As I am completing my “kinda/sorta sabbatical,” I went through my Sunday blog posts over the last three years thinking that I would resend the one that got the highest open rate. A “greatest hit” if you will. Then I recalled the post I wrote, “Open rates are overrated,” which is based on the intelligent ramblings

What if I told you I had a video 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 secure them for this week’s blog post). 🙂 Instead, I got three

Multiple unlocked and unguarded entry points aren’t the best practice for high security prisons, schools (a relatively new phenomenon) or the warehouse at Sotheby’s. But in marketing and copywriting, multiple entry points can be your gateway to the most advanced education…and sales and profit too. However, these unlocked and unguarded entries must be used

“As soon as I meet someone I admire, I begin modeling what I admire about him or her most.“ -Sean Stephenson #Sean365 Sean Stephenson is a special person in my life…and I use the present tense when I talk about him even though he is no longer with us. That’s because he lives on through

The end of the year is a reminder—if you work for a company or just someone else—that you may be anticipating a bonus (or at least an Amazon gift card) 🙂 And this post is for everyone, whether you are waiting for year-end bonuses, giving them out, or not interested in bonuses right now.

I’ve begun shedding the label of “Director of Sales Prevention” (somewhat) in the process of selling memberships into my Titans Xcelerator virtual (and very affordable) mastermind this month…and while I have signed up many new members (you know who you are and congratulations!), I’ve also gotten some old (and new) objections for not joining. I am

I was asked to participate in a book project from a young entrepreneur/author who is exploring what it takes to become a millionaire…why some people never get there…why some people seem to make millions in their sleep…and juxtaposing millionaires with those who stay “stuck in the middle class.” First, it is not necessarily one

Because we are just past Thanksgiving in the U.S., and heading into peak holiday time globally, I want to do a flip on “Christmas cards in July” and talk about a July “incident” that I was made aware of this past June 27th–which is appropriate to talk about anytime during the year, including Christmas season. That’s why this

Three years ago, on Thanksgiving (it feels like 10 years after what we experienced in 2020 and 2021), I was sitting at my dining room table with over 20 relatives of all ages. Note: If you are outside the U.S., I promise some payoff with this post despite you not celebrating this very American

When I wrote “Email is a contact sport,” earlier this year, and just re-read it as I was preparing to teach the current “Breakthrough Advertising Bootcamp” about “states of awareness” and “levels of sophistication,” I came up with three more examples of marketing, contributing and connecting as contact sports (in addition to email). Simply put, creating lifetime value

During the “go-go 1980’s” in direct marketing, everyone seemed to have the answer (i.e., the hot new technology or methodology), especially in the areas of database building, regression modeling and advanced list segmentation techniques through cooperative databases. Yes…people were into new stuff before the Internet too. And if any of the terms above do

Consider this post part two, as promised, of “Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t”—a continuing de-brief of the Titans Mastermind from September. You do not need to read part one to get the lessons learned from part two…but if you want to review, you can read part one here. All the speakers were amazing. If you read

The votes are in…I WILL be sharing additional valuable insights from the Titans Mastermind meeting from last month…after sharing many last week under the subject line (from the title of a book by Steven Pressfield, one of the speakers at the mastermind), Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t. Note: They still don’t want to read your

If there was one overriding theme of the most recent Titans Mastermind meeting last month (i.e., “the best one ever”), it was that “nice to have information” (or services) are just that—nice to have—and creating “need to have information” (or services) is the key to all marketing. And it doesn’t happen my edict…you need to transform your nice to have into need

I am coming off a high from my most recent Titans Mastermind meeting…and I can safely say that it was the best one ever…and that’s saying a lot. I’ve been doing them for over seven years/over 20 meetings and the members and guests during that period are a who’s who of direct marketing wisdom

For next week’s post I will send a summary of the Titans Mastermind meeting just completed…and why it was the best one ever since I held the first one seven years ago. And it was the best not because of the reasons you might think such as the caliber of the speakers and the attendees, the connections made,

While I am hosting my Titans Mastermind this week, I want to share one of my favorite posts that I believe is timeless. And in the P.S. I wanted to give you an update on how Overdeliver (and “overdelivery”) has gone global. How did we advertise in the “good old days” when there was no email, Internet, product

In the midst of the pandemic in 2020 I took this picture of my office: Yikes! And at that time, I made a promise that I would clean up my mess…especially because I was quarantined and had nothing better to do. It is now over two years later and nothing has changed in this

This past week I revisited a 10-minute speech that I gave in 2018…partially to reminisce what the world was like before the pandemic…and partially to reinforce what mastery really means (which was the theme of the speech). (Check out the P.S. for another example of mastery) The presentation was titled “6 Eternal Truths from 6 Dead

Dan Kennedy is recognized as one of the most iconic marketing gurus over the past half century…he’s still going strong…and with his latest book being released on September 6th, I had the privilege of interviewing him for both my Titans Xcelerator and Titans Mastermind members this past week. It was 45 minutes of brilliance, with important reminders and lessons regarding the rules of engagement for all