25 things I've learned in 25 years

1. Direct response is a conversation. If you’re not letting donors talk to you, you’re doing it wrong.

2. Direct mail is not dead. It is potentially immortal.

3. “You” is glue. It keeps your reader engaged.

4. Donors like to be delighted, give with a smile on their face and love in their heart.

5. Great stories take time to tell.

6. Direct response is 4 things: List > Offer > Timing > Creative.

7. There are relatively few definitives in our work.

8. Your subjective opinion does not matter.

9. There is no process you can follow that will lead you to “love”.

10. To be an artist, you need to obsess over the craft.

11. Strategy > process.

12. Your logo isn’t really that important.

13. Human behaviour is fascinating and counter intuitive.

14. The more “things” you ask for, the less likely you will get anything.

15. Interesting approaches can get you interesting results.

16. People like lists. You’re proof of that.

17. Maps make for some of the best inserts/lifts in a mail pack.

18. Every time I put eyeballs on something, I raise more money.

19. Nostalgia is a powerful tool in storytelling.

20. It’s the 1,000 tiny things - easily dismissed one by one - that will have the most impact on your results.

21. Close-mindedness and scarcity mindset will destroy you/your charity/our sector.

22. Humans are beautiful and inspiring and will never stop surprising you.

23. Measure what matters most - which is - your amazing donors.

24. How rich she is is none of your business.

25. Do your work with love or leave.