In These Difficult Times, I Hope this Example of ExcitingWriting Inspires You.

I began issuing my monthly EWAs more than seven years ago. The opt-in list now includes more than 1,900 people. Never once have I made the content of an EWA the actual copy that I wrote for a client until today. Whenever I read the copy below, which I wrote in the late 1980s for Exhibition Dynamics, it inspires me to believe that, although times can be tough, we have the capacity to be tougher than we think we can. Tell me if these words affect you in the same way. (Bill Reed, now of MarketGarden, was the designer on the brochure and referred me to the client.) My brochure copy for Exhibition Dynamics began:

''In 1933, in the depths of the Depression, a young man opened a sign painting shop in a Texas town. A few brushes and some cans of paint were all he had. The odds of his business lasting out the year were against him. But this man, Bob Powell, had a talented hand, a will to succeed and a vision that overcame all odds.

''You would see his work at county fairs, trade expositions and in showrooms. His business lasted out that year, and the next, even the Depression itself. The exhibit industry grew up around him. And gradually Bob Powell acquired a reputation and an organization and a list of clients second to none in the Southwest.

''Today that thriving business--now called Exhibit Dynamics--is national in scope, run by seasoned executives, and widely acknowledged to be on the cutting edge of design, construction technology and logistic services.

''What accounts for over a half-century of uninterrupted success at Exhibit Dynamics? Ask us. You'll experience the Exhibit Dynamics attitude.''

It's a shame that Exhibit Dynamics no longer exists, but I believe the spirit of its founder and organization live on.

In next month's EWA, I will finish up my list to 25 things you can do to become a better writer (the last 13). Promise!