It’s been a bad week to be a celebrity. Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Billy Mays, and Karl Malden all died this week.
Just last week I was reading a profile about Billy Mays and the impact he’s had on direct marketing. In the interview, it discussed about how he pretty much replaced Ron Popeil as the best known TV marketer. One of the big differences was that he was a marketer where Popeil was an inventor. Both rare talents, both necessary.
One of the things I find most interesting about the coincidence of Mays passing so soon after Ed McMahon was that, in their early years, they both worked the boardwalk in Atlantic City, pitching products to passer-bys. That’s got to be a tough sell with all the other attractions/distractions all around. It must also be a great place to learn marketing, sales, and people.
There have been so many bright lights dimmed in the past few years. I feel a loss from all of them. I never met Ed McMahon or Billy Mays but still learned a lot from them. Others that I have met miss even more are Mac Ross, Barney Zick, and Dottie Walters.
I met Barney Zick and Mac Ross through Jay Abraham events. Both were master copywriters and marketers. I remember Mac talking about the phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words”. His response was that if he could pick the thousand words, he could craft a mental image to convey almost any idea he wanted and add emotion on top. Barney was also a marvelous speaker and organizer.
Dottie Walters I met though one of Mark Victor Hansen’s writer/speaker events. She was a seven foot tall bundle of enthusiasm in a little five foot body and a major part of the professional speaking world. I don’t know know how tall she really was, but she was certainly a giant in my mind.
One thing they all had in common (among many) was that they were always friendly and willing to give good advice, even if it wasn’t what you wanted to hear. They were busy, productive, had businesses and clients galore, but if they could help you, they would.
That was one of the biggest lessons they taught.