My friend Sean Stephenson passed away a few weeks ago. He left a hole in my life and in the lives of everyone he touched. If you didn’t know him, let me tell you why he was so special; and if you knew him, I think you will enjoy this post even more. Sean ...
I am in planning (and hosting) mode for my Titans Mastermind meeting this week and next…and in thinking about the meeting and how lucky I am to still be here to host it, an interview I did recently with Anna David (who has a podcast called “Light Hustle: Grit Out of the Dark”) just ...
Why do people send you money for the products or services you sell? That is a question worth answering before you attempt any sales funnel, online launch, video sales letter, direct mail campaign—any kind of marketing—because when you know the “why” of your audience, the “how to do it” becomes a lot easier. Knowing ...
One of my subscribers, Ryan Saplan, sent me a video of Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds talking about hitting in baseball—then and now—and he thought as a baseball fan, I would like it…and even be able to relate it to marketing. I’ll try to do that for baseball fans and non-baseball fans alike If you ...
“We’ve been playing in this area for 55 years and it’s always our favorite place to perform” – Mick Jagger at Met-Life Stadium, August 5, 2019 Let that sink in. Can you imagine doing anything for 55 years and also being as great as The Rolling Stones? And they acknowledged many others, not just ...
I have many memories of Dan Kennedy, none more embarrassing than when I “ruined the stampede” at the Titans of Direct Response event in 2014—and he never let me forget it. As you know, I have been dubbed by some as the “Director of Sales Prevention.” In fact, I was the only speaker at GKIC’s Info ...
Talking about the negatives of email is a dangerous thing to do given that I’m convinced that email is still the killer app…that is, it’s still the most effective communication tool we have in marketing today. It’s cheap…it can be short or long (and I know mine are sometimes too long)…and it’s very effective ...
Jim Rutz was one of the greatest copywriters of all time. And he was one of the most colorful characters this business has ever seen as well. If you are a working or aspiring copywriter, you owe a debt of gratitude to Jim whether you have ever heard of him or not…he was a ...
I found it…the cure for writer’s block…and it’s so simple. It happened during a video I recorded with two of my heroes, John Carlton and Perry Marshall. The subject of the video was “rants” (and I’ll share some of the highlights of that discussion too because it’s related to never being at a loss ...
I want to share another piece from The Lost Chapters of Overdeliver (one of the eleven bonuses for buying my book at www.OverdeliverBook.com). This one is special. I found the“10 Commandments” below (makes 20 in total if you are counting) at the bottom of one of the boxes of promotions from the archives of Jim Rutz sent ...
In “The Lost Chapters of Overdeliver” (one of the free bonuses at www.OverdeliverBook.com), there is a piece about my trip to Africa exactly one year ago. It didn’t make it into Overdeliver and you may have read it already–but I wanted to send it to you today one year later and share with you the two big lessons ...
(Excerpt from Overdeliver, Build a Business for a Lifetime Playing the Long Game in Direct Response Marketing. Check out the P.S. for a special offer to get the e-book for $1.99) During my first decade at Boardroom, creating offers and products—mainly for books and newsletters—was relatively easy. We were publishing some of the most useful newsletters ...
About a year ago we tragically and suddenly lost two greats of our industry, Audri and Jim Lanford. I shared their story at the time of their death–and I feel it is worth repeating. I don’t want them to be forgotten and the lessons they taught us were significant. I met Audri and Jim ...
In the final chapter of my new book Overdeliver, entitled “Playing The Long Game,” I have a series of anecdotes and stories from my career that proved instructional to me…and I thought you might benefit from reading one of them today. (And tonight is one of the last chances to grab the e-book for $1.99—links at ...
In the Broadway show Hamilton there is a song that resonates with me, especially in light of my recent stroke. It is titled “Why do you write like you are running out of time?” (This link has the tune and an anonymous blog post from someone else who the song was meaningful for.) Despite dying in a ...
Everyone wants a quick fix…me too…especially when you are with amazing people who are doing extraordinary things. But before the “fix” (how to do it) it’s important to know what the potential fix is—and additionally, if someone else can do it for you that has the skills to get it done better than you ...
What if I told you I had a video for you today of Socrates, Alexander The Great and Gene Schwartz on stage presenting live? I bet you would watch it, right? Sadly, those three guys are no longer with us (although I really tried to get them for you). Instead, I got three “stand-ins” who ...
With the NBA Finals beginning this week (and for those of you outside the U.S. that’s the championship series of basketball), I want to talk about a concept that I’ve heard a few times recently: Positionless basketball In the past, basketball had five positions: Point guard (for the short guy who could dribble and ...
I wrote a version of this post about a year ago…titled it “when death comes knocking, look busy”…and I didn’t know then that it would be so timely today. And thank goodness I took my own advice. Death came knocking for me a little over a month ago…I had a stroke…and somehow when death ...
I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the greatest copywriters who have ever lived…and there’s one who you probably never heard of who I want to tell you about today. First a little history. When talking about the greats in anything—sports, entertainment and yes, even direct marketing—thinking about your “Mount Rushmore” is ...
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