CHAPTER 11ASK FOR WHAT YOU WANT—AND GET IT!

The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for.

MAUREEN DOWD

If I had one dollar for every e-mail, “sales” letter, or proposal I’ve received that did not close with a clear, powerful action step, I’d be on my yacht with a martini (stirred, not shaken) in hand, waiting for my helicopter to transport me to my private Gulfstream G550 to jet me to my villa mountain retreat, where a team of butlers would have my bath drawn and my 1907 Piper-Heidsieck champagne chilling.

An impactful, clear closing statement motivates your reader to act. A poorly written (or nonexistent) close is like an Olympic gymnast who falls on dismounting. No matter how perfectly executed ...

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