Inspiration

My favorite Super Bowl ad… …”Robots” by Discover: My GPT-powered copywriting robot, “B-9?” skipped the Super Bowl (he’s a Dolphins fan, and he’s not into that Travis-Taylor drama). But I shared the ad with him this morning and asked, “Do you like it?” “B-9?” said: “I don’t have personal opinions.” I asked: “Does it bother you…

Yesterday’s email about punny highway signs reminded me: I fell in love with Melissa over a silly joke. I was 25. She was 23. We were gathered with friends at her apartment, playing a game called fictionary. The rules: One person holds the dictionary and chooses a word the other players don’t know. Each player…

On this day (Dec. 28) in 1732, Ben Franklin published the first edition of Poor Richard’s Almanack. For 25 years, he published the Almanack annually — 10,000 copies per year. To celebrate the Almanack’s birthday, I’ll share a favorite quote from each edition, starting with the first “1733” edition. Maybe these can inspire some new year’s…

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…

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!…

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…

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…

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…