Warning: this is going to sound like a cheesy 1970s motivational poster, but here goes: I’m learning there really is no such thing as failure. Recently I ran this one-day workshop. I had offered it as part of a training call I’d been asked to give to someone else’s...

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You’ve heard the term “work smarter, not harder.” I used to think this old chestnut was about efficiency, or just being better organized.  Then I had a revelation. About 3 years ago I had a conversation with a guru named Kevin Nations. Something he said stuck with me...

Love him or hate him, you gotta admit Donald Trump knows how to toot his own horn. Some people think he’s a dunce, a blowhard or just plain distasteful (or all three), but he does get and keep attention, and somehow against all odds, and to the consternation of both...

It’s the new year, so it’s normal to take stock and think of habits we want to change. If we’re honest… they’re usually the same habits every year. Eat less. Exercise more. Meditate daily. Get consistent with marketing or sales. There’s a good reason why we have to...

At least once a year I like to go away for a week all alone to work on my business. It’s a road trip of 5-7 hours, usually somewhere in the desert. I get a lot of raised eyebrows for this. I’ve had concerned family, friends (and even once the concierge at the...

I was copywriter and creative director for ad agencies for years on brands like IBM and Hanes. It was hard sometimes to be creative and eloquent on deadline (especially when it concerned complicated computers or generic white underwear) but somehow, we always managed...

Stuck? Blending in with the crowd? Having a brand identity crisis? Or does your copy ring as hollow as a cheesy pickup line at Happy Hour (and work about as well, too)? You need a Peggy or a Don. OK, so I may have been 20-odd years later than Peggy Olson of Mad Men...

When I read copy (which I DO a LOT) there is one thing businesses of all sizes do that really has me pulling my hair out in frustration. They talk all about themselves. Telling you about all their great bells and whistles, their "new and improved" technology, how many...