Don't Die and Don't Divorce
aka the secret to a long marriage
In today's edition of Burke's Bits:
How to Stay Married 32 Years
Marketing Tip for Business
From the Research Files
Pun of the Day
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How to Stay Married 32 Years
My handsome and funny husband and I celebrated our anniversary this week.
32 years. That's a long time, isn't it? Sometimes it feels like we got married last year. Other times it feels full on like we've been married 32 years.
Together we have faced
the good...and the bad
the fun...and the serious
the good health...and the deadly illnesses
the deaths of friends...and the arrival of new friends
the loss of material goods...and the gain of appreciation for understanding that we have enough
financial highs...and financial lows
32 years of memory-making experiences. More often than not with others, exploring our world through the people in our lives, taking chances and risks that sometimes proved to be winners and other times ... not so much.
Oh, how to stay married this long?
We did it the old fashioned way - neither of us has died and neither of us considers divorce to be an option. Therefore, we've had to learn how to live with each other. And in the process, we learned how to enjoy each other's company.
We faired better than many during the lockdowns of Covid. Oh there was stress, but we managed to control ourselves and how we talked to each other because we knew we had limited options ... no running to a friend's house for a break, no shooting pool or going to a movie. No traveling to see family. No museums or fun parks or libraries or bowling or ... anything because they were shut down. So we relied on games: board games, Dominos, cards. We enjoyed binge watching old and new programs on television. We brought out the old Nintendo 64 and Wii and entertained ourselves.
And we made it through just fine.
I'm still glad I said "yes" 32 years ago. And I am looking forward to seeing what the next 32 bring us.
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Marketing Tip
This week is week 2 into a study of the book Breakthrough Advertising. I am hosting this study on Discord (if you have a copy of the book you're welcome to join us here: https://discord.gg/NpsedFuZ )
We discussed the preface, introduction, and Chapter 1.
From Chapter 1, I got these insights. Maybe you can use them to make sure your marketing is going to succeed:
Never ask your message to create the desire for what your offer will give them.
The purpose of advertising is to focus the existing desire of your ideal buyer onto your offer/product.
If your intention is to create desire where none exists, the only way to do that is to educate first. And educating a market is much less profitable...either you will break even or lose money.
Think about the ads you see for your favorite products. They tap into your desire to relax, to feel refreshed, to be clean and attractive to others, to be financially secure.
What does your message do now?
Are you trying to create the desire so your prospect sees the value?
Or are you tapping into their existing desire for the results and showing them your offer is the solution?
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From the Research Files
aka random bits of info you may or may not be able to use in your life
Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss) once worked in advertising with his most famous ad campaign being one he created for Standard Oil who owned “Flit”, a popular insecticide of the day during the Great Depression - in 1928.
The campaign slogan was “Quick, Henry, the Flit!”, which was more or less the “Got Milk?” or “Where’s the Beef?” of its day. The campaign lasted for a good 17 years.
Source: https://www.crossville-chronicle.com/opinion/random-thoughts-quick-henry-the-flit/
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Pun of the Day
I went to a wedding where all the guests ended up getting food poisoning from the buffet. It was a real party pooper.
With Gratitude,
Charlene Burke
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“My husband has made me laugh. Wiped my tears. Hugged me tight. Watched me succeed. Seen me fail. Kept me strong. My husband is a promise that I will have a friend forever.” – Unknown