Storytellers, Writers, and the Original Magic Carpet I recently read a pair of books by Arkady Martine, a writer who is new to Science Fiction. Her first novels, A Memory Called Empire (2019) and A Desolation Called Peace (2021), each won the Hugo Award for Best Novel. I like Arkady Martine and I like her books. She is […]

Cathy Nesbitt is a passionate worm advocate, a sort of worm royalty. For the past 20 years Cathy has bred and sold red wigglers and European nightcrawlers to enthusiastic customers who use the squigglers to facilitate composting — converting household garbage into nutrient-rich fertilizer. Cathy is that rare entrepreneur who is willing to get her hands […]

Blaxploitation is a portmanteau of the words Black and Exploitation coined by by Junius Griffin, president of the Beverly Hills-Hollywood NAACP in 1972, four months after these Academy Awards. Frisbeetarianism (n.), The belief that when you die, your Soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there. (Frisbeetarianism is a portmanteau of Frisbee and Presbyterian.)

Introvert’s Retreat Week: Golden Silence is a solitary vacation.

The Rice and Beans Millionaire: The Case of an Improbable Entrepreneur by Wizard Academy Instructors Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg. Short chapters. You’ll read several stories about Wizard Academy starting in Chapter 27: The Crazy Ones. Read and review this book. Do this and you will not leave a 20-foot skid mark on the track like Gil […]

I am not sure how many people have read the original play called Peter Pan or the boy who wouldn’t grow up, written by J.M. Barrie in 1904, but it is a far cry from the innocent tale presented by Walt Disney. We know from the Disney film that Peter Pan doesn’t want to grow […]

Peter Pan – the 1911 novel – was written after the 1904 play became a huge success. On opening night, Mrs. Snow spoke to J.M. Barrie about her late husband, …and he would so have loved this evening. The pirates, and the Indians; he was really just a boy himself, you know, to the very […]

Travis Jacobs is among the great poets of the world. And this one he SINGS! Don‘t miss this. All I want for Christmas is a little more time with the people I miss. All I want for Christmas is a little less time with all the bullshit. Currently they say it’s eight below but feels […]

For most of us, our only exposure to Peter Pan has been through the 1953 Disney cartoon version or the 1955 television version starring Mary Martin. But the 1911 novel by J.M. Barrie is neither vapid nor childish. “Mrs. Darling first heard of Peter when she was tidying up her children’s minds. It is the […]

I want you to:be more productive, reduce your mistakes, shorten your learning curve, and elevate your success. If I am going to help you do these things, we must first look at what’s hiding in your blind spot. Are you ready? Teamwork in Business is Highly Overrated. Teamwork is never the answer. Individual responsibility is the […]

“Football combines two of the worst things in American life. It is violence punctuated by committee meetings.” – George F. Will

“Working Together for the Common Good.” “It is true that two men can lift a bigger stone than one man. A group can build automobiles quicker and better than one man, and bread from a huge factory is cheaper and more uniform. When our food and clothing and housing all are born in the complication […]

Wizard of Ads partner Jeff Sexton sent this to our attention. Thanks, Jeff. – Indy

Barbara Brown Taylor (born 1951) is an American Episcopal priest, academic, and author. In 2014, Time magazine placed her in its annual Time 100 list of most influential people in the world.

Never read Pendulum? Here’s a free PDF of the entire book.

“One can justify pretty much whatever one wants to justify by scripture. What are you reading the Bible for? What are you trying to do with it? What is your theological-moral starting point? We all have one (or several). Be honest about it. It’s a bit frightening because suddenly you need to take responsibility for […]

Let’s Celebrate Christmas!

“When Flora got married, she was fourteen. Now she has three kids and the village wells are dry and the nearest reliable water source is a two-hour walk from her home. Here in the Funhalouro District adolescent moms like Flora spend about six hours a day searching for and transporting water. Yesterday she walked three […]

“In February 1933, a man shot at FDR, who was riding in an open car in Miami, but succeeded in killing Anton Cermak, the mayor of Chicago, who was with the president-elect. FDR was calm and deci­sive, ordering the driver to go immediately to the hospital, paying no attention to his own security, and talking […]

Abraham Lincoln, in the middle of the civil war, uttered these words in his second inaugural address, “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds…” […]

“Wherever we are and whatever we do, we are all, always, part of a story… In many organizations there is hardly time for lunch, let alone assessing the past… A leader who does not know what story he or she is in, and where they are within it, is missing an essential route to inspiration.” – […]

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference […]

Jeff Sylvestre in Northern Saskatchewan

Would you like to flip through “Jesus, the Wise Men, and the Shepherds”?

“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love.” – Marcus Aurelius “If you wear a falconry glove to the park and frantically look around the sky, everyone with a small dog will leave.” – Friar Duck “A purpose of human life, no […]

“In many ways, online marketing and online media has done itself a disservice by focusing on targeting more than reach. A couple of very interesting studies are out there. One was a study by Nielsen, about the relative contributions of reach versus targeting in effectiveness, and they concluded, with a survey of about 500 econometric […]

“I met a couple of brilliant young D2C (direct to consumer) millennials last year who waxed so lyrically about the power of radio I was visibly taken aback. When I queried why a couple of smart but sockless wonders would throw perfectly good Instagram money away on radio, they explained that their extensive data had […]

  After ten years of running her own business with a hit-and-miss method of recruiting staff, Andrea Hoffer decided there had to be a better way. So she developed a structured process for bringing on new employees. That method turned out to be so successful that she now runs an agency that helps companies identify, hire, and […]

Ted Clark started out as a shipping clerk, then climbed the heights of the wealth ladder. He now advises people on how to leverage their way into society’s upper crust. The secret? OPM. (Other People’s Money) How to get it. How to use it. 

Joseph Fung has founded five technology companies, backed 20 more, and now is the CEO of an international educational organization that provides lifelong career training. Roving reporter Rotbart describes Joseph as, “a walking encyclopedia of business wisdom.” Listen as Rotbart and Fung discuss how to generate company culture, prepare employees for long-term success, invest in early-stage […]

In a private note to the wizard, R.R. Rotbart wrote, “This is one of the most entertaining (and informative) episodes ever. It’s insane.” In the 1980s, electronics retailer “Crazy Eddie” was known for his screaming and thrashing television commercials. Thousands of fans flooded his store openings hoping to get a glimpse of the unhinged pitchman. Eddie Antar — […]

Heart Surgery en masse We shall operate on the heart, but we shall not use a scalpel and it will not pump blood better when we are done. We have no interest in that muscle in the center of the chest. We will use magic words to operate on the center of emotions. We will […]

The wizard read some cutting-edge research on marketing effectiveness about a month ago and he asked his partner Jeff Sexton to dig into it and summarize it for you with examples. Here is a link to that super-smooth, extremely interesting, very valuable, highly informative, easy-to-understand summary that will make you a lot of money. – […]

“Mindfulness is the self-regulation of attention with an attitude of curiosity, openness, and acceptance.” “This is the operational, scientific definition of mindfulness put forth 13 years ago. Sadly, when I’ve mentioned it to thousands of workshop participants over the years, only a handful (maybe 5 percent) have heard of it. This definition is the consensus of […]

Casey the dog passed out from overwhelming joy when Rebecca returned home after a 2 year absence… which in fairness is 14 years in dog years. A veterinarian saw the video, and everything is fine, no worries.

“Folks, you know I spend most of my time right over there wandering the story market, picking out the finest, most topical KellyBronze news turkey, the brightest, most exquisite Yukon Gold potatoes, and the ripest McFarland cranberries, then preparing an assembling mall to the spectacular classic Thanksgiving spread that is my nightly monologue, but sometimes, […]

See Mick Torbay’s video on YouTube. It’s a highly informed rant, full of juicy details. Good Brother Torbay gathers momentum and accelerates the pace, speed-shifting like a motorcycle flying through a neighborhood. He goes from from interesting to delightful to startling to defiant. You’re gonna get a kick out of Mick.

Flip-thru “Stupid People: I See Them Everywhere.”

Eighty-seven people are registered for the February, 2023 Wizard of Ads partner meeting. Michele was one of the original twelve Wizard of Ads partners. BACK ROW, L to R: Ray Seggern, Michele Miller-Nelson, Deidre and Tim Miles, Steve Rae, Jane Fraser, Julie Young. FRONT ROW, L to R: Chuck McKay, Tom Wanek, Adam Deatherage, Dave Young, Rex […]

“Begin with a statement that triggers more questions than it answers. And never forget that a masterful visual image is a type of ‘statement’ that can trigger more questions than it answers. This is the beginning of customer engagement.” – RHW Nick is a master woodworker and furniture maker at the ripe old age of […]

“As societies become wealthier and more educated, the reliance on a super-being and church attendance goes down but they still look for idols. Into that void steps technology leaders because technology is the closest thing we have to magic. Our new Jesus Christ was Steve Jobs, and now Elon Musk has taken on that mantle. […]

Twenty-three years ago this week, this photo was taken at Sirius, in what would become the “main event performance room.” These were the 16 original directors, each of different music genres. I’m the one at the top, holding on for dear life. (Sixteen then, hundreds today.) Michele Miller-Nelson

Michael Beckley has briefed high-level policymakers, military leaders, and members of the U.S. intelligence services regarding his belief that China is a nation in decline, and that America will likely be in direct conflict with the People’s Republic much sooner than anyone expects. In this week’s edition of MondayMorningRadio, Michael explains the reasons for his belief, […]

It was while on a business trip that Milton saw the tiny toy helicopter in the shop window. The paper tag on which the price was hand inscribed said “50 cents,” but there was something about that clever little plaything that made it especially worthwhile. It could fly, or at least, so Milton surmised, noticing […]

Simple Narrative Arcs: • ‘Rags to riches’ (rise) • ‘Riches to rags’ (fall)• ‘Man in a hole’ (fall-rise)• ‘Icarus’ (rise-fall)• ‘Cinderella’ (rise-fall-rise)• ‘Oedipus’ (fall-rise-fall)

There are 40 days remaining in 2022. What can you accomplish in those 40 days? How will you advance toward your goals and shorten your to-do list? Dr. Sarah Reiff-Hekking is an expert on getting past your procrastination and no longer feeling overwhelmed. This week, Dr. Reiff-Hekking shares with roving reporter Rotbart a tried-and-true system […]

William Lederer sent this letter to Admiral David McDonald in Washington. It is a magical letter. Admiral D.L. McDonaldChief of Naval OperationsWashington, D.C. Dear Admiral McDonald, Eighteen people asked me to write this letter to you.  Last year at Christmas time, my wife, three boys and I were in France, on our way from Paris to Nice.  […]