Market value: $100 million.Cost of materials: zero.Arch-nemesis: vinegar.

Who said you can’t make something from nothing?

A 26 inch diameter pearl, a glistening undersea object of extreme rarity, is now valued at approximately $100 million.

That would be an even trade for George Clooney’s Italian lake house.

But for all its value, this enormous pearl is composed of crystals of calcium carbonate. The same common ingredient found in run-of-the mill calcium supplements you can buy for pennies on the pill at a drugstore.

If you were in the habit of burning money, you could dissolve that majestic pearl with household vinegar.

Imagine the evil laughter during that exercise.

A celebration of conspicuous waste, of bubbling beauty being rendered unto oblivion.

And then there’s something even more incredible.

The pearl, unlike gold, can’t be used for conducting electricity.

And unlike diamond, it can’t be used to cut glass.

So why pay millions for something so weak? So fragile? So related to the banal?

We pay precisely because it’s one-of-a-kind.

Which illustrates the power of rarity.

When something is rare, it becomes magnetic to our attention.

It turns eyeballs the way celebrities turn the telephoto lenses of paparazzi.

It attracts hearts the way a star attracts planets: invisibly, persistently, and with utter confidence.

And that’s where there’s value in finding the One Thing.

The Rare Thing.

The Distinct Thing.

That’s where your copy can create value as magically as the alchemist creates gold.

Tell the story like you’re sitting by the fireside.

Connect the story like the shaman connects the stars with our hearts.

And live the story like the smoky shadows dancing behind the firelight.

-Jesse
p.s. If you’d like, you can reach me for copywriting services.