RecomMONDAYtions ~ 2026.07.06
Recommended Reading
“Operator Error” by Seth Godin
If people keep making the same “dumb” mistake with your product, that’s not on them. It’s on you. This post will change how you see every support ticket, complaint, and “user error” your business gets.
Seth Godin breaks down three ways products set people up to fail: letting them do something they’ll regret, confusing them into mistakes, or handing them more power than they’re ready for. Once you see these patterns, you can’t unsee them in your own business.
You don’t need a better disclaimer or a longer FAQ. You need better design — guardrails that make the mistake impossible in the first place.
Recommended Book
Forget what you’ve been told about retirement. The golf course. The grandkid visits. The slow fade into “managing decline.”
Jay Samit says burn that script.
In The Second Act Advantage, the international bestselling author argues your best years aren’t behind you — they’re just getting started.
His big idea: everything that used to count against older entrepreneurs — your age, your decades of experience, your fat Rolodex — is now your secret weapon. Pair that hard-won wisdom with AI, automation, and a few emerging technologies, and you don’t just stay relevant. You become unstoppable.
He backs it up with science, real stories (Auntie Anne’s pretzel empire, built at 65… Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, launched at 50), and a stack of actionable strategies for turning experience into consulting gigs, online courses, passive income — a whole second act run from a laptop.
The kicker: entrepreneurs over 50 are 3x more likely to succeed than twenty-somethings.
The Second Act Advantage is our July pick for The Mastermind Book Club.
Every month, Ted Prodromou and I pick a great business book for the Club to read and discuss. We meet live on Zoom, usually the fourth Thursday of the month — often with the author.
Meetings are free to attend. Join the Club for access to our online community and meeting replays.
Jay Samit himself will join us for the discussion in July.
See you there.
Thursday, June 23, 2:30 p.m. ET
Zoom Link
Latest Episode:
The Story Power Marketing Show
How to Make Your Marketing Clear Enough to Convert in 5 Seconds (with Eric Dingler)
Eric Dingler spent the last four years traveling through 20 countries with his wife and four teenagers. That lifestyle as a perpetual “first-time customer” taught him a brutal truth: even the best stories fail if the message isn’t clear.
A marketing veteran of 25 years, Eric now helps entrepreneurs bridge the gap between what they say and what their customers actually understand. In this episode, he unpacks the 4 Laws of Marketing and shows you how to simplify your messaging so it finally connects and converts.
DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE
~02:18 Traveling Family Story
~03:46 Four Laws Overview
~05:39 Buying Cycle and Awareness
~08:21 Consideration and AI Search
~10:43 Law One Clarity Wins
~14:00 Law Two Earn Attention
~15:53 Law Three Consistency
~19:38 Law Four Trust Converts
~20:58 Purchase and Email Capture
~22:41 Advocacy and Lifetime Value
~25:30 Testing Offers with Email
~29:00 Recap and PLAN Framework
~32:37 Where to Find Eric
~33:26 Parting Advice Balance Marketing
~34:52 Outro Reviews and Links
FULL EPISODE VIDEO: vimeo.com/1205976168
Listen on…
Recommended Podcast: FiduciWho?
From Boring to Brilliant with the PLAN Storytelling Framework with Special Guest…. ME
I love Leonard Raskin’s FiduciWho? Podcast so it was a huge honor to be a featured guest last month on the show.
In this episode, Leonard and I discussed:
- Early days of email marketing and media industry lessons
- Why information-only content fails to attract clients
- The PLAN framework: Promise, Lesson, Anecdote, Next Step
- Stories as a repeatable system for content creation
- Implementum: combining strategy, technology, and team support to help business owners execute consistently
Key Takeaways:
- Information alone rarely moves prospects; pairing a meaningful promise with a clear lesson is what makes content matter.
- Story-driven content keeps people engaged for years, so that when the timing is right, they’re already primed to buy.
- A simple framework, Promise, Lesson, Anecdote, Next Step, turns content creation from a creative struggle into a repeatable assembly process.
- Great marketing isn’t just about better tools; without strong content and consistent implementation, even the fanciest tech underperforms.
- Business owners often become their own bottleneck, and freeing them from tech and execution work lets them focus on serving clients and closing sales.
Listen on…
Words to Ponder
“A prospect who ‘finds’ you first is more likely to buy from you than if you find him.”
— Perry Marshall
Don't go away yet..
p.s. Coaches, authors, and consultants hire me to power-up their creative content and storytelling to captivate prospects, stand-out and book more business.
Whenever you're ready, here are several ways I can help you become a storytelling stand-out so you'll land more clients without pitching and prodding:
1) Get the Story Power Profit Pack -- 52 Strategies, Tips, and Tactics to Transform Your Content from Ignored to Adored.
2) Watch the free, 7-minute Micro-Training: “The 3 Most Important Storytelling Keys to Captivate Prospects and Inspire Them to Act -- Without Pitching and Prodding.”
3) Become a Story Power VIP: Master how to discover, assemble, and deliver business-building stories. Twice-monthly live masterclasses. Members-only content. One-on-one feedback and consulting sessions. And more… If you'd like to learn more about our VIP program, just reply to this email and put "Story Power VIP" in the subject line. I’ll contact you with more details.
4) Work with me one-on-one: If you’re interested in working directly with me -- to discover, assemble, and deliver powerful, business-building stories -- simply reply to this email and change the subject line to "Private Client." Tell me a little about yourself, your business, and what you'd like to accomplish, and I'll reply to discuss options.
5) Invite me to speak at an event: I can tailor a presentation that meets the specific needs of your organization. Informative. Entertaining. Virtual or live. Potential for continuing education credits when applicable for your group. If interested, reply to this email and change the subject line to “Speaking Engagement.” I’ll circle back to discuss the possibilities.
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