You may think with a subject line like that, this post is about politics. Let me assure you what I want to share today has nothing to do with anything political. I’m assuming you are all getting your election news in other places…but isn’t this the most fascinating Presidential election in our lifetime? BUT ...

Some years ago I attended a conference where an expert in digital books talked about physical books still being what he called a “perfect product.” And although the ways we consume books, market them and use them for fun and profit has changed considerably over the years, books are not going away anytime soon…and ...

“No one lying on their death bed wishes they spent more time at the office” And despite loving my work, I guess that’s true for me too. Of course those of you who hate your job, and are at the office right now, are probably running for the door… But being dedicated to your ...

Most people think that finding a mentor is as easy as scrolling through your Facebook friends and reaching out with a well crafted email. But that’s completely wrong. Your mentors actually choose you. In this video I’ll tell you what you need to do if you want to find a mentor who will invest ...

I’m trying something new… While I love to write my blog every week, clearly I don’t write one every week. But I really want to keep sharing with you as much as I can because you’ve been such an incredible audience for everything I’ve sent to you in the past. In that spirit, it ...

If you go to “The Demotivators Collection” at www.Despair.com, here is what they say about “Meetings”: “None of us is as dumb as all of us” Have you made decisions in your life, business or personal, where you look back on them and ask the question:  “How come no one suggested that I/we do ...

I heard a speaker last year who is an expert on “marketing to millennials”–and since hearing that speaker, the topic seems to come up everywhere (and more often). Bernie Sanders had something to do with that I guess…but it made me think that it’s a great topic for us to explore as marketers, copywriters ...

As I gear up for another summer of umpiring dozens of meaningful Little League games (well, they are meaningful to the 12 year olds playing in them!), I started thinking about why I umpire as my hobby…and it seemed like an appropriate time to update a blog post from a couple of years ago ...

When I was planning the “Titans of Direct Response” I went to Dan Kennedy’s home to talk about the speakers for the event. Dan was already “in” and I told him that I wanted this to be an epic event where we covered all media from the greats in their specialties. We listed the ...

While I didn’t really get military clearance to hang out with my marketing buddies at the Pentagon, I did the next best thing. Instead, when I had the privilege last March to speak to our troops stationed just outside The Pentagon at Fort Myer, Virginia, I took that opportunity to speak to them about ...

While I often talk about all the triumphs I’ve had in the direct marketing wars over the years, talking about my biggest failures is something that I have talked about in recent interviews more and more – and the feedback I have gotten is that listeners found it useful and instructional. And frankly, it ...

I hope you don’t think I am being disrespectful with my subject line…but I was just given this coffee mug as a gift: And if that wasn’t enough, another one of the Legends being profiled in my new book is also on the same mug: Ogilvy is now my Homeboy too! And he’s got ...

I grew up in a family of teachers…my Dad even became an elementary school principal later in his career…and what I have noticed over the years about the teachers inside and outside my family is that they are all supreme students as well. And I am sure you have all had the experience of ...

I first thought about writing this post as I waited on a very long line at the post office last December, behind a guy with shoebox full of Christmas cards stamped and ready to go. But I wanted to wait a bit so we would be far enough away from Christmas so I could ...

Of all the “Hallmark holidays” I love Valentine’s Day the best. It takes the “gratefulness” from Thanksgiving and adds in “all love, all the time.” And rumor has it that sex may be part of the deal too…but this is a “G-Rated blog…” I started writing this blog February 14, 2014, in honor and ...

If you thought the full subject line above could have been: “The next million dollar copywriter…could be YOU,” it’s not…because the world is changing in this area…and quickly. In fact, I will maintain that the next “million dollar copywriters” will be working under a completely new paradigm…one that I believe all copywriters AND marketers ...

Once upon a time, back in the dark ages called the 1990’s, one of the greatest copywriters of all time, Gary Bencivenga, wrote a lucrative front end promotion (for Boardroom’s newsletter Bottom Line/Personal) which we called “the survey package.” Today I want to tell you two stories. I’ll start with how we killed the ...

I like attorneys…some of my best friends are attorneys…and I also know many “recovering attorneys” as well who I like a lot too. This is not a post about bashing attorneys–far from it–but it is a post about how to rise above the litigious society we live in and not “go legal” as your ...