Inspiration
Rumor has it Muhammad Ali carried in his pocket a copy of Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If.” This morning, in his excellent, weekly newsletter, 5-Bullet Friday, Tim Ferriss said he’s studying the poem. I’m sitting at Lambert St. Louis International Airport waiting to board a plane to Tampa… …and I’m studying the poem, too. I like…
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I came across a cool quote yesterday from Carla Bley. She was a jazz pianist and composer who passed away earlier this week, Austin Kleon shared her words in his newsletter: “Listening is how I started. I didn’t start when I was a piano player. I didn’t start as a composer. I started as a listener.”…
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Taylor Swift is in the news… …again. And I want to understand why. So I turned to the one-and-only who could help me make sense of this… … … … … …my great and powerful GPT-powered copywriting robot, B-9(?). Here’s our conversation: Me: Hey, B-9(?), what’s the big deal about Taylor Swift? B-9(?): Hey Tom!…
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In his brilliant book How to Write One Song, Jeff Tweedy tells a story about his Dad who would go to the basement when he was sad or mad, drink a beer or two, and write a poem. Jeff Tweedy writes lyrics and music for a living. He’s the founder and leader of the band Wilco. But…
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I had a great meal last night — prepared by a “homeless” chef named Alec Schingel. Until last year, Alec worked for various restaurants around the country — including some great ones in my town, St. Louis. Now he’s on his own, no longer working for a restaurant, planning to open his own place some…
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Here’s a rerun. I wrote it back in 2019 when I still led my email marketing company, MarketVolt. I republished it on LinkedIn yesterday. My friend Ted Prodromou saw it there and called it laugh-out-loud funny — which inspired me to email it to you now. In my soon-to-be-released “Email Marketing Power” program, I’ll reveal the many…
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I’ve completed another lap around the sun. Time to stick another candle in the cake, make a wish, and blow ’em out. And time to write about Dad. This has become a tradition for me: Tell a story or two about Dad on March 7 — the day I was born (1965) and the day…
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I’m sitting in the kitchen, sipping a hot cup of black coffee and enjoying my breakfast of… A big chocolate brownie. Not my ordinary morning pick-me-up. But, of course, I had to start TODAY with a brownie because it’s December 8, which, as everyone knows, is… National Brownie Day. Really. That’s a thing. Says so…
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The meeting with my new friend, Erica, was rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ along. We agreed to promote each other’s businesses. We discussed ways we might work together. We hit it off. But when I asked Erica if she’d like to join my daily(ish) email list… …we went from rollin’ to reelin’. We went from “Yes!…
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The email from longtime subscriber “Scott H” landed in my inbox last week with a “thud” It flashed as a notification on my iPhone’s home screen, revealing just the first line… “I have a problem with your…emails…” “Uh-oh!” I thought. I took a deep breath, sat up straight, and clicked the notification to open the…
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