Tom Ruwitch
R.I.P. Ozzy Osbourne. You were one of a kind. The Blizzard of Ozz. The Godfather of Heavy Metal. The Prince of Darkness. The Marketing Maniac. I coined that last one. No one called him that — until now. But Ozzy was a maniac… …and he knew how to market himself. Evidence: In 1982, he was…
For me, Sunday was Sleepless in St. Louis. I tossed and turned as my mind churned about… …the work project that feels overwhelming… …the persistent pain in my shoulder… …the general contractor who is dragging his feet as we try to rebuild my tornado-damaged house. That damn tornado. Rethinking that horror twisted my mind into sleep-strangling…
Recommended Reading 📝 “Notes to Myself” by Seth Godin 65 of ’em. Short, but powerful. So many are rules I live by. Others have me thinking. A few of my favorites: 5. Reliability is a superpower 12. Ship the work 21. Easy to measure doesn’t make it important 55. Generous doesn’t mean free Sixty one more: here.…
The weather around here is getting on my nerves. Two months ago, a tornado tore the roof off my house and leveled my backyard. As if that’s not bad enough… This month, the forecast calls for corn sweat. This is not a drill, people. This is real. The weatherman on the local news told me…
Remember Thomas the Tank Engine? You know, the locomotive from the children’s book with the round face, big black eyes, and rosy cheeks who says, “I think I can. I think I can.” Yesterday, I met an alternative-reality Thomas in an old Far Side cartoon. Thomas sits on a city sidewalk. People walk by barely…
I bumped into a stuck marketer named James on Reddit this morning who asked: “Curious to know how email marketing pros overcome writers block? I’ve spent too much time time staring at blank pages in the past, and usually I just need some kind of inspo to get me started.” Ahhh… A tale as old…
When people sign up for my upcoming training about how to turn content into clients, I ask them to complete a brief survey. The last question in that survey: What’s the #1 Question You Have About Growing Your Business or Marketing Right Now? More than 50 people have registered for the training (July 24, 7…
Recommended Reading 🤖 1 delightfully human sentence to help you become a killer writer If you want to be a more effective writer who stands out as a human (not a robotic imitation of a human), read this. Ann Handley is a great writer and teacher who understands AI’s power but also understands the need to for human…
I went to the hardware store the other day to buy some bolts and nuts… …and I ran into a clerk whose breath stunk worse than rancid roquefort. I needed help. But I couldn’t deal with this guy. His halitosis overwhelmed me. It hung like a dark cloud over Aisle 5 (bolts, nuts, etc.). I…
Happy Birthday, Arthur Ashe. Fifty years ago this month, Ashe became the first black player to win the Wimbledon tennis championship. Here’s how he did it: He changed the game. He was known for agressive play, but he was competing against a stronger, harder-hitting rival, Jimmy Connors. So Ashe slowed the game. He hit change-of-pace…