I never thought I’d see the day when people would openly confess their A.I. sins – to their email list instead of a priest.

These confessions bring a big cheesy, Cheshire cat grin to my face, mostly because I’m still not convinced the confession is real.

It still reeks, at least to the lower heavens, the way a skunk that was run over a week ago still puts out an awful stench.

I couldn’t help but think that the confession may have been written by A.I., at least in part.

In another realm, I recently read someone’s blog wherein there was a “big reveal” about how to detect when a writer is using A.I. – and once again, my olfactory glands detected an offensive smell.

It’s not this; it’s that. —

Sure, that’s one of the easiest ways to detect A.I. – but in my view, so are all the emails composed of sentences (and paragraphs) that are five words long.

Here’s an example of what these “writers” and A.I. really think about your ability to read:

See Dick Run.

See Jane Run.

See Spot Run.

Or here’s my modern day bastardized version:

Everything I write.

If it’s too long.

The idiots won’t read.

Use brain dead sentences.

Keep em short.

Paragraphs too.

Then there are the A.I. geniuses who will look at what I’ve written and get a non-ingenious idea to “teach A.I. how to write undetectable copy.”

Personally, I’m glad to see (but not hear) the confessions, but I’m still shocked. Some mighty fine marketers done drunk the cyanide – and once they lose the ability to write and create with their own consciousness, they run the risk of never being able to get it back.

The brain is a wonderful organ to have and use. Unfortunately, the this organ also takes notes on what parts of it are no longer being used, and makes unilateral decisions about what it will delete.

This means your brain doesn’t ask for your consent before it begins putting holes in your noggin.

Strange and true.

Matt Furey

P.S. The September issue of my Zen Mastery Newsletter goes out tomorrow. And not one word of it, ever, has been “written” or regurgitated by A.I. You can subscribe by going here.

It’s easy to think that if you just do a little writing each day, you’ll never get anywhere. But the opposite of what we’re told is “reality” is the God’s honest truth.

The misleaders will urge you to 10X your results. You ran a mile yesterday, so run ten miles today. You ran ten miles, now run a hundred. You ran a hundred, now run a thousand.

Are you fatigued and frustrated just thinking about this load of garbage?

You wrote for 10 minutes yesterday so write for 100 minutes today. 100 minutes? Now do 1,000.

Why hell, 1,000 minutes of writing is only 16.66666667 hours. Buckle up and clamp down. If you want to be a big shot, this is the way you’re supposedly supposed to shoot.

Sorry Charlie – and Charlene.

The key to acquiring and keeping the writing habit is having a sustainable and maintainable daily goal. The goal can be one based upon a specified number of words; or it can be based upon time.

You can write from ten minutes to two or more hours per day. Or you can write 100, 200, or 2,000 words per day. Or you can write way more than 2,000.

The key question, though, is what level can you sustain and maintain, day after day, month after month, year after year?

And guess what? There is no definitive answer for everyone, although there are people who will tell you they have the only answer.

If you set your daily writing goal too high, you’ll know because about all you will have to show are mostly blank pages.

This may surprise you, and I challenge you to prove me wrong – but I’ve taught people that you cannot set a daily writing goal that is too small.

Ponder that one for a second or two and see if it turns into a minute.

Many of my best-ever writing days began with a single word or phrase that I wrote on a 3×5 card.

And the next thing I knew…

Matt Furey

Question of the Day

Dear Matt,

I’m curious about your editing process. How many times do you edit what you’ve written before you are satisfied?

W. Earle DeHurt

Dear W.

Se depende, as they say in eSpanish and, I’m told, Portuguese. Here’s are some examples and benchmarks to ponder and put into place, if they make sense to you:

a. Emails – zero to three edits

b. Articles – three to four edits

c. Newsletters – four to six edits

d. Books – ten to twenty-some edits

And now, for a deeper dive on each…

Emails – as I stated many lite beers ago, email is similar to talk radio. You can edit some, but ekspecially in today’s A.I. driven whirld, you might be much better off leaving your Thai-pos in.

Articles – in the olden days of cranking out a monthly column for newsmagazines, I would spend eight hours on an 800-word piece. For a longer article, let’s say 2,000 words, it took about the same amount of time, as it can be more difficult to be terse when you’re not being verbose. Over the years, as the writing habit became habitual, I could write and edit the same 800-words in an hour.

Newsletters – this is where explaining the editing process can be a little “hairy” and sketchy. I write three newsletters each month; two of which are 6,000-plus words; one that is a two-pager filled with Zen quips, questions and observations. The two-pager goes through multiple edits as being concise and precise, simultaneously, is wear and tear on the pupils.

For the longer newsletters, such as Zen Mastery (how’s that for a shame-filled plug) I often write 500-1,000 words on Day One to get the plough moving. On Day Two, I begin at the beginning, editing what I wrote the day before, while adding another 2,000 words or so. On Day Three, I begin at the top once again, then add another 2,000 to 3,000 words. Day Four begins with another edit from the top – and another round or two after it is laid out. Sometimes I write the whole thang in less time – but four days is the norm.

Books – “Books are evil,” Dan Kennedy once stated, as he continued to write more and more of them. You might wonder how books are evil when they can do so much good. You may also be confused as to why the person who said books are evil continues to write and publish them. I could answer sassily and I suppose I will by saying, “tis for me to know and you to find out.”

Poisonally, I’ve written books quickly and have curtailed the editing process to no more than a few times. On other occasions I have edited a book ten times, but my latest, The Zen Zone: Be the One Who Gets It Done, went through 20-plus edits. I guess you could say that this book is my “magnificent obsession,” and the editing of it was in many ways, a scavenger hunt where you “get high” looking for anything and everything that is even slightly unsatisfactory.

The level of editing for a book such as The Zen Zone cannot be done by those who insist on getting their beauty rest, or those who live by the sleep clock. And having other night owls to collaborate with makes the process so much better. In my view, greatness comes to you when others are busy sleeping their lives away.

The key is finding people who treat your book as though it is their own, but do not change or attempt to kill your style. For me this means that your fellow editor(s) must recognize deliberate mixedschpellings and have a wry and soured-dough sense of humor. This is where the logical and the magical comingle.

In my next Zen Mastery Newsletter, which goes out on August 1, I’ll be doing a much deeper dive into what I believe makes good writing GREAT.

Would love to see you onboard the Zen Member-Ship.

Matt Furey

P.S. I did a little editing on this here email – and I hope there’s some missed-stakes that I can pull out later. Email is talk radio.

Last night my daughter, Faith, asked, “What if you think what you’ve written is boring?”

“Did you think what you wrote for me last week was boring?” I countered.

“Yes,” she nodded.

“Well then, that’s why you have someone else read what you wrote. You’re not a good judge… YET.”

I grabbed a copy of a book I wrote, Psycho-Cybernetics 365, and read her the entry for June 18.

“Did you think that was boring?” I asked.

“No,” said Faith. “I thought it was really helpful. It made me think.”

“Great, but to me, it’s nothing but a simple story. There’s nothing flashy about it at all. Before reading it to you, I figured that you’d think it was boring.”

“Do you ever know that something you wrote isn’t boring?” Faith asked.

“Sure, sometimes. But I don’t sit around thinking about whether something is boring or not when I write. I just write. Period.”

Long pause.

Then I picked up another book.

I read the first paragraph, then I put the book down and said, “You’re making this overly complicated. Simplify. Go have a cup of coffee and read something as you sip. Then write about it. You might be surprised how many people are interested in what you’re drinking – and what comes out of you while doing so.”

Simplify.

Lose your F.O.B.B.

Your Fear of Being Boring.

Matt Furey

By the way, I’ll be going into even more detail about overcoming the “fear of being boring” in the Zen Mastery Copywriting Intensive I’m having tomorrow at 1 PM EST – along with a special guest who has been nailing what I’m barking about here, day-after-day, for over 20 years. If you want the link to enroll – email me now at

When someone sends me a message with an emoji, unless I’m having a bald hair day, I don’t reply.

The reason is simple: I’m a wordsmith not an emojismith.

My business is about words and how I can use them to paint pictures on the shelves in peoples’ minds; pictures that teach something of value; pictures that arouse feelings that lead toward success and accomplishment in others.

Emojis?

I refrain from using them because if I did, I’m no longer using words to make a point.

Someone might say in response, “But with an emoji you can get straight to a feeling without using a word.”

If I were going to argue the point with you, which I won’t, I would say, “Great. Write me a headline emoji for a product and see if I read any further.”

The way I see it, in an old-school sort of way, emojis dumb down the brain.

That’s why those who answer something I’ve written with a thumbs-up, or heart, or care bear, or fire symbol, or hand clap, or whatever, never see a word or an emoji from me in return.

I don’t participate in the charade. I’d rather learn the definition for the word “smith.”

Hmmm. Let’s see how the word “smith” is tagged onto the words for various trades, such as blacksmith, whitesmith, coppersmith, goldsmith, silversmith, gunsmith, swordsmith, shoesmith, locksmith, booksmith, wordsmith, and while we’re at it… how about Aerosmith.

What’s more, if you’re a wrestling historian, there’s the heroics of two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, John Smith.

The word “smith,” in and of itself, is so common and yet so overlooked, I wish I was the author of People Named Smith (1950), but H. Allen Smith beat me to it before I got my first spanking.

And now that I think about it, I’m prone to wonder why we say, “Keeping up with the Joneses,” when we ought to be studying the Smiths and blowing that old tired cliché to smith-ereens.

Now, just so you know, I don’t expect someone who uses emojis to stop doing so on account of what I’ve written. In fact, I would expect the emoji users to double-down and start “Jonesin'” for more.

Even if I were packin’ a Smith & Wesson…

Matt Furey

KnockoutMarketing.com

P.S. We have a few seats left for the Zen Mastery Copywriting Intensive I’m conducting this Saturday, June 20, at 1 PM EST, that I’m conducting with the best student of “getting ‘er done” that I have ever coached.

Want to attend and learn the unrevealed and unrivaled Secret of Secrets about what it really takes to kick butt and take names as a wordsmith? Then email me at and I’ll send you the link.

Let’s see… I guess I’ll take you back to October of 2002, when I stayed in the cabin where Sylvester Stallone wrote Rocky – on the grounds of the former Muhammad Ali Training Camp in Deer Lake, Pennsylvania.

The camp is often called “Fighter’s Heaven.” For Stallone, it could also be called “Writer’s Heaven” because that’s where he wrote the script for Rocky in three and a half days.

This alone is a lesson.

Write fast.

Or as Stallone would say, “Get to the finish.”

Most writers tinker. They dawdle. They stall.

They think too much and write too little. They take forever to get to the finish.

But what is “the finish?” that Stallone was talking about?

It was the first draft for the movie-script that he said was “90 percent terrible.”

Huh?

The script for a major motion picture that won three academy awards, including best movie, best director and best film editing… was 90 percent terrible?

Yes.

So how did Rocky go from 90 percent terrible to “best movie?”

By getting to “the finish?”

Yes.

Why?

Because once you have something on paper, you can make it better, but if you have nothing on paper, you ain’t got squat.

The process is similar to running laps around the track. The first lap is a warmup. The second is faster and requires less effort. And so on.

Finished, but 90 percent terrible, is a good thing.

Not even started, 100 percent unwritten, that’s the worst place to be because you have no momentum.

Sylvester Stallone will also tell you that’s he’s not a very good writer.

Oh boy, does he suffer from low self-esteem or what?

The answer is: Who cares if you have low or high self-esteem? The book, movie, email, etc. isn’t about YOU and your esteem levels. It’s about the thing you’re bringing into being.

The focus is on “IT,” not you… or YOU.

You don’t become a great writer, much less a prosperous one because you think you’re God’s gift.

You become great by focusing on the gift you have – and giving it a whirl, even if you think the gift is bad in comparison to others.

Put your focus on seeing yourself finishing what you started – then go back to it and add several layers of finish.

Then, when you are truly finished, you can put both fists in the air and declare: DONE.

Goal Gotten.

Matt Furey

P.S. We’re well over halfway and it’s going to be GREAT. 18 seats are left for the Zen Mastery Copywriting Intensive I’m conducting this Saturday, June 20, at 1 PM EST. Want to attend and learn more about what it takes to kick butt; more than you ever bargained for? Then email me at and I’ll send you the link.

In the first seminar I ever gave on copywriting, I committed an error. I didn’t think it was an error. In fact, I thought I was “just telling it like it is.”

Then along came a ho bunch of other copywrongers, who believed they were teaching the right approach.

“Writing is hard, hard work,” they said.

And they didn’t stop there. They added words such as blood, sweat and tears, rolling up yer shirt sleeves, and cutting open a vein.

To this day these notions make me shake my head, usually in disgust… slowly. Sometimes I will admit to getting a bit angry, too. I’ll admit to wanting to scream, “We’re not talking about giving birth here, or shingling a roof in the summer. All we’re doing is playing with words.”

People who claim writing is hard work were either taught wrong, or they’re being melodramatic about something that is supposed to be a lot easier than they’re making it out to be. Or they believe that something that is not difficult isn’t worth doing.

These people have an unvested interest in making things hard, I suppose, so they can gloat about how hard they work.

Over the years I’ve personally coached and mentored many people who are now millionaires. And all of them will tell you that a big part of their rise from the ashes was learning to make the writing process easier than they thought it should be.

Again, if you insist on writing being hard work, you were taught wrong.

One of the sayings I coined over 20 years ago, goes as follows: “The easier it is for you to write – the easier it is for them to read.”

Now, you can object to this idea and continue to give yourself labor pains – or you can expand your mind and begin to imagine and hone your chops different.

You can uncover the “core secret” I learned 33 years ago – a secret that applies to all forms of writing, including emails, salesletters, articles, newsletters and books.

On Saturday, June 20, at 1 PM EST, I’ll be holding another Zen Mastery Copywriting Intensive, where you’ll be learning from me as well as my #1 email copywriting student.

In fact, he’s so good at writing emails that it has afforded him the time and the resources to go where few men (or women) have ever gone before.

How so?

Well, let me put it this way: He has the equivalent of a PhD in 10 different arenas, since he got started writing.

How could that be?

It’s because the more you write – the more you learn.

By the way, I recently read that it’s not a good idea to use the word “learn” in your copy.

This may be true at times, but the flip side of the Rubik’s cube tells me otherwise.

Want to learn the core secret of writing with effortless ease? Then email me for the link to the Zen Mastery Intensive being held on June 20 – at .

In reply I will send you a link to enroll – nothing more.

Also, subscribers to my monthly newsletter will attend at a discount. If you’re not subscribed and want the discount – you can click the link shown beneath my name at the bottom of this email.

The Intensive will be held over Zoom. It will run a couple hours. And yes, you will receive a recording afterward.

Don’t just do it.

Do it easier, smarter and better – with The REAL DOPE.

Matt Furey

Back in my heyless days, before I had a pot to pee in or a window to throw it out, I learned a secret that catapulted me out of the writing doldrums.

I cover it from time to time, and the smart people I have mentored take it seriously and begin using it.

As a result, their writing becomes a snap instead of a struggle. Readers not only glom onto every word written – they become raving fans.

This secret isn’t an unknown secret, but it is to most writers, and especially to almost all copywriters.

With it your writing has punch, pop and pizzazz. Without it you’re stuck in the muck before you start.

This secret is so powerful it has to be reviewed regularly. It’s similar to ball players going to Spring Training. You don’t want to be thrown into a game without it.

Each time you review this secret you get better at using it and seeing it in every type of writing, or art, for that matter.

ALL of the greatest of the great used it. Similar to the old ad for American Express, you don’t dare leave home without it.

Well, ten days from now, I’m going to cover this secret again in another episode of the Zen Mastery Copywriting Intensive series I’ve been doing.

The first part of this Intensive will be an interview with a man who learned copywriting directly from me.

And in my view he has truly nailed this secret. I would even go so far as to say he’s the BEST EXAMPLE of using it the way I teach it – and has been doing so for more than 20 years.

He’s got a massive body of work that proves it, too, which you’ll be able to learn from in a big way.

Part two of this Intensive will be where I walk you through the tried, tested and scientific ways to practice this skill and make it part of every type of copy you write, from emails, to salesletters, to articles, newsletters, and books.

Once you have the habit with the written word, you’ll see how this secret weaves its way into the words you speak, the videos you create, even the pictures you take.

I’ll walk you through the steps I followed, starting with the easiest drills that get the ball rolling.

And I’ll make you the following promise: When you do the drills I’ll be teaching you, your copywriting skills will double, if not triple, in record time. People won’t be able to stop reading what you write, and they won’t know why, which is nice!

In fact, by the time this Intensive concludes, you will have the keys to the kingdom. You’ll see writing in a way you never saw it before – and you’ll have the skill yourself.

The fee for this Zen Mastery Copywriting Intensive is $97 for members (those who are subscribed to my monthly newsletter – hint-hint).

If you’re not subscribed to Zen Mastery yet, the fee is $197 and will go up as we move closer to the date of the event, which is June 20 at 1 PM EST.

Want to attend and dramatically upgrade your skills?

Then email me at for the link to enroll.

I won’t be sending you any additional salescopy about the event. What I’ve covered in this email ought to be enough to whet your whistle and make your soul salivate. Nor will I chase after you if you express interest but can’t stop procrastinating.

Got the desire? Good.

Now follow it up with ACTION>.

Email me at to get the link to enroll NOW.

Attendance will be limited as I want to insure you get the most bang for your bucks. And I’ve already signed up several people who haven’t even read this email.

Let’s Go!

Matt Furey

KnockoutMarketing.com

P.S. If you want the discounted link that those who already enrolled got, you’ll need to be subscribed to my Zen Mastery Newsletter. You can click on the aforementioned underlined words to enroll first and get the special discount link.

P.P.S. This here email was written without a second or third edit. Any thai-pos will have to make due.

Last weekend I was in a restaurant waiting for a waiter to wait on me.

After a few minutes, a tall one emerged from the invisible wilderness. “Hi, my name is Carrie and I’ll be taking care of you.”

“Carrie is taking care,” I replied.

“Oh,” she blushed, “I didn’t mean it that way. No pun intended.”

“Never let a pun go unintended,” I said. “What’s life without a laugh?”

“You’re my kinda guy,” Carrie smiled. “I think we’ll get a long good.”

Following my meal I went to the gas station to fill up on water. I spotted Kyle behind the counter, a hyper-intense employee who, uncharacteristically, is always eager to do some diligence.

“What can I do for you?” he asked before I could say anything.

“How about you grab me two cases of Montana’s Best from the cooler in the back?”

“You want two cases of the liter bottles, right?” he said while speed walking to get them.

“Correctomundo,” I answered.

“You got it. Be right back.”

Kyle emerged a minute later and requested my help to place the two cases of water on the counter.

“Got any extravagant plans for today?” he asked as I was making payment.

“I’ll answer that question if you can tell me what ‘vagant’ means?” I said.

“I have no idea what that means,” Kyle answered. “What’s it mean?”

Amazingly, he grabbed a blank sheet of paper and a pen as I began, writing the word ‘vagant’ in cursive.

“The word ‘vagant’ means to wander around aimlessly,” I began. “So if I had extravagant plans, that oughta mean that I’m wandering around even MORE aimlessly than I already am.”

“Damn, that’s fascinating,” Kyle smiled. “Always in the mood to learn something I don’t already know.”

“That makes two of us,” I answered while grabbing both cases.

“You sure you don’t need any help carrying those out to your truck?”

“I’m not an old geezer yet,” I answered.

“Haha. Have a great day, sir.”

When I got home, I wandered aimfully into my office and made some notes. Would I use these seemingly meaningless encounters in a newsletter, a book, an email, or just forget about them as nothing especial?

Material to write about is all around us. It’s contained within every thought and encounter.

The question is, do you have the eyes and ears to see and listen?

If not – find ’em.

Matt Furey

P.S. If you enjoyed today’s email, then I’m betting you’ll love being a subscriber to Zen Mastery, my monthly info-taining newsletter, that’s filled with amazingly useful ideas and information that’ll improve your overall writing and marketing by leaps and bounds.

Go here NOW to enroll and get a ‘ho bunch’ of other goodies to feast on.