This crazy story happened 101 years ago, almost to the day.
On October 20, 1909, a team of federal agents sat on a stakeout on the Tennessee-Georgia border
Their target: a truck headed north from Atlanta.
As soon as it crossed the border into Tennessee, the agents intercepted the truck and took possession of its cargo.
40 barrels and 20 kegs of Coca-Cola syrup.
The government decided to bring a sue Coca-Cola for adding “poison” to their popular beverage…
Caffeine.
At the time, a high-ranking guy at the Department of Agriculture was on a tear, enforcing the newly-passed Pure Food and Drug Act.
This guy was appalled by the “thousands of Coca-Cola fiends” he saw during a tour of the country.
This is where this story gets even crazier.
Because while the government began prosecuting Coca-Cola for over caffeine…
Coke still included trace amounts of cocaine!
But caffeine had to have it’s day in court.
(Incidentally, this court case actually generated MORE demand for caffeine by consumers. The opposite of what the lawsuit was supposed to do.)
In the end, the case was dismissed on a technicality. And in 1929, Coca-Cola stopped putting cocaine in its drink.
But not after creating millions of coke fiends.
This story has a few interesting takeaways, but we’ll just talk about two of them today.
Number 1: Never count on the government to know what’s best for you… or to do what’s right for you.
You’re going to have to control your own destiny, my friend.
Number 2: It’s easy for anyone to focus on the wrong things. Too easy.
That tendency slows down your progress and can even sabotage you.
When it comes to marketing your business, it’s insanely easy to focus on the wrong things.
Or at least suboptimal ones.
You probably already know email is the highest-ROI marketing channel there is.
So here’s the question: are you focusing on maximizing that channel in your business?
Or are you focusing on another, less leveraged activity?
Email is the cocaine in this analogy.
I believe it’s a mistake for you to focus on marketing “caffeine.”
If writing consistent, high-converting emails is something you struggle with (or don’t have the time for), this may be helpful for you.