Category: Decoding Success
Triangles vs. Violins: How to Be Heard
For a moment, think about an orchestra and all its different instruments, then consider this question… Which can be heard, the violin section or the triangle? * Obviously, the answer is ‘both’ – but without question, those strings are louder, right? Not only louder, but there are more of them, often 20-40 violins in a...
3 Marketing Lessons from Casey Kasem
For a total of 24 years, the golden-voiced Casey Kasem gave us the scoop on what songs were trending and along the way, weaved in some classic behind-the-scenes stories and interviews on the radio show he hosted (and co-created), American Top 40. If you grew up in the 70s, 80s, or early 90s, there’s a...Continue reading
Big Announcement!
I’m excited to let you know about the launch of the HeyPorter.com YouTube channel. We’ll cover the same subjects there that we do here – Creative Leadership, Productivity, Marketing, Decoding Success – just with way less reading and way more moving pictures. Hope you’ll check it out, hit that ‘Subscribe’ button, and maybe even tell...Continue reading
What Two Movie Stars Taught Me About Marketing
Disclaimer: I do not like bragging on myself, but there’s a brag coming up anyway. Trust me that it’s a means to an end. Many years ago, I wrote and co-directed a short film starring Tony-winner John Cullum (30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) and Emmy-nominee Barry Corbin (Modern Family, Better Call Saul). Both actors also...Continue reading
Is It Difficult? Good.
Is it difficult? Good. Seriously. If it were easy, you would be competing with a LOT more people. But as things get more challenging, the herd starts to thin – the weaker ones (or at least, the less committed) moving on to look for easier, lower hanging fruit. And if it’s nearly impossible, well then...Continue reading
A Surprising Lesson From Bon Jovi
They’ve seen a million faces and they’ve rocked them all. But can you imagine a Bon Jovi show with no performance of “Livin’ on a Prayer”? What if that signature song had been written and recorded, but never made it onto an album? It almost happened. When Bon Jovi Was Livin’ On A Prayer Flashback...Continue reading
Are You Confident?
My wife says I’m a confident person and most days that’s true. But to leave it at “I’m confident” would only tell half the story and create an inaccurate picture. Am I confident in my own experience and abilities? To a reasonable degree, sure, yeah. But I have to say, the bulk of my confidence...Continue reading
A Different Kind Of Listening
Interior. Coffeeshop. Day. As that catchy new pop song plays subtly under the scene, we see a cute 20-something actress give her handsome 20-something co-star a flirty goodbye and exit (they haven’t had their first kiss yet – that’ll happen within 10 minutes, guaranteed – but the stage is being set). A beat later, she...Continue reading
Not Perfect – Still Valued
A few fun facts about A Charlie Brown Christmas courtesy of mentalfloss.com… CBS didn’t like it. The ad agency handling the sponsorship of the show didn’t like it. Even Charles Shulz was embarrassed by some of the program’s technical shortcomings, including continuity issues. “I thought it was a disaster because the drawing was so poor.”...Continue reading