Maurilio Amorim

Month: February 2013

  • The Happiness Advantage

    Some believe happiness comes from finding themselves in the right places, relationships, job, or income level.  I don’t believe that, and in recent years there is enough evidence from the field of psychology in what I have believed all along: happiness is not a byproduct of success. The opposite is actually true: happy people become successful.

    happiness advantage

    After finishing reading Shawn Achor’s book, “The Happiness Advantage,” I bought a copy for everyone on my team.  Shawn’s work is well researched without being didactic. It offers practical steps even for those who are not naturally prone to be happy.  I highly recommend it.

    One of the points that resonated with me the most came from a 40-year-old study directed by psychologist George Vaillant. He summed up his findings in one word “love—full stop.”  In his words, there are “70 years of evidence that our relationships with other people matter and matter more than anything else in the world.”

    As a Christian I knew that. After all, people matter to God. God’s relationship with us was so important that He sent His son to redeem it. I’ve preached it from the pulpit.

    And yet we, no, I, too often sacrifice long-term relationships because of pettiness and self-righteous indignation. “It’s not my turn to call. If he wants to know how I’m doing, he’ll call.”  I have cut people out of my life because of an insensitive remark I found offensive. Just like that. Sometimes I have moments of lucidity and my inner dialogue kicks in, “are you willing to lose a friend over so little an offense? How stupid are you?” Well, pretty stupid at times.

    I want to live and lead from a place of grace and enjoy life-long relationships that define who I am and the legacy I leave behind. Ultimately my happiness depends on how successful I am at doing that. The competing forces of power, money, and pleasure never deliver on their promises. They never have.

    How’s your social network? How close are you to those around you?

  • How to Write Marketing Copy that Works

    Words are powerful. They can move people into action. They inspire, they challenge, they amuse, but words also sell. Regardless of your industry, you are in sales. We all are, especially those who are in the non-profit sector or church leadership. It’s perhaps the most important of all sales: hope for better days and the ultimate hope of eternal life. Here are some key points to consider when writing copy that’s going to be used to compel and motivate people into action.

    compelling marketing copy

    Write to a person. Unless you understand your target audience, you cannot communicate effectively. Writing to “everyone” guarantees that you reach “no one.” Have a person in mind as you craft your words. Are you writing to a 50 year-old business professional, or a 35-year old stay-at-home mom with snotty-nose kids running around the house?

    Understand your audience’s motivation. Forget your agenda for a minute and try to think of your audience’s needs. I recently saw a commercial for a local congregation featuring the preacher talking about the church’s choir and their lovely sanctuary while showing shots of him preaching from the pulpit. I couldn’t help thinking “what a waste of money.”  The number one question we all ask when confronted with an offer or an option is a simple but powerful one: “What’s in this for me?” If you don’t understand people’s motivation, you cannot compel them to move forward. Your motivation, the “right thing to do,” are all irrelevant in moving people into action. Find out what’s important to them first, then lead with that. Instead of a generic spot about the church, that congregation would have seen more fruit from trying to begin with its audience’s needs first.  Since I know about the church and its perception as a strong family church, I would have led the spot with something like “Growing a strong family is not easy these days. But we are here to help you.” That’s a simple line but it is written to motivate the spiritual decision maker of the home, the mom, to bring her family to church. It solves a problem every mom in America is facing as she tries to keep her family together and growing strong.

    Have a strong value proposition. In any marketing or persuasive copy writing you must answer the “so what?” question. It amazes me how often I intersect marketing pieces that fail to give me the pay off. In our sentence above, the value proposition is simple and yet very compelling: if you want a strong family, we can help you get there.

    Give clear next steps. You must close the deal. If you got my attention and gave me a value proposition, then the next question you must answer is “what do you want from me?” If we continue the church commercial script, I would create a clear call to action like this: “Join me this Sunday for a new teaching series…Power Parenting…and find the tools to love and grow your family.” In this example, I want you to come this Sunday, because there is a “new” teaching series. People like to be in something new and it’s timely, since it will no longer be new a couple of weeks from now. It’s also a series which implies a limited amount of time. Yet another easy way to get a “yes.”

    What else would you add to this list?

     

  • 4 Questions to Help You Figure Out Your Next Move

    “I’m not sure what to do next with my life.” It’s a familiar phrase I hear quite often these days. The economic downturn has created uncertainties and opportunities. People have lost jobs. Career paths that seemed promising a few years ago are now no longer viable. Quite often I talk with people whose lives are at a crossroads–sometimes of their choosing, most often not. Recently I heard Phil Cooke speak briefly about four questions we all should ask before deciding what to do next.

    4-questions

    1. What comes easy for you? That’s what you are naturally gifted at doing.

    2.What are you passionate about? What gets your pulse to quicken and your eyes to light up?

    3. What do you hate? Perhaps you should solve that problem.

    4. What do you want to leave behind? That’s your legacy…what you want to be remembered by.

    Even if you are not looking to change careers, it’s interesting to answer these questions. Your answer to them might be a good gauge to how happy you are in your current career path.

    After answering those questions, how do you feel about your job?