What should every person know about money?

I still read magazines. I mean real magazines, made of paper, that you can buy at a news stand. One of my favorite magazines, Men's Journal, asks famous people (like Gene Hackman) questions about life such at "Have you ever cheated death?" or "What's the best cure for a heartache?". I like to answer the questions myself before I read the celebre-answer.

This month, they asked "What should every person know about money?". Here's what I think.

Money is a way of keeping score in life -- just not a very good one.

People with more money tend to be considered more successful in life than those without. Still...

"Money" is to "life" like "hits" are to "baseball".

In baseball, the team with the most hits tends to win more often. Not always, because it's possible to get a lot of hits and not score any runs.

And in life, it is possible to fail with a big pile of money, just like it is possible to succeed with little money.

The key is to find better ways of keeping score. Count the number of your friends. Total the number of times you help someone each day. Tabulate the smiles you cause.

Don't ignore money, but don't make it your only scorecard for success.

Marketing to Men -- It's not easy

I gave a recent presentation on marketing to men at a Men's Health Seminar. The main argument of my presentation was that "Marketing to Men -- It's not easy".

I decided not to go with the original title: "Marketing to Men -- It's Hard" to avoid any immature "That's what she said" comments.

We had a big auditorium, a panel of expert presenters (physicians, exercise physiologists, dietary researchers, and me), raffles, free food, and vendors. It was heavily advertised on the radio and TV. Advertisement posters were placed strategically above urinals in key bathrooms across the J. Sargent Reynolds campus (all four). It was well designed and promoted.

How many men do you think attended?

Answer: 15

My point was made. "Marketing to Men -- It's not easy".