Leading Expert
Here’s the Real Reason People Choose You Over the Competition
You’ve seen Pulp Fiction, right? It’s the classic 1994 dark comedy crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The film is highly stylized, presented out of chronological order, and filled with eclectic dialogue that reveals each character’s perspectives on various subjects. And yes, it’s profane and violent. Pulp Fiction was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture. …
Scarcity. In a nutshell, opportunities of all kinds seem more valuable to us when they are less available. We are often more motivated by the prospect of losing out than by gaining something of the exact same value. For example, studies have shown that physician’s messages that encourage people to stop smoking are more effective when stating …
No, that’s not a typo in the headline above, as we’ll soon see. But first, some disturbing news. It’s become fairly well-known that unfortunate events reported heavily in the media lead to other similar unfortunate events due to copycat behavior. Suicides, murders, and school shootings tend to occur in alarming clusters once the news about …
If you have kids (or have been a kid), and celebrate Christmas, you’ve likely witnessed an interesting phenomenon. Every year, there’s that one “it” toy. Starting way back in the mid-80s with the Cabbage Patch Kids, and followed by Beanie Babies, Furby and Tickle Me Elmo, there’s at least one crucial toy that every kid …
One of my favorite episodes of South Park is when crass little Eric Cartman puts on a police officer’s uniform. He trolls around on his Big Wheel, screaming “Respect my authori-tie!” before bashing people with his baton. In his quest for authority, Cartman knew what he was doing by putting on that uniform. And given that he …
At the 1985 Academy Awards, actress Sally Field won Best Actress for Places in the Heart, after having won the same award in 1980 for Norma Rae. She never actually said the exact words I use in my headline, but everyone thinks she did. Regardless, Sally nailed it. Liking matters. In my previous life as a litigation …
What do you think would happen if you sent out a large batch of Christmas cards early in the month of December — to complete strangers? Nothing? Maybe a few confused phone calls or letters? Nope. Most likely you would receive an avalanche of Christmas cards in return, from people who don’t even know you. …
Back when I was an unhappy young attorney in the 1990s, I didn’t dream of being an entrepreneur. I wanted to be a writer (typical of unhappy lawyers). It was my fascination with the early commercial internet that led me to combine writing with entrepreneurship. I enjoyed attracting people with useful knowledge and selling them …
We’ve had many requests for more audio content here inside Future Freedom. And as we’ve started in that direction, we’ve also had members ask for a way to listen on their favorite podcast apps. Listening via a podcast app requires subscribing with an RSS feed, which typically means making the audio feed public. That’s not …
In a lot of ways, life around the globe has been getting steadily better. Life expectancy is up, remarkably so in developing nations. In the last century, India’s life expectancy has nearly tripled. In Indonesia, it’s more than doubled. Much of the developing world has enjoyed similar gains. Global literacy has reached more than 85% …
At one time, the idea of starting a business with an audience first was a novelty. And using content for marketing at all was thought of as strange before that. Things have definitely changed. When it comes to digital, content marketing is just marketing. And audience-first is how entrepreneurs of all stripes are thinking about …
The idea of the personal enterprise seems to be really resonating with people. Maybe it’s because it takes the mystery out of “build an audience, find the product, grow a successful business.” Once you realize that it’s a methodical step-by-step journey instead of some magical talent or stroke of luck, it becomes much more attainable. …