When I was a senior in college, I was in the Honors Program in English (and that’s not “English as a second language”) 🙂 I’m both proud of that and a little embarrassed…because I was far from a scholar in English (or any) literature…and while most of the students in the class were doing ...

I hate when someone gets anointed in our industry as being “authentic.” Isn’t that a given for all human beings? Whether they are authentic heroes or jerks, they are always being who they are…authenticity is not a learned skill. There are exceptions…as I found out when I met comedian Steven Wright in person. If ...

You learn a lot from your one-star reviews…but only if you take them in as “fact” initially (even if you disagree with them) …because if someone took the time to write a one-star review, they had a reason. Those reasons may include: They had time on their hands They are jealous They are professional ...

I posted on LinkedIn recently about my “Back from the Dead Tour” which took place in the fall of 2019, receiving more comments than any post all year. I’ve also shared the expanded non-LinkedIn version with you in the past as well. But it made me think of another “Back from the Dead Tour” orchestrated by Dan Kennedy ...

Now…if only I practiced what I preached in this subject line (open loop)… This post is about humility…which is #6 of the “7 Things that must be present to become a world class copywriter (and marketer)” The fact that it’s #6 of 7 doesn’t diminish its importance…it’s just not as sexy to talk about. ...

For those of you who are working towards retirement in a traditional sense (i.e. no work/all leisure), if we redefined the “R word” to incorporate your work with your play and you could have your preferred (leisure) lifestyle while still creating impact and changing lives would your goal for retirement be the same? It’s OK if ...

An entrepreneur in one of the mastermind groups I am a member of posted an email with this subject line: What I do to live 100 years in good health…and potentially live much longer He proceeded to share his regular routine of healthy diet, exercise, meditation and a host of other things, nothing I ...

I received an email from an online family member, who recently bought a copy of Breakthrough Advertising with an upsell of a collection of some of Gene Schwartz’s most compelling (and successful) ads (what we call, “The Gene Schwartz Swipe File”). Her question: I am new to this type of learning. This is a ...

With the 10th Breakthrough Advertising Bootcamp beginning this week, I went to the “Wayback Machine” (not the one that “Explores more than one trillion web pages saved over time”) …but the Wayback Machine called my blog archive. My blogs do go way back—12 and-a-half years– but 500+ blog posts (with lots of repetition with ...

Those of you who have been part of my online family for a while know about my mom, an expert in direct response marketing (and the concepts covered in my book, Overdeliver). However, her expertise was instinctive rather than learning anything from me. ☹ She always said, “I need to get back to your ...

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 a “hot seat” during a mastermind…but you don’t ...

I can’t believe it’s been four years since we launched the first Breakthrough Advertising Bootcamp…and with the 10th one coming up soon (it begins on May 12th), I wanted to look back on its evolution. And I also want to share with you four examples of how I applied the fundamental concepts of Breakthrough Advertising in my career ...

I received an email from a member of my online family two years ago in response to an interaction I had with the greatest living copywriter, Gary Bencivenga. It came to mind again today because the theme of greed not being a bad thing seems to come up often—whether inside my Titans Xcelerator Mastermind, across the ...

Author, results leader and “memoir and legacy coach” Anna David approached me to do an interview with the question, “Has your book made you a million dollars? I said “Yes” (without thinking). Was I saying that it made $1 million in sales? Hardly. The math doesn’t work on a $20 book that sells 10,000 ...

I found out something very interesting when I took a deep dive into the full quote referenced by today’s subject line. It goes like this: “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear; when the student is truly ready, the teacher will disappear.” However, if you believe as I do—that the student is ...

Consider this week’s post a thought experiment (and a little hypocritical)…don’t shoot me because the section in bold below is intentionally generated by ChatGPT (and contradicts what I have told you numerous times that I write these Sunday posts entirely from scratch). Well, everything before and after the ChatGPT part in bold is original ...

My take on mentors: They choose you; you don’t choose them. And here’s a 9-minute video that makes that case. You can take my take…or leave it…but if you send a cold email to one of your marketing heroes asking them to mentor you, keep your expectations low. Not because your heroes are mean…but ...

When I was asked to appear on an “AI Summit”—with the billing of “the adult in the room”—I was nervous. Not imposter syndrome nervous. But wondering what I could say about AI that would move the room (Zoom screen) given that I am an inquisitive student of AI rather than a power user. Be ...

In the spirit of remembrance, it’s time to honor a legend of marketing and copywriting who we lost 4 years ago this month. He was a true “Titan of Direct Response,” a pioneer, innovator of the highest order…and one of the most prolific (and original) storytellers in direct response history. He basically invented “copywriting ...

I appeared on a podcast five years ago and the first question was a doozy. Shortly after that, I had a discussion with marketing superstar Todd Brown about the same question. And then during a Titans Xcelerator call two years ago, the topic came up again. Which brings me to last week when I attended a mastermind ...