- July 24, 2018 -

He's been described as a curmudgeonly old-school conservative tight-ass who doesn't even do email.

He hates social media and doesn't trust the Internet.

He makes his clients communicate with him by fax machine, for God’s sake!

He wears gaudy suits with purple shirts.

He's blunt, harsh (sometimes bordering on brutal) and straight-forward...and has branded his direct-style as "No BS."

Guess you see now where I've gotten inspiration from...hopefully not in clothing style, though!

One business consulting session with him costs $18,000.

He's Dan Kennedy.

He's a legend and one hell of a marketer.

When I first set out on my own in the mortgage industry, [...]

- July 23, 2018 -

It started out as a little experiment.

This sending out daily emails "thing."

For 10 years we sent out one email a week and turned it into a blog post.

And it was just fine.

It didn't take a ton of my time. Didn't mess with my golf game.

And then Cheryl thought we should try a daily email and be more "personal."

"You know, like tell some of your stories and share more...like your feelings or your opinions."

But I like my privacy.

And I tend to swear...because that's how we talk in Pittsburgh.

I don't like to talk about my feelings.

I don't really [...]

- July 21, 2018 -

The Fab Four.

No, not the California-based band who impersonate the original Liverpool fabulous foursome.

I'm talking about the guys who inspired the mop-top haircut, regarded as the foremost and most influential music band in rock history.

For a music guy, I find something extremely interesting about the Beatles early years.

Between 1960 and 1964 John, Paul, George and Ringo traveled to Hamburg, Germany five times and played almost endless nights in bars and strip clubs.

+ On the first trip, they played 106 nights, of five or more hours a night.

+ Their second trip they played 92 times.

+ Their third [...]

- July 18, 2018 -

I know I'm going to draw heat from this...but since when have I shied away from a little controversy?

So here we go.

I'm not big on sending out Christmas cards myself, but my mom always did it.

And Cheryl's mom always included annual "Christmas letter" of sorts that she'd type (on an old manual typewriter) and give to Cheryl's dad to copy off for her.

Always interesting to read the other cards that had more than just a signature.

I remember one really creative family used to have the kids write a message in their own handwriting and include that [...]

- July 17, 2018 -

Who doesn't like the number "three"?

...the Three Stooges

...The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (c'mon, classic Clint Eastwood)

...three sheets to the wind

...3-piece suits (I wonder if they'll ever make a comeback)

...On your mark, get set, GO!

...rock, paper, scissors

...a great BLT

But for the business owner and Internet marketer, there are three threats that can cause your cash flow some serious damage:

#1 Competition. Most marketers only think about this one. You already know who your biggest competitors are so 'nuff said. Moving on.

#2 Commoditization. Yesterday's email was all about this - you can check it out here. It's [...]

- July 16, 2018 -

The Internet has become one big dumping ground for monkey see, monkey do marketers.

I remember years ago, we'd get calls asking if we could replicate Brendon Burchard's sales funnel...his landing pages, offer, etc.

The whole shebang...didn't matter what their vertical was. The request was to "just copy it."

Then the trend was to swipe Jeff Walker's infamous "sideways sales letter" funnel without actually spending the money to buy his Product Launch Formula course.

And now you've got coaches teaching coaches...using their method of course.

The conundrum was that we knew what the outcome would be...and no one wanted to be [...]

- July 12, 2018 -

When I was a young broker, my Uncle Bob turned me on to listening to Tony Robbins and Zig Ziglar.

I binge listened to them daily, usually while driving.

No iPhones in those days. Not even iPods. This was the '80's...you know, the decade of big hair, neon, and the Walkman.

Good old cassette tapes for cars in those days.

And as much as I hate to say it...the late great Zig Ziglar got one thing kinda, sorta...wrong.

Feels like blasphemy to even think it.

But he was a tad bit off when he said this:

- July 11, 2018 -

Is this some brilliant marketing or what?

If I walked past this sign on a hot summer day, I'd take them up on their offer purely out of appreciation for the creativity and fun factor.

And give away the "free" beer to somebody who looked like they could use it 🙂

Think about it...the ad did its job.

It made you stop.

It made you think.

It made you chuckle.

You either said to yourself, "Self...yeah, I am freaking hot and could use a beer. These guys seem pretty cool!"

Or you think, "Shoot...if I didn't have a [...]

- July 10, 2018 -

I've revised my business plan.

Simply surround yourself with really smart women.

That's it.

Yeah, they're a little bossy but they keep me in line.

Our executive assistant has been with us (virtually) for years and knows more about my properties, ads and leads than I do.

And what she doesn't know, she just figures it out on her own.

She handles my inbox, responds to emails, and let's me knows what needs my personal attention.

She's not allowed to leave...ever! (Monica, thanks for putting up with me! Sure you don't want to move to Pittsburgh?)

My office assistant arrived on the scene after [...]

- July 9, 2018 -

Cars and computers...easy to take for granted until they stop running.

My car's been in the shop for a week, waiting for an alternator to be replaced so I'm using a loaner to run my appointments.

A loaner that is can't seem to hold freon. In 90 degree Pittsburgh weather!

At least I'm not looking at gears slipping and a transmission rebuild.

No tell-tale grinding noises, knock on wood.

Speaking of grinding...I've talked before about Gary Vaynerchuck, the King of the "grind."

He's proud of it. Aspires to it. Wears it like a badge of honor.

Truth be told, he's a guy who [...]