Grammar is overrated. That was the subject line I used when I told you about the second “Gene Schwartz lost classic” that I was planning to re-publish,The Brilliance Breakthrough, How To Talk And Write So That People Will Never Forget You. And calling this book a “lost classic” is far from hyperbole. When I ...

This past week I was watching a “discussion” play out on Facebook that had some legal overtones to it…one where I knew both the victim and the perpetrator…and while it did not seem prudent to jump in the middle of it as it got nasty, it reminded me of a post I wrote a ...

While traveling this week to two incredible marketing events, I was trying to figure out why I do this when I would much rather be home. The best answer I could come up with is that I am a mastermind junkie and a people junkie. Or another way to put it, I can never ...

Your friends are your friends because they tell you the truth.   Based on that premise, I want to ask you this question:   “If you have spinach in your teeth (or even worse, something hanging from your nose), do you have people in your life who, if they are present, will tell you ...

                                                         “I love getting old…  because I get so smart”                                   ...

I received a lot of questions and interest from my post last week, “LTV is not a YouTube channel.” Those of you who understood, and have applied, “lifetime value calculations” in your businesses, shared some incredible successes and case histories about what it truly means to invest in the future. And those of you who ...

“Life is long” -Marty Edelston One of my favorite authors on the subject of personal finance and money is my friend David Bach. David’s books have a consistent theme of “finishing rich”…which I just love considering most marketing advice we receive is more about getting rich quick. Today I want to talk about getting ...

There is nothing more important than the concept of “specialty over commodity” when we market our products and services, regardless of the medium we choose, online or offline. Some things just scream specialty…like the supplement I once marketed where the key ingredient could only be found in certain caves in western Africa. That was ...

Three years ago, almost to the day, an event took place in Stamford, Connecticut called, “The Titans of Direct Response.” It was a gathering of Titans, on stage and off–350 of the best direct marketers in the world. I wanted to tell you briefly today how the event came to be and then give ...

It seems like everyone wants to write a book at some point in their life. And it makes sense. We all have a story to tell…whether it’s fiction or non-fiction…and as I have said in the past, “Books are still a perfect product.” But there is no guarantee that just because you write a ...

We have a lot more choice in our lives than we think…in everything we do…and today I want to share two aspects of “choice” that apply to your career. One is about choosing who (and what) you work for (whether it’s someone else or yourself). The other is about how your mentors will choose ...

“I’m just an ordinary guy who has been able to do extraordinary things” -Martin (Marty) Edelston After writing last week’s post “Who is your rainmaker?” I couldn’t stop thinking of the man who made it rain as much as anyone I have ever known in my career, Marty Edelston. Marty launched the company called ...

Hey it’s Brian and I know you don’t usually hear from me during the week… …but a few days ago I asked about your biggest challenge when it comes to marketing your product or service. Well, so many of you responded and it’s making me wish I’d asked this a lot sooner. Reading the ...

Since you are living in the same dynamic marketing world I am living in, I’m sure you are regularly in conversations about “10X”–whether someone is telling you how to increase your business ten times or if you are coaching someone to grow their business ten times. I like the concept of “10X”…but there are ...

“Copy is not written. Copy is assembled. You do not write copy, you assemble it” -Gene Schwartz One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned from the greatest copywriters who have ever lived is to never be satisfied with a product “as is.” And to always ask the question, “What’s not here that could be ...

“The number one rule of success in anything—marketing, football, chess, etc.—is work” -Gene Schwartz Remember the kid you sat next to in school who always got a better grade than you? Or the person in the cubicle or bullpen that you worked in who was selling the same product or service you were selling ...

I want to talk about an important topic today that might not seem directly related to direct marketing success; but like everything else, all roads lead to marketing in our crazy little world, right? I believe that you can only do your best work (in marketing or anything else for that matter) if you ...