Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru
I walked in the front door after my morning constitutional to find a giant bouquet of flowers—and my wife standing behind them, arms crossed. I froze in my tracks as I quickly went through a mental checklist of all the important dates I may have missed. Our anniversary had passed, my wife’s birthday was months away and Mother’s Day was a distant memory. I was in the clear! Or was I? “They’re for you!” were the first words out of Mrs. Winston’s mouth and her accusatory tone told me she wasn’t pleased. Flowers for me? Who on earth could they be from? I was stumped. Blushing like a schoolgirl, I opened the card and laughed out loud when I saw that the bouquet was from my Publisher. He sent them to me in honor of “Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month.” I was touched by his kind gesture but utterly thrilled that my wife of over 20 years thought I still had enough game to receive flowers from another woman.
I told her exactly that as I ushered her into the bedroom for a “nap.” I’ll have to call my Publisher to thank him—not for the flowers, but for the little bout of jealousy they inspired in my still beautiful as ever wife. Needless to say, I didn’t get a lot of work done today but I did learn an important lesson. A little jealously goes a long way. Also, I am allergic to lilies, but that’s beside the point.
I encourage you to incorporate a little jealousy into your marketing plan. How? That’s your job—I’m just an idea man. Besides, the month’s not over yet and I plan to take it easy. If you are really stuck, take a few moments to peruse Rush Imprint’s impressive collection of Cross Pens. They will make your corporate logo shine and are sure to inspire a little healthy jealousy.
Incidentally, September is also “Marriage Health Month” so Mrs. Winston signed us up for a couple’s clay throwing class meant to encourage pair bonding. I tried to explain that a clay throwing class was in direct conflict with “Be Kind to Editors and Writers” month but my pleas fell on deaf ears. Remember, “marriage is sometimes hard but at the end of the day you end up throwing clay.”