“Over lunch, a colleague’s young nephew asked me how we tweeted before the Internet. Pneumatic mail tubes and a lot of stationery, kid” -Lester Wunderman on Twitter 3/25/2012 After last week’s post about my “entry drug” into direct response marketing, and mentioning Mad Men pioneers such as David Oglivy and Lester Wunderman, I received ...

When I signed up for a “Marketing 101” course during my sophomore year in college (at Rutgers University…open loop), I had no idea that the course would be my entry drug into direct response marketing…for the wrong reason.That is, the course was a snooze…and had nothing to do with being “direct.”It was all about “generalities” of marketing ...

Five years ago, I was displaced in a New Jersey hotel lobby, upset that Hurricane Isaias hit my Connecticut town so hard. My electricity–and more importantly my Wi-Fi! (and even cell service)–ended up being out for a full week. And various trees missed my house by an eyelash which could have been a disaster. ...

Shortly after leaving Boardroom in 2015, I was offered an opportunity to co-write and edit a book with my good friend Craig Simpson. I was already considering my own book (which became Overdeliver in 2019)–but when Craig told me about what he was planning, I couldn’t say no…it was too good to pass up: ...

“Life is a beautiful dream in which you have to be awake to fully experience.” Sean Stephenson #Sean365 Sean is on point with this quote…as he is with everything he writes or says…and if you don’t know who Sean is, check out the P.S. But if you’ve been part of my family for at ...

“Be nice to people on your way up because you’ll meet them on your way down.” -Wilson Mizner, American playwright, humorist, and entrepreneur This lifetime rule of thumb, adapted to real life situations, requires some thick skin when you realize you weren’t nice all the time on the way up. But rather than beat ...

One of the most instructive pieces of research a marketer or copywriter can do is to study 5-star and 1-star reviews on Amazon for the books their core audience is reading. It’s one of the best ways (in addition to joining forums and groups where your customers and prospects hang out) to get into ...

The older we get, the losses and the wins add up…it’s just a function of living a long and full life.And as you know (if you read my post “Life is Long”), my philosophy is that everyone’s life is LONG…because it’s the only one we’ve got…and making the most of all of those losses and wins is ...

At a Titans Mastermind meeting in September of 2021, one of our speakers, Melinda Cohan, said something super powerful that resonated with everyone in the room.I believe it resonated even more with the Titans because they are all marketers of a different breed…marketers that think impact and relationship over money and profits…and that’s without anyone in the group being ...

If you asked me two years ago if I would ever write a blog post about the wonderful attributes of an automated Bot, I would have said you were crazy.But like everyone else, I am being inundated with multiple “personal Bots” (a wonderful oxymoron) which are invading my space every day…and I hate to ...

The world is telling me to repeat one of my favorite posts. I just watched the new documentary about pioneer journalist Barbara Walters…and of course my thoughts turned to one of the men who helped her in her career (unlike the chauvinists at the time who didn’t). That is, of course, legendary newscaster, journalist, ...

Being a free entrepreneur (or “eating what you kill”) 🙂 has its advantages.But the transition from employee to boss can still create what I call the “Sunday Night Dread.”I was thinking about this today because it’s July 4th (a holiday in the U.S. and a 3-day weekend) …and whether it’s after a weekend…or a long 3-day weekend ...

I received an email this week from a friend who is a successful results leader in marketing…asking me to promote her new book…with no compensation.She went on, almost surprised, that she had been receiving a lot of positive feedback when making this request.I told her she shouldn’t be surprised…and I said yes to her ...

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, here is the definition of reciprocation: 1a: a mutual exchange. 1b: a return in kind or of like value. What I don’t like about this definition is that it implies that reciprocation has a “price”—that is, the exchange between two parties needs to be “mutual” and even “a return ...

Everyone has a good Covid story. I’m reminded of mine today since I am writing from Italy five years later, which was where I encountered Covid for the first time…and got back to the U.S. by the skin of my teeth. I’ve learned a lot since March of 2020…I’m sure you have too…about business ...

…well, almost everything I told you is wrong. 😊 In my post, “Tuesday with Dan,” from 2018, I shared some universal marketing concepts that I previously didn’t know, or had somehow forgotten — and in a couple of instances, I just needed a kick in the pants from Dan Kennedy to keep them top ...

In 2016, I asked marketing and copywriting icon Jay Abraham to interview me and endorse my first book, The Advertising Solution.He didn’t answer with a simple “yes.”And if you know Jay—or know about Jay—you know that he never answers “simply” …or with a single word for that matter. 🙂He just asks questions…and more questions…and more questions…and then asks ...

If you were asked, “What is the top priority in your business,” how would you answer?You might say things like: Keeping my clients/customers/students happy Getting new business from new people (new customer acquisition) …and note this is below keeping existing customers happy (intentionally) Creating new products or services (innovation) Commitment to positive cash flow and profit margin Fulfilling your mission ...

It’s been a little over a year since my daughter’s wedding…and lo and behold, the afterglow has stayed with me…as have the marketing lessons I learned from it. That event has some staying power. And the news for today is that I will be a grandpa (initiated from that same daughter) in October. No ...

In the TV show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, when contestants are on the hot seat answering trivia questions for big bucks, one thing they can do when they are stuck is “phone a friend” for help. And it’s the same when someone is on the hot seat during a mastermind…but you don’t ...