In business, there’s a misconception that you can “buy” brand awareness the way you buy clicks or leads. You can’t. Brand building in the context of direct response is always a side effect of doing one thing really well…getting people to take action now. Every dollar you spend in direct response should have a measurable…
In direct response marketing (which is the only kind of marketing you should be doing), if you aren’t tracking and measuring, you’re not really marketing…you’re guessing. The whole point of direct response is action. Clicks. Calls. Opt-ins. Sales. If you don’t know exactly what people are doing in response to what you put out into…
You’re making a big mistake if you assume people will just know what to do when you send them something or are trying to sell your product or service. They won’t. They don’t. Direct response works because it’s about taking action. Now! Not someday. Not “I’ll come back to this later.” If you want a…
One of the biggest mistakes people make in direct response marketing is assuming they’ll “get to it later.” They won’t. Not because they don’t like you. Not because they don’t see the value. But because later is where good intentions go to die. Direct response marketing works because it gives people a reason to act…
One of the things people wrestle with all the time is whether every email, post, or piece of content should have an offer or not. Short answer? No.Longer, more honest answer? It depends on what you’re doing…and why. There are times when it’s not only ok to send pure content or information, it’s the right…
Every two years, I become an Olympic junkie. I will watch sports and cheer for people whose names I just learned 30 seconds ago. And every single time, I walk away thinking the same thing. The Olympics are exactly like building a business. Think about it. No one wakes up one morning and says, “I…
Valentine’s Day is Saturday – in 2 days. Did you do a promotion in your business for it? This isn’t about whether you celebrate the day, have somebody in your life or not. It’s about your business… Any reason to have a special promotion is a good one. And every holiday or special day on…
Have you ever been relaxing on a weekend, watching a movie, or something and you hear or see something that makes you stop in your tracks? That makes you rewind it so you can hear it again (and again, and again). That’s exactly what happened to me this past Sunday night. I was watching “Soul…
Most comeback stories are inspiring. But Lindsey Vonn’s — at 41, after a career defined by its speed, its risks, and its injuries — might be one of the most instructive blueprints for anyone trying to rebuild, reset, or redefine success in business. Lindsey Vonn’s remaking the narrative around what’s possible when preparation, resilience, and…
Most people love a comeback story. But if you’ve ever been in one — building a business, leading a team, or trying to turn something around when the odds are stacked against you — you know it doesn’t feel inspiring while you’re living it. It feels uncertain. Lonely. Risky. That’s why the story of the…
