Many people know me, but they don't know my full story.

When I was a kid, my mom was on welfare, my dad was in jail, and I was surrounded by other drug addicts who would steal money from my mom.

Things were bad, and then they got worse.

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Yes. Just 5 little words can help you achieve anything. I'll explain...

5 years ago, I found myself unhappy at my job. It's not that working is bad. I just didn't like what I was doing and I needed a change. And I knew if I didn't make a change fast, I wasn't going to make it.

And that's why I ...

I've got a confession to make: I love reading about business owners who went broke...

...and luckily for me there's a new trend where business owners share their sordid story in public.

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I bombed my first speaking engagement. I'll never forget it, too. I was nervous. Real nervous. The morning of, I called a friend to practice my intro and they patiently listened to me do it... 47 times.

"How does this sound? Wait! NO! Let me do it—" And my friend interrupted me. "Derek, it's fine. ...

I believe the subject line said it all. What converts better? $100, $99, or $97?

And should you even worry about something like this?

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Long before Steven Spielberg made E.T., his dad told him to “work his way up” to the director’s chair.¹

Spielberg wisely ignored his father’s advice. He said, “The first film I do, I will be the director.”

He never worked in the mailroom and never brought anyone coffee. Instead ...

I'm on Periscope. My handle is @DerekHalpern. You should add me, and I'll tell you why in a second.

First...

I believe Periscope will change how you interact with your fans, prospects, and customers for the better...

...but at first, I thought it was the dumbest thing in the world.

Here's ...

I couldn't believe it. When I launched my first online product, I pulled in $46,398 in 10 days.

It felt strange. Social Triggers was just a blog. When a friend asked me less than a year earlier, "What do you have planned for your blog," I had responded, "Not sure. All I'm focusing on right now is ...

When Wilbur heard about Otto Lilienthal's death, he became obsessed. And he passed that obsession on to his brother Orville. Here's what happened:

Lilienthal, better known as "Flying Man," worked tirelessly on gliders that would allow men to fly, but on August 9th, 1896, he crashed, fell fifty feet ...

A friend asked me for help. She’s a coach, and she sells a high end coaching package... But she needed help with her sales copy.

I fired up her page and that's when I saw it. A HUGE mistake. A mistake that's so detrimental she may as well have flushed her chances of making sales down the toilet.

I ...