I attended a two-day event this past week—with some of the top marketers (entrepreneurs and practitioners), copywriters, media buyers, funnel builders, membership and continuity experts and book publishers in the world—and it was as exhilarating as it was exhausting. Exhilarating because when you are in a room where everyone is getting smarter (which is ...

This week marks the third anniversary of attending my sixth Bruce Springsteen concert, with my first being in 1977 during my freshman year of college. And while Bruce’s music has been the soundtrack of my life (I even went to college in New Jersey), “only” attending six concerts made me feel like a slacker—almost a “Springsteen ...

My good friend Joe Polish has this warning for entrepreneurs, coaches, and all “marketing advice givers”: Beware when someone asks to pick your brain because more times than not, they are picking your pocket You may think Joe is being a bit cynical when he says this…and the irony is that Joe is one ...

It’s been 21 years since I lost my dad…and this story (which I have told before) is one of amazing coincidences, and hopefully deep meaning too, with a lesson or two I learned from it. It’s a story I share when someone around me loses a loved one…only when they are ready to hear ...

While I am not endorsing gun violence with this subject line, I am reminded every day (when I take my shirt off) of a “surgical adventure” in 2021…with my abdomen looking like I got into a knife fight…and lost. ☹ Which brings this idiom front and center: …bringing a knife to a gunfight…means you ...

I had the privilege of being interviewed by one of the greats of marketing, Joe Polish, this past February, during one of his spectacular Genius Network meetings. I’ve known Joe for close to three decades…we were kids in the candy store of direct response marketing together “back in the day”…and he has gone on to become ...

Two years ago, during the “Overdeliver Bootcamp,” when I spoke about “the smartest guy I have ever met in the world of direct mail,” I received many questions…which led to a discussion…and the overriding question was “why was he the smartest?” Cutting to the chase, the overriding answer was because he knew everything about ...

Is it live or is it Memorex? OK…I dated myself…but I couldn’t resist. Some of you might remember before there was real digital technology—and most music lived on 8-track/cassette tapes or vinyl—there was a series of demonstrative commercials for Memorex recording tape. They answered the question above in classic ads like this featuring the legendary Ella Fitzgerald. Today we ...

I love the story about one of the most intimidating athletes of all time “feeling like a sissy”–and the lessons we can learn from it. It’s part of The Lost Chapters of Overdeliver, which is a collection of blog posts I wrote after the cutoff point for the final manuscript of my book in 2019. ...

I met world renown copywriter and soon-to-be-mentor Gene Schwartz shortly after graduating college…and he hit me with a shocker in one of the first meetings I ever had with him. Shocking to me because I graduated with a degree in English, almost going to graduate school to become an English literature professor. Lucky for ...

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 ...