The money was rolling in, and the times were good. The air was thick and warm from pumpkin spice inflected with sage and thyme, and I was giddy to have in my hands what had been the object of my desire for nearly the better part of my life. In fact, not just one, but three brand new Canon EOS-1Ds’s.

To set some history, it was Thanksgiving 2007, a time when cameras were cameras, video was video, and the two hadn’t yet become one. It was a time of wedding rockstars and promises of endless cash, and it was a time when those dreams weren’t all too far from the truth. Work was plentiful and bookings were eeeee-zzzz.

And that’s … Read more...

.004 inches.

That’s all there was.

Nothing but two words on a scant 8.5 inches on one side against 11 on the other.

Be something.

I don’t know why I wrote it. It was just a whisper in my mind, but I knew what it meant. A point zero zero four inch divide between the me I was and the me I wasn’t.

It had been one of those days. You know the type, where you have the time, you have the energy, and you have no excuse in the world not to get something done. Anything. But the clock keeps on ticking. 10:00. 11:00. Noon. Afternoon. And still nothing to show for it. Finally, at 3:43, I pulled out … Read more...

“I’m going to give you a gift D-,” he said.

“What?!? How is that a gift?!?”

It was preposterous. I was offended. Did he not understand? Did he not know I needed the grades? That this was about my future?

But he did. The teacher was right. And I not only made it out of that first high school English class with the grade I wanted, but, more importantly, with the knowledge I needed. In a subject that never mattered to me, he made me care, and he made me learn. And that was a start.

Now, I hate to say this, but writing is something that’s always come hard for me.

I was comfortable with numbers and happy to … Read more...

What if I said you could charge more, ask for more, get more, and have people like you all the more for it?

Now you may not want to be Don Draper from Mad Men (let’s face it, he’s kind of an anti-social narcissist), but one thing is clear: What Don wants, Don gets.

And you can too.

It might be tempting to say he gets away with it, because he has the chops and the charm, but in reality, there’s no magic to it. It’s not that Don knows how to ask. The secret to Don Draper is that he asks when others won’t.

Watch the video to learn about the research and see the power of asking for … Read more...

About once a week, my wife tells me I need to eat better. She tells me I’m getting older, and health matters. And so it’s been for the past five years. She asks. I hear. I agree. I stall. But a week ago, I took a trip to California, and as soon as I made my way back to Brooklyn, I started a new diet. I even bought some running shoes. And I’m not a guy who runs.

What changed? Did I see the light? Did the words sink in after a half a decade? Not so much. It was all in something I saw, and it will tell you everything about how small differences in positioning for your audience … Read more...