Good Examples
A VIP member of my Content Transformation Academy asked me last week: What’s the ideal length for a subject line? “Provocative question,” I replied. My answer: “Size doesn’t matter.” The VIP shot back: “I read ‘shorter is better.’” “Yeah,” I replied, “Some say short. Some say long.” I Googled “what’s the proper length for a…
A few years ago I got an email that claimed to be from my friend Mark. It said, “Hope you are doing well? It takes me great pain to write this email to you and I feel so devastated. My family and I had a trip visiting Manila,(Philippines) unannounced some days back for a short…
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…
Last month, I met with a VIP member of my Content Transformation Academy to help her tune-up her sales funnel. Sarah worried she might be turning away good prospects. She’s a business coach who offers a free discovery session to prospects. They have to complete a form to schedule that session. And that form asks…
Storytelling standout Bill Mueller shared a tale recently about a critic who told him “I don’t read emails with long copy.” Said the critic: “98% of the people who open email give you 3 seconds of their time.” That caught my eye… …because I write… …ummm… …you know. Still with me? Depending on your reading…
I heard Dan Kennedy say this yesterday… “I believe in brand. I have brands of my own that I relied on my entire career – starting with ‘No BS…’ But I’ve never spent a nickel trying to BUY awareness for that brand…Instead of spending money, figure out ways to get paid to build a valuable…
Earlier this week, I watched Albert Pujols fail – twice. Major League Baseball at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals against the Chicago Cubs. First failure: Top of the 4th inning, runner on first base with no one out. Pujols grounds into a double-play. One swing. Two outs. Nothing doing for…
Imagine pouring your first cup of coffee, grabbing the morning paper, and reading the news: There’s life on the moon. So it went on this day (August 25) in 1835 for readers of the New York Sun. In a series of six articles published over one week, the paper reported that English astronomer John Herschel built…
My friend Mike walked into his boss’s office last week and said, “I know the economy’s a little shaky right now. But I have three companies after me, and I’ve come to ask for a raise.” He and his boss haggled for a few minutes before agreeing that Mike would get a 5% raise. As…
A few months ago, I was working on a new version of a 60-minute storytelling presentation. I was tinkering and tweaking, adding and adjusting. I wanted to make it “just right,” and that was holding me back. My friend Susan, who was helping me with the presentation, had seen enough. Gently but firmly, she said,…