Have you heard of Tim Ferris’ book The Four-Hour Work Week? The original title was Drug Dealing for Fun and Profit, a tongue-in-cheek name for what was essentially a book about outsourcing. His book publisher said, “No way, Jose, we’re not using that title.” I bet he thought it would make for poor brand marketing. They bickered back and forth … Read More
Stop Selling to Losers! The 5 Power Disqualifiers
After four years of working the Vegas strip as a professional gambler, John Paul Mendocha was sitting in a restaurant booth with a couple of gambling buddies. His two friends were having an argument: “Yes you will.” “No I won’t.” “Yes you will!” “No I won’t.” Out came a Glock. The guy planted the barrel on the other guy’s skull. … Read More
FTC Outlaws Personality
The Federal Trade Commission announced today that starting January 1, 2017, the use of personality in marketing will be forbidden by federal law. According to the Office of the Executive Director, “Flamboyant personalities have foisted fraudulent schemes on the public for years, allowing enterprising individuals to prey on unsuspecting consumers who believed that they would receive benefits from their purchases. … Read More
Professional vs. Primal in B2B Advertising
The whole corporate vs. professional discussion takes on a new importance when it comes to the style of writing you use in advertising. This is a nuance that I’ve worked on for a long, long time. Some of the business teachers who have influenced me operate mostly in business-to-consumer markets where “outrageous” is much more often the norm. Case in … Read More
“Poor Man’s Peer Review” – Hack For Creating a Spectacularly Readable Book
How To Make Your Book Stand Out in A World Drowning In Self-Published Content Hearken unto me, for this is one of the coolest shortcuts I’ve ever discovered. I call it “Poor Man’s Peer Review.” While I was writing 80/20 Sales & Marketing and Evolution 2.0, I gave the manuscripts to a number of friends and asked them “Hey, would … Read More
Just Exactly How Dead Is Your Privacy Anyway?
My wife likes her Amazon Echo but it makes me very nervous since it hears everything we’re saying. So, I hired this guy on Fiverr and asked him this question: What is the privacy policy of the Amazon Echo Dot? In particular, how is it different from Gmail? Gmail knows all these things about me and I’m not worried that … Read More
Professional vs. Corporate
“Professional” means exhibiting, communicating, and delivering excellent results, exercising great skill and knowing how to do your job. It means showing up dressed sharply in a perfectly fitting suit and tie, if that’s what’s expected; it means being organized, efficient and displaying an air of competence. Corporate means institutional. Corporate means showing your customers the face of a building instead … Read More
I Hate Kenny G. – Why Should You Care?
I hate Kenny G. Kenny G is Velveeta Jazz. For people who reside in pastel look-alike subdivisions and play mass-produced muzak on their mini-stereos. One guy put it like this – “Truly, truly, this is everything that is wrong with music. It’s one Coltrane lick cooked like an English vegetable until all soul, all flavor is gone. It’s so nondescript … Read More
The One True Way to Become a Marketing Genius
There are a ton of gurus, books, courses, seminars, coaching programs etc. for marketers, all of them claiming to make you a genius, to deliver the All Pervasive, Hidden Secrets of the Marketing Universe. A few of them are actually good. And I only endorse people whom I can fully recommend as head and shoulders above the rest of the … Read More
Rack the Shotgun to Disqualify or Identify Leads
After four years of working the Vegas strip as a professional gambler, John Paul Mendocha was sitting in a restaurant booth with a couple of his gambling buddies. The other two were having an argument: “Yes, you will.” “No, I won’t.” “Yes, you will.” “No, I won’t.” Out came a Glock. The guy planted the barrel on the other guy’s … Read More