I Hate Sleeping In
When you are an early riser, getting up two hours later seems like you are losing half a day. My back was cramping yesterday, so I took a muscle relaxer last night. I slept fitfully and didn’t get out of bed till 8:00. That’s at least two hours “late” for…
READ MOREHow Much “Envisioning” Should You Do?
BK, MN, BB, and I were talking about mergers and how companies are managed afterward. The doomed AOL/Time-Warner combo (and split earlier this year) came up. This got very quickly into the question of how much forward thinking a CEO should do.
READ MOREKeyword due diligence
Before you optimize your website or buy pay-per-click (PPC) traffic, you should perform “keyword due diligence.” That means you must check to see that Internet users are actually searching for information on your product by using the same keywords you assumed they would use. When I tell this to people,…
READ MOREWho Pays Attention to Big Business?
A recent study found that 2008’s media coverage of the financial crisis was all about big government and big business. Small-business issues merited just 5 percent of the total. Newspapers and magazines and television experts were almost entirely focused on the auto industry, bank bailouts, and stimulus plans. And most…
READ MOREHow to Get Out of That Damned Rut
“How do you get out of a rut?” a good friend asked me. “Regain passion for your work? Get yourself up for each day?” “Have you thought about this?” he continued. “It happens to me often. It makes me miserable. I feel useless, because I tend to piss away the…
READ MOREEat More… and Lose Weight?
This is a fat country. And that means Americans are prone to a long list of fat-related health problems. Heart disease and high blood pressure are two of the big ones. Dr. Al Sears, my personal physician, has helped me lose more than 25 pounds of fat, reduce my blood…
READ MOREA Classic Success-Thwarting Mistake
I sent a memo to a client last week, telling him about a clever advertising campaign that one of his competitors is using. I had inside info that the competitor is making a lot of money with it. My client’s response was to tell me what is wrong with what…
READ MOREEighty-six
“Eighty-six” is diner slang for taking an item off the menu or canceling an order. It’s also used by bars and restaurants when they refuse to serve an unruly or drunk customer. By extension, it can mean rejecting, discarding, or getting rid of anything or anyone (especially gangster style).
READ MOREReflecting on Freedom
Just about everyone claims to be in favor of freedom. But few seem to agree on what it means. One person’s idea of freedom can actually violate another person’s freedom. To one person, it means doing what he wants with his own life. To another, it means doing what he…
READ MOREPersuade Everybody About Anything by Adding a “Pitch”
If you want people to do as you wish, don’t tell them, sell them. This is a simple rule that applies to almost any situation. I not only use it in my advertising copy, I use it to persuade my:
READ MOREDon’t Walk Away With Nothing
Important Sales Insight: People often feel guilty about saying “no.” After you’ve spent time trying to persuade them to buy something, they feel bad about just saying “no.” They may say “no,” but there is lingering guilt for having wasted your time.
READ MOREKeep It to Yourself
You know those parents who say they want to be their children’s “best friends”? You know the ones I’m talking about. Those obnoxious moms and pops with six-pack abs and designer jeans who have fun smoking pot with their kids and passing them candy-flavored condoms.
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