A few years ago, if you wanted the best chicken soup recipe, you typed it into Google. You’d hit enter and brace yourself. First, you’d scroll past ads. Then you’d land on a blog post about someone’s grandmother. You’d dodge pop-ups, wait for autoplay videos to stop, skim through 1,500 words of meandering storytelling, and eventually, if you were lucky, find the actual recipe. That was the era of browsing. We didn’t like it, but we played along. Publishers optimized…
We are drowning in content. AI churns out torrents of words in seconds. Social feeds refresh with a flick of a thumb. Blogs, podcasts, videos, and ads blur together until they feel disposable. In all that noise, what makes a brand stand out? It isn’t a polished design. It isn’t clever copy. It isn’t having more content than the competition. The corporate or personal brands that cut through today are characters you can’t forget. Think about your favorite TV series…
Most marketers underestimate just how physical persuasion really is. When you see someone smile, your mirror neurons smile. When you hear laughter, your brain laughs with them. Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran calls them “empathy neurons” because they dissolve the barrier between self and others. This is why the most memorable ads don’t just tell you something. They make you feel it. They create knee-jerk reactions, inside jokes, even little catchphrases you carry into your daily conversations. Wassup! That’s what Dr. Matt…
We live in a world of metrics, where follower counts pass for credibility and virality masquerades as value. It’s tempting to believe that if people see you, they’ll follow you. But here’s the uncomfortable truth. Being seen isn’t the same as being believed. And being believed? That’s what moves people. Amanda Russell nailed it in The Influencer Code: “If nobody takes action because of you, you’re not an influencer. You’re just popular.” That line cut through the noise. Because over…
It was a product nobody wanted. Then one man touched it, and it became a $200 million phenomenon. No new features. No redesign. No big marketing budget. Only one thing changed and everything exploded. Here’s the story: In the 1990s, a small company created a fat-draining countertop grill. It worked. It solved a problem. But no one cared. Sales flatlined. The product sat on shelves, ignored and forgotten. They tried different strategies. Nothing moved the needle. Then came a breakthrough…
You know what’s underrated? Belief. Not “hope.” Not “manifestation.” Not even “confidence.” I’m talking about conviction. The kind that gets you moving when you’ve got no traction, no approval, and no real roadmap. David J. Schwartz nailed it: “Believe you can succeed and you will.” It’s not just a nice quote – it’s a demand. Because belief changes what you attempt. And the minute you attempt, you create momentum. Action breeds confidence. Not the other way around. Most people are…
Amazon almost killed Best Buy. Then Best Buy learned to Be a little more Like Amazon and it is doing great. You too can Be Like Amazon while not being like Amazon. Any business, retail or services, online or brick and mortar can learn from these principles. Build relationships, help people buy instead of focusing on selling them, understand your employees & customers’ motivation. Find ways to remove the friction in the experience through innovating your current processes.
Do you want to get paid less for any value you bring to your customer? Obviously not! Do you prefer to pay more for products than they are actually worth? Today Payless announce they are closing all their stores. I want us to step back too late November/December of last year (yes only a couple of months back) and take a look at what we can learn from the PayLess disaster to understand how we need to adapt to stay…