Category: Persuasive Professional

“Stories are our original information storage & retrieval devices.” ~Charles Faulkner Charles and I were walking through the Art Institute of Chicago when he dropped that nugget on me. He went on to explain how our values and principles and traditions are embedded in the stories, and then we tell the story to share those…

Yesterday I talked about Miyamoto Mushashi and his quote about mastering one thing to understand 10,000 things. It works the other way, too. If you are focused on one thing (mine is the psychology & importance of sales in high stake business), then you can find endless ways to talk about it through any/all other…

“To know ten thousand things, know one well.” ~Miyamoto Musashi Musashi is, of course, the world’s greatest dueling samurai who had 60ish duels to the death. He eventually stopped using a real sword because it was too easy. And he still kept besting opponents. So he was *really* good in what you could call a…

New video up today, and it deals with a tough issue I’ve seen people talk about online again & again. Have you seen less experienced & less capable people get promoted over you? Does the work you do pass by unnoticed? If so, it can be frustrating & demoralizing to know someone else got the…

Things happen. We tell ourselves & others what those events mean. Based on those meanings, our next steps are obvious (to us, at least). This is why it’s important to understand the stories we use to make sense of the world. That’s why I wanted to ask you: what is sales to you? Is it…

Last night I had a college Tarot card reading engagement at a castle where I did a seance several years ago. Yes, that’s really a thing I’ve been doing for ages now. Colleges fly me out to do 4 hours of Tarot card readings for their students. And do seances. And mind reading shows. I…

This morning I’m flying from Asheville to Philly. I will have plenty of time to hurry up and wait which usually means that you’ll see me on Twitter even more than usual. It also means that I’m going to be listening to podcasts, and that brings me to today’s synchronicity. Today is the launch of…

For the past four years I’ve been working with one of the country’s top digital marketing agencies. Started as a marketing consultant talking with businesses. The goal is figuring out 1) what they need [SEO? PPC? Both?] and then 2) seeing if we’d be a good fit. One of the most important parts of the…

New video’s up! As a performer & entertainer it seems like drinking is just part of the job. Had a great show? Let’s go drink! Awful show? Let’s go drink! Someone enjoyed the show? Let me buy you a drink! While I was in it, I didn’t think there was a problem. Once I had…

This weekend I explained how I use my mentalism background to help companies be better at sales, and her reaction was “That sounds creepy.” Thanks? I guess? I do, however, understand where she’s coming from. If you believe that sales is tricking people, then yeah it sounds creepy. But, if you know in your bones…