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Imagine that a hot air balloon is stationed in the front yard of your home. You walk out the front door you step inside.

The pilot fires up the jets. The balloon rises into the air. You’re rising above your home, above the roof tops of your neighborhood, above your city. Soon you see the curve of the earth encircling you and a panorama of streets and buildings and land. The full expanse of whatever “territory” that you sell to.

15 years ago today, on September 15, 1995, I opened my very first email account. Who’d have thought that in 2010 I’d send an email to tens of thousands of people in 50 countries and tell ’em all a crazy story? (And post this from Brussels, Belgium no less.) Congrats on being one of those lucky people :^>

Winston Churchill, the great Prime Minister who carried Britain through the darkest hours of the 2nd World War, said that. I visited his war bunker in London yesterday, having just finished my Marketing Evolution seminar which had met just 3 miles north. A fascinating tour.

Churchill was a successful statesman early in his career, then fell out of favor with the people. The Great Depression ensued and he nearly went bankrupt…

My buddy Bryce is newly married, about 15 years younger than me. Getting a startup off the ground. Hot in pursuit of the entrepreneurial dream. All the usual drama of getting his chops busted, landing new customers, building a portfolio, scrambling for cash.

His wife is a schoolteacher and her day ends at 3:30. Her day ends as soon as she finishes grading papers.

When does his day end?

Some time ago my travels took me to the red soil of Nairobi, Kenya. A gracious schoolteacher named George ran a foster care program for AIDS orphans. He took me on a tour of his world. How incredibly different it was from mine. Someone had given George a Toyota station wagon, so we didn’t have to walk. He drove me … Read More

There’s nothing more scary in sales than mashing your foot down on the gas pedal, and feeling the clutch slip.

. . . then pressing harder and smelling the odor of your transmission starting to melt.

If your prospects smell a hint of desperation, it’s all over. They disengage more and more.

This came to me today from one of our close personal friends. I thought, “Dang, I didn’t know she was going to the UK!” Almost fell for it. I hope you don’t….

In June 1851, US anti-slavery magazine “National Era” began publishing a fascinating story in 40 weekly installments. Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, it depicted the life of a black woman, Eliza, who escapes with her son Tom who is sold “down the river” into slavery.

In 1852, Stowe’s 40 installments were bound together in book form and sold 300,000 copies the first year in print. “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was translated into all major languages and became the most influential novel of the 19th century. It also became the best-selling book after the Bible.

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