Cautionary Tales

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Why That Email Signup Raffle Will Backfire

By Tom Ruwitch

I spotted the following this morning on one of my favorite online marketing forums: ā€œI have a trade show coming up. I want to take advantage of the traffic and grow my email list. The best thing I can think of is an email sign up raffle…What is the best way to approach this?ā€  …

My Shameful Trip Down the Social Media Rabbit Hole

By Tom Ruwitch

I read a GREAT thing yesterday. It’s from Austin Kleon’s book Steal Like an Artist… “You’re going to see a lot of stupid stuff out there and you’re going to feel like you need to correct it. One time I was up late on my laptop and my wife yelled at me, ā€˜Quit picking fights on…

Curling Fans Screwed by “Secks” Toys

By Tom Ruwitch

Bad news for American curling fans. Big laughs for the rest of us.  And a great marketing lesson for good measure… There’s a company in the Netherlands that makes ā€œtoys.ā€  The kind of toys not suitable for children… …or prudes. “Adult” toys. (Wink, wink.) Anyhow, this toy company paid someone to put their logos on…

Famous Marketing Expert BS’d Me (and others) so I Ripped Him…

By Tom Ruwitch

Ryan Deiss is one of the most intelligent and successful digital marketing strategists in the galaxy… …and now I’m going to rip him. After you read the story, let me know what you think. I’m interested to hear your thoughts. The story began yesterday morning when Ryan sent me one of those Cyber Monday promotions…

The Surprising Truth About Pickle-flavored Lip Balm

By Tom Ruwitch

Looking for the perfect stocking-stuffer for a loved one who has everything? Here’s an idea:  Pickle Lip Balm.  Yeah, you heard me right.  Pickle Lip Balm is a real thing.  You can buy a gherkin-sized tube of Mr. Pickle’s World-Famous Pickle Lip Balm on Amazon for the low, low price of $11.95.  Warning: You may not like…

I Got This Super-creepy Email. Here Are Some Lessons…

By Tom Ruwitch

Wow… Sometimes I can’t believe the garbage that lands in my inbox. I got this one last week from a guy named Joon: Hey Tom, I don’t want to sound weird, but I was creeping your LinkedIn profile and wanted to reach out. Thought I’d see if you’re open to hopping on a call. Put…

The Stunning Story of My Trip to Facebook Prison

By Tom Ruwitch

I’m not a hating kind of guy. But… I HATE Facebook. Lots of reasons. But here’s the latest… A few months ago, I set up a Facebook business account so I could run ads to promote Story Power Marketing. I logged in the other day to set up a new user. But I couldn’t manage…

I Pull Back The Curtain to Reveal…

By Tom Ruwitch

Remember that scene in ā€œThe Wizard of Ozā€ when Toto pulls back the curtain so Dorothy and her pals discover the ā€œWizard of Ozā€ is merely a man? I’m thinking about that scene for two reasons: 1) After I send this email, I’m hopping in my car with my wife to follow the gray concrete…

Why I Dumped This Rotten Trickster…

By Tom Ruwitch

I got an email the other day with the subject line that said, “Receipt for P’pal payment…” It came from a marketer named Victory Akpos. I bought software from him last month. I couldn’t understand why Victory sent a receipt now, weeks after my purchase. I worried that, maybe, I accidentally signed up for something…

This LinkedIn Pickup Line Fell Flat

By Tom Ruwitch

My brother, Mike, got a LinkedIn request the other day from a guy who wrote this: ā€œLove to Connect. I just got a radar that detects high-performance humans. Damn thing won’t stop going off since I saw your profile.ā€ That’s some fancy-schmancy, make-believe radar. Mike wasn’t impressed. No connection for you, Radar Man. I shared…