If you’ve ever bought something through hard-sell marketing, you know the feeling. The excitement going in, and the realization after the sale that the product you bought and the one you were sold weren’t the same thing. You asked for your money back, or you just moved on – a lot more guarded than before. […]
Clarity and the Waiting Room Paradox
There’s always someone who acts on that great idea a year after you had it. They build it and launch it. What separates them from you isn’t preparation. It’s that they stopped negotiating with themselves. Maybe you already know your next move. The article you’ve been meaning to finish. The offer that’s been drafted and […]
Is Your Work Jazz While Your Audience Listens to Pop?
Many of the experts I work with bring me writing structured like jazz or classical music. The thinking is dense, the internal references are layered, and the logic – once you’re inside it – is often quite beautiful. But, like jazz or classical music, writing like this often asks something of the reader that most […]
You Don’t Have to Learn Tech to Thrive Online: Five Waves of Marketing, and What Survived Them All
Have you ever walked into a room and immediately known you were supposed to feel out of your depth? That’s how I felt at my first marketing mastermind, about 25 years ago. I went in expecting a gathering of people like me, experts, writers, teachers, and practitioners who use language to connect with other human […]
Your Economy is Not The Economy: How Experts Thrive in Any Economy
I’ve lived through several economic downturns, and no matter where I lived or what business I ran, I noticed the same pattern: when economic conditions tighten, two practitioners can live on the same street and operate in completely different economies. One freezes, postpones new work, and either shuts down marketing or doubles down and shouts […]
Should You Move to Substack?
Every week, experts, coaches, and practitioners ask me if they should move to Substack. I hear this most often from three types of experts: Those with an active website, an email list, and a body of work. Those who may have started a website a few years ago, written a handful of articles, and let […]
Luck Surface Area for Experts: The Math Behind Your Authority
Dolly Parton is remembered as a performer, philanthropist, savvy entrepreneur, and entertainment powerhouse. By any expert’s measure, she was also a master practitioner: she stayed relevant for decades because she was doing the work. Beneath the glitter, her real skill wasn’t celebrity, but the practice of writing song after song—and expanding the luck surface area […]
It’s Not Too Late: Why Your Wisdom Matters More Than Ever
We go downtown to the village for dinner several times a month. We like sitting at the bar overlooking the lake because that’s where the most interesting conversations happen. They always start safe. Half an hour in, once the beer has loosened things up, people tell me things they’d never tell their best friend. That’s […]
The Readiness Trap: Are You Ready for the Spotlight?
Have you ever had one of those dreams where you show up somewhere and realize you’re only wearing your underwear? Roughly 60 percent of us specifically recall the “failing or being unprepared for an exam” dream. Different scenarios, same underlying anxiety: I’m about to be fully visible, and I’m afraid what’s under the surface isn’t […]
