Dean Jackson

Dean Jackson

Marketing Strategist & Entrepreneur

Dean Jackson is a marketing strategist, serial entrepreneur, and the creator of BreakthroughDNA. He's the co-founder of 90 Minute Books, co-host of I Love Marketing with Joe Polish, and has spent 30+ years helping business owners find, nurture, and convert their ideal clients using the 8 Profit Activators framework.

203 posts by Dean Jackson

Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day

| 2 min read

Ever notice the subtle patterns in your daily life? I like to start my day with breakfast at my favorite Honeycomb Bakery. Today, I realized a lot of other p...

Nobody Opens Email

Nobody Opens Email

| 2 min read

The danger of blanket declarations is believing them to be true. Nobody opens email anymore. Direct mail is dead. But here's what I would stake my success on...

Penetrating the Prayer Chain

Penetrating the Prayer Chain

| 3 min read

If you provide a product or service that isn't needed or used regularly, what do you do? I have a friend who's a personal injury attorney specializing in veh...

Please Open This One

Please Open This One

| 3 min read

Did I ever tell you about my journey on the path that led me to the 9-word email? I was sitting in my evil scheme hatchery, working on an email campaign, and...

Cute Bikinis for Cute Prices

Cute Bikinis for Cute Prices

| 2 min read

Here's a little something you might never guess about me. The most watched creators I follow on TikTok are the three twenty-something sisters of the Strawber...

The Death of Email

The Death of Email

| 2 min read

I take great delight in my growing collection of screen captures of ads declaring "The Death of Email." I take a picture of the ad, then I click on...

The Van Allen Belt

The Van Allen Belt

| 2 min read

The riskiest part of sending a manned rocket into space isn't once it's up there. It's getting through the Van Allen Belt. That's where the radiation is high...

The Inevitability Cheat Code

The Inevitability Cheat Code

| 2 min read

Mike Tyson once said "everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face." When you stepped into the ring with Mike Tyson circa 1986, it was in...

Imagine If You Applied Your SELF

Imagine If You Applied Your SELF

| 4 min read

When my mother passed, I found a red box with all my old report cards. It was an amazing walk down memory lane. The thing I loved most was reading the handwr...

The Problem with Checklists

The Problem with Checklists

| 2 min read

There are 2 basic types of people in the world. People who like to follow checklists — and people who like to make checklists. The problem is when you expect...

That's Not Your Job

That's Not Your Job

| 2 min read

I once saw a great interview with Quentin Tarantino on The Charlie Rose Show. He told a story about a lunch that changed his life. Quentin was having lunch w...

Time Travel Instructions Inside

Time Travel Instructions Inside

| 3 min read

It's easy to imagine the benefits of time travel. I think about it a lot. The main advantage I can see is acting with certainty of future outcomes…knowing wh...

Your Own Personal Pluribus

Your Own Personal Pluribus

| 2 min read

I just watched the amazing Pluribus Series on Apple TV. The central idea of the story is simple and unsettling: what happens when every person in the world i...

Irrational Confidence

Irrational Confidence

| 2 min read

The first time I saw the words irrational confidence together was in a book called Overachievement. It was written by a sports psychologist who has coached a...

High Status Chimps

High Status Chimps

| 2 min read

I once read about a fascinating study involving chimpanzees. Researchers gave chimps a choice. They could keep a small reward of grapes or juice…or they coul...

ScoreCards

ScoreCards

| 2 min read

When Dan Sullivan introduced me to the concept of a scorecard, it changed the way I approach conversations with potential clients. A scorecard enables you to...

Yellow Page Roulette

Yellow Page Roulette

| 2 min read

Long before I started the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, there was the I Love Marketing podcast with Joe Polish. One of the most popular episodes we ever...

Longetivity

Longetivity

| 2 min read entrepreneurship

Did you know I drive a BMW? In fact, I’m on my sixth or seventh BMW by now. What’s kept me a loyal BMW owner all these years isn’t just the car itself, it’s ...

The Value of Community

The Value of Community

| 2 min read

People underestimate the value of the community. Most business owners get hung up on the whole idea because they think it's two separate things. They wonder,...

Referral DNA

Referral DNA

| 3 min read

Did you know it's literally in our DNA to refer to things? Just think about how many times throughout the day you're introducing new things to people: movies...

Future-Proof Advantage

Future-Proof Advantage

| 3 min read entrepreneurship

When I got my real estate license 30 years ago, the state-of-the-art technology was the thermal fax machine. You know, the one with a big roll of paper you s...

Consistency and Longetivity

Consistency and Longetivity

| 2 min read foundation-building

It has been a couple of years since I started my Breakthrough Blueprint Event. It all came from a conversation with my friend Dan Sullivan, the founder of St...

Audience first

Audience first

| 3 min read

Most people start a podcast as a way to generate leads. First, they get an idea of what the podcast will be about. Second, they record an episode or two and ...

The Purpose of a Podcast

The Purpose of a Podcast

| 2 min read

There are three models of podcasts that currently exist. The most common model involves one person interviewing a celebrity or people who have notoriety in a...

Profit Activator 7

Profit Activator 7

| 2 min read

People go through life managing daily urgencies. It's how we operate. You have a long list of essential things that need your focus, and you're aware of them...

Mainland Advantage

Mainland Advantage

| 2 min read

I do a podcast with Dan Sullivan called "The Joy Of Procrastination." We often discuss society's migration from the "mainland" into &quot...

Planning To Dominate

Planning To Dominate

| 2 min read

Profit Activator One says: Select a single target market at a time and plan to dominate it. When most people hear me talking about that, they don't listen to...

Syndication

Syndication

| 2 min read finding-clients

There are two ways to grow your business: You can either scale it... or you can syndicate it. While some businesses are more suitable for scaling, others fit...

The Psychology of Scorecards

The Psychology of Scorecards

| 2 min read

Profit Activator 3 is about educating and motivating your prospects to get started with you. While people generally understand the educating part, most are a...

Understanding people

Understanding people

| 3 min read

Remember how I always talk about orchestrated referrals and Profit Activator 8 and how that's probably your biggest low-hanging fruit for increasing your bot...

Risk Reversal vs Results

Risk Reversal vs Results

| 2 min read

In every business transaction, there's always somebody who has to take a chance. And most people demand their clients take that chance first: "You pay m...

Novelty and Security

Novelty and Security

| 2 min read

Fundamentally, people can be divided into two groups. In the first group, some people are interested in novelty. They’re the ones who want to figure stuff ou...

The Tyranny of Convenience

The Tyranny of Convenience

| 2 min read

I've recently read an interesting article in The New York Times called The Tyranny of Convenience. The article discusses how convenience always wins. It expl...

Webinars Vs Books

Webinars Vs Books

| 2 min read

There are many ways to find your potential customers. But taking a moment to consider the most effective way to do it can multiply your results dramatically....

Clear Outcomes

Clear Outcomes

| 2 min read

In business, everything comes down to economics. What I mean by that is Whatever it is you can provide for your customers in exchange for their money, it sho...

Awareness

Awareness

| 2 min read finding-clients

You hear me talk a lot about syndication, scale-ready algorithms, and how to dominate your industry. But building a huge business might not be everyone's dre...

After Sale ROI

After Sale ROI

| 2 min read

Have a look around at what other businesses are doing in most markets. You'll notice that the majority of them are very front-end loaded. And I mean that the...

Referrals

Referrals

| 3 min read

You should know two things about referrals: The first is why a referral happens. People refer anything, from a movie to a restaurant, a dentist, etc., becaus...

Secret Weapon

Secret Weapon

| 3 min read foundation-building

Today, everyone's looking for an edge. However, most businesses are looking for it in the wrong places. Lowering their prices might give them that edge. Addi...

Make it Real

Make it Real

| 2 min read

One of the most important and profitable things you can do for your business is to identify your unique offering and turn it into a competitive advantage ins...

Provocation

Provocation

| 3 min read

There are many people who, once they discover marketing, fall in love with it and what it can do to their business. What's more, the moment they realize the ...

The Greatest Leverage

The Greatest Leverage

| 2 min read

You've heard me raving about syndication many times before. And for good reason. You see, syndication is one of those things where you do the work once and t...

Cloudlandia

Cloudlandia

| 2 min read

There's never been a better time to be in most types of businesses. From the outside, it may look like technology is making everything redundant. But the opp...

Three Steps

Three Steps

| 2 min read

There are three steps to a sustainable business. You have to: Make it up, Make it real, And make it recur. That’s the basic progression of it. Making it up c...

The Four Seasons Valhalla

The Four Seasons Valhalla

| 2 min read

I do a podcast with my friend Dan Sullivan called "The Joy Of Procrastination." And one of the things we talk about a lot is how Dan and his wife a...

Words Matter

Words Matter

| 2 min read

In a business where everyone is offering the same service, how you frame what you do will be your winning card. Because, as in life, so in marketing, it's no...

Enjoyable Life

Enjoyable Life

| 2 min read

I’m sure there’s a good reason why you’re an entrepreneur. If you’re anything like me, it’s probably because you like problem-solving. And conceptualizing id...

The Cost of Success

The Cost of Success

| 2 min read

Sometimes, success comes at a cost. You may find yourself with a successful business, but your days are packed full of work you're not excited to do. And you...

Vending Machine

Vending Machine

| 2 min read

Sometimes, when your business is going well and you have more clients than you can handle, You come to a point where you start playing with the idea of helpi...

Lifestyle business

Lifestyle business

| 2 min read

Many people talk about creating a 'lifestyle business'. But very few set out to find a business that meets that goal. The reason for that is, that a lifestyl...

Delivering Happiness

Delivering Happiness

| 2 min read

I'm sure you've heard of Zappos, their CEO Tony Hsieh and his book Delivering Happiness, The great thing about the whole idea of Zappos is the experience of ...

The Dream Come True Experience

The Dream Come True Experience

| 2 min read

Remember the question I always ask? The one that goes, “What would you do if you only got paid when your client gets the result?” The reason why everything s...

Know, Like and Trust

Know, Like and Trust

| 2 min read

There’s a saying in marketing circles that goes like this: “People do business with people they know, like and trust.” But here’s the problem with that, The ...

Preemptive Serendipity

Preemptive Serendipity

| 2 min read

There are certain industries that, because of their nature, are having difficulty getting people excited about them. For example Nobody’s looking forward to ...

How It's made

How It's made

| 2 min read

Have you ever watched How It’s Made? It’s a great show. And what they do is, in each episode, they take you behind the scenes and show you how everyday objec...

Predictable Vending Machine

Predictable Vending Machine

| 2 min read

After many years of working with various entrepreneurs and business owners, I’ve found that one common mistake people make (especially the one-man-band busin...

A Promise

A Promise

| 3 min read

Too many business owners are hung up on the idea that their lead magnet book must be perfect. And what they normally do is… They spend weeks, months, even ye...

Core Unit

Core Unit

| 2 min read

Have you noticed how every time you think about starting something new... a new venture or pivot for your current business… You always start with the full vi...

A Progressive Relationship

A Progressive Relationship

| 2 min read entrepreneurship

Have you ever heard of the company Deluxe? Deluxe is one of those huge companies that operate mostly under the radar. And what they do is they print business...

Free Results

Free Results

| 2 min read

It seems to me there’s a recurring theme on my More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast and every time I hatch "Evil Schemes" with people. And it is this....

Promised Land

Promised Land

| 3 min read

The three most important things about a lead-generating book (or report) are: It has to have a title that conveys something your prospects want. You must hav...

The Protocol

The Protocol

| 2 min read

To scale any business, you must first nail your result-getting protocol. Because that's the basis for the scale-ready algorithm. And, you've heard me say thi...

Convenience

Convenience

| 2 min read

I read a book called ' Willpower Doesn’t Work' by Benjamin Hardy recently. And right in the first couple of pages, it says (paraphrasing)… Willpower is for p...

Rare and Delightful

Rare and Delightful

| 3 min read entrepreneurship

Let me ask you something… Scroll through your inbox and try to find the last message meant only for you. How long ago was it? You’d be surprised at how few o...

Chain of Events

Chain of Events

| 3 min read

I did some work with a party rental company here in Toronto. When I asked them who’s their largest check client, what’s the jackpot for them, they said, “ An...

Book Triggers

Book Triggers

| 2 min read

By now, If you’ve been listening to More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast for long enough… You know very well that a book is the highest converting tool to get p...

A Lottery

A Lottery

| 2 min read

In certain industries, emergencies are the most common way to get new clients. Think plumbers, electricians, roofers… or any other business that falls into t...

Lifetime Customers

Lifetime Customers

| 3 min read

Remember how I told you about a company I started in college called Name Droppers? My friend Neil and I would hire college girls to go out into neighborhoods...

Orchestrating Referrals

Orchestrating Referrals

| 2 min read

Most people don’t know how to orchestrate referrals. And there’s two reasons for that: First, most people think that asking clients for more business is begg...

Book Title Formulas

Book Title Formulas

| 3 min read

Can you guess the most important thing about a book? That’s right, its title. Your book’s title should be so compelling that when your ideal audience reads i...

More Inside

More Inside

| 2 min read

Sometimes, when you’re struggling with low opt-in rates on your website, it’s not because your stuff isn’t compelling. It’s because you’re giving people too ...

The IM Formula

The IM Formula

| 2 min read

Have I ever told you about my Internet Marketing formula before? It’s a simple formula that I came up with way back at the beginning of the Internet... and i...

Connecting the Dots

Connecting the Dots

| 2 min read

You can have any kind of business you want, and you can be passionate about anything you want… but... If you want to turn your thing into a successful ventur...

Writing Without Writing

Writing Without Writing

| 2 min read

If you’re contemplating using a book for your lead generation, there are only three absolute musts you need to put into place. First, you have to have a book...

Return on Communities

Return on Communities

| 3 min read

The one thing you should very consciously measure is the return on investment of everything you do because it will fundamentally change the way you approach ...

Competition Free Market

Competition Free Market

| 3 min read

Let me ask you something: How would you like it if you had virtually no competition in your niche? If you had the monopoly? Imagine it: You’re the only plumb...

''Evil Scheme'' Foundation

''Evil Scheme'' Foundation

| 2 min read

Do you know what’s the foundation of an “evil scheme”? Picking a single target market. But do you know what the foundation of a GREAT “evil scheme” is? Picki...

The Discipline of Market Leaders

The Discipline of Market Leaders

| 2 min read

Remember how I always tell you that you must plan to dominate your category? Well, sometimes this also means deciding on what your core activity is and becom...

The Biggest Band in the World

The Biggest Band in the World

| 2 min read

There are many more people out there who can execute a scale-ready algorithm than people who can create an algorithm that’s ready to scale. And the fact that...

Impacting People at Scale

Impacting People at Scale

| 2 min read

Everybody knows it: Trading your time for money isn’t scalable. And yet, it’s the main system most service-type businesses operate on. Professions like perso...

Outcome Based

Outcome Based

| 2 min read

Let me ask you something, How big do you think my email list is? I mean, how big would you expect it to be for a guy like me? You know, with my profile or my...

Compelling Lead-Getters

Compelling Lead-Getters

| 3 min read

I have two front-ends driving most of what I do: My free offer for the Email Mastery book and the free book offer for the 90-Minute Book. And the reason for ...

Winning Avatars

Winning Avatars

| 3 min read

A big part of having a successful business is getting crystal clear on who your target market is. Unfortunately, it’s also the hardest thing to do… because t...

Monetizing Results

Monetizing Results

| 2 min read

Whenever you start a new business venture… a big part of its success is to build a community around it. Especially when you’re in the lifestyle or well-being...

The Greatest Conversation Starter

The Greatest Conversation Starter

| 3 min read

By now, you've probably figured out that the only purpose for your flagship email is to be the delivery mechanism for your Super Signature, And you probably ...

Franchise Prototype Thinking

Franchise Prototype Thinking

| 3 min read

Have I ever told you how much I like the franchise business model? There are two reasons. First of all, I always talk about breaking businesses into the Befo...

A-Pile Advertising

A-Pile Advertising

| 3 min read

If you’ve been around the direct response water cooler for a while, you must've heard of Gary Halbert. And if you’ve heard of him, I’m sure you’ve also heard...

Ghost Restaurants

Ghost Restaurants

| 2 min read

I read an article in the Chicago Tribune about a new concept called ‘ghost restaurants’. Have you heard of them yet? The headline was " Nine Restaurants...

Thriving Affiliates

Thriving Affiliates

| 2 min read

Sometimes, when you have a groundbreaking product, it makes sense to license it to other people in your industry. Say, you have a new hair-thinning solution....

Coronation Ceremony

Coronation Ceremony

| 2 min read

It’s always fun when we crown a new mayor of a category… And if you’ve been listening to More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast for a while, you can witness it ha...

Capital Investment Mindset

Capital Investment Mindset

| 2 min read

It seems to me; The more I’m playing this marketing game, the more I document everything. It has become crystal clear that all the money is in the long game....

The ''Easy Button" Solution

The ''Easy Button" Solution

| 2 min read

One thing that we all have in common is; We all want results. I know I do. And I’m sure you do as well. I’m willing to bet all your prospects want results, t...

One Target Market at a Time

One Target Market at a Time

| 2 min read

The most confusing part for many business owners is selecting a single target market. I know it sounds simple. But when you get down to it… There are just to...

''One for One'' Model

''One for One'' Model

| 3 min read

Most business owners who provide a service that’s project-based have one big problem in common… And that’s scaling. Think about it: The only way to scale a p...

The ''After Unit'' Advantage

The ''After Unit'' Advantage

| 2 min read

When you have a B2B service, say, a marketing or lead generation agency for other businesses… The one thing that quickly gets you in a relationship with any ...

Who not How

Who not How

| 2 min read

We’re living in a world right now where it’s never been a better time to have ideas. Think about it; Whatever you can imagine, no matter how ambitious or cra...

Filters And Amplifiers

Filters And Amplifiers

| 3 min read

Sometimes you want to know if your prospect meets certain criteria before you can help them. For example If you help people get loans, you might want to know...

Market Maker Advantage

Market Maker Advantage

| 2 min read

Many businesses have the potential to become market makers... and they don’t know it. Think about it: Any time you connect people, you’re enabling two partie...

Creating a Movement

Creating a Movement

| 2 min read

When you have a great message, an idea, a system or framework, that you know is helpful to people… and you want it to spread as wide as possible… The first s...

Competetive Advantage

Competetive Advantage

| 2 min read finding-clients

Do you know what’s the best way to get rid of your competition? Doing things that nobody does... And sometimes, this means going against what’s perceived as ...

Free Trial FTW

Free Trial FTW

| 2 min read orchestrating-referrals

When your business has a very strong After Unit component to it and most of your revenue is from serving clients regularly… then... One of the best assets yo...

In Search of Excellence

In Search of Excellence

| 2 min read

Have you ever read a book called "In Search of Excellence”? It’s written by Tom Peters, a wonderful management thought leader. He wrote several books on...

Name Droppers

Name Droppers

| 2 min read finding-clients

When I was in college, my friend Neil and I used to run a painting company, And the way we got clients was... We created another company called Name Droppers...

Integrity Pricing

Integrity Pricing

| 2 min read

What’s really interesting to me is that people are so afraid to give away their prices. They'd rather go through many hoops before they tell you how much the...

Before Unit for Sale

Before Unit for Sale

| 2 min read

Imagine you’re at a stage where you’ve finally cracked the code of your Before Unit… You know who your target market is in Profit Activator One. You've got a...

Tiger-proof Business

Tiger-proof Business

| 3 min read

Several years ago, I was flying to LA and, to pass time, had Forbes magazine to amuse me. There was this article about the top 100 entertainers that caught m...

Commodity vs Advantage

Commodity vs Advantage

| 2 min read

In certain markets, what you sell is seen as a commodity. For example, workplace safety. People look at workplace safety as a requirement. They will do what ...

Customer Avatars

Customer Avatars

| 3 min read

There are two things at play when you're coming up with your single target market: Firstly, you need to have a clear idea of all the different stages in your...

Your Next 25 Years

Your Next 25 Years

| 3 min read

Sometimes you find yourself in a situation where you’ve got all this specialized knowledge acquired over a lifetime in your industry, and you’ve realized you...

The Culture Code

The Culture Code

| 3 min read

There's a great book by Clotaire Rapaille called "The Culture Code." In his book, Rapaille explains how everything in our lives is based on an impr...

Unearned Income

Unearned Income

| 2 min read

Let me ask you something… If you took 100% of all the money you’ve made in the last 12 months, what percentage of that would be “unearned income”? That is, i...

Consumer Awareness Guides

Consumer Awareness Guides

| 2 min read

Here’s the thing about consumer awareness guides… If you’re using them in your Before Unit, there are a couple of things you need to be aware of (pun intende...

Largest Check

Largest Check

| 2 min read

Selecting a single target market is always tricky. And it’s especially hard early on in your business when you don’t want to limit yourself and deliberately ...

Patterns and Repetition

Patterns and Repetition

| 2 min read

The "low hanging fruit" of your After Unit is what I call "orchestrated referrals" It's when you deliberately do things and communicate i...

Thinking Bigger

Thinking Bigger

| 2 min read

Your business is ready to scale when it provides results and value beyond your need to be involved in delivering that value. But the trouble is… when you’re ...

Commitment and Consistency

Commitment and Consistency

| 2 min read

Have you ever watched American Idol or The Voice? From the outside, both shows look a lot like one and the same: A singing competition for undiscovered artis...

New Music

New Music

| 2 min read

The great thing about 8-Profit Activators is that they apply to ANY kind of business. They are universally present. And they’re happening whether you’re cons...

Convincing Demonstration

Convincing Demonstration

| 3 min read

A demonstration is one of the best tools you can use to convince somebody of something. It's not about "selling the benefits." It's SHOWING somebod...

Three Words

Three Words

| 2 min read

Your whole marketing strategy can be distilled down to just three simple words: Compel, Convince, Collaborate. You need to COMPEL somebody to raise their han...

The ''Giving Hand''

The ''Giving Hand''

| 2 min read

Sometimes it's less expensive to get your prospects started with you than it is to convince them to give you money to get started. This is true no matter wha...

Your Biggest Opportunity

Your Biggest Opportunity

| 2 min read

One of the biggest marketing ideas around is risk reversal., It means taking the chance, taking all the risk and putting it on your shoulders instead of on y...

Scorecards

Scorecards

| 2 min read

Scorecards are a great conversation starter. They give you a real insight into your prospect's mindset and where they see their opportunities. Which helps yo...

Send Them Cheese

Send Them Cheese

| 2 min read

Here's a way to quickly turn your whiskery B2B emails into cheese for your prospects A company in Florida does all the postcards, printing and mailing for me...

Minimum Viable Commitment

Minimum Viable Commitment

| 3 min read

You've heard about the term "minimum viable product" before, right? It's part of the Lean Startup methodology, where you only build the minimum fea...

Where It All Starts

Where It All Starts

| 2 min read

Have I ever told you how the whole “More Cheese Less Whiskers” idea started? I used to read a lot of articles about psychology and human interaction dynamics...

Content Curation

Content Curation

| 2 min read

One of the components of your Profit Activator 3 is your flagship email. The purpose? To educate and motivate people to get started with you. And sometimes, ...

The Love Letter

The Love Letter

| 2 min read

One common mistake people make with their 9-word emails is that they jump to the prescription too soon. Here’s a typical 9-word email scenario: “Are you stil...

Showing vs Telling

Showing vs Telling

| 2 min read

How do you differentiate your product or service from your competitors? Most people focus on features. Listing everything their products have or do… trying t...

Compelling Before Convincing Pt.2

Compelling Before Convincing Pt.2

| 2 min read

Here’s the thing about online marketing... You get the best results when: you isolate the work you need to do initially into separate steps, and, you focus o...

Escape Valve

Escape Valve

| 2 min read

Here's a curious thing... Very early in my "internet" years, I discovered that the fewer options I put on the site, the more people opted in. That'...

What Do I Do Now?

What Do I Do Now?

| 2 min read

I get a lot of questions about 9-word emails. And they usually ask, "What do I do after I send that initial 9-word email and get all these replies back?...

How vs What

How vs What

| 2 min read

Sometimes your business is tied to a specific location. Like a fitness studio, an after-school tutoring program, a tennis or golf course… and so on. And the ...

It Starts at the End

It Starts at the End

| 3 min read

Did you notice how when people are just starting out and beginning to think about their marketing, what usually happens is they immediately focus on the ad a...

Always Open

Always Open

| 2 min read

One classic example of "expense-based" marketing is the launch model. Here, your Profit Activator 2 is your JV partner. You rely heavily on them to...

Start Here... Again

Start Here... Again

| 3 min read

The secret of entering the conversation in your prospect's mind is figuring out the timeline they're on that leads to your product or service. Because when y...

5-Star Prospects

5-Star Prospects

| 2 min read

When you're building your list of prospects... an asset that will appreciate over time… You must have a system of record-keeping and documentation. Something...

Leads

Leads

| 3 min read

How do you feel about the word LEADS? Me, I don't like it. And here's why: It depersonalizes people, and it automatically turns them into numbers and statist...

Contentimonials

Contentimonials

| 1 min read

Most people use their podcasts as a tool for lead generation. But in reality… a podcast is a much better lead conversion mechanism, perfect for your Profit A...

Emotional Word Palette

Emotional Word Palette

| 3 min read

One of the biggest stumbling blocks I see people have is choosing the right words to name their cookies, book titles and headlines. There's this expectation ...

What's Coming

What's Coming

| 3 min read

I spend a lot of time thinking about the digitization of the future and how that’s all changing everything for us. Every year I attend Peter Diamandis’ event...

Are You a Doer?

Are You a Doer?

| 3 min read

Sometimes, the only thing stopping you from having an enjoyable and successful business is YOU. We all thrive in different situations, and figuring out what ...

About Mom

About Mom

| 2 min read

You hear people talking about how "email is dead" and how "nobody reads email anymore…." But this couldn't be further from the truth. Jus...

One-Click Ordering

One-Click Ordering

| 3 min read

The job of your Profit Activator Four is to make it easy for people to get started with you. And a big part of that is separating the decision from the logis...

Opening the Gates

Opening the Gates

| 2 min read

Your Profit Activator 2 is a gateway for prospects to come into your world. People either respond to it and enter your profit Activator 3… or don’t. That’s r...

9-Word Email Mistakes

9-Word Email Mistakes

| 3 min read

For every ten 9-word emails that work, there's one that flops. And usually, it's because of one of these 5 avoidable mistakes… Mistake #1: You make the email...

What to Say

What to Say

| 3 min read

The job of your Profit Activator 3 is to patiently educate and motivate people until they’re ready to buy from you. And the most straightforward way you can ...

Start Here

Start Here

| 3 min read

Everything starts with your Profit Activator 1... your one single target market. Every industry has a whole spectrum of people you could focus on. And it's c...

Conversion Wrestling

Conversion Wrestling

| 2 min read

When people struggle with lead conversion, it's often because of a straightforward mistake... They take the words "lead conversion" too literally. ...

Pre-programmed for Your Convenience

Pre-programmed for Your Convenience

| 3 min read entrepreneurship

There's a brilliant campaign from Molson Canadian beer from a few years back. They would run a full-page ad in a woman's magazine… I think it was Cosmo… with...

The P&G Principles

The P&G Principles

| 4 min read

There's a book about Procter & Gamble called "The P&G; 99". It describes the 99 principles P&G; uses when thinking about new markets an...

Future Money

Future Money

| 3 min read

Here’s what I find fascinating: People are far less attached to future money than present money. For most people, present money is already spoken for. This m...

Social Reward

Social Reward

| 2 min read

One of the most common tactics to get referrals I see people use is Contests. And at first glance, it makes a lot of sense. You want to incentivize people, a...

Return on Groceries

Return on Groceries

| 2 min read

Becoming the advocate and trusted advisor to your target market is not only a noble thing to do… It's also the most profitable for both you AND your customer...

Pulse of The Future

Pulse of The Future

| 2 min read

Every year I go to Peter Diamandis’ Abundance 360 conference. It’s an exciting event and THE place to be if you’re curious about cutting-edge technology… and...

Conversation Starters

Conversation Starters

| 3 min read

In your Profit Activator 3, you have a list of people who enquired about something. They raised their hand and downloaded your free guide, book, or report. H...

Simple Website Formula

Simple Website Formula

| 3 min read

I have a formula for measuring websites… and it goes like this: Eyeballs + emails + hearts = faces. You have to have eyeballs. That’s the first number I’m in...

Results vs Tools

Results vs Tools

| 2 min read

People often assume the value is in their tools. But the reality is, nobody really cares about the tools. Your product or service… that’s not where the value...

Future Pacing

Future Pacing

| 3 min read

When you have a product or service that helps different people at different stages, it might seem difficult to pick just ONE target market and go with it, ri...

Gift Card Ideas

Gift Card Ideas

| 3 min read

Here’s an idea: Next time you run a promotion, use gift cards. Instead of doing the usual “Buy one get one free…” or “50% off…” just give away $20 (or even $...

Reassuringly Expensive

Reassuringly Expensive

| 3 min read

Let’s talk about pricing… Remember Stella Artois’ campaign? Their whole thing was, “we use only the most expensive ingredients, and we pass the cost onto you...

The Marketing Equation

The Marketing Equation

| 3 min read

Since the beginning of time, commerce has been driven by exchanging goods or services for money. You have a widget or service people want the results your wi...

Plan to Dominate

Plan to Dominate

| 3 min read

https://vimeo.com/792943492 Transcript One of the most impactful books that I've read was a book called the p and g 99, and the p and g stands for Proctor an...

Scalable Workforce

Scalable Workforce

| 3 min read

One necessary requirement of a scale-ready algorithm is to have a scale ready team. sALIM ISMAIL If you think of Peter Diamandis’ books Abundance and Bold as...

Outcome vs Process

Outcome vs Process

| 3 min read

If you want people to take action, you have to offer them what I call "cookies". It’s a way to take the initiative and get your prospects into moti...

Deadlines

Deadlines

| 3 min read

Deadlines are an interesting "beast". Nobody likes them, yet nothing gets done without deadlines. A quote (I forgot by whom) says, "No book ha...

The Hamburg Years

The Hamburg Years

| 3 min read

I saw a great documentary about The Beatles recently. It was about their early years up to the point where they stopped performing live. One thing that’s rea...

Vending Machine Wiring

Vending Machine Wiring

| 2 min read

You often hear me talk about vending machines, And how your Before Unit needs to work just like one. A machine that delivers you, clients, every time you ins...

10 Million Dollar Orange Grove

10 Million Dollar Orange Grove

| 3 min read

Businesses have different models of making money. Some are straightforward, one-time transactional types. When selling widgets, that’s the type of business y...

The Appeal-O-Meter

The Appeal-O-Meter

| 2 min read

My friend John Carlton created a thinking “device” called The Appeal-O-Meter. And what it does is It helps you discover the appeal of your offer to your pros...

The Dream Pill

The Dream Pill

| 6 min read

https://vimeo.com/793316544 Transcript do you ever remember seeing that commercial? When is a diet pill worth $153 a bottle? You know, that was the number on...

Connecting The Dots

Connecting The Dots

| 2 min read

Do you know what the real beauty of 8-Profit Activators is? They are universally present. They’re in every business. Whether you consciously recognize them a...

Dig Well, Get Thirsty

Dig Well, Get Thirsty

| 3 min read

I’m sure you’ve heard about Robert Cialdini’s new book. It’s called Pre-Suasion. And it’s the “sequel” to his seminal book Influence. I’ve read it four times...

Winning Small

Winning Small

| 2 min read

There’s a guy you’ve probably heard of; he spent a great deal of money building a rocket. And when he launched it... it crashed. Soon after, he built a secon...

Information Magnets

Information Magnets

| 3 min read

When your product is a very complex thing, Something that needs a bit of explaining before your prospects can see the real benefit of it, You really need to ...

9-Word

9-Word

| 4 min read

https://vimeo.com/791824078 9 - Word You wanna see something you can try right now that you can get results with today, and you'll be amazed. I call this the...

Gift Card vs Discount

Gift Card vs Discount

| 4 min read

https://vimeo.com/790853311 Transcript One of my favorite things that we've done, the favorite distinction that I've discovered, is the difference in value b...

Secret Psychology of Why People Refer

Secret Psychology of Why People Refer

| 5 min read entrepreneurship

https://vimeo.com/790819703 One of the most important things to understand about referrals is the secret psychology of why people refer. And it's not what we...

Compelling before Convincing

Compelling before Convincing

| 3 min read

Have you noticed: whenever you have a product that can potentially help everybody everywhere... Do you find yourself doing a lot of education too soon? And b...

The Multiplier Effect

The Multiplier Effect

| 3 min read

You can look at your During Unit two ways: At the most basic level, it should satisfy your CORE objective: to deliver the product or service you promised. If...

The President's Choice

The President's Choice

| 2 min read

Have you ever heard of Dave Nichols? Maybe, if you grew up in Canada. But if you didn’t, Dave Nichols was the president of the biggest grocery store in Canad...

Reverse Conversion Engineering

Reverse Conversion Engineering

| 3 min read

Do you know what "reverse engineering" means? Here’s the definition of it: Reverse engineering is taking apart an object to see how it works in ord...

Subject Lines

Subject Lines

| 3 min read

I've been studying emails in great detail lately. I'm getting an inside look at all kinds of businesses in my Email Mastery Case Study program. One of the mo...

Can you Prove it?

Can you Prove it?

| 3 min read

"What would you do if you only got paid if your client gets the result?" That’s the one question I always ask when hatching evil schemes with someb...

How To ''Catch'' Invisible Prospects

How To ''Catch'' Invisible Prospects

| 3 min read

There are two types of prospects populating your market: VISIBLE and INVISIBLE ones. The easiest ones to sell to are, of course, visible prospects. You know ...

Return on LEADS

Return on LEADS

| 3 min read

When it comes to metrics, I’m like a kid in a candy store, Always looking for ways to monitor more, better things in bigger, better ways. The After Unit is p...

Just Buy The Book Dummy

Just Buy The Book Dummy

| 4 min read

Writing about Soap Opera thinking last week got me thinking about one of the most pleasantly surprising things that ever happened to me. I was fortunate to b...

Syndication For The Win

Syndication For The Win

| 2 min read

If you're at the point in your business where you’ve figured out a cool and efficient way of doing things, and you’re wondering, "How could I license th...

The Horoscope Effect

The Horoscope Effect

| 3 min read client-retention

One of the 8 Profit Activators people usually struggle with the most is… Profit Activator #1. Here’s what it says: Select one single target market at a time....

What People Will Do

What People Will Do

| 2 min read finding-clients

Mike Tyson once said, " Everybody’s got a plan until they get punched in the face". He must’ve been talking about business... because that’s exactl...

When Marketing Works on YOU

When Marketing Works on YOU

| 3 min read

I am always hyper-aware of when marketing is working on me. Are you? I travel a lot, so I notice when things in the hospitality service work amazingly well a...

Amplifying Print Ads

Amplifying Print Ads

| 3 min read

Newspapers aren't going away anytime soon. That’s a fact. I honestly believe there’s still much juice to be squeezed from that orange ;) And since everyone i...

Magnetic Book Titles

Magnetic Book Titles

| 2 min read

I always say the best lead magnet is a book. After all these years of experimenting, nothing ever comes close to how well books and reports convert. But here...

Pre-suasive Conversation Starters

Pre-suasive Conversation Starters

| 3 min read orchestrating-referrals

Have you noticed how a book can become an instant authority booster? When you are presented as Homer McDonald, author of Stop Your Divorce, people start perc...

The Bullseye Conversion Booster

The Bullseye Conversion Booster

| 4 min read

If your current lead generation strategy offers a free workshop for people, your conversion rates are not that great. Say you’re a financial advisor offering...

The Emotional Jet Stream

The Emotional Jet Stream

| 4 min read client-retention

If you ever find it difficult selling your product, if you feel like nobody seems to care about it, it’s probably because your message about the product is w...

Soap Opera Thinking

Soap Opera Thinking

| 3 min read

I’m sure you’ve heard of Procter and Gamble. The big company that invented and sells almost every product in your home. Most people don’t know about P&G;...

Do You Know Your Return On Relationships?

Do You Know Your Return On Relationships?

| 3 min read

One of the most exciting ways to bring in new business is to go after new leads. Everyone loves and focuses on the Before Unit. But when time and resources a...

Overcoming Bystander Apathy

Overcoming Bystander Apathy

| 3 min read

One of the main reasons why 9-word emails work so well is because they’re designed to overcome something called bystander apathy. Here’s what I mean... Take ...

External Blame Shifting

External Blame Shifting

| 4 min read finding-clients

Take any industry. (Service or coaching in particular.) You will notice what normally happens is that you will ask for the money upfront and then deliver the...

How 9-Word Emails Fail

How 9-Word Emails Fail

| 4 min read

I get weekly messages from people telling me about the amazing things that happen when they send a 9-word email, as I describe in the Email Mastery book. Lik...

Auto Metrics with Isaac Partita

Auto Metrics with Isaac Partita

| 2 min read

Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, I want to share a conversation I had with Isaac Partita, who helps car dealers and car consultants to grow th...

How 9-Word Emails Fail

How 9-Word Emails Fail

| 4 min read foundation-building

I get messages every week from people telling me about the amazing things that happen when they send a 9-word email like I describe in the Email Mastery book...

One Word "Trick" That's Cures Procrastination. Now.

One Word "Trick" That's Cures Procrastination. Now.

| 4 min read

Here's a thought for Wednesday as you're planning the rest of your week... When I’m procrastinating, which is often, it’s almost always because I’m not exact...