- October 30, 2018 -

Ol' Blue Eyes.

The Voice.

Chairman of the Board.

Whatever you want to call him, Frank Sinatra was more than just a crooner from Hoboken, New Jersey.

Dan Sullivan, CEO of Strategic Coach and one of the top mentors to entrepreneurs tells a story about Frank.

Dan was stationed in South Korea between '65 and '67...and one of his jobs was to put together shows for the troops.

One time Frank Sinatra came over to entertain, and Dan stood by and studied Frank.

He noticed something...

"One of the things I learned was that Frank Sinatra does not move pianos."

Frank has guys who do [...]

- October 29, 2018 -

A young and cocky stockbroker is willing to do anything to get to the top, including trading on illegal inside information taken through a ruthless and greedy corporate raider who takes the youth under his wing.

And Gordon Gecko's infamous "Greed for lack of a better work, is good" gave birth to the greedfest sequel Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps twenty-three years later.

...and Goodfellas.

...Casino.

...The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese showing Oliver Stone he can do "greed" too.)

...and of course the classic Boiler Room.

I lived in that world for a decade, and it's easy to get get sucked into the [...]

- October 25, 2018 -

"Most conversations about social media just nauseate me."

Being a long-time follower of Dan Kennedy, I'm not surprised in the least that he made this comment.

He goes on to say that in his opinion, Facebook (which interestingly enough hit its stride right about the time of the economic crash of 2008) is a gargantuan productivity suck.

And that its energy-wasting distractions bleed your focus and leave you broke.

So, tell us what you really think, Dan!

I agree with him so I guess that makes us both anti-social dinosaurs on the brink of extinction.

There's no way on God's green earth [...]

- October 24, 2018 -

Unforgettable was a crime/mystery television series that premiered on CBS in the fall of 2011.

The series follows a female police detective who has hyperthymesia, a rare medical condition that gives her the ability to visually remember everything.

(I think Cheryl must have some form of that condition. Last night she repeated word-for-word what she insists I said thirteen years ago. How the hell do women do that?)

Anyway, eight months later CBS gave the series the axe... a bit ironic given the title.

And then in a reverse decision six weeks later, CBS confirmed that the show would return [...]

- October 23, 2018 -

It was 1997.  Apple was on the brink of failure, and Steve Jobs had just returned after more than two decades since he co-founded the company.

After a series of unproductive product review sessions, Jobs had heard enough.

"Stop!  This is crazy."  Within minutes of  that statement, he'd killed 36 of Apple's 40 products...most of which were different versions of the Mac.

Only four products had made the cut and he uttered his now famous: “Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.”

By getting Apple to focus on just four computers, he saved the company [...]

- October 22, 2018 -

I love watching sports as much as the next guy.

When I'm in my old stomping grounds where I grew up...it's the Eagles all the way, baby!

And when I'm home in the 'burgh relaxing on a Sunday, I'm waving my Terrible Towel with all the other Steeler fans.

But it's music that gets my competitive juices flowing just as much as or more than football or hockey.

Listening to Wynton Marsalis, Mercer Ellington, and my idol Maynard Ferguson riff on a jazz set is a double-edged sword.

I wanted to be as good as them. Sound like them.

For years, I'd [...]

- October 17, 2018 -

I just finished listening to an interview with Henry Evans, author of "The Hour a Day Entrepreneur."

My first thought after just reading the book title was "Yeah, right...and what have you been smokin'?"

Not saying it's not in the realm of possibility.

But the odds are about as good as mine playing in the Senior PGA.

A few minutes into the interview Evans clarifies that he's not saying you can run your business in one hour a day...the old bait-and-switcheroo tactic.

But it is possible to get more accomplished in one hour than most people can in eight hours.

- October 15, 2018 -

It's Monday...all day. And we're into the last quarter of 2018.

Depending on the industry you're in, you're most likely either bracing yourself for the upcoming make-it-or-break-it holiday season or you're looking at sales steadily dropping off.

Perfect time to consider a completely radical thought:

The less you like your circumstances today...

The better off you might actually be.

Whatever "fist" just punched you in the gut yesterday might be a blessing in disguise today.

Whatever straw just broke the proverbial camel's back might be the thing that triggers a seismic shift.

Doesn't make a whole lot of sense, does it?

Not [...]

- 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 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 [...]