Mar
01

Computer Passwords and Butt-Kicking

posted on March 1st 2017 in Advertising Basics & Advertising Tips with 0 Comments

Advertising Copywriting Passwords

Of all the advice I give young whippersnappers who walk into my office with beautiful, shiny, hard porfolio cases—yes, hard copies still do exist—I keep coming back to the only piece of advice that I GUANTEEE will work in marketing and advertising. Always has. Always will.

Caveat: It ain’t easy.

This magical piece of advice is this: outwork everyone else and you will kick their butts.

StockSnap_77BFFAA30B

I typed “kick butt” into my favorite stock photography site and this was the suggested image. Seriously.

Here is proof that you will kick butt.

Do you know the 10 most commonly used computer passwords?* 

  1. 123456
  2. password
  3. 12345678
  4. qwerty
  5. 12345
  6. 123456789
  7. football
  8. 1234
  9. 1234567
  10. baseball

Are you kidding me? Baseball?! (Kidding, I love baseball. Go Cubs.)

Look at how lazy people are, even with something they KNOW could come back to drain their finances, unearth unflattering pictures or steal whatever valuable information they have stashed on their laptop.

This is very bad news for mankind, but very good news for you.

If you need a password, think smarter. When it comes to marketing, work harder.

If you write, write more.

If you research, dig deeper.

If you cold call, call more. (Or use Tim Ferriss’ tip to call early, call late and then count the money.)

The majority of marketers I’ve worked with are lazy. They do what needs to be done and nothing more. There are many examples in my career of awesome, hard-working, sharp-as-a-tack marketers. They are dwarfed by the lazy masses. In my experience, this laziness manifests itself just as much in the agency world as it does the internal marketing world.

It’s damn hard to work extra. You gotta skip lunch. You gotta take work home. You gotta miss meatloaf night. (Somehow, you have to ALWAYS miss meatloaf night. Funny how that works.)

So there’s your magical potion to kick marketing butt. Just outwork everyone else. It’s not original and it’s not earth-shattering, but nobody what anyone tells you, it works.

 

*SplashData, 2015

About the author

Chad Rucker Chad has spent 17 years creating content and ideas for brands such as Verizon Wireless, Dunkin Donuts, Michelin and BMW. He's won an Obie Best of Show; National Addys; Employee of the Year; and ADchievement Awards. He is currently creative director at Jackson Marketing during the day, and moonlights on nights and weekends as Lochness.

Chad has spent 17 years creating content and ideas for brands such as Verizon Wireless, Dunkin Donuts, Michelin and BMW. He's won an Obie Best of Show; National Addys; Employee of the Year; and ADchievement Awards. He is currently creative director at Jackson Marketing during the day, and moonlights on nights and weekends as Lochness.