Getting Tough With Troublemakers
“If you hit a pony over the nose at the outset of your acquaintance, he may not love you, but he will take a deep interest in your movements ever afterwards.” – Rudyard Kipling (“False Dawn,” Plain Tales from the Hills, 1888) Although KM doesn’t like for me to say…
READ MORETaking The 20-Something Factor into Consideration
Every once in a while, some bright young kid I’m mentoring does something really stupid or really shiftless — something so wrong that it causes me to wonder if I’ve made a mistake committing my time to him. This happened yesterday. PSG temporarily closed a profitable operation so he could…
READ MOREBusiness 101: When Change is Bad
For as long as I could remember, the direct-mail publishing industry was serviced by a newsletter titled (very smartly) “Who’s Mailing What!” It was written by Denny Hatch, an old pro, and was full of the wise and pithy observations you’d expect from an experienced insider. Recently, it was sold…
READ MOREWatch Only Good Movies
Whether you are taking the trouble to drive to the theater and wait in line or renting a movie from Blockbuster, you’ll improve your enjoyment of life immeasurably by watching only (or at least mostly) good movies…
READ MORELiving Rich: Read Only the Best Short Stories
“In anything fit to be called by the name of reading, the process itself should be absorbing and voluptuous; we should gloat over a book, be rapt clean out of ourselves.” – Robert Louis Stevenson (A Gossip on Romance, 1882) If you like to read, read short stories. Why? Because…
READ MOREHow Well Are You Spending Your Time?
Tempus fugit — and the sands of time keep falling. Faster and faster as you age. What you fail to do today, you may never have the chance to do again. How well are you living your life? How much are you putting off? Take a minute today to give…
READ MOREIs Part Of Your Business Broken?
Jack Welch, GE’s famous CEO and the major media’s business guru of the decade, believes that “facing reality” is one of the most important “rules” of successful leadership. I agree. Many of the most gratifying and rewarding business experiences of my career were born with the recognition that things had…
READ MOREResist The Temptation To Do Less As You Do Better
A crow sat in a tree, doing nothing. A rabbit saw the crow and asked, “Can I also sit and do nothing?” “Sure,” the crow answered. So the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow and rested. A few minutes later, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit, and…
READ MOREAnother Reason Less Is More
“Better to know a few things which are good and necessary than many things which are useless and mediocre.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson I’m reading a book about geniuses that includes a chapter on individuals who have put to memory an extraordinary number of facts. The authors of the book…
READ MOREMake Big Bucks As A Copywriter
Honing your success skills — in my humble opinion — is the smartest thing you can do for yourself. The economy is always changing, every businessman I know is working scared, and cutbacks and layoffs are toping the news. It’s one thing to have your stock market portfolio collapse, it’s…
READ MORECopywriting – Master These 5 Things
John Forde is a guy who knows what he’s talking about — someone who’s written some great copy in his time and is always in demand. That’s why new (and aspiring) copywriters often turn to him for advice. John started as an intern, making $15 a day. Now he lives…
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