It’s been a fast paced week over here in Wally world.  A little
over a week ago I found out that my grandpa had passed away, and
within 48 hours of hearing the news I was on a plane flying to
Cleveland, Ohio to say goodbye.  Surprisingly, it wasn’t the sad
experience I was expecting.

Instead it was a really amazing gathering of family and friends
who were celebrating and saying goodbye to a loved one who has
lived an admirable and giving life – and now has moved on to the
next phase.

So little surprise here – I’ve been pretty nostalgic over the
last few days.

The cool thing about having a grandpa, is that you get to ask
him questions about the past and get the straight answer.  And
the even cooler thing is that if you actually listen, you can
glean a bunch of wisdom and apply it to your own life.  Maybe
even prevent a few “hard earned lessons” of your own.

Not everyone is blessed with this opportunity, so I definitely
made sure to ask a lot of questions while he was around.

One of the things I used to talk with him about was the old days
at United Airlines.  He worked there from the late 50s until the
late 1980s, always dressing in a nice suit and tie, and oversaw
the evolution from the turboprop age to the full on jet age.

Business was done a little different back then – and you’d stay
with a good company for life if you had the chance.  And back
then, United was a good company to stay with.

You’d get all sorts of flying benefits, so you could take your
family to far off places like Hawaii and Alaska – and all at a
huge discount.  And the world seemed a lot bigger then, when the
planes were slower, and flying was harder to afford.

Working for an airline, you could see the world, and expand your
horizons on the company dime.  Not too shabby.

A few things have changed over the years when it comes to
business.  Nobody stays with the same company anymore.

Companies treat their employees as disposable, and smart
employees treat themselves as free agents.

But the fundamentals of a successful business stay the same.

You have to get the word out about what you’re offering, make it
something of the highest quality, and keep getting the word
out.  Do that, and you’re guaranteed success.

It’s a bummer that there’s a lot of old time wisdom that gets
lost when people pass on.  Because we have to learn it the hard
way all over again.

But even so, what’s really cool about nowadays is that we live
in a media rich world.  So it’s easy to learn the old time
wisdom, and we don’t have to learn lessons the hard way, if we
don’t want to.

In the old days, you’d sit around a camp fire and hear about the
history of the tribe.  Now, you can read journals, books, or
even watch DVDs to learn from those who came before.

In advertising almost a hundred years ago, there was a guy named
Claude Hopkins.  He was like the grandpa of modern advertising.

He created innovations that we take for granted now, like
coupons, measurement, and testing of your advertising based on
one thing only:  How many sales it got you.  It sounds so simple
to almost be stupid.  But to think that would be wrong.

Claude Hopkins had it right, and he opened the doors for the
20th century economic boom.

When it comes to advertising and life – you and I are in a lucky
place.  We have access to the wisdom from those who came before
us and the tools to put their wisdom into hyperdrive.  That’s a
really cool thing.  And its never happened before.

So when Claude Hopkins, the grandpa of advertising says
“Advertising is multiplied salesmanship” and “the only purpose
of advertising is to make sales”…I suggest we listen to him.

After all, why re-invent the wheel?

The only purpose of your website is to make sales.  And a money
generating website system is the true definition of multiplied
salesmanship.

After all, it can work for you while you’re sleeping, on the
golf course, or taking a bath.  Or even while you’re working on
something else.

Step one is measurement of where you are right now, so that you
know where to improve.  That’s where the grandson of advertising
comes in.  Here’s just one simple idea of how I can help.

Until next time,
-Wally

P.S. – It’s pretty comforting to know that we can rely on all
the wisdom that comes before us.  But sometimes it turns into
information overload.  To cut through the BS and get 47 minutes
of website wisdom you can refer to over and over again.