Do Not Fail I grew up trying my best not to fail. In school. At sports. In love. The goal was always the same. "Don't screw this up Joe!" Now, decades later, I realize I had it all wrong. Failure isn't to be avoided. Failure is the job.That is what this week’s article is about.Any questions or comments? Just shoot me a note.JP P.S.: You won’t find ads in this newsletter thanks to a generous donation from Lulu. Since 2002, Lulu has helped authors and creators publish, print, and sell their...
8 days ago • 4 min read
Dicey Advice I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the advice we pass down. Some of it is useful. Some of it is outdated. And some of it is simply inherited without ever being questioned. That’s been on my mind as I think about my own kids. They are walking into a world that is moving faster, louder, and stranger than the one I grew up in. So I started asking myself a simple question. What would I actually tell them now? That is what this week’s article is about.Any questions or comments?...
15 days ago • 7 min read
What Would Mom Say? Mother’s Day is this Sunday, so I’ve been thinking a lot about mothers and the strange superpower they have. They know us before, well, everything. Before the résumé, the title, the business, the newsletter, the podcast, the brand, or whatever else we build around ourselves. They know the original material. That got me thinking about creators, marketers, and this endless game of optimization we are all playing. Every platform update changes the rules, but maybe the real...
22 days ago • 5 min read
Broken Record Last week I spoke to a small group of smart marketers about the future of content (see below). I told them, literally, that human creators were going to be the vinyl records of the future. We could still flourish, but only a few will survive. Just minutes later, Mark Schaefer, the event host, presented me with a signed Billy Joel Piano Man vinyl album. Fitting in a number of ways, including the fact that Billy is my favorite artist. The image below is a play-by-play of me...
29 days ago • 9 min read
It Took a Bad Week I remember the week when I started getting serious about my health. All it took was an hour with my father and giving a speech a few days earlier. It's curious how, sometimes, the motivation to make the wildest changes in your life comes from just a few minutes here or there. Maybe that's like most things I guess. Anyway, it's been 12 months since I've been on my new path and I wanted to share the results. I know this is a bit different topic for me, but it may be the most...
about 1 month ago • 10 min read
Viva Vallarta My wife and I had an incredible time last week in Puerto Vallarta. My plan was to thoroughly enjoy my vacation (I did) and NOT think about marketing. But alas, marketing is everywhere, and I happened to stumble all over it and learn a few things at the same time. The story below was a fun one to put together (also tasted great as well). And...I highly recommend a trip to PV. If you are thinking about making one, shoot me an email with questions.JP P.S.: For more than 20 years,...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
I'm Watching I'm at the point in my life where I have the opportunity to observe people. I do it because I'm naturally curious...but it also helps me in come up with story ideas. I was at a reception recently and noticed something. The most eccentric people seemed to be the most professionally successful. The speaker in the corner. The engineer holding court at the bar. The writer at the table discussing AI.All successful. All a little bit...off. I think that's a good thing.And...I decided to...
about 2 months ago • 6 min read
The Books that Changed Your Life Have you ever thought about the books that changed your life? Okay...now think about how you found them. Was it a friend or colleague who recommended the book? Was it an airport bookstore drive by? Was it a completely unexpected occurrence?This is what I've been thinking about this week. What if I never read Stranger in a Strange Land? Or Think and Grow Rich? Would I be the same person?Anyway...all this thinking led to this week's post and giveaway. Any...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
I Choose You Last week, I found myself thinking about something small that actually isn’t small at all. In a world with more options, more tools, and more AI-generated answers than ever, one skill may be getting more valuable by the day: the ability to choose. This week’s article is about why the people who can turn endless options into clear decisions may be the ones who matter most. And...a small ask. For the seventh year in a row, I'm golfing 100 Holes of Golf in one day on May 11th to...
2 months ago • 6 min read