Bad Examples
Last week, I re-watched Romeo + Juliet — the 1996 version starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. I love the scene where the star-crossed lovers meet. Love at first sight around a tropical fish tank. Here’s the video clip… Audiences enjoy love at first sight stories. (This clip — which is one of many on YouTube showing this scene…
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A quiet morning in St. Louis, MO, USA. Your friendly neighborhood storytelling expert sits at his desk, peacefully interacting with some new connections on LinkedIn when… …the alarm sounds… …The Lingo Alarm. Here’s the LinkedIn post that triggers it… (Our company) delivers expertise, market experience and a proven track record in bio-based composite manufacturing (masterbatch,…
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A sequel to the email I sent yesterday re: Dan Kennedy and direct response marketing (archived here in case you missed it). I worked in the newspaper industry for most of the 1990s. By 1996, I was working on the online side. Most newspaper display advertising was (and still is) paid brand awareness. No calls-to-action. No tracking. …
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Raise your hand if you feel an emotional connection with Amazon because you’re drawn to founder Jeff Bezos’s origin story. (Me neither) Why do I ask? Because I read yet another article about storytelling in one of those big-time business magazines that dished out rotten advice. The article said… “Online shopping behemoth Amazon is another…
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I spoke the other day with a business owner who said, “I’m too busy serving my clients to spend time marketing my business.” I hear that occasionally. Maybe you’ve thought that yourself. I responded by citing the great Dan Kennedy who taught me long ago: All who run a business are in the marketing business. …
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I read an article this morning in one of those big-time business magazines about “how to create an unforgettable origin story.” It was kinda forgettable. It contained lots of dos and don’ts… …be honest… …don’t just list a chronology of events… …include specific details… …describe a vivid moment… …and so on, and so forth. But…
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I usually send my emails first thing in the morning. But not today. I’ve been busy… …building an arky, arky and… …helping the animals come in by twosies, twosies. Actually, it’s too late for that. It’s raining here in St. Louis, MO, USA. Big rain. Record-setting rain. Biblical rain. Nine inches and counting – in…
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My son Jacob makes his living as a commercial fisherman in southwest Alaska. Sockeye salmon in Bristol Bay. This year, the salmon run will shatter records. Average sockeye run (2001-2020): 41.3 million fish. 2021 sockeye run: 66.1 million fish (a record). This year: 74 million and counting. And the season continues through July! What a…
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Yesterday, I conducted a website makeover for a VIP member of my Content Transformation Academy. 30 minutes to transform his front page from “blah” to brilliant, prospect-repelling to prospect-attracting. In a week or two, after he launches the transformed site, I’ll put the URL in a bookmarks folder called, “Websites – Good Examples.” I also have…
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Remember Eddie Haskell? He was the guy on Leave it to Beaver (a TV classic!) who oozed insincerity. “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Cleaver. Isn’t it a lovely day,” he’d say to Beaver’s parents. And then, when the adults left the room, Eddie would wreak havoc. The sweet-talking devil. I had an Eddie Haskell flashback the other day. …
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