Advertise on podcast: Wizard of Ads Monday Morning Memo

I began talking to business owners all day, every day, when I was twenty years old. This is why I have I have been writing 20 ads per week for the past 48 years. Poke those numbers into your computer and you will see that my lifetime total will exceed 50,000 ads in just 4 more weeks. This is what I have learned from 48 years of writing radio and TV ads for owner-operated businesses across the U.S., Canada, and Australia:The game begins and ends with your ideas and your words. When your message is right, every media delivers results. When your message is wrong, no media delivers results.Don’t be fooled by short-term results created through false urgency. Short-term results are not scalable or sustainable.Advertising cannot be divorced from operations. If your advertising causes your customers to have expectations that your people fail to deliver, your ads will be working against you.Sales managers love to say to ad writers, “The job of advertising is to generate sales opportunities. If you double our sales opportunities, we will make twice as many sales. Show me what you can do.” These sales managers need to grasp the fact that when a customer has an experience that is different from what the ads promised, that customer will be dissatisfied and resentful, even if you made the sale. Take a snapshot of that customer for your photo album because you will probably never see them again.When a customer is annoyed at you and resentful toward you, they tell an average of 28 people. And that statistic is from 25 years ago, prior to the advent of social media. I suspect the damage is bigger and happens faster today.Your business is doomed the moment your customers begin to ask, “When does this go on sale?” (If you are too young to have ever asked that question, this is because the huge companies whose salespeople were asked that question every day have mostly disappeared. If you have 3 or more “percentage discount” sales every year, it will take only a few years for your customers to realize that they will be able buy it cheaper if they wait until your next sale. This is when your “sales event” spikes get taller and taller on the sales graph, and the valleys in-between get wider and deeper. “Percentage-off” sales are addictive and destructive. If you don’t believe me, just ask anyone from one of the dozens of big discounting giants of yesterday who have filed for bankruptcy and disappeared from the earth.I have never seen a business fail because they were “reaching the wrong people.” I have seen hundreds of businesses fail because they did not understand the Purpose of Advertising.The Purpose of Advertising is to: Differentiate yourself from your competitorsBecome the company that people think of first, and feel the best about.Sell products and services When you work all day, every day, with business owners, and follow the most credible research, those are the things you will learn. Roy H. WilliamsMost people have heard of the “Great Wealth Transfer” — the trillions of dollars that will pass from aging Baby Boomers to their children. What is seldom discussed is the “Great Stuff Transfer”: All the personal and business possessions — including collectibles, furniture, vehicles, and sentimental keepsakes — that younger generations stand to inherit. Mindy Godding is an award-winning organizer and down-sizer who understands the rewards and the pitfalls of deciding what to do with possessions accumulated over a lifetime. Listen in as she explains to roving reporter Rotbart how this transition requires more than just deciding what to keep, donate, or discard. It begins with understanding the emotional and psychological attachments that make letting go so difficult. This is the episode you need to hear at MondayMorningRadio.com

Pennie and I are looking forward to 2027. She and I have always known that I will never “retire,” but we recently realized that several inflection points will soon align like stars in the sky between now and the end of 2026. Pennie summarized it perfectly when she said, “You will be laying down the hammer, but not the pen.” Forty-six of our fifty years together have been dominated by the non-stop construction and remodeling of houses and offices and auditoriums and libraries and dining halls and gymnasiums and student mansions along with a tower, a star deck, and a distillery. The new Wizard of Ads Home Office will be our final construction project.This will give the Wizard of Ads Partners 5 impressive conference rooms, as well as a library, an art gallery, a kitchen, a dining area, a 500-bottle wine cabinet, and two private bathrooms. We expect to have it finished, furnished, and open by Thanksgiving Day. This is when I will finally lay down the hammer that Pennie bought me as a gift for our 4th Wedding Anniversary in December of 1980. I plan to hang it on the wall in one of the conference rooms. My laying-down-of-the-hammer will align with these 7 other inflection points.1. Jake Williams has become President of Wizard of Ads, Inc. and is doing a magnificent job of elevating the Wizard of ads partners and their many hundreds of clients scattered across the U.S., Canada, and Australia. 2. Rex Williams continues to grow and expand Crowded Barrel, the world’s only crowd-sourced whiskey distillery that creates its whiskies under the direction of the 5,000 voting members of the Whiskey Tribe. The first whiskey they ever made won the official blind tasting to win the crown of “Best Whiskey in Texas.” They won by only 4 tenths of a point, but it was still enough to beat two previous “World’s Best Whiskey” champions. 3. Chancellor Daniel Whittington continues to be marvelous in his management of Wizard Academy under the authority of the 501(c)3 Wizard Academy board of directors. Wizard Academy’s famous Chapel Dulcinea has hosted more than 1,100 weddings per year for the past 21 years. 4. Joe Davis is managing the events at all our rental venues as well as creating beautiful gardens and lawns across the property. 5. Zach Norby is happily handling the maintenance and repairs of all the buildings. The free time I will gain by laying down my hammer is enhanced and enlarged by these five trusted captains who have taken over my load of daily duties.This will allow me more time to write ads for my clients, Monday Morning Memos for my friends, training and guidance for my Wizard of Ads partners, and public performances for our 5 Youtube channels. But I said there were 7 inflection points, did I not? 6. I am stepping down from the twice-a-month column that I have been writing for a national magazine for nearly thirty years. 7. Princess Pennie and I will be celebrating our 50th Wedding Anniversary in late December. Like I said, we are looking forward to 2027. It will be the beginning of a brand new era. And I am delighted that you will be part of it. Roy H. WilliamsWhen business owners think about selling their companies, they tend to focus on what they believe the business is worth. Buyers look at things differently. Mark Sims is an expert on what makes buyers hesitate, why promising deals fall apart, and what owners should do to attract the best offers. Listen in as Mark tells roving reporter Rotbart how due diligence can reveal risks in even the strongest companies. To learn how business values are truly evaluated, join Mark Sims and Dean Rotbart at MondayMorningRadio.com

I am troubled by the station of our nation in these amber waves of grain. What happened to “crowning our good with brotherhood” across the fruited plain? What did we do with our purple mountain majesties? How did we let this happen to our country, you and me? We need to get back to crowning our good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea. You know the words.One hundred and thirty years ago, Katharine Lee Bates wrote, “O beautiful for spacious skies For amber waves of grain For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain America, America God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea” In 1996, one hundred years after Katharine Lee Bates wrote those words,George Carlin said, “If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you’re going to get selfish, ignorant leaders.” Bill Clinton was president in 1996, but George wasn’t talking about Bill. This is exactly what George Carlin said that day, thirty years ago: “You might have noticed I don’t complain about: politicians. Everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? They don’t fall out of the sky. They don’t pass through a membrane from another reality. They come from American parents and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses and American universities, and they are elected by American citizens. This is the best we can do folks. This is what we have to offer. It’s what our system produces: Garbage in, garbage out. If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you’re going to get selfish, ignorant leaders. Term limits ain’t going to do any good; you’re just going to end up with a brand-new bunch of selfish, ignorant Americans. So, maybe, maybe, maybe, it’s not the politicians who suck.” George Carlin stood on that stage, looked his audience in the eye, and told them that they were selfish and ignorant.And that they sucked. And they laughed, and clapped, and cheered. I’ve been pondering this problem since I first noticed it in 2003. You might remember “Pendulum”, the book I wrote about this problem more than a dozen years ago. Having had that thought in 2003, I’ve had 23 years to ponder it, so I will offer my final word on the subject:The solution to the station of our nation, it seems to me, is to cast away our selfishness: I care about you. You care about me. Ignorance will always be with us. There will always be things we do not know. But if we decided no longer to have enemies, I believe our world would begin to glow. Roy H. Williams

Living people have personalities and imaginary people have personalities. Corporations do not have personalities. Corporations have brands. The average corporate brand consists of a trademarked logo, minutes of board meetings, and a manual of policies and procedures. A brilliant corporate brand has a personality that lives inside our mind. We do not bond with corporations. We bond with personalities. The personalities of living people are revealed by their statements, actions, and reactions. The personalities of imaginary people are revealed in the stories that are told about them. A brand personality is an imaginary person that lives in the mind of the customer. The more deeply that a customer feels like they “know” the brand, the more likely they are to choose that brand. They are buying from a trusted friend. Sustainable and scalable ad campaigns are a series of stories that reveal the personality of a brand.Notice that I said “reveal” the personality. You cannot explain your brand personality. You must allow the public to experience it. You cannot say, “We are tender-hearted and generous.” You must allow the customer to listen to your stories and realize that you are tender-hearted and generous. Do not say, “We are bold, innovative leaders.” You must allow the customer to listen to your stories and decide for themselves that you are a bold, innovative leader. Let me say it again. You cannot explain your brand personality. You must allow the public to experience it.This was what Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did in 1887 when he launched a series of stories about a man named Sherlock Holmes. This was what Marvel Comics did in 1962 when they launched a series of stories about a young man named Peter Parker who was bitten by a radioactive spider. This was what Steve Jobs did in 1983 when he began urging us to Think Different. The more we read and heard his ads, the more we perceived Apple to be innovative and visionary, simple and intuitive, sophisticated and elegant, and delightfully, humanly, rebellious. But Steve Jobs never said those things. Those are the conclusions that we came to on our own You have story to tell. And you have the rest of your life to tell it. Are you ready to get started? Roy H. Williams

I chose the title “Water Creatures” because it elicits the flexibility of symbolic thought, which is the subject of today’s message. “Elicits from where?” you ask. From within you. “Water” followed by “Creatures” causes you to imagine living things in a liquid world where slippery creatures wiggle through water more elegantly than birds through the air, occasionally bursting through the barrier that separates their world from our own. We see them briefly above the waterline. Symbolic language allows your listener to personalize your story and participate in it by supplying details that you did not include. Symbolic language gives you access to the thoughts and beliefs and hopes and dreams and suspicions that lie deep in the hearts of your listeners. This is what people are talking about when they speak of “listener engagement.” John Steinbeck describes this process in his preface to “East of Eden.”“The reader will take from my book what he brings to it. The dull witted will get dullness and the brilliant may find things in my book I didn’t know were there.” Symbolic language causes the subconscious to become active. We did this together last week when we alternated a series of non-rhyming lines from unrelated works of literature and then layered those lines like a lasagna to see what they would say to the subconscious mind. After each line is read, I will inject my own reaction. Something there is that doesn’t love a wall. (a desire to cross a barrier) Darkness settles on the city (the world grows dark) of man’s first disobedience, and the fruit. (disobedience and fruit) Children playing in the garden. (innocence in a garden) To be, or not to be, that is the question. (Life? Or Death? A choice.) Winter brings a bit of sadness. (Loss of light and warmth) Silence covers hidden places. (Silence and hiding) When those random lines are considered collectively, I am reminded of an ancient story in the third chapter of Genesis. (And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you? Adam said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”) Those random lines triggered the third chapter of Genesis in my mind. Your reaction may have been been entirely different. We take from the story what we bring to it. This is the nature and the wonder of symbolic language. Bob Dylan won a Nobel Prize for it.Do you doubt me? Let’s look at the lyrics of Dylan’s greatest hits. I believe that you will quickly recognize their flavor to be a reduction sauce of symbolic thoughts created by a master chef, a concentrated liquid as dark as the deepest waters. How does it feel, how does it feel? To be on your own, with no direction home A complete unknown, like a rolling stone Ah you never turned around to see the frowns On the jugglers and the clowns when they all did tricks for you You never understood that it ain’t no good You shouldn’t let other people get your kicks for you You used to ride on a chrome horse with your diplomat Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat Ain’t it hard when you discovered that He really wasn’t where it’s at. – Bob Dylan, Like A Rolling Stone © Universal Music Publishing Group How many roads must a man walk down Before you call him a man? Yes, ’n’ how many seas must a white dove sail Before she sleeps in the sand? – Bob Dylan, Blowin’ in the Wind © 1962 by Warner Bros. Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me I’m not sleepy and there is no place I’m going to Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me In the jingle jangle morning I’ll come followin’ you Then take me disappearin’ through the smoke rings of my mind Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves Let me forget about today until tomorrow – Bob Dylan, Mr. Tambourine Man, © 1964, 1965 by Warner Bros. Take a deep breath, friend, because we are going under again.I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail Poisoned in the bushes and blown out on the trail Hunted like a crocodile, ravaged in the corn “Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm” Suddenly I turned around and she was standin’ there With silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns “Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm” Now there’s a wall between us, somethin’ there’s been lost I took too much for granted, got my signals crossed Just to think that it all began on a long-forgotten morn “Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm” Well, the deputy walks on hard nails and the preacher rides a mount But nothing really matters much, it’s doom alone that counts And the one-eyed undertaker, he blows a futile horn “Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm” – Bob Dylan, Shelter from the Storm, © 1974 by Ram’s Horn Music Chef, can you make a reduction sauce?Do you know how to create a bubbling brew of symbolic thoughts that will become a crossword puzzle in our minds? Do not think it is randomness, for it most certainly is not. Randomness is quickly recognized as the handiwork of a fool. The mystery and magic of symbolic language is that we know for certain that it means something. And it is up to each of us to figure out, for ourselves, what it is. Robert Frost knew this better than any man. When people would ask him, “What were you trying to say when you wrote such-and-such?” Frost would always answer, “What did it say to you?” Regardless of the answer they gave him, Robert Frost would smile and reply, “That is exactly what I was trying to say.” Learn to use symbolic language. Your heart already knows how. Now you must teach your mind. Readers will take from today’s Monday Morning Memo what they bring to it. The dull witted will find dullness, and the brilliant will find things I didn’t know were there. Roy H. Williams“If a story is not about the hearer he will not listen. And here I make a rule – a great and interesting story is about everyone or it will not last.” – John Steinbeck The wizard says this is also true of ads that bond the hearts of customers to a brand. – Indy Beagle Doug Noll is a well-known consultant to executives and entrepreneurs. He gives them essentially the same advice that the Wizard of Ads has been giving you for the past 32 years: “Win the heart, and the mind will follow.” Doug says that strong leadership begins with the understanding of a simple truth: People are emotional beings, and their nervous systems shape how they respond at work. “Employers,” he tells roving reporter Rotbart, “should stop thinking of their staff as rational, and recognize instead how strongly their emotions drive their actions and decisions on the job.” Doug says that leaders who understand this fundamental truth reduce workplace conflict and get more productive results from their people. Would you like to lead a happier, more productive team? Listen to this week’s episode at MondayMorningRadio.com

At the center of every cliché is a point that deserves to be made.We need to learn to make these points in new and different ways. Overuse make clichés predictable. Familiarity makes them sound “correct”, even though clichés are always a mistake. A cliché is a phrase that is overused. It is overused because it is familiar. It is familar because it is overused. Are you beginning to see the swirling pattern that accelerates and perpetuates the sucking of our language down the drain of imbecility? Your goal as a writer should be to delight your listeners. You want them to be engaged in what you are saying. There can be no delight without an element of surprise. Predictability is the killer of surprise and delight. Clichés are the tombstones that mark the graves where their corpses lie. Allow me to summarize: Clichés are bad. Do not use them. NOTE: Every Large Language Model (LLM-AI) received its education by being immersed in an ocean of clichés. May I teach you a new way to write that is new, surprising, and different?Will you allow me to introduce you to meter? Meter is music that is heard in the subconscious mind. I will give you the names of a few different meters, but you do not need to remember them. The names of the meters are irrelevant. Your ability to create sentences that have rhythm is all that matters. The most common meter in the English language is iambic pentameter, a rhythmic pattern created by an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. (da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM) Robert Frost used iambic pentameter in Mending Wall John Milton used iambic pentameter in Paradise Lost Shakespeare used iambic pentameter in Hamlet “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” “Of man’s first disobedience, and the fruit…” “To be, or not to be, that is the question.” to BE, or NOT to BE, that IS the QUEStion. (da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM) If you reverse the order to create (DUM-da DUM-da DUM-da DUM-da DUM-da you are now using trochaic meter. “Darkness settles on the city.” “Children playing in the garden…” “Winter brings a bit of sadness.” “Silence covers hidden places.” We will now playfully alternate those random phrases written in opposing meters.Listen to the “call and response” that happens: “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” “Darkness settles on the city” “Of man’s first disobedience, and the fruit…” “Children playing in the garden…” “To be, or not to be, that is the question.” “Winter brings a bit of sadness.” “Silence covers hidden places.” When you have mastered meter, you will be tempted to add rhyme. Do not do this.Rhyme draws attention to your meter and makes it predictable. Need I remind you that predictability is the killer of surprise and delight? Blank verse is the name for words written in meter that do not rhyme. Blank verse creates magical music in the mind. Do you want your words to be remembered? Learn to write blank verse. Roy H. WilliamsPS – There are a multitude of meters. You do not need to know them all. But if you are curious to know a little more, visit Indy Beagle’s rabbit hole. Your best ideas always come to you when you stop trying so hard to find them. Sara Connell has studied why moments of clarity often surface while walking, showering, or just letting the brain wander. Sara teaches her readers and clients how to generate breakthrough ideas intentionally. Do you have more ideas than time to pursue them? Sara can solve that for you, as well. Do you want to listen in as Sara Connell shares her methods with roving reporter Rotbart? Do you want to learn how to: 1. slow the mental noise, 2. identify which ideas are worth exploring, and 3. turn flashes of inspiration into concrete next steps for business and life? The place to go is MondayMorningRadio.com

Unexpected events happen to us all.This is why it is never completely within our power to determine the acceleration and elevation of our lives. We can, however, influence our futures to a meaningful degree through the intensity of our energies and the direction of our activities. Your energy and your activities, your decisions and their consequences are the gas pedal, the gearbox, the steering wheel and the roulette wheel of your life. Energy is the fuel that determines how fast your motor is spinning.How much energy are you expending each day?Activities determine your acceleration.What are you doing each day with your time?The amount of time you spend doing a thing – let’s call it “practicing” – determines whether you are in first, second, third, fourth, or fifth gear.Decisions spin the roulette wheel of Probability.Consequences follow decisions.Some of these consequences will be the ones that you were hoping for when you made your decision. Others will not. Unintended consequences happen to us all.Serendipity is an unintended consequence that works in your favor. Catastrophe is an unintended consequence that works against you. Never assume that the roulette wheel of Probability will always land on a winning number. Even when you have a 90 percent probability of winning, one out of every ten spins of the roulette wheel will punish you for no reason. It isn’t fair. It isn’t right. You didn’t plan for this. You didn’t choose it. But it happened. Get over it. Get past it. Deal with it. Move on. Do not allow your ears to hear your mouth tell the story of your bad luck. Do not let your eyes read the words of it; for every time you revisit your dark story, you empower that one, bad spin of the roulette wheel to determine the acceleration and elevation of your life. Quit whining and start winning. What will you do with your energy and activities, your decisions and their consequences?Will you choose a journey that is structured and predictable, or will you choose an exciting adventure? Predictable, structured journeys are often tedious and soul-sucking. Adventures are exciting because they bubble with trouble and danger. If there lurks no Wicked Witch, no dragon, no lions or tigers or bears, you are not having an adventure. Paul Tournier wrote a marvelous book called “The Adventure of Living”.Here are a few bits of its wisdom: “The excitement of adventure rescues us from the Sea of Introspection that drowns many of those who hesitate.” “The adventurous life is not one exempt from fear, but on the contrary, one that is lived in full knowledge of fears of all kinds, one in which we go forward in spite of our fears.” “The law of adventure is that it dies as it achieves its object.” Dorothy, go, adventure beyond the Wicked Witch, the flying monkeys and the sleep of the poppies, all the way to Oz. Bilbo, go, adventure beyond William the troll and the spiders of Mirkwood into the lair of the dragon. Ride through the skies on the backs of giant eagles and return home as an altogether different Hobbit. Frodo, go, adventure to Mordor with elves, dwarves, and men, destroy the ring, save Middle earth, then sail away on the White Ship to the Undying Lands. Go, reader, find your adventure and feel alive again. Roy H. WilliamsThe Wall Street Journal published a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper on September 12, 2001, the day after 9/11. Their offices had been destroyed. The boss could not be reached. The Journal was published, nonetheless. Listen as deputy rover Maxwell Rotbart interviews roving reporter Dean Rotbart, his father and co-host. They are talking about Dean’s newly expanded September Twelfth: An American Comeback Story. What we can learn from the Journal’s extraordinary response to a crisis that no contingency plan would ever have anticipated? You are unreachable and your offices have been destroyed. Do your people know what matters? Do they feel empowered to act? Can you believe that 9/11 happened 25 years ago? You will find it all at MondayMorningRadio.com NOTE: First published in 2021, September Twelfth received a Gold Medal from the Nonfiction Authors Association.

Linda Pastam wrote a marvelous poem called “Driving West” in which these lines appear: We are the pioneers of our own histories, drawn to the horizon as if it waited just for us the way the young are drawn to the future, the old to the past. “…the way the young are drawn to the future, the old to the past.” I need you to hold those words tightly in your hands, even though they wriggle and thrash like slippery fishes anxious to escape your unfamiliar fingers and return to the quiet darkness where they can breathe water and feel entirely at home. Hold on to those words.Dr. Roger Sperry was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1981 for his documentation of the differences between the two hemispheres of our brains. One half of your brain puts you in touch with this Present Moment in this Real World. The other half puts you in touch with the Past and the Future in that mystical – magical – hallucinatory unreliable World of Imagination. Dr. Sperry discovered that what appears to a brain divided into two halves could more accurately be described as two separate, competing brains. In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Sperry said, “Each brain half appeared to have its own, largely separate, cognitive domain with its own private perceptual, learning and memory experiences, all of which were seemingly oblivious of corresponding events in the other hemisphere.” Dr. Sperry later said, “Each hemisphere of the brain is indeed a conscious system in its own right, perceiving, thinking, remembering, reasoning, willing, and emoting, all at a characteristically human level, and both the left and the right hemisphere may be conscious simultaneously in different, even in mutually conflicting,mental experiences that run along in parallel.” Regardless of which half you prefer, both halves are equally important. One half of your brain puts you in touch with This world. The other half puts you in touch with Possible worlds. One half puts you in touch with the sciences. The other half puts you in touch with the arts. Now let’s get back to those wriggling fish that I asked you to hold.The Future to which the young are drawn, and the Past to which the old are attracted, are different time zones in the world of imagination. The young live in the brightness of the noonday sun. The old live in the twilight and remember the light of day. Most Americans attempt to persuade each other with facts. We do this because we trust Science and we worship Mathematics, and that is why we write such terrible ads. Most of us, most of the time, trust our instincts. We trust our intuitive hearts. This is what Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman described as System 1 or “Thinking Fast” in his book, “Thinking Fast and Slow.”Behavioral scientists estimate that roughly 90% to 95% of our daily decisions are made automatically and unconsciously using System 1 thinking. Most people don’t want to admit it. In fact, most people refuse to accept it. But the scientific truth is that we make at least nine-tenths our decisions in that half of the brain where the darkwater fish glimmer effortlessly and thoughtlessly, silver and gold in the moonlight. Study the arts. Learn to win the heart. If you win the heart, the mind will follow. The mind will always create logic to justify what the heart has already decided. Roy H. WilliamsPaul Kesig uses the acronym L.O.V.E. to encapsulate his approach to sales. L is for celebrating Little wins. O is for asking Open-ended questions. V is for creating and communicating Value. E is for building an Emotional connection. Paul says that pairing love with sales strikes many people as contradictory. This is usually because their experiences with bad salespeople have taught them to truly hate the sales process. Listen in as Paul explains to roving reporter Rotbart that those who have adopted his approach have quickly discovered that L.O.V.E. really can spell success; MondayMorningRadio.com

The Island Magic of Being Invisible(A Song for My Partners)Six months later, a thought occurred to me; Writing for Youtube is like writing for radio and TV. Every writer has at their disposal the same techniques and tools; microphones, sound effects and cameras of every kind. But if you will succeed you must limit yourself to the microphone of your keystrokes; the sound effects and cameras of your mind. When we hear the words of Shakespeare they become music in our ear, and when we hear Robert Frost we are no longer lost. Those rhythms, mental music, and refrains remind me of the language of the Bible of King James. So what now, shall we do? I will try to imitate them and you will, too. We will write words for television and radio. We will tell stories and our clients will get rich you know. We will write essays and teach everything we show. People will remember what we taught them but forget who told them that it was so. We will write songs that make singers comprehensible. But we ourselves will always be invisible. Why do we do this, you and I? We do it because we have to, we don’t need to know why. We do it because we feel compelled. Writing is the only time we don’t feel like we should be doing something else. Roy H. WilliamsPennie and I were in New York 40 years ago for ArtExpo in the Jacob K. Javits Center. We spent 3 days looking at more than 10,000 pieces of pieces of art and meeting many hundreds of artists as we walked those 500,000 square feet together. At the end of the show we went home with only 3 pieces, all of which were purchased from a relatively unknown Israeli artist named Reudor Gratch. We invited Reudor and his wife, Effie, to dinner that night at “One if By Land, Two if By Sea” in Greenwich Village. We had an incredible evening with them. The next day, I picked up a newspaper when I noticed that one of the serigraphs we had purchased from Reudor was one of only THREE pieces of art the newspaper had photographed for their review of that year’s ArtExpo. You can see it at the top of this page.

August 17, 2026 “Trust” is a fuzzy word. We know the meaning of the word, but it conjures no clear image in the mind. “Razor blade” is a vivid word. Every time you hear it, you can see that razor blade clearly on the visuospatial sketchpad of working memory – also known as your imagination – in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of your brain. Trust is abstract. Razor blade is concrete. Trust is an artistic, emotional, relational word. Razor blade is a scientific, logical, transactional word. If you are thinking, “Razor blade is not a word; it is two words,” please be aware that I know this. “Razor blade” is a 3-syllable construct that conjures a vivid, concrete image in the mind. But those 3 syllables* require the combination of two nouns, “razor” and “blade” to deliver clarity. Were I to say only “blade,” you might think of a sword or a pocket knife or the knife with which you carve the turkey at Thanksgiving. Were I to say only “razor,” you might think of that classic, metal shaving instrument that slowly opens to reveal a thin, double-edged blade when you twist the knob at the bottom of its handle. Or you might think of that black, blue and chrome Norelco Aquatec that currently lies in a drawer below the mirror gaze into which you gaze as you run that buzzing little beast over the stubble on your bleary-eyed face each morning. Yes, I know that “razor blade” is two words. But for the purpose of this essay, I am thinking of it only as a series of 3 syllables that deliver a concrete image. “Trust” is a single syllable that does not deliver a concrete image, but it does deliver a meaningful impression.Do you trust your husband? Do you trust your wife? Would you trust your dog to protect your life? Do you trust the government? Do you the trust the police? Do you trust your insurance company or are you being fleeced? In those nine seconds, I aimed the eyes of your imagination at 6 different subjects, but that single syllable – “trust” – delivered what I needed it to deliver each time. Let me summarize what I have spoken. Abstract versus Concrete is essentially Impression versus Clarity. Reader, are you troubled that I said, “I have spoken,” when the technical truth is that I have written? Here’s another little tidbit for you. The written word has no meaning until it has been translated into the spoken word it represents. Even when you are reading silently, you are hearing words in your mind. When you translate t-r-u-s-t into the single syllable that those 5 letters represent, the written word becomes the spoken word in your mind. You have been told that one picture is worth a thousand words.Maybe you even believe it. Let’s put that to the test. Draw, paint, photograph, or use AI to create a picture of “trust.” The impression that we want to deliver to the viewer is the identical impression that is delivered by that glorious single syllable, “trust.” The image you create can contain no words, no letters, no sounds, no numerals. We are looking for that mythical picture that is supposedly able to deliver what cannot be delivered in a thousand words. When you have created your picture, show it to 100 people. Say only, “Tell me what you see.” I do not believe that you can create a picture that will cause anyone to look up at you and say, “Trust.” Let it be written it letters of fire across the skies: “One word is worth a thousand pictures.” I wish for you a joyous and productive day. Roy H. Williams*ray-zur blayd or /ˈreɪ.zɚ ˌbleɪd/ in the International Phonetic Alphabet “Working hard” is usually considered a virtue. But what happens when work becomes so central to your identity that you can’t switch it off? Do you continue working even when you are exhausted, on vacation, or spending time with the people who matter most? Dr. Angelica Perez-Litwin has spent more than two decades observing high-achieving clients — and, as she candidly explains, she has experienced this problem herself. As she explains to roving reporter Rotbart, “A person does not need to surrender their ambition. The solution is to build a healthier relationship with achievement. Professional and financial success can remain important without becoming the only measure of who you are.” Listen and learn at MondayMorningRadio.com

Between the village of Anwick and the town of Sleaford in Lincolnshire, England, lies a farmhouse. It is at this farmhouse that our journey begins. Robert is a stockman on a farm. Daphne is his wife. Their little boy, Bernie, is born in that little farmhouse by lantern light because the house is much older than electricity. When Bernie is five years old, his father is promoted to farm manager, and they are moved into a house with electric lights. Bernie thinks, “Now we are living the good life.” He leaves school at 15, but his mother has given him a love for literature and her father “Poppy” has injected him with a love for nature and narrative poetry. Bernie sends a few of his poems to a music publisher in London who is looking for song lyrics.That same publisher is talking to a young man named Reggie who is looking for a way to leave “Bluesology,” a mediocre local band that plays songs while the patrons of local restaurants eat fish and chips. Reggie says to the publisher, “I’m very good with music, but I can’t write lyrics. I’m hopeless.” The publisher responds by handing Reggie an unopened envelope that he snatches from the top of the pile on his desk. He says to Reggie, “See what you can do with that and get back to me.” Neither Bernie nor Reggie are accepted by the music publisher, but they are accepted by each other. Bernie mails poems to Reggie in London, and Reggie writes the music that turns Bernie’s poems into songs. You have heard many of these songs, I’m sure. According to Jordan Runtagh, “‘Rocket Man,’ ‘Honky Cat,’ ‘Crocodile Rock’ and ‘Daniel’ all immediately shot into the Top 10 in rapid succession. By 1975, they were responsible for 2 percent of all records sold on the entire planet. That same year they released Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, which became the first LP in history to debut at the top of the Billboard chart.” Reggie is Captain Fantastic and his farmboy friend Bernie is the Brown Dirt Cowboy.Reggie knows, of course, that he is unlikely to become famous as Reggie Dwight, so he creates a new name from the names of his former bandmates, Elton Dean and John Baldry. As “Elton John,” Reggie writes the tunes that make Bernie’s poems famous around the world. Some of those tunes are “Your Song,” “Levon,” “Tiny Dancer,” “Candle in the Wind,” “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting,” “Bennie and the Jets,” “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” “The Bitch is Back,” “I’m Still Standing,” and “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues.” In 1973, Bernie was traveling to concerts with always high, out-of-control Elton, doing the job each day of all the king’s horses and all the king’s men by “putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.” When the Brown Dirt Cowboy decided that he didn’t want to do it anymore, he wrote his brother a letter of departure:“When are you gonna come down? When are you going to land? I should have stayed on the farm. I should have listened to my old man. You know you can’t hold me forever. I didn’t sign up with you. I’m not a present for your friends to open. This boy’s too young to be singing the blues. So goodbye yellow brick road where the dogs of society howl. You can’t plant me in your penthouse. I’m going back to my plow. Back to the howling old owl in the woods hunting the horny back toad. I’ve finally decided my future lies beyond the yellow brick road.” “What do you think you’ll do then? I bet they’ll shoot down the plane. It’ll take you a couple of vodka and tonics to set you on your feet again. Maybe you’ll get a replacement. There’s plenty like me to be found, mongrels who ain’t got a penny sniffing for tidbits like you on the ground.” Reggie Dwight did what he always did. He wrote a tune and sang what Bernie had written.In the days when an album that sold a million copies was a “Gold Record,” Reggie and Bernie’s album, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” sold 30 million copies. A few years ago, Bernie Taupin spoke of the “inseverable bond” of brotherhood that he and Elton have shared for 60 years. “In the insanity of our lives, there’s nothing better than the times when we get to sit down, just together. Like those moments in the dressing room, about a half an hour before he goes on, when I’ll go in and see him and there’s nobody else in there, and it’s just he and I. The calm before the storm. It all comes back. When we’re just alone with each other, it seems like a frozen capsule of time that everything we’ve ever done together inhabits. That’s magical to me.” Bernie, I think I speak for a lot of other people when I say that your partnership is magical for us, as well. Roy H. Williams

The Three Quivering Questions of Modern Society:How can I achieve my goals with less effort?How can I achieve my goals in less time?How and where can I find pleasure? These are the “How to…” questions. (I call them the Quivering Questions because they contain an anxious energy similar to that of an addict looking for his or her next “fix.”) Shortcuts, pro tips, life hacks, and insider secrets are snippets that exist to tell you “How to…” Schools, seminars, master mind groups, and countless consultants exist to tell you “How to…” Millions of books and Youtube videos have been written and produced to tell you “How to…” The answers to the “How to” questions are always Informational. The Three Ancient Questions That Echo Within Us:Who Am I? (Identity)Why Am I Here? (Purpose)What Must I Overcome? (Adventure) Those are the “Fascination” questions. Fascination is the drive behind our search for God and our hunger for entertainment. Faith and entertainment seem incongruent until you realize that both of them fascinate us because they change our mood and lift us higher. The answers to the “Fascination” questions are always Relational. When you understand these 6 questions, you understand the essence, attraction, and purpose of social media.Youtube offers only “How to” videos and “Fascination” videos. Likewise, every book is either a “How to” book or a “Fascination” book. Television shows are either “How to” or “Fascination.” Movies and music lend themselves mostly to fascination. I told you, “Fascination is the drive behind our search for God and our hunger for entertainment.” When we contemplate our existence and the possibility of God, we ask, Who Am I?Why Am I Here?What Must I Overcome? Your answers to those questions will determine your faith, whether it be Judeo-Christian, Hindu, Moslem, Buddhist, Atheist, Agnostic, or one of the many other belief systems with millions of followers. When entertainment elevates our mood, our fascination comes from identity reinforcement. The books, movies, and television shows that we love are the ones that show us a reflection of ourselves.When we identify with a character, we vicariously experience the challenges they face. These challenges are known as the plot or the “narractive arc.” We likewise experience the evolution of that character when they are changed by those challenges. This is known as the “character arc.” The characters with whom we identify remind us of who we are. Identity reinforcement is the essence of affinity groups.An affinity group is any group of people who are attracted to the same thing. Every religion is an affinity group. The fans of a sports team are an affinity group. People who follow fashion are an affinity group. If you like jazz music, or hip-hop, or Jeeps or NASCAR or backpacking or sewing or science fiction or romance or current events or capitalism or gossip, you are in an affinity group. Mass media and social media exist to attract and serve affinity groups. The size of a business opportunity is largely determined by size of the affinity group it serves.If you are an electrician, a plumber, or an HVAC technician, your affinity groups will be people who like and need electricity, running water, and comfortable temperatures. Your limiting factors will be the population of your trade areathe strength of your competitors.how often the average person needs your servicesWhether or not your name is the one people think of first and feel the best about. If you are a dentist, a jeweler, a lawyer, or a tree trimmer, your limiting factors will be the population of your trade areathe strength of your competitorshow often the average person needs your servicesWhether or not your name is the one people think of first and feel the best about. If you own a restaurant, a grocery store, or sell some other product that people need weekly, your limiting factors will be the population of the neighborhood in which you are locatedthe quality of the customer’s experiencethe visibility of your location Believe it or not, everything I have told you in these 727 words is extremely important when you are creating the messages that you will spend your advertising budget to deliver.I understand if you are surprised by this, but it is true, nonetheless. Roy H. Williams Facebook has 3.07 billion monthly active users YouTube has 2.5 billion monthly active users Instagram has 2 billion monthly active users TikTok has 1.58 billion monthly active users LinkedIn has 930 million monthly active users NOTE: Monthly Active Users tells you only the Reach of these platforms. But to compare Effectiveness, you would need to know how much time each week a user spends on each platform. You would also need to know how many times each week the same user could be reached on that platform. I’m Indy Beagle THIS WEEK on Monday Morning Radio: Steven Mercer speaks from personal experience when he tells entrepreneurs how to build a service practice without sacrificing their values, their time, or their financial stability. Deputy rover Maxwell Rotbart asks brilliant questions and scribbles notes while Steven Mercer explains how to transition gradually from current employment to independent practice. He then explains how to attract clients through referrals and valuable content. He also explains how to decide when advertising makes sense. Do you want to know the best ways to set fees, establish boundaries, and handle difficult clients? Class will begin the moment you arrive at MondayMorningRadio.com.

Life is an adventure of choices and consequences.Choices and consequences. I believe that with all my heart. But I do not believe that wise choices will always yield the outcome you desired. The Book of Ecclesiastes is filled with the wisdom and insights of Solomon, who had this to say in chapter nine; “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but Time and Chance happens to them all.” I agree with what Solomon wrote, so I dare not say that a wise choice will always produce the desired outcome. But I will say that in the absence of unlucky timing and plain old bad luck, good Choices usually lead to good Consequences. Vi Wickam, one of my Wizard of Ads partners, wrote 140 words last week that knocked my socks off. I am typing these words to you on a computer that sits on top of my desk. Below that desk are my bare feet. My socks are nowhere to be found. These are the 140 words that Vi Wickam wrote for American Business Secrets.Make a Decision. Many people talk about decisions, but few people understand what it really is to make a decision. Not every choice is a decision. Decide comes from the Latin words “de” – meaning OFF – and “caedere”, meaning to CUT. To decide is to Cut Off the other possibilities. Few things are as powerful as a true decision. To decide is to move in a direction and to cut off the others. To decide is to keep your focus, and to not look back. To decide is to face your fear of loss. Every decision comes with loss, and you must face it. When you face that fear, you will feel relief. You will breathe easier. To decide is to stop second guessing yourself. To decide is to move forward with clear vision, and clear purpose. Make a decision today. With American Business Secrets, I’m Vi Wickam. Do you often have to explain, justify, and defend your decisions?Me, too. These are the 3 key sentences in Vi’s 140-word essay that jerked my eyes open and blew my socks away: Not every choice is a decision.To Decide is to Cut Off the other possibilities.Every decision comes with loss, and you must face it. Some people believe that if you delay long enough, a solution will arise that causes no discomfort, no inconvenience, and no awkward moments. You will find these people waiting for their luck to turn, waiting for their ship to come in, waiting for their big break, waiting to begin this long, awkward, funny, delightful and difficult Walk of Life. Roy H. WilliamsSaturday, August 1st, will mark the 150th Anniversary of Colorado’s admission to the Union as the 38th state. That milestone might not seem to relevant at first glance, but your opinion will quickly change. Maxwell Rotbart reveals in his new book, “Becoming Colorado,” the Rocky Mountain territory’s long struggle for statehood offers valuable lessons for today’s business executives in leadership, negotiation, coalition building, crisis management, branding, and strategy. Chief rover Dean joins deputy rover Maxwell to explore the business counsel hidden within Colorado’s remarkable journey to statehood. Together, they will validate Winston Churchill’s famous observation: “The longer you can look back, the farther you can look forward.” Are you ready to be fascinated? The place to be is MondayMorningRadio.com

Road Atlanta is a famous roadracing track 800 miles from Tulsa, Oklahoma, a grueling trip to make in the back seat of a 1972 BMW 2002.Tony and Indy ride in the front seats. Pennie and I ride in the back. We stop only for gas. Arriving in pre-dawn Atlanta, we get a few hours sleep, then go down to the track where 67 racecars are parked in the dim sunlight of a misty morning. We are invited to examine all 67 of the racecars. At the end of 40 minutes, Tony points to car number 52, a 1978 Buick Skyhawk. He says, “Unless the driver sticks it into the wall or the engine explodes, that’s the car that will win.” I looked at number 52, then glanced around at all the other cars and said, “Why?” Tony said, “That’s a ten-thousand-dollar paint job, and paint jobs don’t win races.” “You’re telling me that the owner is an idiot. So why do you think his car will win?” Tony slowly shook his head, then said, “The fact that he spent $10,000 on a paint job lets me know that he spared no expense doing everything that matters. This guy did hundreds of important things to this car before he gave a single thought to the paint job. This paint job was the very last thing he did.” When I understood what Tony was saying, I repeated it back to him. “The fact that he has spent a ton of money to repaint a brand-new car that was already beautiful means that he has already done everything else that could help him win this race.” Tony said, “Ten-thousand-dollar paint jobs don’t win races.” I nodded my head, then we silently climbed the hill where we would sit to watch the race. The track at Road Atlanta is two-and-a-half miles of hills, valleys, winding curves, and long straightaways that eat most of the cars and drivers who dare to place tires on its asphalt.A grass-and-tree-covered park sits in the center of that fierce track like a glittering jewel. This is where we will sit on blankets and watch cars fly past at startling speeds as 67 drivers try to outdistance each other for 6 screaming hours. At the end of the appointed time, only 24 cars remained on the track. Number 52 won by an impressive margin. A client said something to me three weeks ago that triggered my memory of standing on that racetrack with Tony 48 years ago. When a young client said that he was thinking about spending a huge amount of money for new truck wraps, I was instantly transported back to that track, listening to Tony explain why the car with the $10,000 paint job would win the race. My client owns a fast-growing home services company that sends technicians to houses to fix things that are broken. He has only been in business a few years. I accepted him as a client because I saw that he had already begun doing the things that will take his company higher than the tops of the mountains that surround him. When he told me that he was thinking of investing a shocking amount of money to have his service trucks re-wrapped, I asked, “Why?”He said he had read a list of extremely successful companies who had all used the same graphics house to design their new truck wraps. I asked, “Was it the owner of the graphics house that compiled and published the list?” My client said “Yes.” I said, “I once went to an Italian Restaurant in Weehawken, New Jersey that had a prominent sign in the foyer that said, “This Dining Establishment is Highly Recommended by its Owner.” We both laughed. Then I said to my client, “Paint jobs don’t win races and truck wraps don’t grow companies. The owners of every company on that list had already done everything they could do that would make a difference. When they had run out of ways to spend money on things that actually matter, they decided to get an expensive paint job.” Then I concluded my counsel by saying, “You own this company. I do not. My job is to help you do whatever you choose to do. If you feel like you have already done everything that you know for sure will make a difference, then spend the money for the truck wraps. But don’t think that those companies became successful because of their truck wraps. Those companies became successful because they had already done everything else that matters.” I do not yet know what my young client will choose to do. But I do know two things: He is smart, hard working, and is outdistancing all of his competitors.Paint jobs don’t win races. Roy H. WilliamsRon Robinson says that successful organizations continuously evaluate their vulnerabilities, engage employees in solving problems, and remain flexible as conditions change. Listen as Ron describes to roving reporter Rotbart his four-step framework for anticipating disruption and responding before challenges become existential threats. Ron’s goal is straightforward: Help leaders weather the storms of uncertainty and emerge stronger in their aftermath. A storm is definitely coming. Escape that storm and emerge stronger at MondayMorningRadio dot com

I received an email last Thursday from my friend Doug Burdon in which he mentions a story told by Jesus. That story is often called “The Parable of the Sower and the Seed.” The story goes like this: A farmer is slinging seed.Some of the seed falls on the compacted soil of the pathway where the birds came and ate it.Seeds fall on rocky soil where it spouts, then dies because the soil is thin.Some of the seed falls among thorns where it sprouts, then gets choked out by the aggressive weeds.Seeds fall on good soil where it returns a massive harvest. Doug referred to that story to make an altogether different point than the one that I am about to make, but I think that there is a solid chance that Doug would agree with me. Look at the sower of the seed as an advertiser, and the seed itself as the message that his advertising contains.You will notice that Jesus did not say, “Target the good soil.” (He does not say it in Matthew 13, He does not say it in Mark 4, and He does not say it in Luke 8.) Think about that for a moment; a pathway is easy to see. Rocky ground and thorny patches are likewise obvious. Why did Jesus NOT tell us to avoid spreading seed in places where it is unlikely to grow? Why did Jesus NOT tell us to target the good soil? (Yes, I am talking to you about the wisdom of using un-targeted mass media to spread your message. The consistent, long-term use of broadcast television and broadcast radio continues to be wildly effective even though they reach the untargeted, unfiltered, unwashed masses.) I am convinced that Jesus was familiar with the book of Ecclesiastes, which was written hundreds of years before He was born. These are the high points of what you will find in the first 6 verses of Ecclesiastes chapter 11. “Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return.” [Translation: Don’t fall into the trap of short-term thinking – RHW] …”Whoever watches the wind will not sow seed. Whoever looks at the clouds will not reap a harvest. But you do not know the path of the wind… Sow your seed in the morning, and in the evening do not let your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.” In other words, “Quit trying to know the end from the beginning. Energetic activities are more far productive than data collection and analysis.”Do not fall into the trap of short-term thinking. Sow the seed, sow the seed, sow the seed. Do not try to target the good soil. Sow the seed, sow the seed, sow the seed. Do not worry about whether or not “this” is the right time. Sow the seed, sow the seed, sow the seed. Quit thinking that you have the ability to predict the future. Sow the seed, sow the seed, sow the seed. Perhaps my beliefs are completely wrong, but if they are, then it would appear that Jesus and Solomon were wrong, too. Roy H. WilliamsColin Hodge knows that rapid business growth begins with understanding why customers think, choose, and behave as they do. Colin applies practical insights from psychology to strengthen customer loyalty and make better decisions through continual experimentation. As he tells roving reporter Rotbart, this mindset proved essential after his first successful app was abruptly pulled from Apple’s app store, forcing him to start over. Today, Colin’s company is back on Apple and has more than 17 million users. His story demonstrates how every setback can become the springboard to even greater success. Are you ready to run down that springboard, bounce high into the air, and reach for the stars? If your answer is “Yes,” the place for you to be is MondayMorningRadio.com.