Thoughts

Opinion pieces, newest first.

123 articles

Who's My Audience?

Writing and marketing are about distant connection. Without ever interacting personally with someone, the intention is to touch that person's soul with words and images and story. It's a difficult skill. Really, an art. Everyone who tries it will do it with their own personal...

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Being the Boss

A little over a year ago I wrote something on Opinion Paper entitled "Where AI Goes." I gave it great caution. In essence, what I said then was this: If a machine does what humans cannot do, it expands human capability. If a machine does what humans can do, it replaces human...

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Purposeful

The greatest fear of mankind is being alone. That's why cowardice makes sense. It's unthreatening. It doesn't seek or invite conflict; it avoids it. And more than anything, it keeps you in the room with everybody else. Bravery doesn't just invite conflict. It threatens...

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POOF

Over the weekend, I gave a small seminar in south Texas. It's the first time I presented the new presentation after publishing the new book, PREPARE LEAD WIN. The content I present is dense, so I have to ensure that the flow conveys the story I'm trying to tell. The problem...

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Writing Again Soon

I've redesigned Opinion Paper, and I'll soon set about writing here again. I've missed it. I mentioned on FB that it's because I moved it all over to a new server last fall, and I'm just now getting around to revising OP... Opinion Paper is a test bed for me. It hurts no one if...

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Questions from RPT Vice-Chair D'rinda Randall

I recently was on X Spaces with Republican Party of Texas Vice-Chair D'rinda Randall. Her questions and my answers are below. The asterisks indicate her questions. The Heart Behind the Book * What inspired you to write 'The Goal Is to Win?' Why I wrote the book and picked the...

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You First

Those who advocate for socialism and for socialist candidates who want to tax everyone more are hypocrites of the highest order: if they truly believe in wealth redistribution, nothing stops them from making voluntary contributions to the government to do exactly that. I asked...

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Candy

Ah, last night's election. I'll start with the big takeaway: there is no "gotcha" you can produce for a Democrat candidate that will cause other Democrats to leap ship. Jay Jones won - the man who fantasized about killing children. No Democrat walked away from him, and he beat...

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Consistency

Here's a challenge for any campaign: call up ten of the most ardent supporters and ask them, without prompting, what the candidate will do for the people once elected. If you get ten different answers, you might find that the messaging is not as tight as it needs to be. Think...

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Competing with Less

Almost every grassroots campaign contends with having much less money than their opponent. The incumbent is well-financed, pushing name recognition throughout the district and the grassroots candidate feels mostly alone, fighting for air. Jay Conrad Levinson, author of Guerilla...

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Where AI Goes

I'm not excited about AI. I will tell you why. I say this, mind you, as a guy who works fairly high up in the IT food chain. I deal with complex databases, human interfaces with data, the Internet, and so on. I'm not afraid of technology. I embrace it and use it. Let's look...

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Empowering People

A week ago, we released the House of Good Cards and the House of Bad Cards. We didn't advertise it. JoAnn still hasn't sent out our official email about it to the people in her network across Texas. But one week after release, the sites already have about 20,000 page views...

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Transparency Matters

The House of Bad Cards and the House of Good Cards are now out there for the world to see and use. Of course, the purpose of the deck is to tell people about our Texas legislators. For those in the bad deck, it's a list of things that no Republican should ever do. Why would a...

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Gypsies

It's been a minute since I wrote here, so on this Saturday evening with the insects talking to each other outside and Lloyd Cole singing "Ice Cream Girl," a bit of an update. I don't usually do updates, but it seems right today... Nicole and I are just back from doing a seminar...

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Branding

A brand sets expectations. You come to anticipate certain things based upon a company's or product's branding. If I mention "Waffle House," an experience comes to your mind. It's a diner, it's good but not fancy, and it's friendly. I talked previously about the importance of...

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