Monday Mash-Up
Recommended Reading 📝 To be heard (by Seth Godin) Another tiny but powerful post from Seth Godin — about customer service and how so many businesses get it wrong. My favorite line: “When we depersonalize our interactions and work to minimize the time spent and use a refund or policy to ‘make it right’, we forget…
Recommended Reading 📝 Lies Damned Lies This blog post from the great Drayton Bird contains a tip so simple, yet so powerful, it could transform your marketing content from pitiful to profitable overnight. Everyone who writes marketing copy should read this and take Bird’s advice. Recommended Listening 📡 Cal Fussman: April 20, 1999, September 10, 2025, And The Future…
Recommended Reading 📝 The Zero-Click Future: Winning In A World Where Google Doesn’t Send Traffic This one’s a must-read for anyone who has invested in SEO — or plans to do so. Google’s changing the rules — and marketers need to catch up. This article breaks down the rise of “zero-click searches” and what it means…
Recommended Reading 📝 The Hustle Loop I used to believe that hustle (+ more hustle) was the recipe for business success. I eventually learned better. In this short post, Seth Godin shares a viewpoint I wish I learned sooner. He warns that hustle pushes people to cut corners, create discomfort, and race to the bottom. The…
Recommended Podcast Episode 🎥 Magnetic Marketing: Jay Abraham and Dan Kennedy This is a crash course in how to grow your business. A rare conversation between Dan Kennedy and Jay Abraham — two giants of direct response marketing. They swap stories and strategies on positioning, preeminence, joint ventures, and how to become your clients’ most trusted…
Recommended Podcast 🎥 Why Soft Skills Aren’t Soft I love this video from Trust Insights. It’s a smart, honest look at why communication, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence aren’t just nice-to-haves. They’re the real power skills in today’s workplace. Plus, there’s a fascinating dive into how AI bias can undervalue human-centric work. Worth watching if you…
Recommended Video 🎥 David Ogilvy: Essentials This short video from ADWEEK is a collection of greatest hits from legendary ad man David Ogilvy. My favorite hit from this video: “Tell the truth. But make the truth fascinating. You can’t bore people into buying your product. You can only interest them in buying it.” The video is…
Recommended Reading 📝 Ann Handley: 24 Questions to Ask Yourself About That Piece You’re Writing Right Now (Part 2) Ann Handley just dropped questions 13-24 of her writing self-audit. They’re way more useful than the usual “check your grammar” advice. My favorites: “What emotion am I inviting?” and “If I deleted my byline/logo… would anyone recognize…
Recommended Reading 📝 Onboarding is not housekeeping 2.0 (by Brian Kurtz) You have a new client. Now what? For many businesses the “onboarding” process is a mish-mash of random activities that don’t serve the client — or the business — as well as they should. This post outlines the the six key elements of “Extreme Onboarding”…
Recommended Reading 📝 “24 Questions to Ask Yourself About That Piece You’re Writing Right Now” by Ann Handley Ann Handley is a great writer and coach whose “Total Anarchy” newsletter is one I open the minute it lands in my email box. Read yesterday’s issue — with the 24 questions — and then subscribe. Recommended Video 🤖 How to…