Many years ago, I saw a musical titled “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” Ralph Macchio was the lead performer, and the musical tells the story of how Macchio’s character goes from the mailroom to the boardroom by not really accomplishing anything in his career other than kissing up to the right people. […]
On a recent trip to Las Vegas, I took a Lyft from one venue to the next. As I typically do, I asked the driver how she liked working for Lyft. She said she really enjoyed setting her own hours and being able to work more or less depending on her needs at any given […]
Have you noticed that everyone today is looking for the easy button for success in both life and business? It is crazy how many people want to avoid any and all complexity or challenge. I hear about it all the time from “entrepreneurs.” Entrepreneurs will literally tell me how much they want to be millionaires, […]
What if I told you that your business could easily, with minimal extra expense, close up to five times the number of sales you’re closing right now? Intrigued? I know I would be. The best part about this plan is that it’s simple and it uses the leads you already have to make you more […]
Have you ever wondered why one person achieves success when another tried and failed? What’s the difference between someone who makes $100,000 per year and $1,000,000 per year? Is it luck? Is it who you know or what you know? Is it hard work? I know nine different people who have in some way, shape, […]
When I was first starting out in business in my early 20s, I had so many skewed thoughts. Some examples included the thought that the franchise model was the be-all, end-all to business. I used to think that no one (and by no one, I mean employees) could do things better than I could. I […]
“How do you get people to talk about the colon around the dinner table?” This was the head scratcher that Jeffrey and Neal Harmon, viral marketing gurus and founders of the advertising company Harmon Brothers, faced. They’d been hired by the startup company Squatty Potty to promote their toilet stool. The device optimizes the sitting […]
I get the honor of teaching thousands upon thousands of people each year — some at live trainings; some via webinars or podcasts; and others through this newsletter, my books, or guest postings on various websites. Without fail, I talk business, sales, or marketing. When speaking about the subjects I’m an expert on, I’ve been blessed […]
Do you think Amazon doesn’t matter? Do you feel they could never cut into your business? That is exactly what local and mega pharmacies thought until Amazon announced they may be getting into the pharmacy business. Since then, all hell has been breaking loose. Out of fear of the possibility of Amazon entering the marketplace, […]
When I was growing up in the ’80s and ’90s, information was a valued possession. It was rare and hard to get. You had to go to the library if you wanted to find information in any vast quantities. In the late ’90s, I got my first computer that had a modem, and with a […]
If you’ve ever studied copywriting, you’ll know that fear is a powerful motivator. People are always looking to avoid pain. Experts say that when you’re trying to sell to someone, you’ll get a better response if you focus on people’s fears. People are more likely to buy something if it helps them get rid […]
Last year, I was in Las Vegas for a referral contest we ran — not for Britney Spears. When I’m on vacation, it takes 2 or 3 days before I can get out of “work mode” and shift to “vacation mode.” But by Saturday, work mode was long gone. A funny thing happens when I […]
Let me ask you a question. If you had a single lead source — just 1 customer — that generated 95% of your new leads and sales, would you have a real business? Of course not! You’d basically be an employee of that large customer, regardless of how you organized your business in a legal […]
There is a saying that goes, “Business would be easy if I didn’t have any customers or employees.” While that fantasy might make things easier for a time, I bet you’d be either broke and bored from lack of work or way too busy trying to figure out how to get new customers and employees […]
When I first set out to build The Newsletter Pro, I was just looking to gain a few million dollars in revenue and gather a few new customers. I had a two-part, but very simple, marketing strategy to achieve this goal. First, I decided to literally go business to business and set appointments. This strategy […]
