6 Emotions

Marketers can combine words, and images to spin millions of stories, and communicate billions of ideas. However, you have only 6 possible primary emotions to appeal to, or buttons to push to motivate people to action. anger sadness surprise disgust fear happiness The...

Don’t Interrupt Me

As children we learned not to interrupt people.  It's just not polite. Likewise marketing by interrupting people isn’t polite, nor is it cost-effective anymore. It's mind boggling that someone would think that now that they've interrupted me with their unwanted,...

Thinking Of A Master Plan

Thinking Of A Master Plan

The best made plans seldom work just as you planned.  In fact the more detailed your plans the less likely things will turn out as you planned them to. Since things are not likely to workout just as you planned them it's more important to know your plan 'B'...and 'C'...

Pisco Restaurant Review

Pisco Restaurant Review

If you owned a restaurant and you spotted a popular food critic with a large following sitting at a table in your restaurant would you go out of your way to make certain their meal and overall experience was one worthy of the highest praise. Back in May I showed up at...

Generous

Generous

I saw this video on my friend Tyrese Gibsons' Facebook page.  Without the subtitles we all understand it because universally we all want to be cared for, we all want our pain to matter to others, we all need help sometimes, and when we do we hope someone will be...

The Bantering

The Bantering

If you quite yourself for just a moment you'll hear it.  The internal bantering that's going on about responsibility, risk and fear. You know you should say or do something, but it's risky, and you're afraid. And that's exactly why you must. Instead of fighting the...

All Heart

All Heart

If you've never seen the 1996 Tom Cruise film Jerry Macguire check it out.  Somewhere nestled between the famous quotes of 'show me the money' and 'you had me at hello' is the line 'I'm all heart, mother #%^#' and a great speech about playing with your heart and not...

My Mic Sounds Nice

My Mic Sounds Nice

My Mic Sounds Nice...Check 1....My Mic Sounds Nice...Check 2 ....Salt-N- Peppa One day people will write about the revolution we're currently in.  Historians will pen the rise of email, blogs, podcasting, and Youtube.  If they start and stop with a simple explanation...

Choose

Choose

Last month my buddy Don Graves and I visited California.  While there I visited Armstrong Readwoods State Natural Reserve.  Upon arriving I stopped in the visitor center, and picked up a map.  Glancing at the map I was able to quickly see that there were multiple...

Yes

Yes

Around the year 2000 or so an auto dealer asked me if I knew how to produce a newsletter.  I said yes.  The truth is I didn't know anything about it.  But I said yes anyway, got the details of what he had in mind, and asked if I could get back to him with my fee in a...

Where There’s No Traffic

Where There’s No Traffic

There's very little traffic on the road to the extra mile.  In a time when so many are trying to pickup new business by showing thought leadership, it might be easier to standout by being thoughtful, and finding ways to go the extra mile for the customers you already...

Premium Beef

Premium Beef

I actually snapped this picture quite some time ago while walking through my local supermarket. The meat provider, Lancaster Brand, has done a poor job at marketing because the package misleads consumers. The USDA requires that all retail beef be labeled with its...

The Others

The Others

If you were a fan of the hit show Lost then you're familiar with 'The Others".  The 'Others' were the group of people who lived on the other side of the island.  'The Others' were the enemy, the terrorist.  The strange thing is that to both groups of people living on...

Trust Yourself

Trust Yourself

Tall Ships landed in Philadelphia this week.  I spent the day sailing with the crew of the tall ship Picton Castle.  Working a ship is hard, dirty, and dangerous.  Surprisingly the majority of the crew were young ladies.  The seemed to be excellent in their task (so...

Your Business Needs To Be Like Water

Your Business Needs To Be Like Water

Become like water my friend - Bruce Lee A few key elements of water are that it's shapeless, changes direction easily, adjust speed when appropriate, it's strong, free, powerful, and forges it's own path. Like water you and your business must be able to change quickly...

Your Power To Negotiate and Rust

Your Power To Negotiate and Rust

When you negotiate with someone else you get a better deal.  But when you negotiate with yourself to do something later instead of now you usually get the short end of the stick because later makes you rusty. I'll (you fill in the blank) tomorrow, just 5 more minutes,...