A Red Penguin

12/24/2025

The other day I was looking at my office wall – at this poem I wrote in one of my first two years in advertising in Baltimore – and the thought occurred to me, "Oh, this is about Christmas."

The folks there wanted a Merry-Christmas-from-Us-Your-Bank ad and I thought I'd try to get then slathered in all the love a banking institution could handle.

I was told they were grateful. Which was nice. Sometimes it's well worth it to go the extra stanza in life. 🎅

The Gifts that Last Forever

In the quiet of a cottage not so very far away,
you will hear a quiet stirring come the dawn of Christmas Day.

Long before adults are waking, you will hear the tender padding
Of two tiny feet a-flying from the nursery to the landing.

Witness then the hearty struggle of an urgent three-year-old,
As Melissa comes a-crawling down the steps into the cold

Of the living room – and darkness – ’cross the floor and to the tree,
Past the wrapped-up gift of crystal and the bow-adorned TV.

Past the dolls and tools and scooter, past the clothes and games and toys,
To the chair beside the mantle. (Which she’ll mount without a noise.)

And from deep within the pocket of her flannel sleeping gown
She’ll remove a tiny package, wrapped in tissue all around,

With a bow that’s flat from resting ’neath her pillow through the week,
She will stretch upon her tiptoes ’til her reach is at its peak,

Yet she’ll stretch a wee bit farther and then drop above the flocking
Just a single, simple candy cane in Daddy’s Christmas stocking.

And when years have passed, the toys at last will all be lost or tattered.
The TV set will be replaced. Some crystal likely shattered.

The memories of Christmas Days will blur as time goes on,
’Til no one knows what gifts came when, or where they all have gone.

But rest assured one tiny gift forever will endure.
For gifts of love rest in the heart; eternal, safe and sure.

And simple though her gift may be, is not Melissa clever?
To know that riches from the heart – buy gifts that last forever.

Merry Christmas. And may all your gifts, large and small, be given in love. And received with goodwill.

08/12/2025

A message from the founder, John Verba, to set the tone.

I've been business-focused since I started mowing lawns at 12, playing in a wedding and rock band at 16, and driving up to Pittsburgh's Mt. Washington to admire all the Fortune 500 headquarters in college.

I'll be that guy 'til the day I die, because the people who provide for other's needs without worrying who the people are, stand for and believe -- and do it like livelihoods and lives depend on it -- have found where they're needed. So they get up and get at it.

I get that. And here's why.

In my early adult years, the strongest influences in my life were Fortune 500 marketing execs and Top 100 ad agency staff.

For decades after that, they were founders, owners and C-level staff of small and mid-sizes businesses, doing $3M to $50M and up in annual sales.

And even prior to college, my western PA influences were largely Fortune-500 employees of some of the biggest businesses ever, including Bethlehem and US steel and coal, and the Pennsylvania Railroad. The folks I knew might possibly have been dismissed by some as cogs in the machine, but they showed up on their round-the-clock series of shifts and took to their trucks, trains and heavy machinery to come through for their crews and keep one another safe.

Several, additionally, had good-size farms.

I also spent 15 years in Washingon DC, including five on the Hill and 10 two miles from the White House. So I know how obtuse some of the citizenry can be about the people and systems that keep them alive and safe.

That's not a complaint. In every setting, people don't know what they don't know, and rarely benefit from pushing against the localized consensus of how things are and work.

In some places, being far-off in one's understanding of how things actually work is not life-and-death. In others, it is.

Taking people seriously who will never be much affected by much is a heavy lift. Learning from the folks who have to pay attention to keep themselves and others alive comes effortlessly.

And... two years into living in downtown Baltimore, the first in a freezing/sweltering 2nd-story walk-up with creepy-crawly things about, and the second in a luxury loft with 20-foot ceilings, I observed:

Homeless people and self-made millionaires are the only two types of people I've met who'll think, "Why don't we just Do What Nobody Else Would Do?"

Upon consideration, perhaps they're just more comfortable Focusing on Survival... and Not Just Their Own.

🙌

Send a message to learn more

08/08/2025

John and Ben Verba discuss, in Teams, a new tagline for ARP.

(Which is quickly coming into shape for a launch with ads and some crucial connections with leaders who've been there and done that. I have always been surprised by what shows up to be involved with. Tomorrow always shows up promising. Always at midnight.

Here's some rambling nonsense with words. Because we always need to poke at them to get them to do things unexpected.)

Ben Verba 1:05 AM

Also: Is the intended double meaning that we are "a breed apart", and also that we are "setting a breed apart"? And/or that we are marketing a breed (our target audience) that is already "apart"? I keep being tempted to read it as more like "tearing a breed apart" (our marketing will destroy you) instead of "setting a breed apart" but that is probably me being pessimistic.

John Verba 8:30 PM

RE: "pessimistic"

Ya, ya think?

I was going to say, "How and why would any professional services firm do that!?"

Accounting a breed apart.
Managementing a breed apart.
A breed apart recruiting a breed aparter.

And last-but-not-yeast:
Baking a bread into sweet oblivion. [Unrelated]

All are clearly saying, "Sometimes deviations in genetic make-up or perhaps just yin/yang behavior result in things that do their things better than most every other things. And here I mean things tracked on spreadsheets. Not things relative nor debatable. Da real stuff. (Dost I stuttereth?)

"Let youse judge not lest youse be judged (& found wanting).

"& found wanting, wander theeselves around. So that others say of thee, 'Where do we want theeselves?'

"And all answer, 'Back them into a corner and pile upon each self things to do... in hopes they will expand.

"Above all, make thee not a big todo. And so having said that, say ye, 'Toodleloo.'

"And shake ye the dust of their shared spaces from thy feet and say to them, 'Forever humankind shall call youse "Dusty."' And give each a cowboy hat of straw, big red bandanna and oversize sheriff's badge. The tin ones.

"Wait, what? You'll find them where you always find them. Whyfor art thou asking of me, 'Where are these things of which I seek?'?

"Do I look like the Dewey Decimal System?" (Here I pointed good-naturedly like Scrooge's Third Ghost.)

"Yeah. Didn't think so.

"Then follow up with efficiency and politeness, reminding one another, 'Many are called. But most are emailed.'"

Readeth that back to me. (Did thy order more scrolls? I told ye we werth out as of Thursday last. Let ye not another day pass!

"And for now look under thy desk.

"Thou dost have a scroll loose.)"

Ben Verba 10:01 PM

🤔 not sure if I grasped all the meaning of the above Piece of Writing but I at least thought it had various entertaining phrases

👍

04/08/2025

03/01/2024

You know...

"For I have promises to keep,
and miles to go before I sleep."
.. was probably about a lot more than a trip in the snow.

06/08/2023

I Read an Instagram Post on the Subject of "Letting Go" in Life

I replied to it with a metaphor I'd come up with long ago. And I figured I'd post it here as well because I'm going to need to be the face of something I'm building soon.

My business will have to do with people building their businesses, so I should be getting in the swing of addressing mindset, and how attitude allows effort, and awareness of cause and effect, and other such foundational blocks.

That said...

Letting Go is Crucial to Change and Growth.

Some people spend their lives clinging to one trapeze swing with their knuckles turned purple from gripping. If pried lose they latch onto the first close swing and hold on again for dear life, never letting go by choice.

Some spend life in the air, launching themselves well repeatedly by picking out swings that best suit their arcs and aims.

And the great variety in between make up quite a mix, as always.

This Can be Valuable to be Aware of Because...

What we picture happening when we let go is conjecture. If we never let go, we never know.

What we experience when we let go is trial and error. If we find that we fall awhile and then latch on to a new swing and swing back higher, we may learn that it's okay to try and see where letting go will take us. If it's higher and further, and more fun and fulfilling, then we learn to recognize, respect and calculate risk-versus-reward.

Learned from experience: Having safety nets can be handy. Maintain sensible expenses. Savings. And strong networks. Soft landings, long-term, come from doing without in the short terms.

05/03/2022

If you use direct marketing for your or , you don't have time to attend every learning experience out there. At A Red Penguin, we meet with top performers at groups like DMAW to bring the best of their knowledge and experience to the table when we meet with you.

Call us in to see some of our most successful work and we'll bring along insights picked up at industry events like Production Day, above. Let's meet soon. We'll come prepared. Start a conversation now by clicking the link below.

https://aredpenguin.com/

04/29/2022

By the time DMAW Production Day 2022 wrapped up Wednesday afternoon, our attendees from A Red Penguin had:

• Toured the immense, state-of-the-art CCG mail production plant in Upper Marlboro. Wow!
• Seen myriad samples of current, revenue-reaping direct mail packages. Standout offerings!
• Appreciated how today’s pros rise to the challenges of a changing industry. Cool collaborators!

Top service providers like Production Solutions, Rite Envelope, Nova Label, Snailworks and Integram taught how clients, creatives and production pros can work as one to maximize return. Our thanks to the Direct Marketing Association of Washington!

Looking for a direct mail creative team that’s eager to please with its responsiveness? Message “John” here today.

Ask for our summary PDF of the classic business tome, “The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz.” You’ll see where our classic commitment to a client’s wellbeing got its start.

10/16/2021

A lot of people would have us believe that the success of our endeavors in life starts with our mindset. As in: Nothing means more than being able to stand up and proclaim, "I can do it!"

But actually, a lot more depends on knowing what "it" is.

🙂🐧

05/01/2019

Does your small business provide standout solutions that aren't getting all the attention they deserve?

Well then we should talk, because at A Red Penguin, you'll find intuitive young creative talents who are mastering a (lost) art you need:

Showing the strong, natural appeal of a business like yours. On sight.

They're learning from the example of 30 years of case studies like the poster shown here. Then using their tech knowledge to streamline every aspect of market and competitor research, strategic thinking and creativity.

Plus efficient production in the most effective media possible.

The type of creative messaging that gets just a few leaders standing out in every market hasn't changed. It still comes down to speaking with ingenuity and authority, so people see significant promise in the offering.

You can really raise prospects' expectations by simply offering them more than they knew to imagine.

04/29/2019

Last week, I mentioned that one the freelancers affiliated with A Red Penguin is getting busier and busier with interesting and challenging projects. That's good, because part of our long-term plan here is to help very promising natural talents to master creative marketing for small businesses... and that includes their own.
Here's the website that we put together at A Red Penguin to help Lyn Geist be distinct and visible to her best-fit prospects, worldwide and down the street.
The key is to present the impression that fulfills the potential. At the start. And at each point of desired growth.

https://www.lyngeist.com/