Archive for April, 2005


My Big Insight… Stolen!

Thank God the Trump show is almost over.
It’s like a zombie that keeps rising from the grave, after everyone was sure it was dead. Last season, I would have bet it had officially jumped the shark… but then they did the “Book Smarts vs. Street Smarts” concept, and damn if that didn’t […]

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Server’s Up

I feel like I’m married to the damn server.
Last night — total freeze out. Couldn’t send outgoing email about the updated Freelance Course, couldn’t figure out the problem, and no, I didn’t sleep well. The whole thing just left me in a bad mood.
This morning, I had to drop the car off at […]

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Server’s Down…

To everyone waiting for that “Sneak Peek” of the Freelance Course pitch…
My outgoing mail server is pulling a hissy fit. A few emails got out, and then the pipeline choked up like a python trying to swallow an Amtrak dining car.
After two hours of talking with various “tech support” experts, I’m giving up for […]

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John Does His Job… Finally!

All righty, then. Sleeves rolled up, notes in front of me, the dog snoring…
Time to answer those questions people sent me last month. Heck, I solicited ‘em in the first place, and then ignored my duty.
Bad John.
There were essentially four questions, and I shall tackle them in no particular order:
1. What’s the value […]

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Trump Is A Total Prick

Sorry. Please forgive my French.
I’m just enjoying a little smidgen of righteous outrage over this last Apprentice show. I don’t watch much network TV — terrified of brain rot — but this show hasn’t yet jumped the shark.
It’s still riveting, for both the business aspects, and (sigh) the Jerry Springer-style interpersonal shit.
For me, […]

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Okay, I Lied…

I’m not gonna get to those questions, like I promised, in this post.
I just pulled a long working weekend — don’t ask, but even us lazy-as-cats writers get behind now and again — and I’m fried. Just the thought of trying to tackle a simple marketing question makes me near-homicidal.
Still, I have […]

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Can I Deduct This From My Taxes?

Seriously.
If I’m, say, checking out a vintage 60s stub-neck Rickenbocker at Bobo’s Guitar Shop, and have this totally bitchin’ insight to making millions with some brilliant new marketing scheme… and I share it on my blog here… do I get to deduct the guitar?
Somebody get back to me on this, will ya?
Okay, I didn’t buy […]

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The Apprentice Rat Cage

Great example of life imitating blogs on The Apprentice tonight.
Last post, I talked about stress. Lo and behold, stress is exactly what knocked what’s-her-name off the show. Under time pressure, and faced with having to think on her feet, she choked (to use The Donald’s term).
I don’t think she understands the term herself. […]

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Rats ‘n’ Us

I just finished a long phone call with Gary Halbert.
We talked about rats. And then we talked about his decision to quit writing his newsletter.
This was a fairly typical conversation, as our chats go. During all those years I served as his right-hand man, we often spent half our time on-stage at seminars […]

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Just Checkin’ In

I have a longtime client who keeps having to learn the same lesson over and over again.
It’s simple: Don’t mail to people who aren’t home.
There’s a critcial “response frame” for direct response mail. After the first day, if you take phone calls, you should be able to guess at how well the mailing […]

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