Tom Ruwitch

Categories

RecomMONDAYtions ~ 2024.10.07

By Tom Ruwitch

Recommended Reading šŸ’”This Category Stumped Everyone on Trivia Night (Adam Kreitman) The Marketing Advocate, a.k.a. Adam Kreitman, has done it again. In this short post, Adam makes the case for direct response marketing over fancy, flashy, expensive ads. Read this if you prefer getting clients and growing profits, rather than wasting money. Recommended Event Ā How…

My Pal Sent an A+++ email. I Break it Down Here…

By Tom Ruwitch

My good friend Michael DeLon sent me an AWESOME email today. It’s so loaded with marketing wisdom, innovative thinking, and smile-making surprises… …I have to share it with you. But first, some background. Michael is the President of Paperback Expert which positions experts for business growth. Yesterday, he spoke at the Great Legal Marketing (GLM)…

This Legendary Ad Reveals Biz-building Secrets…

By Tom Ruwitch

A few days ago, I hosted an induction ceremony for The Storytelling Hall of Fame. The latest inductee: This masterpiece ad for BluBlockers sunglasses by the late, great Joe Sugarman. In 2007, Sugarman wrote in his book The Adweek Copywriting Handbook, “That ad for BluBlocker sunglasses launched a multimillion-dollar company that eventually sold 20 million pairs of…

You Have to Pay More Attention to This…

By Tom Ruwitch

Let’s make a deal. Behind curtain number one: a prospective customer who will buy $10 of your goods and services if you spend $5 on marketing and advertising. Behind curtain number two: a prospective customer who will buy $20 of your goods and services if you spend just $1 on marketing and advertising. Spend $5…

Why Kris Kristofferson Failed at First

By Tom Ruwitch

When he first tried to make it as a songwriter in Nashville, Kris Kristofferson couldn’t catch a break. He eventually became a country music legend, but, at first, he couldn’t tame his literary side. Kristofferson, who died on Saturday at age 88, studied English literature and graduated with honors from Pomona College. He earned a…

RecomMONDAYtions ~ 2024.09.30

By Tom Ruwitch

Recommended Reading How to Write Faster (Ann Handley) I love Ann Handley’s blog and emails. Here’s a good one she wrote recently about how to write faster — with greater confidence and consistency. Hint: AI can help, but it’s not the answer. Recommended Book Ā The Checklist Manifesto A book about the power of checklists may…

Hey, Steve Jobs, I Call B.S.

By Tom Ruwitch

I’m feeling a bit feisty this morning. I want to call-out some big boys and do some myth-busting. Let’s start with this quote from Apple founder Steve Jobs: ā€œSome people say, ‘Give the customers what they want.’ But that’s not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they…

[Invitation] Become a Grandmaster at Business

By Tom Ruwitch

When he was just 13 years old, chess prodigy Magnus Carlsen nearly defeated former world champion Gary Kasparov during a tournament in Iceland. The Norwegian kid rattled the Russian with an unconventional opening, but the old guy recovered to salvage a draw. I recommend the 2016 documentary about Carlsen. Here’s theĀ trailer: When author Patrick Bet-David…

The Right and Wrong Way to Get Prospects to Tune In

By Tom Ruwitch

I dozed off during a Zoom meeting yesterday. I couldn’t help it. I was tired, and the speaker was BO-ring. Thankfully, my camera wasn’t on so no one caught me. In olden days in Great Britain, they might have called me a “sluggard.” (That’s a fancy English word for “lazy person.”) In the 18th-century, British…

Don’t Be a Focker (A Cautionary Tale)

By Tom Ruwitch

RememberĀ this sceneĀ in “Meet the Parents” when Gaylord Focker (Ben Stiller) wants to board a plane, but a power-hungry gate agent makes him wait? Funny when you watch it. But not so funny when — like me — you live through something like it. It happened Sunday at the Philadelphia International Airport. Melissa and I arrived…