E-mail me.
On my c ell-phone, I say, "Leave your name and phone number and I'll get back to you within 24 hours." Always do. A lot of times, it's even quicker on email. So, email me. Let me know what you're thinking and how I can help.

What readers say. Read what other readers are saying about Marketing Outrageously. Add a comment or two yourself.

Free chapter from my book Success is Just One Wish Away.

Books that wow me. There are some marketing books that really had a big influence on me. I vow to read these every two years.

Left on the editor's floor. There were a couple chapters left on the editor's floor. Click here to read.

Free chapters from Ice to the Eskimos. If you haven't read my first book Ice to the Eskimos, here are a couple of free chapters. Enjoy.

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Outrageous marketing in the flesh. Interested in having me speak for your company? Click for details.

A crazy website I'm involved in. Aliens or baseball, you figure it out.

Joe Sugarman. The trip did indeed seem like it was out of the Twilight Zone. I knew that when I got on the yellow school bus in Rhinelander, Wisconsin that the driver was going to be Rod Serling.

In 1980, as VP-marketing of the Portland Trail Blazers, I had flown from Portland, Oregon to Chicago, then I had taken a commuter flight to Rhinelander. The written instructions were to wait for the yellow school bus. The bus would take us on an hour's journey into the night to Minocqua, Wisconsin. 14 other people were waiting for that same school bus.

The fifteen of us had come from all over the United States. One had come from England. None of us had known each other until we found ourselves standing outside this little airport waiting for the yellow school bus.

After we got on the bus, we saw that the driver wasn't Rod Serling, but you just knew Rod was going to pop up somewhere. One of the passengers started to whistle the opening theme music to the Twilight Zone—do-do, do-do, do-do, or something like that.

An hour later, we met the man we came to see.

Joe Sugarman.

Joe is the greatest direct response writer, and probably the greatest direct response writer that ever will be. He had run an ad in Ad Age, and invited up to 15 people to attend his weeklong seminar at his Wisconsin estate. To be one of the 15, you had to pay $3,000, plus expenses. At the time, this was an outrageous rate.

For five days, Joe talked to us about advertising and marketing. I had been a fan of his for years before. In fact, I had been a customer—I had purchased products that ranged from calculators to the miracle fuzz (ion generator) to BluBlocker sunglasses from his JS&A catalog. You may be familiar with his BluBlocker sunglasses. He's sold 20 million pairs via direct response and infomercials. Now I was taking copious notes at his feet.

It was a terrific five days. His instructions stuck to me like hot gum to a shoe. I think I adapted some of the stuff, but I'm not sure which stuff. Whatever I did adopt or adapt, it worked.

A lot of my stuff I adopted or adapted from Joe.

If you want to get this straight from Joe's pen, you should buy his books. He's got four on the subject:

Triggers ; 30 sales tools you can use to control the mind of your prospect to motivate, influence and persuade. $19.95

Advertising Secrets of the Written Word ; The ultimate resource on how to write powerful advertising copy from one of America's top copywriters and mail order entrepreneurs. $39.95.

Marketing Secrets of a Mail Order Maverick ; Stories and lessons on the power of direct marketing to start a successful business, create a famous brand name and sell any product or service. $39.95.

Television Secrets for Marketing Success ; How to sell your product on infomercials, home shopping channels and spot TV commercials from the entrepreneur who have you BluBlocker sunglasses. $39.95.

Bill Veeck. I re-read Veeck As in Wreck every few years or so. Bill didn't have the tools to market like we do today, but he's the first to put the customer first. It's a fun read.

Brand Warfare by David D'Allesandro
(read on airplanes in the month of June, 2001)

The thing that sticks with me from reading the book is that branding isn't just the job of the marketing department or ad department or the ad agency. It comes from the top and touches EVERYTHING that comes from the company to the customer.

That may seem simple, but it reminded me of a story a fellow business traveler told me on a flight from Japan to NYC.

This fellow traveler sold paper filters. He kept on getting beat out of a sale at the Panasonic plant in China. The reason? Not because of the quality of his product. He assured me he had the best quality, the best value. The reason is that the shipping boxes were beat-up, the tape askew. The competitors shipping box was immaculate with the tape placed to perfection. Panasonic surmised that if the packing box was sloppy, maybe the product was sloppy. When he told his boss back in the U.S. about this they laughed and said nothing could be done about it. "Union," he said. So, if the branding focus is quality, why not package industrial boxes with the same care as consumer boxes?

The Power of Six Sigma by Subir Chowdhury
(Read on a flight from Portland, OR to LA in July, 2001)

This isn't a marketing book—it's about the Six Sigma management system that General Electric. It's a process book instead of a strategy book. But, I'm always looking for ways that we can improve our process of marketing. The neat thing about this book is that it's written in a format similar to Who Moved My Cheese or my own Success Is Just One Wish Away. It takes about an hour to read and led me to reading more Six Sigma books.

The Wizard of Ads by Roy Williams
(Read on the same beach in Maui, July 2000)

I've never met Roy, but I sure have enjoyed his books. Roy's got a new book coming out in October, but read first The Wizard of Ads and Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads. You also should go to his web-site (wizardofads.com) and subscribe to a FREE weekly email newsletter. The free newsletter comes every Monday and Roy talks about some weird stuff about marketing that make you say wow.

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout
(Read on airplanes and beaches.)

If there's any book I wish I had written, it is Ries's 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, the bible for marketing. I've read it several times. I've listened to the audio while on my treadmill at least as many times. Once you've read Laws, you've got to read Focus — then read it again. And again.

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