Tom Ruwitch

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writing poem

How Jeff Tweedy’s Dad Wrote One Poem… and then Another

By Tom Ruwitch

In his brilliant book How to Write One Song, Jeff Tweedy tells a story about his Dad who would go to the basement when he was sad or mad, drink a beer or two, and write a poem. Jeff Tweedy writes lyrics and music for a living. He’s the founder and leader of the band Wilco. But…

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RecomMONDAYtions ~ 2023.08.21

By Tom Ruwitch

Article  Are You Making This LinkedIn Mistake?Ted Prodromou is a LinkedIn master. This article is for those who want LInkedIn to work for them, but haven’t figured out how. A great, short read, loaded with lessons. Events  Mastermind Book Club re: How to Write One Song(Thursday, August 24, 2:30 PM ET) Speaking of Ted Prodromou, join…

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“The Most Powerful Speech of All Time Started With…”

By Tom Ruwitch

A couple of years back, I got an email from marketing master Karl Bryan who wrote: “The most powerful speech of all time started with ‘I have a Dream!’ It didn’t start with ‘I have a step-by-step plan.’” I stashed that line in my “email ideas” file and came across it this week (there’s a…

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The rerun RX for writer's block

The Rerun RX for Writer’s Block

By Tom Ruwitch

Yesterday, email marketing master Laura Belgray broadcast a rerun… …and I loved it. It was a story about a Grammar-Cop Attorney who criticized Laura for using the phrase “‘Looking forward to hearing back” in an email. That “…is NOT a sentence. It is a sentence fragment,” Grumpy Grammar Puss sniffed. Laura shared the story to…

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The Tragic Tale of Farmer Brown

By Tom Ruwitch

Once upon a time, there lived a man named Brown who ran a dairy farm. Farmer Brown owned 100 cows, all with udders full of milk. But no one was buying Farmer Brown’s milk, and he was going broke. When he first bought the farm, Brown hired a helper who didn’t know how to milk…

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How to Grow Profits Without Scraping and Scrambling for New Leads

By Tom Ruwitch

I met last week with a financial planner who wants to run a live seminar. His plan: Attract new leads to the seminar, encourage attendees to schedule a free consultation, and convert those who sign-up into clients. I asked: “And what about those who attend but don’t sign up for the consultation?” “F%c#-’em,” he said.…

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ann carden

RecomMONDAYtions ~ 2023.08.14

By Tom Ruwitch

You’re Invited…  The Raise the Bar SummitI’m very choosy about the events I associate with. When Ann Carden invited me to speak at her event, I jumped at the chance — because Ann is a business coach I respect and she filled the speakers roster with so many other great people. You can register now…

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Why I’m Happy to be Human — Despite the Ups and Downs

By Tom Ruwitch

Last night, Melissa and I saw the rock opera Rent at The Muny, the great outdoor theater one mile from our house in St. Louis. It was a beautiful, cloudless night — mild and breezy. The second act opened with Seasons of Love (“…five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes. How do you measure a year in the life?”)…

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Why Brand Awareness May Leave You Broke

By Tom Ruwitch

I stumbled upon a content marketing cage fight this morning. In one corner, the “brand awareness” marketers. In the other corner, the “bottom line marketers.” It went like this… A frustrated marketing assistant posted on a discussion board about his TikTok efforts. He’s grown his company’s TikTok followers from 1,831 to 2,047, but his bosses…

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Why I Never Suffer From Writer’s Block…

By Tom Ruwitch

One of the reasons I write week-daily emails without suffering writer’s block: I have a system to find email-worthy content ideas. I regularly mine for content gold — or ask my assistants to dig for me — in 15 places. Just last week… I dug up a story from the “On This Day” calendar of…

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