90% of just about everything is mediocre.
7% falls somewhere in the middle.
And perhaps 3% is genuinely great.
When it comes to professional excellence, drive matters. Of course it does.
But exceptional work also takes judgment. Taste. Pattern recognition. Originality. Killer instincts.
And most of that cannot be taught.
Ever read copy written by Jim Rutz? Gary Bencivenga? Chris Haddad? Eric Betuel?
These writers have what I call ‘flair.’
What does that mean? They have a distinctive voice and personality that is almost impossible to clone.
You start reading their copy and you cannot stop. It isn’t just persuasive—it is fun to read..
“Limo Larry and Champagne Cherie” was an enormous Rutz winner for what was the largest circulation consumer newsletter in America at the time: Bottom Line/Personal.
When you look at it, you have no idea how came up with the concept or the execution. His copy was unforgettable and hard to replicate. All you could do was sit back and marvel at the craftsmanship.
Back at Phillips Publishing, we mailed Jim Rutz and Gary Bencivenga controls to the tune of 20 million pieces each (probably more …could have easily been 30 million…or more).
Jim sometimes charged a non-refundable $100,000 as an upfront fee in lieu of royalties. And sometimes his packages bombed!
My friend and longtime copy associate Peter Betuel (Eric’s brother) said something to me years ago that stuck:
“Flair cannot be taught.”
There are marketing things that are somewhat easy to learn: basic formulas, offer structures, and hook templates.
But flair? It is scarce, impossible to teach, and certainly can’t be prompted in an LLM.
The whole point of this post is that you can love marketing, business, and your craft with absolute obsession. You can dissect the legends with religious dedication.
But I’m not convinced every mediocre performer is secretly exceptional and just needs to “try harder.”
The top 3% are rare precisely because excellence is rare.