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Today’s Email From Me

By Tom Ruwitch

Quick question:  Why did you open this email?  Really, it’s not a trick question. Please shoot me a quick reply and let me know. You can do that now (the rest of this email can wait).  … … … So…back to the question at hand… Why’d you open the email?  It couldn’t have been the…

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How to Rise Above The Dime-a-dozen

By Tom Ruwitch

I got a GREAT email last week from world-class marketer Dave Dee. Dave told about a conversation he had with a lawyer who thought creative, personalized marketing was below him.  “I didn’t go to law school to be seen as a celebrity,” the lawyer told Dave.  I hear the same from some coaches, consultants, and…

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The Power of Scratch-between-the-ears Marketing

By Tom Ruwitch

Moose is jealous. For those of you just tuning in, Moose is my dog (Melissa claims him, too).  He’s big and brown, with floppy ears, like a moose, and he’s usually the only dog around.  But there’s a new dog in town.  His name is Cooper, named after a place called Cooper’s Landing in Alaska…

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How I Broke my Monstrous Cookie Habit

By Tom Ruwitch

Three days after the Girl Scout cookies arrived, I couldn’t find them. I searched all over the kitchen.  In the snack cabinet? Nope. The freezer? Not there.  That tiny never-used space above the fridge that requires a step ladder to reach? Not there, either.  As I stepped down from the ladder, I yelled for my…

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How Richard Transformed an Email from Boring to Brilliant

By Tom Ruwitch

Here’s a content transformation story starring my client Richard Terry. Richard runs Accolade Kitchen and Bath in my hometown, St. Louis, MO, USA.  Richard’s promise: Help clients take their outdated kitchens, bathrooms, and closets and transform them into Gourmet Playgrounds, Spa-Like Retreats, and Personal Sanctuaries. Promise kept for Melissa and me. Richard transformed our kitchen…

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? Why I’m Focused on Habit-formation

By Tom Ruwitch

A few days back, I was seeing double.   Not in the metaphorical, mad-as-hell kind of way. No, I was literally seeing double.  On Saturday, I began wearing glasses with progressive lenses.  I’ve used reading glasses for the last few years. But I can’t wear those while driving or at a hockey game or watching…

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A Marketing Legend’s Wise Take on Storytelling

By Tom Ruwitch

I love it when the legends praise “story power.” It happened again yesterday. An email from Drayton Bird. He’s a living legend – among the most influential and successful marketers and copywriters alive.  And in his email he broke down a century old ad for a mail-order business course.  The ad tells “the story of…

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R-rated Lessons Enclosed. I Dare You to Read On.

By Tom Ruwitch

It’s not every day that someone triple-dog-dares you… …but that’s exactly what my friend Vance Morris did yesterday. I’ll get to that story in a moment. But first, a warning: When I turn this email into a movie, The Motion Picture Association of America will give it an R rating. So if you’re the G…

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Ben Franklin’s Wily Way to Turn Foes to Friends

By Tom Ruwitch

Want to turn an enemy into an ally? Here’s a story I got from chapter 18 of “Yes!” by Robert Cialdini – this month’s selection in the Mastermind Book Club (more on that below).  Back in colonial times, long before he graced the $100-bill, Benjamin Franklin was running for reelection as an officer for a literary and…

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The Great Peanut Fiasco and What it Reveals for Your Business

By Tom Ruwitch

All I wanted was a friggin’ bag of peanuts! Last night, at the NHL hockey game between (my beloved) St. Louis Blues and the Pittsburgh Penguins, I had a hankering for some salt and crunch. Peanuts in the shell. Some water to wash ‘em down.  It was between the first and second periods so the…

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