Who said the best defense is a good offense?
The exact origin of the phrase is unknown, but it has been popularized by American heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey. Here are the most notable figures associated with the sentiment:
Jack Dempsey: The boxer made the exact phrasing famous in the sports world, stating it was his primary strategy.
George Washington: He expressed a similar sentiment in 1799, writing that "offensive operations, often times, is the surest... means of defense".
Sun Tzu: Centuries earlier, the Chinese military strategist wrote in The Art of War that "Attack is the secret of defense; defense is the planning of an attack".
Carl von Clausewitz: The famous Prussian military theorist wrote a nearly identical concept: "The best form of defense is attack".
I have spent my entire career selling. I started selling 'Car Phones' when the NYNEX Mobile System first went live in the NY CGSA (Cellular Geographic Service Area) back in the 80s. There were only 9 Cell Sites at the time, service was spotty (and expensive!) and the phones themselves were a few thousand dollars. Want one?
Way back then I ran a TV Ad on our local Cable station that cost me $900 for the month. At the time, I think I had $995 in the bank. My first 'lead' was the guy that ran UPS for the Northeast. He lived in Budd Lake, New Jersey and drove to Secaucus, NJ every day. I have blogged on this story in the past. That one initial sale led to thousands of 'car phones' in the UPS trucks (and Executives Cars) in the Northeast. And then, nationwide. Do you think that the guy that ran UPS from Maine to Virginia could give me any referrals?
After 40+ years in sales and marketing, I can honestly say that generating high quality LEADS is the most important thing in business. Nothing happens until someone sells something. And you cannot sell anything to anyone if they do not ENGAGE with you. And to get them to engage you need to win their ATTENTION. So it goes...
Attention > Engagement > Adoption > Utilization.
1983 - 2026. Because I run the (now) Global Distance Learning Association (GlobalDLA.org) I get to interview hundreds of people from the top Schools of Business around the world. We have all 8 Ivy League Schools, and 174K+ K-20 schools in the NYDLA | NADLA ecosystem. And we have access to the ALUMNI of these schools.
I owned the CLOdepot.com domain for many years, which originally stood for Chief Learning Officer. I was going to (planned to) build out a new business (like a riff on Home Depot) to service the Learning Officers of the world. You have CEOs, CFOs, CTOs, CIOs, CMOs and there are now CLOs.
But I have changed my mind. CLOdepot.com is going to be dedicated to the Chief Leads Officer.
For the first time in history, Penn State World Campus has more people paying them tuition than Penn State. Purdue University Online has more paying students than Purdue University. Rutgers University has 615K+ living alumni, with 380K+ of them living in New Jersey (like me!).
2026: all of these 174K+ K-20 schools are now competing with each other. If you attend Stanford Online you are not going to ALSO attend MIT Online. If you go to UCONN online, you will not ALSO attend Quinnipiac Online. So all of these 174K+ schools are competing for you attention. They are all competing for your tuition dollars.
Right now, today I could use tools like Adobe to send a 100% opt-in, zero spam campaign (email, mail, phone calls, SMS) to the 174K+ online schools serviced by the NYDLA | NADLA. If 10% engaged:
- That is 17,400 MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads)
- And if 10% of the engage that is 1,740 SQLs (Sales Qualified Leads)
- And if 10% of the the SQLs BUY that is 174+ sales. REVENUE!
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