BRUCE’s BLOG
How to be an Overnight Success
Legend has it that stars like Justin Bieber and Lana Turner each were an overnight success. And maybe they were. But in the real world, often it takes something very different to achieve success…
Would you Please do me a Favor?
At 4 PM EST this Thursday, April 14, 2022, I’m going to be on Public Television’s (PBS) literary program, “Between the Covers” discussing my new book, Is That All There Is‽
I’m really proud of the book I’ve written and I’m confident that the interview is going to be a good one. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the time we spend together and that you’ll also find it interesting and personally fulfilling. Who doesn’t spend time thinking about the tagline of the book, “What are you doing for the rest of your life?” I spent three years interviewing fascinating people who had successfully pivoted their lives and there’s so much for you to discover from their experiences.
What Makes You Different?
Marketing people and ad agencies talk about what makes you unique. They call it different things, “USP” maybe – your Unique Selling Proposition, or perhaps they’ll talk about your “X-Factor” or your “Black Box.” But what they’re all looking for uniqueness. Sadly, there aren’t too many things that are really unique.
Chances are you were told that you needed a USP by the people who get paid to create USPs, by the folks who run advertising agencies, manage consulting companies, and own creative firms. They tell you they’re going to figure out what your unique selling proposition is. Instead, you’ll pay them to going to show you how to be creatively different, not unique.
Instead, look for your Points of Difference and your Points of Distinction (PODs). What’s different about you and your company? And what are you really good at?
There’s almost nothing in your business that is absolutely unique… and that’s a good thing…
Do Will Smith and Chris Rock Have Enough? Do you?
Will Smith and Chris Rock were offered very different opportunities at the Academy Awards the other night. What they did with those opportunities says volumes about both of them. What do their values, and their choices, say about you?But before you can understand what your employees’ purpose is, it’s helpful to know your own. As Socrates said, “First, know thyself.” Or as every eight-year-old responded to a playground insult, “It takes one to know one.”
Can You Define Your Purpose?
FORTUNE Magazine says the Great Resignation has stunned many business owners and employers. Today nearly two-thirds of U.S. workers are looking to change jobs or leave the workforce altogether. Shifting from The Great Resignation to The Great Retention is a choice. The only question is who’s going to make it first – you or your employees?
But before you can understand what your employees’ purpose is, it’s helpful to know your own. As Socrates said, “First, know thyself.” Or as every eight-year-old responded to a playground insult, “It takes one to know one.”
Is the Great Resignation Affecting You?
FORTUNE Magazine says the Great Resignation has stunned many business owners and employers. Today nearly two-thirds of U.S. workers are looking to change jobs or leave the workforce altogether. Shifting from The Great Resignation to The Great Retention is a choice. The only question is who’s going to make it first – you or your employees?
How Kate McKinnon Uses the Power of Satire.
Saturday Night Live star Kate McKinnon interrupted the show’s Weekend Update news segment to praise the hugely controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill passed by Florida’s House of Representatives. It was a brilliant and effective use of satire. McKinnon took a clearly directed action – Governor DeSantis’ “Don’t Say Gay” bill – and flipped its meaning on its head to make her powerfully contrary point without criticizing or even disagreeing with the new law.
By using this literary device, McKinnon established herself in the canon of great satirists.
Volodymyr Zelensky: “I Need Ammunition, Not a Ride.”
Good versus bad; Truth versus lies; Right versus wrong. Like the best movies, the heroes and the villains in this story are blindingly obvious. But there’s something else at work – President Zelensky’s brilliant mastery of the media.
How to Profit From Typos.
Humiliating and painful, typos are shorthand indications of sloppiness, carelessness, tardiness or all of the above. Yet there are times when typos are useful.
How to Charge More.
Professional friends and clients often ask me to help them raise their fees. Although we could spend a lot of time talking about all of the alternatives, at the end of the conversation, there are three most effective ways to increase your fees…
How to Communicate Clearly.
It’s so easy to miscommunicate, even when we think we’re being perfectly clear and understandable. After all, there are so many ways that meaning can be lost that it’s often hard to believe we can communicate at all; even when we’re speaking the same language.
Hug Your Haters.
Having fawning fans is a good thing. But it can be just as profitable to have a following of vociferous antagonists. Sometimes, the smartest thing you can do is hug your haters.
Unrealistic Expectationitis.
Expecting your websites, taglines, logos, and other branding miscellanea to create immediate sales is a condition known as Unrealistic Expectationitis. How do you overcome it and find success? Come discover the solution…
The Power of Stories.
All of a sudden, some occurrences or objects go from being things we thought we had maybe heard of to things we just had to know more about. Why? Noah Yuval Harari wrote: “Fiction has enabled us not just to imagine things, but to do so collectively.” When you’re trying to get attention, build affinity, and generate action for your business, your brand, or yourself, you need fewer facts and more feelings.
What’s the Smartest Business in the World?
People share content online simply to gather eyeballs and generate sticky engagement – meaning they want to get as many people as possible to spend as much time as possible tuned into their messages. Reliably offering entertaining, educational, and enlightening information week after week is good business…
How To Multiply Your Uniqueness.
Doubling down on who you are and what makes you special — like SportsEdTV and StartEngine do, is a wonderful lesson to help us multiply our own uniqueness’s to build our brands, our businesses, and our lives. After all, how you anything is how you do everything.
Why Don’t You Write This Good?
Who wouldn’t be intrigued by a camel that lives behind a truck stop and the woman who bit its genitals? And wouldn’t be on the edge of their seats wondering about the deaf dog? Imagine what all this portends for the new year…!!
How to be Educational, Entertaining, and Enlightening
It’s not enough for an author to know about what they’re writing. And it’s not enough for them to be enjoyable to read or listen to. What is needed is an author who is fascinating to learn from, fun to read, and one who provides us with long-lasting useful lessons.