The “dirty lowdown” is the honest truth – what Skaggs is encouraging this poor sap to face.  Baby’s into running around, hanging with the crowdPutting your business in the street, talking out loudSaying you bought her this and thatAnd how much you done spentI swear she must believe it’s all heaven sentHey boy, you better […]

  One of 2024’s most popular episodes of Monday Morning Radio featured Australian author Andrew Matthews who, along with his wife, Julie, built a publishing empire that has sold more than 8 million copies of their inspirational books about happiness and resilience. In this, his second appearance, Andrew talks about the persistence, relationship-building and adaptability that are required […]

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Don Quixote by Robert Lebron

Roy wrote the ad and the immortal Dave Nevland engineered the production of it, but the zooby-zooby-zooby-zooby-zooby audio signature is the work of the astoundingly talented Michael Torbay for just 6k. Torbay/6k! – Indy Beagle Dave Nevland has been producing the wizard’s radio ads along with the audio version of the Monday Morning Memo for […]

    “That was her song, for she was the maker. Then we, As we beheld her striding there alone, Knew that there never was a world for her Except the one she sang and, singing, made.” – Wallace Stevens, The Idea of Order at Key West, (1923)

“We find ourselves borne along on the flowing river of Time and the ever-coming thought is, whither?“ – Francis William Upham, (1894) The First Words From God

  Last Saturday, Asia Gregg received this text. Hey girl. Give me your best advice in life you have learned thus far. Asia replied,  Lol excuse me what? Ok here’s some: Never trust a man wearing pointy shoes. In summer if you buy a bunch of cans of shaving cream at the dollar store and […]

Bill Russell played professional basketball. Julia Child was a television chef and author. Jimmy Stewart was a beloved actor. And Katherine Graham was a dynamic newspaper publisher. Yet these four individuals and an assortment of 27 other historical figures shared one trait worth emulating: Character. Bob Dilenschneider, who profiles these role models in his latest book […]

  Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” has been on the Bestselling Album charts for 990 weeks – 19 years – during the past 50 years. During 2024, “on a slow week,” between 8,000 and 9,000 copies were sold. One in every 14 Americans under the age of 50 owns, or has owned, a […]

I had taken my seat on the airplane when a young man wearing a maroon jacket sat down in front of me. The school insignia on his jacket was ATM, all in capitals, but with the T in the middle somewhat larger than the A and M. This young man wanted us to know that […]

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Are your employees happy to follow you, or do they avoid you like a skunk at a garden party?  Phillip Wilson says the more down-to-earth and accessible you are as a leader, the more your business will thrive. But when leaders create a power gap between themselves and their employees, they drive away top talent […]

  Robert Palmer singing “Simply Irresistible” for Pepsi in 1988… “She’s so fine, there’s no telling where the money went.”   How can it be permissible? She compromise my principle.That kind of love is mythical.She’s anything but typical.She’s a craze you’d endorse, she’s a powerful force.You’re obliged to conform when there’s no other course.She used […]

Dick Grove has an usual perspective for the founder of a Public Relations agency that has evolved and succeeded for 58 years. “We’re in the news business,” Grove insists, “Not the PR business.” His reasoning is straightforward: To earn media coverage, individuals and companies must think like journalists, not promoters. Grove’s approach aligns closely with […]

This chart is essentially a comparison of cost effectiveness. (CPM is ad-speak for “Cost Per Thousand.”) The same impact that costs $9.70 per 1,000 people when using a display ad can be purchased for just 40 cents when using radio. That identical impact costs 7 times as much when using television, and between 6 and […]

This photo of the tower at Wizard Academy was made by Korey McDonald, the hyper-talented videographer who works with Casey Welch, the famous CMO at Morris-Jenkins in Charlotte, NC, both of whom experienced the Magical Worlds Communications Workshop a couple of weeks ago. Narrated by the wizard himself, the video below features another collaboration between […]

https://www.mondaymorningmemo.com/64621-2/

The Raven By Edgar Allan PoeFirst published by Wiley and Putnam in 1845 {Abbreviated by Indy Beagle in 2025}   Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—     While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one […]

Twenty-eight million viewers tuned in to “The Apprentice” each week to watch people be told, “You’re Fired.” But in the real world, dismissing employees is far more complicated —emotionally, ethically, and legally. How to dismiss employees isn’t taught in business school, and managers often fumble the process. Mahesh Guruswamy has spent much of his career […]

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Driving in Reverse Many years ago I realized, “Passion does not lead to commitment. Commitment leads to passion.” Then I encountered this from David Steindl-Rast, “Happiness does not lead to gratitude. Gratitude leads to happiness.” Keep those thoughts in mind. Last week, I was with a couple of important clients in my little upstairs conference […]

It was quite busy. In the front entrance, two friendly ladies were seated at a table handing out free visitor’s packs – big, bright yellow plastic bags – and these were accepted with expressions of gratitude and rapture by everyone who passed. ‘Care for a visitors’ pack, sir?’ called one of the ladies to me. […]

QUEEN: “Poor Norton. Why don’t you pay him a visit? He could probably do with some support from his godfather.” PHILIP: “Yes. That’s right.” QUEEN: “What’s that look? I’ve never never seen so many thoughts go on behind someone’s eyes.” PHILIP: “Gratitude. Appreciation. You make a better person of me.” QUEEN: “And you, of me. […]

There Is No Word By Tony Hoagland   There isn’t a word for walking out of the grocery store with a gallon jug of milk in a plastic sack that should have been bagged in double layers   —so that before you are even out the door you feel the weight of the jug dragging the […]

    Israel Duran shows people how to transform their businesses. And then he shows them how to leverage that success to impact, inspire, and influence their communities. Israel describes himself as an “impact architect” who helps business owner make money, make a name, and make a difference.  No matter what you’re looking for, it […]

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  “The trouble with poetry,”says Billy Collins, Poet Laureate of New York, “is that it encourages the writing of more poetry.…And along with that, the longing to steal,to break into the poems of otherswith a flashlight and a ski mask.And what an unmerry band of thieves we are,cut-purses, common shoplifters,I thought to myselfas a cold […]

  “Civilization hangs suspended, from generation to generation, by the gossamer strand of memory. If only one cohort of mothers and fathers fails to convey to its children what it has learned from its parents, then the great chain of learning and wisdom snaps.” — Jacob Neusner in Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture   […]

.  Below, a man sees and hears Dylan’s 1965 video the first time. 

  Just seven years after Bob Dylan wrote “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” James Taylor wrote “Let It All Fall Down.” James Taylor has said that Dylan was a revelation and a major influence on his lyrics. Dylan has often talked about Taylor’s song “Frozen Man”.  Bob Dylan and James Taylor are both write music that is deceptively […]

  When roving reporter Rotbart was a financial columnist with The Wall Street Journal, he met a young man named Steve Jobs who left a lasting impression on him. “When I spoke with Jason Schappert,” Rotbart says, “it felt like I was talking with Steve Jobs again.” Jason Schappert recently launched an AI-powered investment platform for […]

  The old man looked hard into my eyes before he decided to answer my question. He said, “Of all the writers who stride the earth, no one but the poet can change what you are thinking and feeling by scribbling just 144 words. The poet has the same job as the ad writer, but […]

    Talented people tumble into darkness, just like everyone else. And the works they create in the dark show us a different side of them.   The following two poems by Robert Frost describe a nearly identical scene, but the second one, “Draft Horse” feels like it was written in a minor key. I call […]

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  “Leadership is not a static trait but an evolving journey,” says Bob Kaplan, a high-level management expert with over three decades of experience. “Even ‘born leaders,’ need training, desire, and experience to achieve real greatness,” he says, and then he adds, “The most challenging people to manage are always the leaders themselves.” Bob Kaplan […]

  Warren Zevon began howling “Ahh-ooh” in 1978, but Werewolves of London was difficult to record because it was a little too lightweight musically, so Warren asked Fleetwood Mac’s rhythm section to help. Bingo. A star was born. “I’d like to meet his tailor,” and “His hair was perfect,” made the song’s lyrics compellingly sing-alongable. […]

If you sand the edges off of the Top Ten Hits of 1966, you get 70’s Rock. If you add studio technology to 70’s Rock, you get Disco. Add some varnish and theatrics to Disco and cover it with Velveeta, and you’ve got the Pop music of the 1980’s. Hall & Oates put the Velveeta […]

  Fifty years ago, I was a teenager with an unreliable automobile. But that’s never a problem for an Oklahoma boy who has knowledge, tools, and daylight. My knowledge and tools were always with me, but the daylight disappeared at the worst possible time, no matter how badly I needed it. Cell phones had not […]

    Mike Frick started a side hustle as a way to help his college-student son earn extra cash. Today that business sells its products nationwide to construction sites, quarries, farms, mines, and the US military. “Our products are simple, durable, and cost effective,” Mike tells roving reporter Rotbart. In spite of heavy competition from […]

Stephen Semple is an amazing advertising strategist and a strong, natural leader among the 80 Wizard of Ads Partners. You will definitely enjoy Stephen’s talk at TED-X. – Roy H. Williams

    Pay attention, because this is important. You won’t be able to  appreciate the next 3 pages of this rabbit hole unless you invest 60 short seconds to watch the video below. It will show you 10 short clips from the Top Ten Hits of 1966. – Friar Duck

A Google Image search will reveal plenty of websites where this photo has appeared, but none of those websites can tell you where, or when, or by whom it was taken. This fascinating photo sprang into existence only about a year ago. But in that delicious moment before you began reading this disclosure, you traveled […]

  Terry Whalin is a rock star among book publishers. He has written more than 60 mainstream books, including a popular biography of Billy Graham, and now Terry serves as an acquisitions editor for a highly-regarded book publishing house, coaching business owners and entrepreneurs into becoming famous authors. This week, Terry reveals the naked truths […]

According to a story written by Pliny the Elder in the first century, Cleopatra hosted a lavish banquet for Mark Antony of Rome.  When Antony commented about the opulence of that dinner, Cleopatra dissolved a priceless pearl in a glass of wine and then drank it to show that she didn’t care about money. (Yes, […]

Tom Grimes, one of the Wizard’s best buddies, asked Chat GPT, “Who is Roy H. Williams, the Wizard of Ads?” Weirdly, Chatty GP knew all about him! But then when I thought about it, I realized, “The wizard has been publishing a new Monday Morning Memo every week for the past 31 years, plus more […]

. I was once out strollingone very hot summer’s dayWhen I thought I’d lay myself down to restin a big field of tall grass. I laid there in the sunand felt it caressing my face.As I fell asleep and dreamed,I dreamed I was in a Hollywood movie. And I was the star of the movie! […]

I asked Google, “What are thoughts made of?” Google said, “According to current scientific understanding, thoughts are essentially made up of electrical signals generated by the firing of neurons in the brain, which communicate with each other through chemical messengers called neurotransmitters; essentially, a thought is a complex pattern of neural activity within the brain, triggered […]

“These fishermen in their swivel fishing chairs looked comfortable and clean and pink. We had been washing our clothes in salt water, and we felt sticky and salt-crusted; and, being less comfortable and clean than the sportsmen, we built a whole defense of contempt. With no effort at all on their part we had a […]

Hollywood’s Broken Angel Her name was Lillian Millicent Entwistle, “Peg” to her friends. She was born in 1908. At the age of 19, Peg married Robert Keith, 10 years older than she. Then she discovered that he had been married before and had a 6 year-old son. The couple was soon divorced. “I’ll move to […]

    In English, we say, “Can I be a child again?” But in poetry, we say, “Take me back to when laughter was endless, and my dreams were bigger than my fears.” – sent to us by Craig Arthur

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If you watch the first 3 minutes of Anne Lamotte’s TED talk below, I’m pretty sure you’ll find the other 12 minutes to finish it. Ask any accomplished writer, and they will tell you that Anne Lamotte is one of their favorite writers. Her wit is drier than chalk and her insights will pierce you […]

    A Writer Describes Perceptual Reality (Your private reality is always what you perceive it to be. But we fool ourselves into believing we see the objective truth. – Indy Beagle) “You swallow hard when you discover that the old coffee shop is now a chain pharmacy, that the place where you first kissed […]

  “Running a big company is like running a zoo, and that’s good news!” Terry Rich led the Des Moines Zoo from a $600,000 deficit to profitability. He did this by focusing on the visitor experience and creating innovative events to attract new customers. Rich was then asked to take over as CEO of the […]

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  “Why do stories cluster around a few big themes, and why do they hew so closely to problem structure? Why are stories this way instead of all the other ways they could be? I think that problem structure reveals a major function of storytelling. It suggests that the human mind was shaped for story, […]

  “Fiction seems to be more effective at changing beliefs than nonfiction, which is designed to persuade through argument and evidence. Studies show that when we read nonfiction, we read with our shields up. We are critical and skeptical. But when we are absorbed in a story, we drop our intellectual guard.” “Like Tom Sawyer […]

Read the whole story at AXIOS.com

  “A dream will always triumph over reality, once it is given the chance.”– Stanislaw Lem Your brain contains about 100 million sensory receptors that allow you to see, hear, taste, touch, and smell. But your brain also contains 10-thousand-billion synapses. This means you are approximately 100,000 times better equipped to experience a world that […]

  “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine, in Select Proverbs of All Nations (1824) p. 216, and later as, “The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page”, as quoted in 20,000 Quips & Quotes (1995) by […]

    Don Quixote, book 2, chapter 26: Quixote and Sancho are in a tavern watching a puppet show by the puppeteer Maese Pedro about a knight who rescues his wife from captivity. Quixote becomes so convinced that the show is real that he attacks and destroys the set with his sword. An 1863 engraving […]

    “For the X millions of years of our existence as a species, the odds against a child’s surviving to adulthood were very great. Germs, malnutrition, accidents, infections made the bringing up of a child to manhood or womanhood a kind of triumph in itself… Miscarriages caused by overwork and too little food were […]

Richard Feynman had that rare gift of being able to explain profound and complicated science so that it was fun, interesting, and easily understood. Feynman was a theoretical physicist known for his work in quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, and in particle physics, for […]

  “I told a teenage girl today I used to get 10 CDs for a penny in the mail, and I’m not sure if she thinks I’m lying about what a CD was, what a penny is, what the mail is, or all three.”– sent to us by Dave Young, previously from Sidney, Nebraska. Located […]

    “Here’s the thing you gotta understand about statistics. ‘Increases your chances by 80%’ does not mean ‘there is now an 80% chance.’ If your chances were previously 10%, your chances are now 18%, not 90%. If your chances were roughly 1%, they’re now just slightly less than 2%. That’s how that works.” – […]

Prodigal Son, (1939) by Thomas Hart Benton A successful man returns home only to find that his home could not survive without him. This image reminds me of the business owner who returns to visit his employees 4 years after having sold to private equity.

The Wizard Academy tower sits on a plateau 900 feet above the city of Austin. The view from the stardeck is stunning. When you attend our free public seminar on the afternoon of March 17, you will be in Tuscan Hall just 500 feet from the tower. If you have some extra time on campus, […]

Q: Why did Isaiah say, “In the year that King Uzziah died,” I saw the Lord?A: King Uzziah was the prophet Isaiah’s friend, and friendly kings were rare for prophets in those days. Now his friend was dead. This brought instability into Isaiah’s life. God reveals himself as king to Isaiah in the year that […]

  Visual portals, musical portals, and word portals help us move to an entirely new place in our imagination. Portals take us from one place to another in our minds. In the fascinating video below, Rob Kapilow explains the remarkable musical portals that made “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” one of the most famous songs of […]

  The Michelin Man is white because rubber tires are naturally white. It was not until 1912 that carbon chemicals were added, turning them black. The change was structural, not aesthetic. By adding carbon, tires became more durable. Michelin began reviewing restaurants so that people would travel further distances to eat at these restaurants. This […]

A Portal is a Call to Adventure “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, […]

Do you remember the story from a few weeks ago?

The Spring 2025 PowerSelling Tutorial will be held on Monday, March 17, from 1pm to 5pm in Tuscan Hall on the campus of Wizard Academy, 16221 Crystal Hills Dr. Austin, Texas, 78737 This 4-hour seminar is available at no charge to business owners, but advertising professionals will be restricted from attending unless they are registered […]

    After 28 years as a cornerstone of Fox News and Fox Business, Neil Cavuto, 66, made headlines with his unexpected resignation. Roving reporter Rotbart has known Neil since the beginning; the whole 28 years. This week, hear the first-ever podcast airing of a 2020 conversation Rotbart had with Cavuto and hear about Neil’s […]

  Personification is a type of magical thinking; it speaks of what cannot be as though it were. It’s not often that I am impressed enough with the writer of a mini-series on Amazon Prime that I repeatedly pause the DVR to transcribe a remarkably well-written passage… Meet Elsa Dutton. Walk her journey with her… […]

  “Integrity is living by what you think is right. Not what you can get away with, not what everyone else is doing. For the most part, it’s not illegal to sell stuff to dumb people who don’t know any better. In only a handful of cases is breaking your word a crime. In fact, […]

  And how did this singular individual — this eternal being made flesh — approach power? He rejected it, by word and by deed. And it all began with Christmas. If a person is going to look for a coming king, the last place you’re going to start is in a stable. But that humble […]

These results were extracted from Service Titan for a home services company operating in 3 different cities during the 3rd year of their PowerSelling campaign. These numbers do not include the $$$$$ in sales that were made to customers who used direct navigation to visit the website of the PowerSelling company.

Q: PowerSelling. What is it?A: PowerSelling is an advertising technique that makes your name the one people think of first – and feel the best about – when they need what you sell.  Q: Does it work for B2B? (Business to Business)A: Not really. B2B requires tight targeting and significantly more logic than what is […]

  Personification puts the Power in PowerSelling Your heart tells you who you are. Your heart contains all your beliefs. PowerSelling radiates outward from that pulsating fact that people don’t bond with companies; people bond with people; personalities that share their beliefs. Your company needs a personality if you want your customers to feel a […]