Sunday, September 24, 2023

Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends...

If you are reading on a smartphone, use landscape / hold phone sideways. 


… Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends

Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends

Yes, I get by with a little help from my friends

With a little help from my friends...

Written collaboratively by John Lennon and Paul McCartney during the final stages of the Sgt. Pepper project, 'With A Little Help From My Friends' was sung by Ringo Starr. The song was written for and sung by the Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr as the character "Billy Shears". It was ranked No. 311 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Throughout the band's journey to America, Ringo became the most popular member of The Beatles. It was explained that Ringo was so popular that the Beatles manager George Martin wanted to capitalise on his growing fandom. Therefore, the drummer was given a song on each record.

I think that my favorite thing that I do - my favorite thing that I GET to do... is our Coffee In The Clouds video podcasts. I'll come back to this.....

What did George Martin have to do with the Beatles? 

Sir George Martin, producer of almost the entire awe-inspiring recorded catalogue of The Beatles and a hugely accomplished writer, arranger and musician with countless other achievements to his name, was born in Highbury, north London, on January 3, 1926.

What did Beatle Paul McCartney think of George Martin?

“He was a true gentleman and like a second father to me. He guided the career of the Beatles with such skill and good humour that he became a true friend to me and my family. If anyone earned the title of the fifth Beatle it was George,” McCartney wrote.


Mark Fortier is the founder and president of Fortier Public Relations, LLC. His 30-years of publicizing hundreds of successful books earned him the​ ​2019 Porchlight Jack Covert Award for Contribution to the Business Book Industry​. He is the sixth recipient (and first publicist) following previous winners like Tom Peters and Seth Godin.

Before founding Fortier Public Relations, LLC in January 2007, Mark worked at book publicity firm Goldberg McDuffie Communications for almost nine years, rising from assistant director of publicity to director of publicity to vice president to partner (the first and only employee there to earn this title). There he worked with literary authors including Philip Roth and Henry Louis Gates, public officials like Robert Rubin, the CEOs of Citigroup and AT&T and organizations ranging from The Library of America to the National Endowment for the Arts. Books he worked on ranged from the global bestseller The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho to the Hamilton biography by Ron Chernow, which was adapted for the surprise Broadway hit musical. The first two business books he worked on are now classics: The Innovator’s Solution by Clayton Christensen and Blue Ocean Strategy, which has now sold over four million copies.

Fortier's media placements include NPR Fresh Air & Morning Edition, Today, Good Morning America, CBS, Daily Show with Trevor Noah, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the covers of Time, Newsweek, Fortune and The New York Times Book Review, the Tim Ferriss podcast, the oped page and Saturday Essay of The Wall Street Journal and the front page of The New York Times.

He is far more proud of the accomplishments of his growing team at Fortier PR, where he enjoys applying the management lessons he’s learned from the best leaders and business school professors who are our clients. Previously Mark held positions at Penguin U.S.A. and Columbia University Press.


Mark is a graduate of Wesleyan University, and has studied at New York University and the University of London. His work has been recognized by Newsday, The New York Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Publishers Weekly, Book Publishing Report, and PRWeek. He has written about book publicity for numerous trade publications, and has lectured on book publicity at the Public Relations Society of America national convention, the Association of American University Presses, the New York Advertising and Communications Network and Thinkers 50. An interview with Mark is included as a chapter in several books including Publicize Your Book, What No One Ever Tells You About Blogging and Podcasting and How to Write a Business Book That Matters.

Several years ago... I had the pleasure of meeting the folks at Fortier Public Relations

Thanks to Tom Peters. I'll come back to this...

For over sixteen years, FPR has represented Pulitzer Prize winners, 208 books on the bestseller list including 76 in the last two years, 21 #1 bestsellers, and books by 33 of the Thinkers 50 list of the world’s leading business thinkers including Jim Collins, Clayton Christensen, Seth Godin, Marcus Buckingham, and Amy Edmondson, journalists like Maria Bartiromo, virtually every publishing house, and the CEOs, presidents and/or founders of Starbucks, Facebook, Alphabet, Google, GM, Citigroup, IBM, CVS Health, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, AT&T, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, BP, Deloitte, Whole Foods Market, Best Buy, Honeywell, Home Depot, Yum! Brands, IDEO, Innosight, Mayo Clinic, Nokia, Aetna, NASDAQ, AIG, BP, Gallup, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Hearst Magazines, MetLife, Seventh Generation, Medtronic, The Container Store, Dunkin Donuts, Texas Roadhouse, Gilt Groupe, Korn Ferry, Kleiner Perkins, Burson-Marsteller, Kickstarter, Nielsen, Razorfish, Reddit, Salomon Brothers, SHRM, The Harris Poll, JWT, Loews Hotels, Equinox, Flywheel, Putnam Investments, Oaktree Capital, Paychex, Guardian Life, MetLife, LRN, Compass, Twilio, The Philadelphia 76ers (NBA), Brooks Running, Mandalay Entertainment, The Conference Board, Summit Series, Russell Reynolds, HubSpot, YSC, Okta, Snowflake, Nest, Stanford University and Simmons University.

I really don't know exactly how it happened, but a few years ago I (chased? stalked?) ah, I reached out to Tom Peters (via social media, no less...) about his new book. I thought he would make a great interview - and we could promote his new book via the interview. It took a few tries, but Tom Peters finally said yes. I might have begged, not sure. I remember it like it was yesterday - landing that Tom Peters interview. Tom Freakin' Peters! It was THAT Tom Peters interview that put us on the map - with the folks at Fortier. That interview lead to another, and another author from Fortier PR - the award-winning Manhattan based PR firm for business and nonfiction authors and thought leaders.

When we interview someone famous, their community becomes our community. Actors, Authors, Thought Leaders, Subject Matter Experts - those NYDLAcast.com interviews now attract millions

Show me a Tom Peters fan, and I'll show you someone who should www.JoinNYDLA.org - full stop. Yes, Tom Peters was our first big interview. And now, 100+ AMAZING interviews later...

What does Tom Capone think of Mark Fortier - and of all the folks at Fortier PR?

Sing it with me...

… Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends

Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends

Yes, I get by with a little help from my friends

With a little help from my friends...




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