- October 9, 2018 -

I'm running hard today...and since yesterday's ramblings were a little longer than usual, here's a quick thought for today.

...Do you have trouble charging what you're worth?

...When you get push back on your quote, do you back down out of desperation and end up working for free?

...Ever feel like you're running a charity instead of a business?

Evidently the Beatles were perceived as the "free concert" guys early on when they were poor chaps living on the cheap and bathing in urinals (true fact.)

That they were anti-materialistic and wrote songs, recorded albums, and gave concerts...just for the love [...]

- October 8, 2018 -

Black hats vs white hats.

Everybody knows it was the way to tell the bad guys from the good guys in a typical western movie...most of the time.

Remember Tim Mix (way back to the silent movies) and John Wayne? Tex Ritter. The Lone Ranger.

Their hats were white or some shade of gray...but for the most part, not black.

It all started with the short 12-minute film The Great Train Robbery (1903.) A group of gangsters hold up a bank, rob a train, and eventually receive their comeuppance.

The gangsters all wear hats, some lighter than others.

But there’s one moment [...]

- October 4, 2018 -

I got an interesting email from someone on our list yesterday:

"Art, I see your agency builds sales funnels along with all the web pages, content, etc. Do you think websites are dead? Are funnels the new websites?

Nathan F."

Great question! Here are my thoughts...

Short answer: NO

Websites are not dead.

Funnels are a means to an end.

...that end is conversion, plain and simple.

I know some will argue that a funnel is still a website...I can live with that.

But...a funnel is a carefully planned out set of web pages with multiple steps and enticing offers to drag you further down [...]

- October 3, 2018 -

It's October and most television series are coming out with their new season episodes.

And you know what that means, people...

Bull is back!

Sorry...but I'm afraid that every once in awhile you're gonna have to put up with some "Bull-isms" that are just too good not to share.

(And hell no, I am NOT a "fanboy" - whoever came up with that weird, unmanly word needs help. But it does channel my inner attorney.)

In episode 2 Dr. Bull has been selected for jury duty and isn't thrilled with it.

Neither is his newest client...a pro bono case where he's defending [...]

- October 2, 2018 -

“If people aren’t talking about you, there’s a reason. You’re boring – your products are boring, your services are boring, your message is boring, your marketing is boring...”

Blame Seth Godin for this nugget of truth.

I get what he's saying...coming from the man whose trademark look is a pair of round yellow glasses on a bald head.

As Jerry Seinfeld has pointed out, for no good reason, folks treat people with glasses as if they’re smarter (and they treat people with hearing aids as if they’re dumb.) Stupid but it’s true.

Maybe that's why I feel smarter at night [...]

- October 1, 2018 -

Ever hear of a "showrunner"?

Newfangled term for me until recently.

Evidently a showrunner is the person who has ultimate creative-control of a TV series.

The showrunner is head writer...

...and executive producer

...and script editor.

Outranking even the director.

When it comes to the making of a TV show, the showrunner is at the top of the food chain...and has quite the impact on whether the show is a "hit" or "miss."

The job is part creative and part management.

Think about that:

First...that's working with two totally different parts of the brain.

Second...it's sorta like being a parent vs being a babysitter.

Suddenly that baby is [...]

- September 27, 2018 -

In the movie Casino (1995), directed by Martin Scorsese, there is a spot-on and hilarious scene about blueberry muffins.

Sam "Ace" Rothstein (played by Robert De Niro) oversees the day-to-day operations of a casino in Las Vegas.

In Vegas, everybody's gotta watch everybody else.

Since the players are looking to beat the casino, the dealers are watching the players.

The box men are watching the dealers.

The floor men are watching the box men.

The pit bosses are watching the floor men.

The shift bosses are watching the pit bosses.

The casino manager is watching the shift bosses.

In the "blueberry scene" Sam explains that [...]

- September 26, 2018 -

About ten years ago, I lost a sh*t load of money online.

I figured if I just took another course...

...bought another piece of software

...went to yet another conference to learn and "network"

...spent more money on Adwords

...re-branded our website

...the list goes on and on

I figured that surely all this "Internet marketing and funnel automation stuff" would give me an immediate ROI.

I bought it all...hook, line, and sinker.

Made the classic mistake that so MANY of my now-clients are making.

I thought simply handing over my credit card would solve the problem...

...that my traffic and conversion problems would magically go away. [...]

- September 24, 2018 -

Monday's can be crazy, right?

You get to the office and usually find one or more of these to be true:

...there's no coffee.

...one or more staff has called in sick. (Too much weekend?)

...your 10am appt didn't show. (Same diagnosis?)

...there are now 269 emails in your inbox that weren't there when you left the house.

...your computer isn't working.

...there's STILL no coffee. (Had there been coffee, the computer would not have been punched and would instead be fully functional.)

Sound familiar at all?

If so, this might be of more help today than my usual contrarian thoughts on business and life [...]

- September 20, 2018 -

Most marketers are concerned with ROI (Return on Investment.)

Not a bad thing.

But if freedom is what you really want...

Freedom to do what you want, when you want, with whom you want.

If freedom is what drove you to start your own business...

Then ROMH (Return on Man Hours) is where you should really focus.

You know I'm all about doing as little as possible to get the biggest, baddest results.

...less (but more qualified) phone calls takin' up my time.

...less (but more qualified) staff to handle what I should not be doing.

...less software doohickies (but more robust) to automate what [...]