I received this in my daily email today: According to a new fact sheet from the SBA’s Office of Advocacy, “[a] substantial amount of family wealth is in business ownership.  On average, the self-employed are wealthier than the non-self-employed.  This implies the value or potential value of business ownership in economic mobility [and] that business equity ...

With my Titans Mastermind coming up this week and a vacation coming up the following week, I went into my archives to find two previous posts that got more engagement than most over the past few years…and I’ve updated them for your reading pleasure for this week and next. Today’s post includes a story that inspired ...

Today’s post is an attempt to bring two concepts together: 1) Sometimes there’s something to do with marketing connections and data. AND 2) Sometimes there’s nothing to do with marketing connections and data. When there’s something to do with marketing data This past week I was handed some data regarding a copywriting site that ...

My good friend Joe Polish often warns 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 of the ...

The idea of “eating your own dog food” is a literal reminder to be kind to your most valued family member (outside of your kids) whether you serve low-grade kibble or the most nutritious high-quality natural, organic food to your puppy. I guess with your kids that would be macaroni and cheese vs. fresh ...

Those of you who are regular readers of my blog know about my love of cinema…and that includes films across all eras…from the 1940’s (see the P.S.) …through all of the decades since…and into the present.  My favorite contemporary filmmaker/screenwriter is Quentin Tarantino…not only because his films are compelling and thought provoking…but also because ...

While I am not endorsing gun violence with this subject line, my recent “surgical adventure” got me thinking about this phrase…since after my recent surgery, my abdomen looks like I got into a knife fight…and lost. However, under any metric–the process leading up to surgery, the surgery itself, the recovery period so far, and ...

The subject line above–originally from a post I wrote in 2017 which had nothing to do with my health–still seemed apropos for today. And it still has nothing to do with my health. 🙂  If you have been reading my blog posts over the past couple of weeks, I alerted you about a health scare in “A ...

I don’t know about you, but whenever people talk about the “alphabet soup of generations” (X, Y, Z…with Boomers and Silent right behind them), I get confused…and I also get annoyed with all the stereotypes associated with each one. And then this appeared in my In Box last week: Gen Z: The New Entrepreneurs ...

While I don’t want to make these weekly blogs a chronicle of my health history, I have to say that for a healthy 63-year-old guy, I’ve had my share of serious health scares…three to be exact…and since I’m currently going through the third right now, I wanted to share the latest with you (in ...

Whatever career you choose for your life…or whatever career chooses you…it is never your career that defines you. It’s also not a “vocation” that defines you…although that gets a little closer to the roots of who you are, who you want to be, and what you want to share with the world. But that ...

Three years ago I attended an Ed Sheeran concert. If you don’t know who he is, and you are over 50 years old, you are not alone (as I found out before, during and after the concert). I was 60 years old at the time and I was clearly in the top 1% of ...

Last month I sent you a blog post entitled, “Now 96 years of lifetime value”. It celebrated my Mom’s birthday…but it also chronicled my Mom’s dedication to direct marketing principles (although she had no idea she was such an expert). ☺ While there was some intended sarcasm and humor in that post (I hope you ...

Last June (1 human year ago/7 dog years ago) I wrote a post that led with this:  These are turbulent times—maybe the most turbulent times in our lives—yet there is also a calm about it if we take time being mindful about everything around us—and not jump to action (or inaction). I believe it’s ...

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 ...

After I wrote “The difference between no longer and not yet,” a member of our online family (Lori H.) gave me an idea for an additional blog post as a follow up.  She suggested that saying “yes” or “no” to new ideas with more of a plan in mind—that is, with a clear objective of what ...

At our Titans Mastermind meeting earlier this month, one of our speakers was Mark Winters, co-author of the 2016 bestseller Rocket Fuel: The one essential combination that will get you more of what you want from your business. In my interview with him we explored the essence of the book (and a whole lot more) with the ...

My Mom turned 96 last week.  I’ve written about her before…on her 95th birthday a year ago…specifically about how she is an expert direct marketer (with the phone being her favorite “medium”)…and I thought she deserved another shout out on her 96th. Last year we had a socially distanced birthday party for her, complete ...

I often tell people, and I have told you before, that I haven’t invented anything…rather, I am a good messenger for concepts, knowledge and eternal truths of direct response marketing to my online family (and those in my masterminds) who might not be aware of what came before…and how it can impact the future.  I’m also ...

“Learning is rooted in repetition and convexity, meaning that the reading of a single text twice is more profitable than reading two different things once.” – Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Lebanese-American essayist and scholar When I was in college, The Odd Couple TV show (a classic with Jack Klugman and Tony Randall) was on twice a night at 7:00 ...