"...suddenly, besides grieving--everything that I did at work had new meaning--or in some cases, no meaning." I had arrived at the hospital about 7am on a cold January morning in 2001. My mother lay in ICU having suffered a heart attack the day before at her nursing home. My brother and I had cared for her for ten years at my home in Olathe, Kansas. He drove an early morning truck shift for a bakery--and after several attempts to call him, got him the message to come to the hospital. A few minutes earlier--my mother, laying in a semi out of it state--blurted out, "I'm going..." I responded, I know mother.  Two hours later, as I sat at the foot of her bed, the ICU monitor that had beeped on a regular basis--suddenly became one long beeeeeepppppp. I looked up and noticed there was no longer a blood pressure or pulse reading. The nurse came over, calmly turned the machine off and said "I'm sorry". Thus ended my 80 ye...

  With Halloween a week away--need to "scare" up some business? It was just 75 years ago this October 30th, that Orson Welles broadcast what would become one of the most famous radio broadcasts, and call to action's of all time--The  War of the Worlds. The broadcast aired on the CBS network' Mercury Theatre on the Air --with an estimated 6 million listeners--and 1.2 million taking it seriously. Airing opposite the Chase & Sanborn Hour--Welles knew that twelve minutes into that hour--the opening comedy sketch on Chase & Sanborn would stop--and music would begin, causing listeners to switch dials. It was at that point (twelve minutes in) that Welles began the first "we interrupt this program..." announcements to startled listeners tuning in from NBC. The broadcast of a dramatic rendition of H.G. Wells 1898 "War of the Worlds" story--which had been announced at the beginning of the broadcast. The broadcast spoke of a disturba...

As I noticed his handwriting--pouring over each word, each letter--I began to feel that this was written by a man...just a man. Not the icon I had admired. Several months ago I visited the Gardner Historical Museum in Gardner, Kansas. The museum is inside a home built in 1893, with original hardwood frames and lattices. The museum was having a civil war exhibition--showcasing replica uniforms from both north and south, boots, guns, photographs. But one item stood out in my mind. It was a copy of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Having had ice cream and cookies from the ice cream social outside--i was feeling very full and relaxed--feeling the warmth of the sunlight coming into the parlor. In a wooden display case--i saw the copy of the Address. I pulled out my camera and photographed it. I've always been a Lincoln admirer. Hiked the Lincoln Trail from New Salem to Springfield (20 miles) in Boy Scouts, visited the new Lincoln presidential library in Springfield ...

"If you're like Rush Limbaugh!" Six words. That's all it took in February, 2012 when President Obama uttered those words to the world, after Limbaugh made a comment about a young woman testifying before Congress in regards to birth control on his radio show. The media talked about it for weeks. People at work voiced their opinions, at church, the car wash...on and on it seemed to go. Good or bad, Limbaugh received millions of dollars worth of free publicity long after the comment subsided. Question: how do you "feel" right now?  Are you happy? Sad? Angry? Ambivalent? Are you paying attention?  What I just did was one step in a series of steps (that I'll outline shortly) designed to "engage" you emotionally AND TRIGGER A REACTION. This is an area that many businesses don't really focus on when it comes to their advertising. Making an emotional connection with their target prospect. Most business owners are so focused...

I have always been fascinated with the mind--why we do what we do, how we remember, respond, etc. Maybe that's why I enjoyed working in advertising so much (and still do) because a good ad invokes a positive response from the brain.  Over the expanse of my career (32 years), I've had a lot of business owners ask me what constitutes not just an award-winning ad--but one that will SELL! In order to sell--we must understand the dynamics behind the sale. What elements lead to that sale. Today, I want to focus on that first step--top of mind awareness. I want you to think back when you first learned your ABC's. How old were you? Where were you? How did you learn them? This is fundamental to our understanding of effective advertising (that we often do not think about--no pun intended!).  If we can grasp the process of how the brain affects us and how we learn--then maybe we can utilize that understanding into our advertising strategy. Learning the al...