archetypes and icons in your advertising without falling into the molasses of sappy cliché.When a person spends money, they tell you everything about themselves that matters.Our purchases remind us – and announce to the world around us – who we are. Our favorite brands communicate what we stand for, what we believe in. We direct our dollars in ways that reflect our values and offer a glimpse of our souls.Great ads create a lasting bond with customers through the artful use of archetype and icon.What? You’re convinced people just want the facts? The unadorned truth?It’s 1991. We see workers in a car factory as we hear the voice of Brian Keith,“A car is a car. It won’t make you handsome or prettier or younger. And if it improves your standing with the neighbors, then you live among snobs. A car is steel, electronics, rubber, plastic and glass. A machine. And in the end, may the best machine win… Subaru. What to drive.”In 1992, we see the next ad in that series:“Making a sports car, it seems mandatory to mention how fast it can go. Instead, why not mention the things you shouldn’t mention about a sports car: a strong weld, over 24 safety features, all-wheel drive, engineering that endures. Still, if it’s speed you want, we promise, with the Subaru SVX you’ll easily be able to go as fast as the law allows… Subaru. What to drive.”And then the campaign evolved into open mockery of people who identify with the cars they drive.Shot from a low angle, we look upward at a man who looks down on us. He says,MAN 1: A luxury car says a lot about its owner.WOMAN 1: Mine says I’m witty beyond belief.MAN 2: Mine says I’m more Europeanish.MAN 3: Mine says I’m the product of superior genes.WOMAN 2: I’m so successful I can go into debt.MAN 4: I’m much more handsomeMAN 5: cosmopolitanWOMAN 3: another pathetic sheep following the herdMAN 6: I’m irresistibleWOMAN 4: powerfulMAN 7: stylishMAN 8: sexyWOMAN 3: dynamic.NARRATOR: The Subaru SVX. All it says it that you bought a great car and you can still pay your mortgage.Although those “outside-the-box” ads won numerous awards, the financial result was disastrous.The ad agency was fired and the Subaru executives who approved those ads lost their jobs.In summary:1. We buy things with which we identify.2. Predictability is the essence of cliché.3. Cold logic fails to warm the heart.4. Win the heart with the skillful use of icons, and5. your customer will create their own logic to justify what their heart has already decided.Win the heart.Roy H. Williams

You walk out the door. A person raises a forefinger and says, “Quick question.”And then they tie you up for the next 30 minutes.Have you ever been ambushed this way?Quick questions don’t always have quick answers and you can’t give 30 minutes to every person who raises a forefinger, so the next time you’re ambushed, smile as you continue walking and say, “Walk with me.” The questioner will invariably fall into step beside you.If you stop walking, you’ve officially been “captured.”A walking person is obviously headed somewhere, so “Walk with me” indicates that your time to speak with them will be over when you get to where you’re headed. When you get there, shake their hand and say, “I’m glad we got to talk.” And then disappear.“Walk with me” is how to make sure that quick questions remain quick.But sometimes you need to give your full attention to what a person is saying.Tom Peters became the king of business authors in 1982 when he wrote In Search of Excellence, a book that sold 3 million copies in its first 4 years.Today, at 75 years old, Tom Peters says listening is “the bedrock of leadership excellence,” but characterizes himself as a bad listener and “a serial interrupter.” So to help him stay focused on the other person, he writes the word “LISTEN” on the palm of his hand before walking into meetings. He says, “The focus must be on what the other person is saying, not on formulating your response. That kind of listening shows respect for the other person, and they notice it.” 1According to Roger Dooley at Forbes.com, “Peters cites research that on average, doctors listen to a patient describing symptoms for just eighteen seconds before interrupting… Professionals who are smart and who know what they are talking about are often the worst listeners.”I’ve noticed that people who are smart and know what they are talking about are also the worst explainers.This is due to a disease called “the curse of knowledge” that afflicts every expert.When speaking about a subject we know intimately, we assume our audience has a higher level of familiarity with our subject matter than they actually possess. Consequently, we believe they are “connecting the dots” when in fact they are barely following what we are saying.To become a more effective teacher, all you have to do is add the words “which means…” to every statement of fact you make. You can do this out loud or in your mind. Either way, you will be prompted to connect the dots for your audience, and they will love you for it.Gen Z was born between 1995 and 2015.[which means they are between 3 and 23 years old.which means the youngest “millennial” is currently 24 and growing older every day.which means the future will be firmly in the hands of Gen Z in about 25 years.]77% of Gen Z prefer reading printed books and 59% don’t trust Facebook. 2[which means our current obsession with the internet may turn out to be a fad.]34% of Gen Z said they were permanently leaving social media, and 64% are taking a break because “the platforms make them feel anxious or depressed.” 2[which means social media may continue to loosen its grip on our attention.which means there is still hope for the return of face-to-face social interaction.which means Gen Z is reflecting the values of their grandparents who grew up in the 60’s and 70’s.which means the pendulum of society is swinging precisely as it has for the past 3,000 years.]Now read those 3 statements of fact without the subsequent, “which means.”Gen Z was born between 1995 and 2015.77% of Gen Z prefer reading printed books and 59% don’t trust Facebook.34% of Gen Z said they were permanently leaving social media, and 64% are taking a break because “the platforms make them feel anxious or depressed.”Did you notice how those statements of fact seem distant and flat when no interpretation is offered?Connect the dots for your audience.Watch them sit up and pay attention.Roy H. Williams1 “What’s The One Word Business Guru Tom Peters Writes On His Hand Before Meetings?” by Tom Dooley2 “Survey shows digital-native Gen Z prefers in-person interaction with brands”

“He knew how to lead by listening and teaching.”– Erwin C. Hargrove, a professor of political science at Vanderbilt University, writing in 1998 about a leader he much admired.I, too, have known brilliant leaders like that; men and women who lead by listening and teaching.Brian Scudamore, Lori Barr, Richard Kessler, Cathy Thorpe, Erik Church, Sarah Casebier, David Rehr, Michele Miller, Brian Alter, Richard D. Grant and David St. James to name just a few. I mentioned one such leader, Dewey Jenkins, in last week’s Monday Morning Memo. Another of them, Ken Sim, is currently running for mayor of Vancouver.According to Professor Hargrove, the key to leadership is to hearken to “the better angels of our nature,” a phrase he borrowed from Abraham Lincoln, who used it in his first inaugural address on March 4, 1861.But we didn’t listen to Lincoln. We chose civil war just 6 weeks later.The leader that Professor Hargrove admired who “knew how to lead by listening and teaching,” was another American president who encouraged us during a different time of social upheaval – the Great Depression.“In February 1933, a man shot at [Franklin Delano] Roosevelt, who was riding in an open car in Miami, but succeeded in killing Anton Cermak, the mayor of Chicago, who was with the president-elect. FDR was calm and deci­sive, ordering the driver to go immediately to the hospital, paying no attention to his own security, and talking to the wounded man. His calm courage impressed all who saw him.”– Erwin C. Hargrove,The President As A Leader: Appealing to the Better Angels of Our Nature, p. 79 (1998)The Stanford Library review of Professor Hargrove’s book ends with this statement: “In harking back to Lincoln’s evocation of the better angels of our nature, Hargrove reminds us that we may, even as leaders, be better versions of ourselves.”And the key to becoming that “better version of ourselves” is to become focused listeners and patient teachers.The reason history repeats itself is because we don’t pay attention the first time.Anti-intellectualism in American Life was written in 1964 by Richard Hofstadter, a professor of American History at Columbia University.It won him the Pulitzer Prize. It was his second. He won his first Pulitzer for his 1955 book, The Age of Reform.Reading these books has caused me to develop a theory.Can I share my observations with you?Our obsession with the internet has led us to believe that we are smarter and wiser than any previous generation.We quietly assume that anyone over 40 is a dinosaur, and that every famous historical figure was innocently naive. “But they couldn’t help it,” we sympathize, “because they didn’t know everything like we do now.”We ignore the centuries of experience of previous generations.We are teaching. But we are not listening.And those who teach – without listening – share their own preferences as though those preferences were wisdom.But what do I know? I’m over 40.Roy H. Williams

Dewey Jenkins says, “If your employees don’t look forward to company meetings, then you’re not doing it right.”Dewey has grown his company to nearly 100 times the size it was when he bought it, so I tend to listen to what he says.Dewey taught me to celebrate, not just the touchdowns, but the first downs.Dewey smiles and says, “Celebrate, Celebrate, Celebrate!”So I’m going to do that today.Vice-Chancellor Whittington posted a “Tower Update” video last week promoting Bonding as a Branding Strategy, a new class debuting at Wizard Academy on August 29 and 30. (Wednesday and Thursday of next week. I think there are still a couple of rooms available on campus.)What I’m celebrating is that he explains “customer bonding” in his video better than I do! And I’m the one who taught it to him! Heck, I’m the guy who invented the term!I’m celebrating because he proved he understood it by building a Wizard Academy YouTube channel with my oldest son, Rex, that currently has more than 112,000 subscribers and is adding hundreds more daily.I’m celebrating because they built that highly successful YouTube channel without spending a single cent on advertising or promotion.I’m celebrating because 500 of those YouTube viewers – that’s right, 500 prospective new students – will be flying to Austin from all over North America this Saturday to tour the Wizard Academy campus and hear about all the other courses we teach.I’m celebrating because the Whiskey Sommelier storytelling program created by vice-chancellor Whittington has already delivered a large number of new students to Wizard Academy.I’m celebrating because the principles taught in that Whiskey Sommelier program aren’t a departure from our established curricula. The sommeliers are taught how to “romance” the whiskey they’re about to pour through delightful, artful descriptions of it. We’re teaching them how to craft and deliver messages that create strong bonds and dramatically increase sales.I’m celebrating because many of these newly-graduated Whiskey Sommeliers have already signed up to take additional courses that aren’t whiskey-related.Best of all, most of these new students have never heard of Roy H. Williams.After spending 20 years and millions of dollars to build a 501c3 educational organization, I now know for certain that Wizard Academy will continue to thrive long after Princess Pennie and I are gone.And that’s definitely a thing worth celebrating.Roy H. WilliamsPS – Don’t get the wrong idea. Pennie and I aren’t, to my knowledge, going away anytime soon. It’s just good to know that the school is no longer dependent on us.

Reading that Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was a Christian anarchist, I had an unexpected thought, so I asked Google, “What is the difference between an anarchist and a libertarian?”Six-tenths of a second later, The Goog told me – in a highly visible block at the top of the Search Engine Results Page:“An anarchist is an extreme libertarian, like a socialist is an extreme democrat, and a fascist is an extreme republican. It’s like the difference between a lover and a rapist. They’re both in the same place but one uses violence to get there. Libertarians believe in free markets, private property, and capitalism.”And included in that featured snippet was a hyperlink to ChaosPark.com, the low-budget website of a better-than-average writer named Harry Reid.Harry paid nothing for Google’s recommendation of him and his website. He earned it by crafting the most concise, cogent answer to an often-asked question.Google is rewarding writers of concise content, wordsmiths who get to the point.When Google’s featured snippet is your answer to a commonly asked question in your business category, Google is telling the world that YOU are the expert of experts. It seems, to me, this should be the goal of every Search Engine Optimizer.But this would require them:to be experts in your business category, andto be better-than-average writers.But since they are neither of these, they will tell you the secret to becoming a featured snippet is in the microdata, and then fly into a blur of activity with a flurry of sparks and elbows.Take a quick look at Harry Reid’s ChaosPark.com and I think you’ll see that Harry doesn’t give a rat’s ass about microdata, metadata, or SEO. He’s just a guy writing about things that interest him, and he knows how to summarize big ideas in few words.Does your business interest you? Can you summarize big ideas in few words?Before you can take a person to where you want them to go, you must meet them where they are. You must answer their questions –as asked– and speak to them within the frame of their own experience.Leo Tolstoy knew this, and he used his novels as instruments for the examination of social issues. War and Peace (1869,) Anna Karenina (1887,) and The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886,) were not meant to be entertainments, but persuasive lessons about life and living. Tolstoy met his readers where they were, so that he could take them where he wanted them to go.John knew this, too, so he framed his Good News to be easily understood by the people of the region in which he made his home. One of the 4 “first followers” of Jesus, John wrote to the people of Ephesus within the frame of their own experience.But that’s another story.What does your customer already care about?What does your customer already understand?If you will be persuasive, you need to begin your story exactly there.Before you can take a person to where you want them to go, you must meet them where they are.Roy H. Williams