Karl Marx (John Jabez Edwin Mayal) and Vladimir Lenin (Unknown, presumably official), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
During dinner at the recent New York Press Association Publishers’ Conference, talked turned towards the misuse of the term “click-bait.” In a strict sense, the term applies to misleading descriptions of internet links. These phrases “bait” you to “click” the link; hence, “click-bait.” Links that have nothing to do with the sentence that lured you to click makes this technique unethical. That’s why “click-bait” has such a negative connotation.
Copywriters for more than a century have searched for sentences that “sizzle.” Elmer Wheeler documented the early years of this journey in his 1937 book Tested Statements That Sell. If you don’t recall the name of this Rochester native dubbed “America’s Greatest Salesman,” you will certainly know his most famous phrase: Continue Reading “Are You More A Marxist Or A Lennonist?”
Should You Slap A Simple Single Or Swing For The Fences?
Photo by Ulrik on Freeimages.com
This could easily become a column on successful investing, but it’s not. It does, however, reflect a Noble Prize-winning concept that has propelled successful investors for more than half a century. It’s simple. I’ll explain it quickly.
Every investment option possesses two critical factors: risk and return. Scholars credit economist Harry Markowitz as the first to identify the correlation of risk and return. In his 1952 paper “Portfolio Selection,” Markowitz, the father of “Modern Portfolio Theory,” says low-risk investments can yield low returns and high-risk investments must yield high returns. The “can” and “must” refer to the price you should reasonably pay for the investment.
But this column isn’t about successful investing, it’s about life. Specifically, your life. More precisely, the choices you face in your life. Understanding the dichotomy between “low-Continue Reading “Should You Slap A Simple Single Or Swing For The Fences?”