Good Examples
I was 9 years old when Henry Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s career home run record. I watched him hit number 715 on TV with my brother and my dad. We celebrated the feat. I didn’t have a clue what he’d gone through. Even some of his teammates now say they didn’t know… …He received tons…
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When I was a younger business person, I never thought much about mindset. Meditation? Not for me. Visualization? No, thanks. Self-affirmation? Not a chance. I think it was Stuart Smalley’s fault. Remember him? He was a recurring character on Saturday Night Live in the 1990s. Al Franken played the part before he left SNL to…
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Remember that movie with Mel Gibson playing a male chauvinist pig who magically acquires the superpower to “hear” women’s thoughts? I just heard a real-life version of that story. Both the real-life and Hollywood versions reveal a ton about marketing. The real-life story features a marketing guy named Ben Settle who, like Gibson’s character, has…
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My business is growing so I’m hiring. Last night I posted a job opening for a software developer to assist with several projects. I described the projects, but only in vague terms. Applications flooded my inbox. Most applicants told me they had EVERYTHING it takes to tackle the projects. One applicant, Noah, said this: “Let’s discuss more…
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For three years, I never opened my mouth when I smiled. That was from 1978 through 1980. Those were the Braces Years, the period when my mouth was full of metal hardware and my parents’ checking account was shrinking. It’s tough being a 13- to 16-year-old — especially when your pearly whites are covered with stainless…
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Once upon a time, I tried to cook a batch of paella. It didn’t go well. The mussels were chewy. The chicken was dry. The rice was a sticky mess. So frustrating! I fancy myself a decent cook. But decent doesn’t cut it when you strive to master a complicated dish. Today, aspiring home chefs can…
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It’s raining here in St. Louis, MO, USA… …which reminds me of the time my twin kiddos summoned a drought-ending thunderstorm with a rain dance. We were at my inlaw’s farm in central Missouri. It was bone dry for weeks. But (finally!), we adults could smell and feel the rain coming. As the wind picked…
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My friend Cabanne Howard (a great marketing strategist) sent this picture to me the other day… It’s a closeup of this Duraflame log… Cabanne thinks it’s a great example of story-powered marketing. And she’s right. Feeble marketing focuses on features. Better marketing focuses on benefits. The best marketing — story-powered marketing — promises transformations. A Duraflame log features sawdust…
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Last week, I had one of those days when nothing went right. It made me grumpy. And as I grumped around, I focused more on feeling sorry for myself and less on staying focused and productive. That made it worse. I got past it, but it made me think about how easy it is to…
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60 Minutes presented an interview with Jerry Seinfeld on Sunday, and it was great. Here’s the link to the video. Seinfeld said so many funny, profound, and wise things. I’ve rewatched it three times. And now I’m sharing some of the highlights. Asked if Covid has killed New York, he scoffed and said: “When you were…
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