Tom Ruwitch
Funny story I heard from Laura Belgray…. (She’s an email marketing master who writes copy oozing with personality.) In her email this morning, Laura told us about her run-in with a grammar cop. Officer Grammar Grump is a lawyer who objected to a phrase in Laura’s previous email. Laura’s offending phrase: “Looking forward to seeing…
When Melissa and I moved into a century-old house 25 years ago, my father-in-law offered this unsolicited advice: “It’s all about the water. If you control the water, everything will be OK.” I had no idea what he was talking about. Now, I know. Friggin water. I hate friggin water. I wrote the other day…
Back in the 1980s, Micropolis Corporation was the computer disc king. They sold more 8-inch “portable” discs than anyone. But trouble loomed. Competitors introduced a better product – the 5-inch floppy disc. Less expensive. Easier to use. Simpler. CEO Stuart Mabon understood the threat and directed his manufacturing team to switch focus from 8-inch to…
I usually send my emails first thing in the morning. But not today. I’ve been busy… …building an arky, arky and… …helping the animals come in by twosies, twosies. Actually, it’s too late for that. It’s raining here in St. Louis, MO, USA. Big rain. Record-setting rain. Biblical rain. Nine inches and counting – in…
Recommended ReadingThe Power of Authentic, Human-to-Human Contact I love this blog post from the great Mike Weinberg. Mike trains sales managers and sales people and is the author of three great books — including one of my favorites, New Sales Simplified. In this post, Mike discusses the power of HUMAN prospecting — and why it’s more effective than the…
The meeting with my new friend, Erica, was rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ along. We agreed to promote each other’s businesses. We discussed ways we might work together. We hit it off. But when I asked Erica if she’d like to join my daily(ish) email list… …we went from rollin’ to reelin’. We went from “Yes!…
On my 14th birthday, Mom and Dad gave me two 10-packs of Maxell XLII-S cassette tapes. Yes!!!!!!!!!! Greatest birthday gift ever. Back in the early 80s, before CDs or MP3s were a thing, cassettes were THE thing. Affordable. Portable. Swappable. Indispensable. High-fidelity cool I raided my friends’ record collections and taped my favorite albums. I…
My son Jacob makes his living as a commercial fisherman in southwest Alaska. Sockeye salmon in Bristol Bay. This year, the salmon run will shatter records. Average sockeye run (2001-2020): 41.3 million fish. 2021 sockeye run: 66.1 million fish (a record). This year: 74 million and counting. And the season continues through July! What a…
Here’s a question sure to prompt furious debate: Which show is better:Breaking Bad orBetter Call Saul? If you don’t know these shows, stick with me. There’s a heaping helping of storytelling how-to below… …and you don’t need to know diddly about the shows to dig in. If you do know the shows, cast your vote. Which…
Recommended ListeningSmashing the Plateau I’ve began listening to David Shriner-Cahn’s podcast, Smashing the Plateau, since soon after I met him earlier this year. I think David and his podcast are great! I was honored to be his guest recently, and the episode dropped this morning. We discussed: Why I started Story Power Marketing Why I decided to focus on…