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Finish this sentence I get my best content ideas from… Please reply to this email with your thoughts. If you’re not sure how to answer… …if you’re having trouble completing that sentence, please reply and let me know that. BTW, if you’re having trouble, you’re not alone. I used to have no ideahow to generatea consistent flowof…
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Recommended ReadingHow to Stay Relevant — The Beatles and George Carlin Way In past Monday Mash-Ups, I’ve recommended the documentaries “George Carlin’s American Dream” (HBO) and “The Beatles: Get Back” (Apple TV). Here’s a great article by Brian Kurtz that is loaded with lessons about how the best creators evolve to stay relevant (and then some). And…
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A curious subscriber named Cynthia asked me last week: “If I want to create a business based on my expertise, how do I begin to identify my prospects?” Great question… …because most business people think they’ve identified their prospects well, but most get it (somewhat or totally) wrong. So most waste time and money on marketing…
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Next week, I’m going to host a special live Zoom event called “Ask Tom Anything.” You’ll be invited (keep an eye out for an email with the details). Anything on your mind now? Ask away asap. If you reply to this email and ask a question right away, I’ll answer it at the beginning of…
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A few days ago, I watched the old I Love Lucy episode where Lucy and Ethel take a job at the chocolate factory… …and can’t keep pace with the assembly line. It might be the funniest scene in television history. Classic slapstick comedy… …that also has me thinking about business systems. Assembly lines and other automations are…
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Recommended ListeningRichard Koch on the Tim Ferriss Show Richard Koch is an entrepreneur, investor, former strategy consultant, and author of several books on business and ideas, including four on how to apply the 80/20 principle in all walks of life. In September 2020, Koch was a guest on Tim Ferriss’ podcast. This conversation is a beauty…
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Recommended ReadingWhy ‘Know Your Why’ Isn’t Great Content Marketing Advice I say this often: Storytelling for business is not about fashioning your origin story. It’s about discovering your prospects’ stories. That’s why I love this article by Robert Rose. So many marketers “start with why,” thanks to Simon Sinek who touted the idea in his TED talk…
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Yesterday, while I was walking Moose around the block (actually, Moose was walking me) I heard this gem from marketing master Justin Blackman: “Want your writing to sound more natural? Make zero effort to sound smart. That’s it…Sentences are short, and my vocabulary is on par with a toddler. And no big words. I just…
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Quick question: Why did you open this email? Really, it’s not a trick question. Please shoot me a quick reply and let me know. You can do that now (the rest of this email can wait). … … … So…back to the question at hand… Why’d you open the email? It couldn’t have been the…
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Memorial Day ViewingHonoring Soldiers on Both Sides of the Battlefield Memorial Day. Every year around this time, I re-watch Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima — a pair of films directed by Clint Eastwood and released in 2006. Both tell the story of the Battle of Iwo Jima — “Flags…” from the perspective of the Americans and…
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