Stoicism is an ancient Greek philosophy that teaches the development of self-control and fortitude as a means to overcome destructive emotions. It emphasizes rationality and the importance of focusing on what is within our control while accepting what is not.
Now what do this have to do with advertising?
Stoic Advertising: What would Seneca do?
Seneca, full name Lucius Annaeus Seneca, was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and playwright who lived from around 4 BCE to 65 CE. He served as an advisor to Emperor Nero but was later forced to take his own life due to political intrigue.
How to be a Stoic Advertiser
The secret to advertising is to never give up and only say what you want to say. No gimmicks. No CTR. No CPL. Forget about metrics. Just say what you want to say over and over and say it the best way you can say it and throw money behind it.
If you are scared, you will make fearful decisions and turn off ad campaigns when they don’t “deliver.”
Faith or Fear Will Determine Your Ad Campaign
I remember when I started advertising. Took out a full back page cover ad on Playwrights Horizon, the playwright union magazine. I was producing a theatre festival and thought no better way to get the attention of my audience than to be on the back cover of their unions magazine.
There were no metrics to measure.
No split tests to try.
I hired a graphic designer and asked him to make me the craziest fucking graphic he could conjure up.
Said the festival was called The Wonderland One-Act Play Festival.
Go ALL in, or DON'T Go at All...
It was the only ad money I had but I went all in. I never doubted myself. I was 23 and a drunken mess at that time (12 years sober now). I only did one thing right at that time in my life: I always bet on myself.
I never changed what I was doing based on public perception.
Now I’m 39. I run FunnelPros. We ran ads for businesses for many years and now we focus solely on automation, but we still advertise our business.
Forget About Hooks, Forget About Metrics
I don’t look at what “hook” gets the most clicks or the lowest cost per lead (CPL).
I just tell you guys what we do and how we do it. Anyone who shows up to demo our system is qualified because there’s no mystique.
Here it is: this is what we do. We build automation systems and marketing and sales and recruiting funnels for the trades.
No offer here.
No glitz or glam.
Don’t give a shit if the CPL is $50 or $300.
Some weeks will be great and others will be slow. Even when they are slow everyone still sees our ads. I know this.
I am not scared.
Do You Doubt Your Business?
I put my money where my faith is and I never doubt myself for a second. If I do, I go somewhere quiet and reconnect. Then I come back. I know I just give to get.
Serve to be served.
And that is fearlessness—the only ingredient necessary.
Fearless doesn’t mean foolish. It means never doubting what I believe in and carefully considering all that I believe.
That is how to be a stoic advertiser. It’s the only way.
