Author Archives: Roy H. Williams
Advice From The World’s Richest Man
A Monday Morning Memo from The Wizard of Ads Back when I was a media salesman I made a profound discovery that altered my future forever. (Most of us hate stories that begin with “Back when I was…” But I promise to make this story different! This one actually has a point.) The day when &hellip Continue reading
Accidental Magic
WARNING – Today’s Memo could easily be perceived as an ad for Wizard Academy. (If you are of a cynical or suspicious nature, please do not read today’s MMMemo.) July 3, 2000 – To the friends who have called, faxed and emailed to ask about the success of last week’s inaugural Wizard Academy, I’m thrilled &hellip Continue reading
A Spoonful of Sugar
A Monday Morning Memo from The Wizard of Ads The cozy melody rises to greet you like a familiar friend and its lazy, carefree meandering takes you away to a quiet place, reminding you of the warmth of a peaceful afternoon in the Tom Sawyer summer of your childhood. You are listening to the theme &hellip Continue reading
A Problem With Details
A Monday Morning Memo from The Wizard of Ads James Cameron and Morgan Robertson have never met, yet they have written essentially the same story. Cameron’s version was made into a major motion picture. Robertson’s story is dead in the water. What was it about Cameron’s story that we liked, and why did we reject &hellip Continue reading
The Attention Span Myth
Commentators say that people today have a shorter attention span than in the past, but Jerry Seinfeld and I don’t believe this is true. “There is no such thing as an attention span. There is only the quality of what you are viewing. This whole idea of an attention span is, I think, a misnomer. &hellip Continue reading
1. Improvisation 2. Innovation 3. Imitation
We tend to think of imitation as the opposite of innovation but I don’t believe this is true. “Opposite” indicates opposed positions, left and right. But my observation is that innovation and imitation are usually the second and third positions in a continuing circle that has improvisation as its starting point. Here’s how that circle &hellip Continue reading
Do You Know You?
When you find your mind wandering, ask yourself these two questions: What am I thinking? Why am I thinking this? And when you’re busy, ask these three: What am I doing? What do I hope to gain by it? Why does this matter to me? Ask these questions and you’ll sidestep the bullet Socrates fired &hellip Continue reading
Fortune’s 500 or America’s 5.91 Million?
Wal-Mart is the biggest company in America, followed by 3 oil companies and then Warren Buffett’s Berkshire-Hathaway, Apple Computers, General Motors, and General Electric. Yep. Apple today is bigger than both General Motors and G.E. “Yippee, Skippy, call the press. Oh, you did already? And the press said Nash-Finch is number 500? Who the hell &hellip Continue reading
The Snowy Truth of Advertising
Every employee has opinions about the advertising that represents their company. This is natural I suppose because those ads, by extension, represent the employee as well. And so they tell the boss what they think, “and all of our customers think that, too.” But if the development of successful advertising were as instinctive as most &hellip Continue reading
“When We Don’t Fly, People Die.”
“So there I was, first time in Iraq, officer in charge, first time under fire. I had been studying at the Air Force Academy for 4 years. I had a master’s degree in leadership. And I was scared. You know, the first time I heard the BOOMs, the sirens. And I was hunkered down by &hellip Continue reading
