“Within one hour of touching the brush to canvas for the first time, my students have a total, complete painting.” – Bob Ross, Born Oct. 29, 1942. This was Ross’s pitch. He empowered people who were intimidated to create art, and gave them the tools and shortcuts to get over that fear. Were the students’ […]
Make Them Get Their Hands Dirty if You Want to Sell Them More Dirt Read More »
“In the country of the blind the one eyed man is king.” – Desiderius Erasmus, Born Oct. 28, 1466. One of the eternal worries of most freelancers is what they call “impostor syndrome”. It’s the deep seated fear that you’re a phony. That you’ll get called out as a fraud. That you’re not worth what
Expertise Is Relative and You Should Aim Your Work Accordingly Read More »
“Do just once what others say you can’t do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again.” – James Cook, Born Oct. 27, 1728. We often let the voices of others – real or imagined – set the outer borders of what we are capable of. Naysayers. Haters. Well-meaning people concerned for our
“You’ll Never Succeed,” They Said. But When They Saw My Nunchucks… Read More »
“Think and grow rich.” – Napoleon Hill, Born Oct. 26, 1883. This guy? Huge phony. A scammer and a liar. It’s true. If I’m the first guy to tell you, I’m sorry. He’s real popular in bizopp self-help entrepreneur-bro circles. Some people swear by his written wisdom, and some successful people at that! So Hill
The Guru Game, Stripped Bare For Your Enjoyment Read More »
“Art is the elimination of the unnecessary.” – Pablo Picasso, Born Oct. 25, 1881. We can all use a little more of Pablo’s kind of art in our lives and businesses. Are you getting bogged down on a project because of how you imagine it has to be? Look at it. Break it into a
Distill Your Offer Down To Its Essence (By Boiling Away The Unnecessary) Read More »
“The tragedy of bold, forthright, industrious people is that they act so continuously without much thinking, that it becomes dry and empty.” – Brenda Ueland, Born Oct. 24, 1891. I’m so bored of the public positioning of “hustle” as a virtue, which one MUST pursue to find success. Success, to me, is a combination of
The Only Three Ingredients to Every Successful Human Endeavor In History (GUARANTEED) Read More »
“I’ve written in every imaginable location; a repurposed closet, the kitchen table, the bleachers while my kids had basketball practice, the front seat of the car when they were at soccer. In airports. On trains. In the break room when I was supposed to be wolfing down dinner. In the back of classrooms when I
Destroy Your Writing Rituals to Set Your Skill Free Read More »
“I always aspire to that, where it feels like the film was made by the characters as opposed to the filmmakers. I try to be invisible.” – Spike Jonze, Born Oct. 22, 1969. When you create marketing messages for clients, it should be this way, too. You’re creating a message from the client to their
“It’s taken me all my life to learn what not to play.” – John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie, Born Oct. 21, 1917. In persuasion, saying too much is a mistake. You need to say exactly enough, and no more. You want the mark’s memory and imagination and desire to do all the heavy lifting. Because their
Salesmen Know What Copywriters Don’t: When to Shut Up Read More »
“Television has a real problem. They have no page two.” – Art Buchwald, Born Oct. 20, 1925. What Art was talking about is how TV can only give you the page one stuff. Deeper commentary and lengthier coverage, or less prominent stories get passed over. Or a least, they did. That was the nature of
How We Can Provide “Blood” AND “Meat” to Feed Our Hungry Prospects Read More »
