The most successful collection of marketing stories and marketing wisdom – Mark Twain's roundabouts

There is a young man who has just graduated in the United States, and he came to the Western United States alone to start a career. His dream was to become a journalist, but he was not familiar with the place and lacked practical experience, so he never found a suitable job.

One day, a young man wrote to the great writer Mark Twain, hoping to get his help, and at the same time, he told him about his neglected depression.

Mark Twain was already a well-known writer at the time, and when he received the letter, he quickly replied to the young man. In his letter, he wrote, "If you can do what I do, you will surely find a place." In his letter, he also asked the young man which newspaper he wished to work for.

The young man was very happy to see it, thinking that Mark Twain could recommend him to his favorite newspaper, so he hurriedly wrote back to tell him the name of the newspaper he wanted to go to. Soon, Mark Twain's reply arrived. The young man opened it and saw that it read:

You can go to this newspaper first, tell them that you don't need a salary now, just want to get a job, pass your boredom, and say that you will do a good job at the newspaper. Under normal circumstances, newspapers will not reject a job seeker who does not have a salary, and after you get the job, you have to work hard. You write about the news to show them, and then publish it, and slowly, your name and performance will be known to others, and then you will become an indispensable person for the newspaper. And many other newspapers will also know your name and are willing to hire you. At this point you can go to the supervisor and say to him, "If the newspaper can give me the same payment, then I am willing to stay here." "For newspapers, they will not easily give up a staff member who is experienced and familiar with the business of the unit. Then you've got your way into that newspaper.

After reading the letter, the young man was a little disappointed, it turned out not to be a letter of recommendation. He doubted whether Mark Twain's method would work, but since there was no other way, he decided to give it a try.

He came to the newspaper and offered to work for the newspaper without a salary, and was left behind. He worked hard, and within a few months, he had made great achievements, and soon he received letters of appointment from other newspapers. When the newspaper found out, it hastened to offer to pay him a higher salary to keep him, and the young man thus achieved his goal through Mark Twain's roundabout schemes.

This story tells us that to successfully sell yourself, sometimes it is not enough to rely on conventional methods alone, and if you do some workaround appropriately and redouble your efforts, sooner or later you will get the results you want.

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