JerryWest’s Blog

The Ugly Truth About Love Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, or as I call it, “Forced Affection Day” (hat tip to Elizabeth Devlin). You know the drill. Overpriced roses. Heart-shaped boxes of candy nobody wants. Men sprinting through the grocery store at 5:45 PM, grabbing “provisions” to stay out of the doghouse. And most of them land in the doghouse anyway, because the day was set up for failure from the start. Unrealistic expectations, manufactured on a marketing calendar. Here’s a quick illustration. At the pub last night, a woman in a group of three announced, “I just want the Romeo and Juliet romance experience for Valentine’s Day!” The other two…

With all due respect to parents, being a single parent is harder. I mean, simple math proves that, right?

“Work Smarter – Not Harder” This phrase is tossed around so often in business and life, yet it’s frequently misunderstood. It was the go-to excuse for the lazy, a shield to hide behind a poor work ethic. But is there truth to it? Absolutely. The key is recognizing the power of delegating and not trying to do everything yourself. The real game-changer is abandoning the futile effort of improving your weaknesses. As my grandfather wisely said, “Focus on strengthening your strengths and outsourcing your weaknesses.” Unsure of your strengths and weaknesses?  Take my Motivation Factor test. In just 12 minutes, you’ll gain insights into where you excel and where you should seek help. Picture this:…

If I told you it was 5-6 years ago, you’d say that was about right. But if I said two years ago, you’d say “no way.”

Back in the early 90s, when Grunge was taking over the music space, Sammy Hagar, the then front-man of Van Halen, admitted he was nervous and insecure.

If you’ve spent any time around me in person, you know I quote lines from Seinfeld routinely. To me, Seinfeld is a pure genius.

Okay, if there is one thing that I hate, it is housekeeping duties, but you have to do it. Seriously, do these and your site will be more awesome, and you know what happens when your site is more awesome … it makes you more money.

I don’t want to know what you would choose … but making you laugh opens you up to sage business advice, so here you go… WRITING DOESN’T HAVE TO SUCK Great writers and copywriters aren’t born, they are created and forged according to David Ogilvy. The habits I have as a copywriter are things I have stolen from others and modified them to my liking. So feel free to steal mine and make your own modifications so you can kick ass too. It’s not that hard. Just do this… I don’t write in an office. Never have and never will. Offices are stuffy and full of distractions. It isn’t just…

If you aren’t a member of Colin Theriot’s Facebook Group, The Cult of Copy, get your ass in there. I knew Colin when he didn’t have a beard. Just a baby. But always a badass copywriter. Colin understood that life isn’t that complicated, and neither is your business. This is brilliant advice from Colin:[Business advice for my business friends] Here is a brief list of advice that you could pay a “coach” a lot of money to tell you. Or you can just read it here and fill in the blanks yourself. Enjoy and prosper. Raise your prices.Stop doing business with shit customers.Go after better customers. There is a lot…

Stop being a terrible human and avoiding that difficult conversation with your significant other or your business partner that you are unhappy. What follows next is usually bad decisions, self-sabotage, and a complete dumpster fire formally known as your successful life. Look, I’ve been through two nasty divorces and a horrendous break up, and I’ll tell you that all three could have been avoided had a difficult, but necessary, adult conversation taken place. If you’re not happy, tell your partner. Be mature. Talk it out. Leave emotion out of it. Figure out a solution. If not, you can part ways on good terms instead of getting caught trolling 20-something bartenders…