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Goodbye to the "Go-To Guy"

Imagine having a "Go-To Guy" for everything in your life. You could ask this one person about marketing, economics, politics, literature, manufacturing - you name it. Your "Go-To Guy" would draw on his vast experience, intellect and compassion and come up with the right answer. Not the answer you may be fishing for, but the right answer as proven in the fullness of time. This is who Mac Ross was to me.

Mac Ross had an Olympian view of what was going on in the world in which he lived, as well as complete mastery over the tactical feet-on-the-ground mechanics and what had to be done within that global context. Mac Ross was a Renaissance man.

I spoke to Mac less than two weeks prior to his leaving us on April 28, 2006. While his voice wasn't as robust as usual, it did have that hallmark tone of curiosity. Despite recovering from an operation, Mac wanted to know about things outside himself, which was always the case.

"How's business, Lar?"
"Great Mac, I just had my best quarter yet."
"Maybe you want to consider raising your rates?"

Mac Ross delighted in imagining the possibilities. He regularly challenged his own assertions. He certainly challenged mine and opened my eyes up to things I didn't know existed. I'm talking about the types of changes that have tectonic impact on one's life. He didn't do it in a preachy way, either.

How he stayed forever young: I met Mac through his brother Rod back in the '70s. I didn't think of him as a very accessible character back then. I mentioned this to him recently. He said the right marriage had a lot to do with his sunnier outlook, which in turn made him much more approachable. He also expressed much delight in the fresh perspectives that three daughters bring to the party. It seemed to me that he did get younger as time went on.

The most brilliant man I ever met: Despite his brilliance, he was very even-keeled. Most people that smart are pretty eccentric and often have problems managing their above-average intelligence. Not Mac.

Traveling beyond the comfort zone: While my marketing experience was Madison Avenue and Internet marketing in the early '90s, Mac was hot in direct response and newsletter marketing. He brought me into doing Jay Abraham seminars where companies paid $25,000 for a week of intensive hands-on marketing workshops. As you can imagine, companies who could afford such a price tag were pretty successful. They got good value. They walked away knowing what they had to do in marketing for the next year and often for five years out.

The attendees to these seminars didn't want theoretical marketing hot air. They didn't want award-winning advertising. They wanted marketing programs that worked. That's what they got.

Mac was outstanding when it came to hot-seat sessions. He could get at someone's real issue by asking the probing question. He was looking for the unvarnished truth. Very often, he noted the real issue wasn't what the person thought it was. In fact, often enough, the real issue was psychological or emotional and not at all a business issue.

Dream big, but don't hallucinate: Mac inspired me to aim high on projects, but not unrealistically so. I would hear him say in seminars "Say to yourself…‘I know it's not possible to do that; but if it were, what would it look like?'"

At the same time, Mac was full of tough love. I remember what he said at one hot-seat session with a woman who was shooting for a totally unrealistic career target. He said frankly that he thought she'd be better off aiming for something more attainable. The audience was more of the rah-rah opinion that anybody can do anything, but he was undeterred. He thought that one's time and energy was best spent aiming for something you have a real shot at getting. Makes sense to me.

Seeing around corners: Mac helped me develop a second newsletter in addition to Web Digest For Marketers. I was all set to launch it, and he suddenly said, "Hold off. There's a recession coming, and things will get tough for advertising-supported media." This was in 2000. I didn't release the new publication. The rest is history.

Over the years, Mac influenced my Web Digest For Marketers email newsletter. Coming attractions are always a good idea. People like to see what's next. So the intro to my newsletter now always features "Coming Attractions", which in turn, creates inquiries from prospective advertisers. It also persuades pass-alongers to subscribe.

Know what to say when: Mac worked independently as well as doing stints for McGraw-Hill's newsletter division, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, as well as Phillips Publishing. He'd sell gold Panda coins to subscribers or launch entirely new newsletters that resonated with the times. He could smell the next big thing and go there before it happened. "With a paid subscription newsletter, people are often buying the promotion or the bonus; but when they re-up for the first time, that's when they're really buying the newsletter itself," he once shared with me.

I had the distinct privilege of watching him compose an email sales letter for my "Need-to-Know Marketing Sites" product a few years ago. His approach reminded me of a sculptor. Writing some, then sitting back and reflecting on it, confident in his ability to shape it to perfection.

Mac advised me to make this product also available in print. I balked, saying I didn't want to get into that end of the business. He said people would pay a hefty premium. Don't you know, people requested a print edition, and we made far more money per item on it than on each online unit sold.

Mac had ink in his veins: He had an actual moveable-type printing press as a kid. At the memorial service, Mac's sister Meredith told me Mac used to make business cards for everybody on that printing press. She asked me for my business card as she wanted to use it when introducing me to someone in publishing after Mac's memorial service. I said I didn't bring any. She said Mac would be very upset with me for not networking at his memorial service.

I miss Mac's sense of humor: Together, we would make fun of what we thought were ridiculous ad campaigns. Just before going out of business, TWA had a campaign where their customers were regarded as aviators. Yeah right. Like you're really Charles Lindbergh instead of the poor schlepp with a discount ticket to ride on a bus with wings.

United Airlines had the tagline "Rising" a few years back. "That's sort of expected of an airplane, no?" we mused.

Mac's reading list: His brother Rod told me Mac could and did read five books at a time. Many people read more than one book at once. But Mac would read multiple mysteries and keep all the characters and their respective plots straight. Even the Rabbi at the memorial service noted that he often went to Amazon.com after talking with Mac in order to have a book that Mac recommended delivered super express. How often I've been there, and apparently many of the hundreds of people in attendance at the memorial service were too, as lots laughed and nodded their heads.

I still refer back to Joe Karbo's "The Lazy Man's Way to Riches." This book is not just the real deal on which direct marketing tactics are effective - it's also packed with keen insights into human nature, which, after all, is what direct marketers are all about. Victor O. Schwab's "How to Write a Good Advertisement" is a book I read in short chunks so I can digest its repercussions and wisdom. Mac also recommended two books by Robert J. Ringer: "Winning Through Intimidation" and "Looking Out For #1"; both were tour de forces in my life.

If you have a love of the English language: I share with you one of Mac's biggest literary loves. It's the Aubrey/Maturin naval novels by Patrick O'Brian, author of "Master and Commander". The life lessons and 19th century language are so colorful and revealing that I have read all 20 volumes and will read them again. Mac reread many of those volumes as he said he liked to go back to this particular world often. I can see why. I find myself incorporating many of O'Brian's colorful idioms and words into my own speech and writings. The swashbuckling Captain Jack Aubrey would have called Mac "a deep old file." Mac wasn't old by today's standards. Perhaps it isn't the length of life, but rather the depth that matters.

At the time of this writing, there are moves afoot to package the collected marketing wisdom of Mac Ross. It may be in print, or in audio formats, or both. When these products become available, I suggest you buy everything that the man ever did. Absorb it all, and then do the stuff he tells you to do. I have, and I've benefited immensely from doing so.

I hope you are fortunate enough to have a "Go-To Guy" like Mac Ross in your life. I miss you, Mac. I love you, Mac. LC

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