It's not often that an order confirmation email catches my attention - beyond making sure that the amount they charged to my credit card is correct.

I mean, what can you possibly do to make transactional emails anything other than sufficiently boring?

So when I found myself going back and re-reading what is normally a run-of-the-mill order confirmation email, I wanted to yell "Hallelujah! Someone actually gets what great marketing is all about!"

Moosejaw Mountaineering, whose Facebook tagline is "The Most Fun Outdoor Retailer on the Planet," knows how to put the fun back in marketing.

How about this for a company overview posted [...]

Alyssa Milano (star of TV’s Who’s the Boss? and Charmed) was watching a baseball game in Dodger Stadium several years ago – and was freezing cold.

“It was the beginning of the season, before the poop smell sets in.

I went into the store to get something warm to wear. And I was offended. The only color available in women’s clothing was pink. Their answer for female sports apparel back then was ‘pink it and shrink it.’ It was either that or buy something from the kids’ section. Which I did. I got a kid’s hoodie. In Dodger blue.”

It bothered Milano enough [...]

I'll never forget attending a conference in Jamaica during our long-gone network marketing days.

The biz opp shall remain nameless, but the founder was doing an impressive job at getting the audience all riled up.

Music was blaring, people were on their feet clapping - all because of one question that he challenged us to answer:

"What are you passionate about?"

The reaction he was shooting for in his choreographed frenzy was, of course, for everyone in the room to yell out in unison that their single bliss in life was to sell more biz opps to unsuspecting wantrepreneurs.

At that moment, I thought...

The average self-made millionaire in America works 59 hours per week - many work 70 or 80.

The average self-made millionaire in America works six days per week rather than the usual five.

So how does Tim Ferriss's #1 New York Times bestseller The 4-Hour Work Week fit into your 5-year plan to hit an annual goal of 6 or 7 figures?

It doesn't! It can't!

And any small business owner/entrepreneur who believes the 4-hour workweek is possible has bought into yet another version of the "easy is the new norm" fallacy which I've ranted about before.

Hold on...play along with me.

When [...]

Dudley Moore starred in the 1990 comedy film Crazy People about a burnt-out ad exec who gets fed up with the typical phony ad campaigns and all their hype.

So he decides to create ads that tell the brutally honest truth.

The offensive ads don’t go over well with his boss, and Moore’s character is committed to an asylum to “recover.”

While in therapy, his ads get printed by mistake and are a colossal success. In the wake of their success, he's hailed as a marketing genius along with his band of asylum mates who he enlists in the creative chaos.

Not unlike Dudley’s [...]

When was the last time you took a good, hard look at your website?

It's not enough to just have a website today. It's got make a bold statement of who you are... what you do... and what makes you different than your competitors.

It’s not an option.

Your business website is critical for credibility and customer contact.

But even more imperative is knowing what to look for in a web developer so that your site successfully functions the way it needs to be profitable.

Most likely you already have a website and are looking to either redesign or enhance it. Knowing the four types of [...]

Your website is your virtual business card and storefront.

And if you have a WordPress website - the preferred platform by all major search engines - you unfortunately have a bright red target on your back.

Like any other brick and mortar building, your online business is vulnerable to bad guys looking for an unlocked door or window into your WordPress site.

After gaining access, these evil hackers compromise your once-clean website and turn it into a bot (or zombie.) This newly recruited zombie is then welcomed into a botnet (or zombie army) with only one intent...

To find more unsecured WordPress sites that [...]

Anyone in business who claims they never want to quit is either not doing a whole lot...is clueless...or is just flat out lying.

As small business owners, we are presented with too-numerous-to-count opportunities to quit.

We enthusiastically sign on for things that soon make us feel like we are WAY in over our head.

The new email campaign you were sure you could finish by Friday...

The e-book some expert told you could be knocked out in a week...

The WordPress website you thought you could create yourself.

Dan Kennedy, one of the highest paid direct-response copywriters in America, tells this story:

"My father told me that [...]

The phone rings. You answer. The voice on the other end says, "Hey, Art, buddy. How are you doin'?"

You don't recognize the voice. He never identified himself - and now you're in an awkward position. Do you play along hoping you'll soon figure out who it is? Or do you embarrassingly ask, "Sorry - uh, who are you?"

It's the same thing when you get an email that has a "From" name and/or address that gives no clue as to who the sender is. Except ... most likely, you just delete it and run the risk of missing an important email.

For your [...]

Your email's CTA (call-to-action) is one of the most critical email marketing components to test because it's what generates leads and conversions!

The CTA is the equivalent of "asking for the sale" when you talk to a prospect on the phone or in person after a sales presentation.

You wouldn't dream of closing a critical call with "Great talking with you, Joe. Well, uh... have a good day."

No - you'd assume the sale. "So Joe, let's get you started. I'm going to ask for some information to get your Infusionsoft account set up. Ready?"  And I just keep going until Joe stops [...]