“The reason kids like rock ‘n roll is their parents don’t.” – Mitch Miller, Born Jul. 4, 1911. In people’s minds, there are always some people they find detestable – People so alien and “other” that anything and everything about those perceived enemies is to be resisted. Mitch’s example are teenagers who only like noisy […]
The Fastest Route to “Us” Is a Well-Defined “Them” Read More »
“A good conversationalist is not one who remembers what was said, but says what someone wants to remember.” – John Mason Brown, Born Jul. 3, 1900. To become influential, it’s a good idea to create material for people to copy from you and claim for themselves. That might seem counter-intuitive. After all, isn’t it important
A Secret For Manufacturing Your Influence Over Others… Read More »
“The chief product of an automated society is a widespread and deepening sense of boredom.” – C. Northcote Parkinson, Born Jun. 30, 1909. We are drowning in a sea of data. More new data is created and recorded now every day than in centuries of history prior to the modern era. Information bombards us. Messages
Break the Pattern of Boredom By Daring To Be Interested Read More »
“The difference is slight, to the influence of an author, whether he is read by 500 readers, or by five hundred thousand; if he can select the 500, he reaches the five hundred thousand.” – Brooks Adams, Born Jun. 24, 1848. This is relevant to the would-be gurus among you. You can
Influence the Influencers First, As a Shortcut Read More »
“First, make yourself a reputation for being a creative genius.” – David Ogilvy, Born Jun, 23, 1911. I truncated this quote. Steps two and three only apply if you’re working with partners – if you want to know, look it up… For now, though, I want to focus on what Ogilvy said was his first
How to Become a Genius Without Being That Smart Read More »
“Someone gave me a piece of advice once, my first manager Lucien Hold. He said, ‘If you do stand-up about your own life, no one can steal it.’ I always thought that was the best piece of advice.” – Mike Birbiglia, Born Jun. 20, 1978. Here is a neat trick to turn practically any piece
How to Become Impervious to Copiers and Plagiarists Read More »
“Stories in families are colossally important. Every family has stories: some funny, some proud, some embarrassing, some shameful. Knowing them is proof of belonging to the family.” – Salman Rushdie, Born Jun. 19, 1947. Belonging. People want it. Especially people online. Of the people online, especially the ones on social media. Social media is a
The “Cult of Copy” Is The Title of a Story and You’re The Main Character Read More »
“People crave trustworthy information about the world we live in. Some people want it because it is essential to the way they make a living. Some want it because they regard being well-informed as a condition of good citizenship. Some want it because they want something to exchange over dinner tables and water coolers.” –
How To Make Even Strangers Come To Trust Your Every Word… Read More »
“I learned early in life that you get places by having the right enemies.” – John Shelby Spong, Born Jun. 16, 1931. Who or what do you hate? What will you absolutely not stand for? What are you sick of? What grinds your gears? What gets your goat? What gags your giraffe?… Not in general,
Show Prospects What You Stand Against, and They Presume You Stand For Them Read More »
“I jokingly call this convergence of games into reality the ‘Gamepocalypse:’ the moment when every moment of life is actually a game.” – Jesse Schell, Born Jun. 13, 1970. Did you know that you can already do this now? Basically you can gamify your own life. It makes a lot of the dull bits of
The Gamepocalypse Already Happened and It’s All a Game Now Read More »
