Tom Ruwitch
True story: Once upon a time, a dumb dude in Michigan smelled gas coming from his newly installed water heater. He checked for the leak by lighting a match. He shoulda died, but he got off easy… …with singed eyebrows. Mixing fire and gas leak — that wasn’t his first mistake. Installing the gas heater…
Yesterday. Southern Wyoming… “Hey, Paul,” I said. “I think that hole is fished out.” Paul had been casting his fly to the same spot on the North Platte River for the past five minutes and hadn’t gotten a bite. If any trout had been there, they were long gone. “I know,” he replied. “I’m not…
Good morning from the middle of somewhere in southern Wyoming, not far from a town you’ve never heard of, near a river filled with trout. I’m here to do some fishing with my pals. This place we stay is off the grid — no cell signal, no wi-fi, no internet — except in a 300…
It’s been 115 days since the tornado ripped the roof off my house. And I’m still waiting on my general contractor to finish a quote that my insurance company will approve. That’s too long. I’m fed up. So I’m shopping for a new contractor. I’ve spent the last two weeks interviewing candidates, including a guy…
Recommended Reading 📝 The Hustle Loop I used to believe that hustle (+ more hustle) was the recipe for business success. I eventually learned better. In this short post, Seth Godin shares a viewpoint I wish I learned sooner. He warns that hustle pushes people to cut corners, create discomfort, and race to the bottom. The…
James told me he’s about to scrap his podcast. “No one is listening,” he said. “I’m not getting any calls or clients from this.” I replied with a story about “The Groom of the Stool.” In olden days, kings had fancy toilets called “stools” where they took care of business. Picture a throne-like chair, with…
It’s Paul Harvey’s birthday (September 4). Never heard of him? Never heard him? Well, now’s your chance. Paul Harvey (1918–2009) was a legendary radio broadcaster who, at his peak, reached 24 million listeners per week. Here’s a classic Harvey clip about… …well… …you’ll just have to listen to the end to find out… Harvey delivered thousands of…
It’s been 16 weeks since the EF3 tornado roared through our neighborhood, ripped the roof of our house, and leveled our back yard. Many of my neighbors’ yards got wrecked, too. But a few houses down from me, one neighbor has restored his yard to its former glory. No surprise, really, because this neighbor is…
Back in the 1950s, Schweppes was a tiny player in the US tonic water and mixer market. And then legendary ad man David Ogilvy introduced America to this guy: That’s Commander Edward Whitehead who served in the Royal Navy during World War II and then became the President of Schweppes (USA). Ogilvy launched a series…
Recommended Podcast Episode 🎥 Magnetic Marketing: Jay Abraham and Dan Kennedy This is a crash course in how to grow your business. A rare conversation between Dan Kennedy and Jay Abraham — two giants of direct response marketing. They swap stories and strategies on positioning, preeminence, joint ventures, and how to become your clients’ most trusted…