Dispatches From The Other Side Of Geezerdom…

Saturday, 4:30pm
Reno, NV

Howdy…

Every so often, I have to remind folks I’m still kicking.

I know I’m old, but I’m not that freaking old. And I’m still working..

Hell, I’ve been recording a new podcast for a couple of months here, co-hosted by Kevin Rogers and that copywriting wunderkind from Australia, Daniel Throssell. It’s easily the most relevant, breathtakingly insightful, and awesome peek behind the scenes of everything essential in marketing today.

Yes, including the travails of AI in supposedly murdering our careers (hasn’t happened), how to score primo copywriting/consultant jobs in a chaotic marketing environment (like now), and precisely how all three of us created our careers (and continue to thrive). Amongst other juicy stuff. Just imagine sitting at a bar with me and my pals here, and we’re just pickled enough to throw all caution to the wind…

… and actually reveal ALL the good secrets, naughty stories, and “uh oh” rumors we’ve been sitting on for decades.

And that’s how our show rolls.

The podcast is piggybacked on the Psych Insights For Modern Marketers podcast Kevin and I did a few years back. This new one is called “The 3G Edition”, cuz we’re still going deep on how to sell shit and destroy your competition, while staying healthy and avoiding the wealth-destroying mistakes most entrepreneurs eventually make…

… except this time we’ve got 3 entire generations of successful marketers and copywriters doing the talking. I’m the older-than-dirt wise ass, Kevin is the X-gen ring leader (20 years younger than me), and Daniel is the upstart millenial (in his early thirties, 20 years younger than Kevin). So you’re getting the honest scoop on every topic we dive into, from three guys who have seen it all, and experiencing the new shockwaves as the brave new world tumbles into chaos yet again. All from the generational point-of-view that cannot be guessed at or imagined by someone not living it.

And no…

… you can’t listen the podcast yet. Even though we’ve got weeks of shows already recorded.

Soon, though, it’ll be available for you. Free, of course. I’ll announce it in my email newsletter (which you can sign up for above) (and get a free bonus while you do).

Kevin assures me we’ll go live in the next 10 days or so.

That’s the big news, I guess. The podcast that will become your new addiction.

But also, I’m just energized enough to start blogging again regularly. Please try to maintain yourself as you absorb that news.

I’ve been ridiculously prolific over my career. Besides all the ads I’ve written that are now among the most ripped-off copy examples in history…

… I’ve written multiple books, decades worth of articles here on the blog, a bevy of courses (all available here on the right side of the blog), mailed an 8-page monthly newsletter for 7 years (over 80 issues to insiders who paid thousands to get copies), still doing my email newsletter (issued several times every week), hosted the most exclusive mastermind group around for a decade, still doing private consulting with all worthwhile clients who ask, and…

Well. You get the picture. Lots and lots of advice, revealed tactics, shared strategies, and so much hand-holding of clients as they stumbled into massive fortunes through the best advertising and marketing I could force them to run.

And yet…

… I STILL haven’t said everything that needs saying. Still haven’t shared the most outrageous stories that defined my career path (my god, the pain of those blunders still hurts, and the joy from the victories plucked from the jaws of defeat still gives me shivers).

Still kicking.

Still alive.

Still relevant.

Maybe even more so. If I sound a bit defensive, it’s cuz I know how this “later in life” gig goes. Most of my mentors thoughout my career were much older than me. Like, geezerville, while I was still a pipsqueak. And I watched them age, and how it affected what they did. Unprepared, it can be a nightmare.

So I stayed prepared. As astonished as I am to be this age — I was convinced I would never live to see 30, let alone 70 — I am not surprised by the changes in how I interact with the world, and vice versa. It’s weird and often dumb, but still exciting.

The cautionary anecdote I tell every young writer or entrepreneur I meet is this one: “When I was a young, arrogant punk, my JOB was to force my way into the room and frighten the old guys with my energy, my balls-to-the-wall approach to advertising, and my unfailing grasp of the modern world’s zeitgeist.

“Then, one day I looked up… and I was twenty years older than the next oldest person in the room. And I couldn’t take my sense of belonging at that table for granted.”

And you know what? Nearly every single person I’ve told that anecdote to eventually came to me… often many, many years later… and admitted they’d had that same moment of reality smacking them in the face. Hard.

I just laugh. When I was younger, I was too busy chewing up the scenery and causing mayhem to consider how life might change for me as I aged. Life was a feast, and I was on the inside, feasting. It was good.

And that’s the thing about getting older. If you’ve lived a self-examined life (the only kind worth living, according to Socrates), you’ve been aware of the signs along the road as you roared down the paths you’s chosen. You kept track of the stories and especially the mishaps and learning moments. And the revelations that arrived with love found, and lost, and found again. Of victories spoiled by believing you couldn’t lose. (Boy, the universe sure loves to deliver THAT message, over and over.) Of the stark light/dark, good/evil, joy/horror duality of existence itself.

And these stories become the basis of your hard-won philosophy of life. You didn’t adopt this philosophy cuz you read it somewhere and it sounded cool. No — this is the philosophy that only arrives AFTER you’ve lived most of your days. You’re looking at the stories, lessons, regrets, victories, all of it. And you see what sort of overarching themes were behind the choices you made. Over all that time.

And that’s where true wisdom comes from. It’s part “been there, done that” and part “I have a pretty good idea how this is gonna turn out”… and part “don’t you fuckskulls ever learn anything?”

That’s where I am now, in my budding geezerhood. I’m past 70 by a couple of years. I’m gray where I used to be dark, and hobbled where I used to be strong and vibrant.

But the old noggin works as well as ever. My memory is uncluttered by the constant assault of data, media, worries and urgent decisions required by the person who is in the middle of their life, trying hard to bend the universe to their will. I don’t give a fuck anymore, and that’s the biggest advantage there is when the universe hovers, threatening to smite you down. I am sharply aware of how lucky I’ve been, of how even my worst decisions somehow worked out okay. Of how many good people I’ve encountered on this long road through a very insane and fast-moving time period. And how many bullets I’ve dodged.

Whew.

I’m not dead. Not even doddering yet. Blood work’s fine, docs haven’t prescribed any drugs for anything yet, and in just about every metric, I’m doing fine.

So, while I have backed away from much of the stuff that defined my career earlier… I’m just chillin’ out now, enjoying this (perhaps) final stage of life. Who knows how much time any of us have left? My mother died at the age I am now. My father lived a vibrant, full life until he was 96. They both survived a world with war, famine, financial disaster, more war, horrible diseases, and the ravages of awful leaders. Both found love and fulfillment and only left cuz their ticket got punched.

Writing has been my life since I was a young boy. Helping others has been my “job” since I found a toe-hold in the guru world of influence and mentoring.

I like what I do. I intend to continue doing it until I’m dragged away from the keyboard (or the microphone) kicking and screaming. It’s my gig.

So I hope you check out the 3G podcast when it’s finally released. We’ve been doing it weekly, and will release multiple shows at once when we go live. I hope you binge on them. And I hope you send in questions and comments, and become one the tribe.

Meanwhile, make sure you’re getting my several-days-a-week email newsletter. And reading some of the blog posts that we’re cycling up top (they’re all evergreen and worth the read).

And I’ll see you again soon, here.

Stay frosty

John