That's another fine mess I've got myself into... and uncommon wisdom from some young bloods

I assume you recognise that Laurel and Hardy catch-phrase.

Anyhow, I'm always saying stuff that gets me into trouble when I should know better.

For instance the other day I blithely said I'd put a video up every day.

Well, that was a dumb idea, as I learned when I started sending out a helpful marketing idea every day.

People wrote and said they couldn't keep up with them - so I spaced them out a bit more. I'll do the same with the videos.

Anyhow, that brings me, by no logical route, to something I saw at 3 in the morning on TV which reminded me of a simple truth about human motivation.

I was watching this programme where two posh girls went and spent some time in one of those housing estates - projects they call them in the U.S. - where half the young people are unemployed.

In one scene they met three young black guys, who were sitting on a bench looking as sinister as they could possibly manage.

One of the girls asked, "Why do you do all this bad stuff?"

One of the guys answered: "It's rep, innit?"

When he was asked why that mattered, he said, "If you're not known, who are you?"

That simple statement said more about why people do what they do and feel how they feel than anything I've heard for a long time.

For instance, why do people hate recorded answerphone messages more than anything else in life? Why do they loathe politicians and bureaucrats? Why do so many hate their jobs?

Because they're not in control.

And that is one of the keys to persuasion. Allow people to control their lives and you have happy people.

By the way, I just read that a man I used to deal with is setting up a new bank. Some interviewer in Marketing magazine asked him if it was going to be "an entirely London-centric brand". What a pillock!

Best,
Drayton
www.eadim.com
www.draytonbirdcommonsense.com