I was approached by one of the top members of my Titans Xcelerator Mastermind (with “top” defined as “supreme contributor”), about a student of his who he thought would be an ideal member.Obviously, I paid close attention…because if this top contributor had someone in mind to join, who was a student of his, there was close ...

Have you ever thought about your clients or customers as “patients?”And if you haven’t, what kind of bedside manor could you add when you deal with them…in addition to selling to them and servicing them?One way is to onboard them forever as I talked about in “Onboarding is not housekeeping.”Another way is to be more ...

On November 22nd 62 years ago, everything changed. And not because of a global pandemic, a crushing recession or a terrorist attack on U.S. soil…although the world can go into a tailspin (i.e. the shi**er) in all sorts of terrible ways almost anytime. I’ve been writing Thanksgiving blog posts since 2017. And long before ...

When I entered the direct marketing/ publishing world in 1981, I kind of knew what an entrepreneur looked like.But meeting my “new boss” (and eventual mentor) Marty Edelston took it to an entirely new level.He was brash, and bold, always demanding everyone to work as hard as he did… and it was both inspiring ...

This subject line seems like a setup to talk about some political conspiracy…but it is not.It is my way of sharing some important “lessons from Mom” we all have tucked away somewhere…after  originally sharing the same subject line back on Mother’s Day in 2014.But I was reminded of it today…while traveling this week to two ...

I was on a Live Cast a few years ago where the host asked one question of each of the 30+ guests she had on it and we had to respond in 5 minutes or less:“What is one shift you made in your business that allowed you to multiply your wealth without sacrificing you?”Good ...

“There is an old piece of vaudeville, then many old jokes, about rubes visiting New York, being sold the Brooklyn Bridge by shysters. Paul Hartunian’s claim to fame was really, legally buying and selling the Brooklyn Bridge.” -Dan Kennedy Paul Hartunian, like Gene Schwartz (and precious few others in the world of direct response) ...

I was reminded of a classic direct mail package from someone in my online family this week…and it is related to what I will be up to next week…so I thought it would be worth sharing with you today.The Easton Press…a legendary mailer (and a subsidiary of MBI, a direct marketer of books, collectibles, ...

Two events collided this week: The birth of a book authored by an Original Gangster, Barry Kleiman…he is original in a variety of ways…as a marketer, a successful headhunter…and as an original Titans Xcelerator member…and we are fortunate to have him inside our group. The birth of my grandson Ian…a future Titans Xcelerator member ...

I don’t hate affiliate marketing.And I selectively employ it as one of many “media choices” available to us as marketers.I even teach it inside my Titans Xcelerator Mastermind…but only from the best experts…because I believe when affiliate marketing is used for evil (and it can be)…or it is taught by charlatans (which it often is)…I ...

If you have been a member of my online family for any length of time, you know that one of my hobbies/obsessions is umpiring baseball. I have written about this obsession often…in relation to marketing (i.e. creating order out of chaos on the baseball field and in business) …the importance of “customer service and ...

“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 ...