Edition #5 Rules For Life

Fair warning: This is a long one—but it’s worth it.

It’s 2:30 in the afternoon, which means you’re probably hitting that slump, right? 

So go ahead and grab your coffee (or tea if you’re more refined than I am). Take a deep breath. Now let’s shake off that mid-afternoon lull because what I’ve got for you today is going to energize your brain and refocus your day.

This one’s packed with insights, stories, and some stuff you won’t want to miss. You might even want to bookmark it for later, but I promise, if you stick with me, you’ll walk away with a lot of actionable takeaways.

So, without further ado, let’s dive in.

Every business challenge or failure can be traced back to four key factors: Expectations, Resources, Ability, and Motivation—what we call the ERAM framework. It’s a simple, yet comprehensive way to understand why things go wrong.

Most of the time, the culprit? Expectations.

Here’s the thing about expectations: they’re slippery.

They live in the space between what you think will happen and what actually does. When there’s a mismatch, it leads to frustration, missed deadlines, and occasionally, the type of email that starts with "I thought we agreed…"

Managing expectations, at its core, is about communication.

First Tip: Clarity is everything.

When you’re asking for something in an email—be it a meeting time or feedback on a draft—don’t bury the request in a wall of text. Be direct. Number your questions if you need to. It helps the reader navigate your email like a map, guiding them to exactly what you need. And when you’re scheduling a meeting, reiterate the time at the end of the email. This reinforces the ask and leaves no room for ambiguity.

Second Tip: Answer questions directly.

We often shy away from clear answers because we’re afraid of giving the "wrong" one, so we drown it in context. If someone asks you a yes or no question, start with "yes" or "no." Then, add your reasoning. It keeps the conversation efficient and leaves less room for confusion.

Third Tip: Establish expectations early.

Don’t assume people know how you like to work. Ask them. Take this email for example: 

At what point should I bring you into the conversation? We’re still early in the evaluation process, so I don’t want to waste your time. I’ve found that some people prefer to be involved in as many conversations about a topic as possible from the very beginning so that they see all sides (the 360 approach), while others prefer to be brought in after the fact, be provided the key bullet points, and then ask outstanding questions (the bullet point approach).

I’ve also found that someone’s preference on the matter will change depending on the topic … so for this kind of project/decision, what’s your preference? Seriously, I won’t be offended if you’d prefer the bullet-point route here.

This is a weird thing to ask. However, I’m attempting to be transparent, avoid assumptions, and seek complete alignment on expectations and the rules of engagement. This kind of message can go a long way with colleagues and clients alike.

And there you have it—managing expectations really just comes down to clear communication.

“Your message should single out your prospect like a man being paged in a crowded hotel lobby.”

- Claude Hopkins

Unfiltered Stories From the Heart of the Agency: Chapter 4

Rules For Life

I sometimes repeat some version of “Listen to people as if they have something worth saying.” I didn’t make that up. It’s Jordan Peterson’s ninth rule in his book 12 RULES FOR LIFE. The official rule is, “Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t.”

The book has sold over 10 million copies and was among Amazon’s top 10 selling books in multiple markets every week for well over a year. To promote the book, Peterson embarked on a world tour, speaking to sold-out crowds, including at the Rosewood Ballroom, a 7,000-seat hall where the Dave Matthews Band launched one of their new studio albums. Considering Jordan Peterson is an aging psychologist in a three-piece suit and not one of the hottest rock and roll bands from the last decade, that’s pretty nuts. Peterson’s YouTube videos have been viewed billions of times, documentary films have been made about this life, and the NYT has called him one of the most influential and important thinkers alive today.

His insights into one’s relationship with themselves, and with others, have had a profound impact on my marriage and my parenting. He has helped me understand, and express, what it means to take responsibility—for myself and for others. I have so many questions I’d love the opportunity to ask him—and I’d pay good money for the chance to speak to him one on one. Many people who follow his lectures and teachings feel the same way.

Here’s the thing. I used to speak with Jordan Peterson twice a week.
Each call lasted forty-five minutes. He was one of my first clients. Jordan stumbled upon my AdWords YouTube tutorial and called for my help promoting his Self Authoring product. If you have any interest in journaling or figuring out where you’ve been, where you are, and where you want to go in life, I encourage you to check it out.

Of course, this was all before Peterson was famous. To me, he was just another client I had to get through a bi-weekly call with. At the time, I was sleeping 2-4 hours a night, working on client campaigns, working on my own content, working on finding new business, and so on. I was always tired, but that didn’t really matter. If I had listened … or bothered to look up Peterson’s YouTube lectures—of which there were plenty, even back then—perhaps I wouldn’t have blown the opportunity.

When he came to New York, Frayde and I went to hear him speak at the Rosewood Ballroom. The lines to get in stretched around six city blocks. We paid the extra $150 for VIP seats, which included a photo-op and a meet and greet after the lecture. I shook his hand and told him that I used to manage his AdWords account and that we spoke twice a week over the phone for six months or so. He looked at me with compassionate eyes, like I was another fanatic in need of some encouragement (and willing to lie to get some), and said, “Oh, that’s nice.”

“No, for real,” I said. “I still have your PayPal login and password.” (this is true, by the way.)

He smiled wanly, and then security was kindly helping me find the exit.
It’s unbelievably hard to do, and do consistently, but it’s worth practicing Rule Nine: Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t.

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This gave me a good laugh... 

When More Leads Hurt Your Bottom Line

A thought on advertising

We helped this lead gen client triple their daily spend while simultaneously reducing their CPA by 50%.

By all traditional measures, this was a textbook success.

But then something unexpected happened: despite the improved campaign performance, the client’s sales team saw their close rate plummet.

Weeks passed, and instead of celebrating, the client found themselves generating a negative ROI. A few more weeks of this, and suddenly the word “bankruptcy” was being whispered around the office.

Naturally, this led to some tense exchanges. One of the more memorable moments occurred when we proudly highlighted the positive performance we were seeing on Bing Ads. The client’s response? “I never want to hear the word Bing again.” Fair enough.

But we weren’t about to accept defeat. Something didn’t add up. So, we spent many long days—and sleepless nights—digging into the data, brainstorming, and searching for the root cause of the issue. After many discussions, we landed on a hypothesis: could it be that the flood of leads was actually demotivating the sales team? Was the sheer volume of leads causing reps to rush through calls, assuming the next lead would be an easier close?

To test this theory, we started reviewing the call logs, comparing recent conversations with older ones, and a pattern emerged. The newer calls were significantly shorter. If a lead wasn’t immediately ready to buy, the sales reps seemed to disengage quickly and move on. It was like watching someone spin a roulette wheel—waiting for the winning number, rather than working each lead thoroughly. A month earlier, when there were fewer leads coming in, the reps had been more diligent, spending extra time nurturing each conversation.

We tested the hypothesis further, diving into more detailed analytics and found that, yes, this shift in behavior was a direct contributor to the decline in close rates. But we didn’t stop there. We went deeper, conducting a granular analysis to identify the exact point where diminishing returns kicked in. We didn’t just focus on the team as a whole—we analyzed individual performance to figure out the optimal workload for each salesperson.

One standout example: a sales rep named Patty. By looking at Patty’s performance data over time, we determined that she operated most efficiently when handling anywhere between 50 and 110 leads per week. Any more than that, and the quality of her calls—and subsequently her close rate—took a noticeable hit.

Armed with these insights, we made the call to pull back on ad spend. It wasn’t that we were acquiring bad leads; it was that the sales team simply didn’t have the bandwidth to handle them properly. Reducing the lead flow allowed the reps to focus more on each prospect, and the result? Higher daily profits and a much healthier business overall.

Something to think about: When optimizing your marketing and lead gen, it’s easy to focus on driving more and more leads. But what happens when your team can’t keep up with the flood? Sometimes less is more. A hyper-focused sales team can often generate better returns with fewer, high-quality opportunities. So, ask yourself: Are your leads being given the attention they need to convert, or are they slipping through the cracks in the rush?

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