“Really appreciated seeing your Friday post. A terrific message that I wish others would embrace. We each need to advocate for ourselves…. Keeping you in our hearts and prayers!” – MB

“Talked to SM today… and he explained what happened. I was shocked… and sad. I explained to him that all of us BJJ copywriters are like your bastard children… some directly, some with a degree of separation…. but you’ve taken such good care of our community… so, for our community – I wanted to say thank you.

“SM then told me about how he mother-henned you – and talked about the taking a break from Jiu jitsu… or stopping altogether. I told him, ‘Absolutely NOT! There are so many ways to train safely… that stopping would be ridiculous.’ I explained that I couldn’t imagine my life without BJJ – that I would feel lost – and I’m going out on a limb that you would too. So, pardon my French, but… FUCK that!” – SM

“I feel in my gut that you will come out of this on top. It is scary and challenging; in both instances, you seem to rise above. However, there is also the unknown and the part that’s out of your hands. Hold your hope and faith. I’m thinking of you.” – BM

“Sending you positive energy for a full and quick recovery.” – EN

“I love your blog, Mark. I’m so happy and relieved you’re back! You look great.” – JG

“Soo happy to hear that you’re on the mend – how scary! Glad you were surrounded by people who pushed you to go get checked out that day. Hope you’re taking it easy & recovering (though… I doubt that’s in your DNA – to ‘take it easy’).” – KS

I’m happy to say that, in addition to many, many good wishes, I’ve been getting lots of positive feedback about my decision to keep going with this blog… 

“Thrilled to hear you found a better neurologist and are now on your way to bouncing back better than ever. Thank you for the update and many thoughts and prayers your way! (Psyched you’re continuing your newsletter… look forward to it every week.)” – HG

“Really have enjoyed reading your blog. Very ironic that you discovered this health issue after writing about aging. I’ll be thinking of you this weekend as you embark on the surgery and early recovery process. Glad to hear you will keep writing the blog. I selfishly love it!” – JT

“I’m shocked and truly sorry to hear about your health issues. I hope your surgery was a success. Please do keep writing your blog… 99% of the stuff out there isn’t worth reading. But I learn something from every one of your columns. (Plus, you have turned me on to tons of great movies that I never would have seen otherwise.) Hope you keep at it… and that you’re up and around again soon.” – AG

“Best of luck! Stay tough…” – BR

Why I keep doing what I do… 

“You gave me advice when I was 19 back in 2005 in ETR that changed my life forever. While I was slow and stupid with the implementation, I wouldn’t be where I am today without it. Thank you!” – JH

About my books:

“I’m reading your book The Reluctant Entrepreneur. And just read your book Ready, Fire, Aim. Very inspirational reads. Thank you.” – DV

From Bob Bly re the “Ketchup” brief in the Sept. 2 blog: 

“I met and chatted with the ketchup author at an ASJA conference decades ago, when his book Pure Ketchup first came out. I was so fascinated and inspired by his pioneering work in the odd subgenre of ‘culinary history’ that I wrote one of my own, on hot dogs.”

AS wrote to weigh in on something I said in the Aug. 5 issue.

I was wondering why we’re being told that, because of global warming and the melting of polar ice, there will be a dramatic rise in ocean water levels. It didn’t make sense to me. After all, the level of water in a glass doesn’t rise when the ice melts.

AS pointed out that when water heats, it expands. “Okay,” I thought. “That’s true. But could that tiny bit of expansion be enough to explain the entire ocean rising by inches, as has been predicted?” I had no answer to that, so I had to look it up. And I found a good explanation for the water glass phenomenon and the melting glacier phenomenon. It’s pretty interesting! Click here.

Re Tuesday’s issue: 

“Don’t assume the Inflation Creation Act is a done deal. We must act positive. Positive that the idiots in the House will squabble on this as they have in the past, and allow this to die on the vine.” – TM

“You mentioned you weren’t sure what to do with the cash coming in from your rental real estate. You might consider rolling T-bills. The 4-week bill is currently paying around 2%. You can buy them commission-free here.Setting up an account is easy. It’s what I’m doing with some of my idle cash.” – RI

Re “A Short History of the Devolution of Air Travel” in the Aug. 2 issue: 

“This gave me a good laugh! As my wife and I prepare to take our first international flight since 2019, my feeling of trepidation has gone from a 4 out of 10 to a 9 or 10.” – ND

Re the Aug. 2 P.S. about Fred Astaire… from JM: 

“Well, you got me thinking… about Fred… I believe Eleanor Powell was his equal.”

And he included two videos to make his case. Click here. And here.

My Response: Equal in technique. Not in style.

Re “Understanding Gravity in Five Lessons” in the July 22 issue: 

“I love your research. The YouTube on Gravity was fascinating. Something I have been interested in for 50 years.” – MF

Another testimonial for our book, Central American Modernism:

“It’s great to get an insight into Salvadoran Modernism in art which is just so hard to find good writings about in this country. I showed the book to my parents, who were impressed since they had no idea there was art created in El Salvador and that museums and collectors collected them outside the country.

“I will continue reading more this weekend and start from the beginning and read about every country since it’s all connected in one way or another. Thank you.”

WR

Consignment Director

Urban & Contemporary Art

HERITAGE AUCTIONS

Someone talking about me… 

Todd Brown, one of the brightest young marketers in the industry these days, sent this in:

“Thought you’d maybe enjoying seeing this little clip of me talking about you during a live interview.”

Watch it here.

“One hour speaking to you is worth a year of reading books!” – TD

RS sent me this little video. It’s a touching story, if I do say so myself. He said, “Not sure if you remember this.” (I didn’t. But it I’m not going to forget it now.) Click here.

Questions and requests:

“Hi Mark, what’s your opinion on mastermind groups? I’m wanting to connect with more experienced business owners and raise the bar of my business and my skills. Do you recommend any?” – AB

My Response: I’m all for them. I’ve never been to any sort of “mastermind” session, formal or informal, without coming away from it with at least several good ideas. Growing a business means creating constant change and constant change requires a constant source of new ideas. No one idea is a placebo. And many ideas are not appropriate for a given business at a given time. But that’s not a problem for the entrepreneur that is willing to consider new ideas and test them intelligently. More is better when it comes to business- and wealth-building ideas.

“Dear Mr. Ford – What is the biggest challenge any of your companies is facing that’s keeping you up at night and you must solve now?” – SV

My Response: Biggest challenges change as companies grow. When you are starting out, the biggest problem is finding out how to sell your products/services profitably before you run out of money, time, and/or patience. At other stages, the biggest problems are related to scaling. Or management. Or talent. If you’d like to know more, you should read a book I wrote about the big changes and how to deal with them. It’s called Ready, Fire, Aim.

“I’d like to create winning health promotions for The Agora Company. But I’m not sure how to go about it. Please, I’d love your advice and guidance. Looking forward to your response. Thank you.” – HO

My Response: I don’t pass along requests like this to my colleagues in Agora or to any other colleagues in any of my businesses. Not because they might not be useful, but because if I did I’d begin to get a hundred a day and my colleagues would stop talking to me. If you want to write advertising copy for Agora’s health publishing division, you should do some research and find out how they want to be approached. And then learn as much as you can about their products and their advertising so that, when you approach them, your letter will stand out from the rest.

Re the Amazon drone delivery video in the July 22 issue: 

“The Amazon drone delivery video was super futuristic for a baby boomer like me. Having once owned a business, I couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Does Amazon get the box used by the drones to carry the items back, or does the recipient keep it? It can’t be cheap to use those boxes one time only. Are they recyclable?” – AS

My Response: Amazon has made a big deal out of its efforts to make its packaging recyclable. So, once the drone delivery service is up and running, I’m assuming there will be some way to recycle whatever packaging they’re going to use for it. Most items will probably be in the usual cardboard box. For items that have to go in the plastic bin shown in the video, I’m guessing there will be an extra fee for the bin that will be refunded when you return it to one of Amazon’s already established drop-off locations (Whole Foods, UPS, Kohl’s stores, etc.).