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How To Get People To Listen To What You Have To Say

Have you ever been in a conversation where you couldn’t stop talking? That was me at a party a few weeks ago. Like this: I could not shut up. I finally apologized to the guy I was talking to, I felt so bad. “Sorry for verbal vomiting on you.” “That’s by design,” he said. Huh? (…)

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Why You Need Specificity in Your Marketing If You Want It To Work

One thing you should never do is listen to Revisionist History episode 6 while you’re at the gym. The episode is titled “King of Tears” (if that wasn’t a dead giveaway), about the man behind country music’s biggest hits and why country music is so gut-wrenchingly sad compared to other genres. After putting you through “He (…)

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A Phantom Gary Vaynerchuk Yells at Me Every Night And It’s Time To Talk About It

Every night around 11PM a weird voice goes off in my head. It says the same thing each night: “I’m sorry, do you think you earned the luxury of going to bed at 11PM? Is your business where it should be? NO. NO, IT ISN’T. STEP UP YOUR GAME. WAKE TF BACK UP!! HUSTLE TIME!” (…)

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No One Is Going to “Discover” Your Genius – Here’s What To Do Instead

One of my favorite movies is The Imitation Game. “When people talk to each other, they never say what they mean, they say something else. And you’re expected to just know what they mean.” Great marketing lesson. That’s why I advocate listening to what people don’t say. And one of the things people don’t say (…)

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The Secrets Behind An 8-Figure Launch

I have no idea what the secrets are behind an 8-figure launch. But the fact that you assumed I did illustrates a point about human psychology I want to talk about today: our belief that other people know things we don’t.  It’s why offering a “peek behind the curtain” is so darn compelling. We want (…)

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Is Everyone Entitled to A Platform?

“Not everyone should start a blog!” A client threw this slinger at my friend. “I wasn’t suggesting everyone start a blog,” she told me over dinner recounting the story. “I was suggesting she start a blog since she wanted to be a writer and the traditional approach wasn’t working for her.” My friend was horrified at how her (…)

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This Hiring Mistake Could Be Costing Your Marketing Department Millions

Have you ever been to Stillwell, Kansas? It’s the type of place where you walk down the street and everyone says hi to you. That warm receptiveness to strangers is a hallmark of the Midwest. It’s also why I was so shocked to meet an unfriendly Starbucks barista when I was in the Kansas City (…)

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How Long Should Your Content Be?

How long should your content be? Email. Blog post. Sales page. Instagram caption. What’s the right length? That’s the most common question I get asked about writing. (The next question is “how often?”) Every successful writer and copywriter will tell you the same thing: Content needs to be as long as necessary to convey the message. (…)

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How Sam Harris Is Supporting His Work Without Running Ads

I’ll sit, staring at the screen, credit card in hand, thinking, “Put your money where your mouth is, Margo. Do it already.” Then, like clockwork, I proceed to do something else.This scenario happens once a day as I attempt to support my favorite content producers on Patreon. Despite being vocal about the future of media (…)

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One of The Greatest Sales Pitches of All Time

The following transcript is an addendum to the article Honest Selling Secrets From a Dishonest Man published on Think Growth. Read the article here.  This is minutes 14:31 -16:50 of There Will Be Blood where Daniel Plainview makes an offer to a group of townspeople for a lease to drill for oil on their land. [Voiceover begins: Shot of Daniel Plainview (…)

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