Joey Chestnuts is the undisputed hot dog eating champion of the world. He is a 15-time winner of Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog
Eating Contest, held annually on Coney Island. Mr. Chestnuts holds the world record for once eating a whopping 76 hot dogs in just 10 minutes.
In an article in the Daily Record (7/5/22), Joey Chestnuts said:
“Most athletes have two kinds of primes. Their first prime is when their body is the best. I’ve passed that prime. The second prime is when their mind and knowledge is at its best.”
Pukatacious as eating a pile of hot dogs may be, Chestnuts makes an important point that applies to a huge number of activities — and copywriting happens to be one of them.
Namely, when people are younger, many find that their mind, body, and energy are at their peak.
So young copywriters may have more stamina and energy than many (but not all) of us graybeard ad scribes.
The second prime for copywriters comes in our later years, when what we (may) lack in youthful vim and verve, we more than make up for with our decades of experience and knowledge.
We have rigorously studied the fundamentals — AXIOMS of Marketing of which many people today are blissfully unaware.
We have participated in many more A/B split tests — and split tests show you, backed by hard numbers, what worked best and what fell short of the market.
And we have written an enormous number of promotions.
That way, when a new client or project arises, the odds are good that we already have extensive experience in that marketing channel and product category.
So, the marketing problem the client needs solved is one we have already solved many times with success — increasing our odds of another winner in that particular niche.
P.S. Joey claims he is indeed an “athlete,” because this association officially recognizes hot dog eating as a sport: https://majorleagueeating.com/
P.P.S. Once in college, a fraternity challenged me and my compadres on the college newspaper to an eating contest with sub sandwiches. It was an unpleasant and nauseating experience I urge you not to duplicate.
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Robert W. Bly is a freelance copywriter and marketing consultant with 3 decades of experience in business-to-business, high-tech, and direct marketing. He is the first AXIOMS EXPERT at Kallisti Publishing Inc.
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