Archive of posts from February 2024

“Post valuable content.”

Nope. That’s changing.

Why?

‘Cus AI moved the goalposts:

People let GPTs write their stuff.
People let AI generate their graphics.
People delegate all that to other people.
People even delegate social engagement.

Average production is worthless now.
People gave their voices away.
This is what ‘value’ is today.
It’s boring, samey, soulless.

Yuck.

People are desperate for something new.
People are desperate for real experiences.
People are desperate for things to look forward to.

That takes time…but it puts you ahead of 99%.

We don’t want your daily quips.

We want you to take the time.

Which do you prefer:

A: a cold templated mass email
B: a warm thoughtful gift email

A: a newsletter of thoughts & pitches
B: a newsletter of value & 1:1 support


A: a dull webpage convincing you to buy
B: a fun webpage solving a problem

A: an ad telling you to buy something
B: an ad inviting you to see something fun

A: content you’d avoid in your downtime
B: content you’d enjoy anytime

Create accordingly.

How well do you know your target audience?

Here are 10 things you should know:

1. Questions, proclamations or stats that lower buyer defences
2. How they’d describe what you do in casual conversation
3. What trust/proof/endorsement they really care about
4. What they wish for, that isn’t yet reality
5. What they don’t have, but want to have
6. What they fear, in their current condition
7. How they feel about that lack/fear
8. What they can’t do because of that
9. How they’d describe having the solution
10. What they’d be free of if it was solved

When working on brand messaging, my list is >50 items long.

But just get these 10 right and you’ll be ahead of 90%.

The “holy grail” of marketing?

It’s not what you want to hear:

“Talk to your customers.”

You may:

• want a different secret
• want it to be more ‘scalable’
• want it to be tech or AI based
• want it to not involve a phone

But I:

• want to build things people love
• want for them to want to buy it
• want it to be simple + repeatable

Are you still looking for a secret?

Or too busy building what people love?

I use my Mac in practically the same way I did 10 years ago.

Same text editor, browser, mail app, file organisation, settings, config, the list goes on (I keep a list of my tools here).

Why?

Because each time I let myself get caught up in whatever ‘new’ stuff is out there, it distracts me from two things:

1. The muscle-memory, skills, comfort, confidence and speed I’ve developed through using these tools.

2. The focus of doing great work, rather than tinkering with new toys.

Yes, some parts of the setup are strange. I have a Wacom stylus in my hand while using a text editor that only responds to keyboard inputs (no cursor input detected.) I miss out on some of the ‘productivity hacks’ often touted by ‘productivity hacks’ online.

But none of those hacks surpass mastery over your tools, and no shortcut outpaces the simple act of staying focused on the things that matter.

I add tools when there’s a hole. I release tools when there’s excess.

For the rest of the time, my tools work for me, not the other way around.

Simple is better than shiny when simple produces great work and shiny only slows you down.

Well, that didn’t take long.

Most blogs you’ll visit nowadays are leveraging AI to some degree.

Whether it’s ideas, first drafts or editing, AI is making its way into all of the writing you see online.

Not here. Not mine. No sir.

Words are a decision.

The way we choose our words says something about us. It lets us see something about a person, or a brand, in that moment.

A birthday card from your mother doesn’t feel the same if she asked an assistant to write and send one on her behalf.

A love note from your partner doesn’t feel the same if AI made it instead.

Something is lost when that happens.

That’s why I choose my own words.

If something has my name on it, it means I wrote it.

In a world where most people’s words aren’t their own words, you can stand out by simply being one of the remaining few who speak for themselves. Who let their opinions form and idea muscles flex on a daily basis.

You can be a rare voice where no AI is found.

We think attention, conversion and retention happen after each other.

“Get attention, convert into customer, then retain as a customer.”

But that’s not how it works.

All three things happen at once, all of the time.

When you create attention, you also do user retention.

It’s not just about being seen, but being discovered, and having your choice of market positively associate with you and what you stand for. It’s not about making sure people don’t forget about you, it’s about being unforgettable.

When you create conversions, you also create attention.

A conversion isn’t the end, but the beginning, and that person should have their attention directed toward a wealth of exciting things to come. It’s not about ‘sealing the deal’, it’s about making it the first step in an exciting adventure they can’t wait to start.

When you do user retention, you also do attention and conversion.

A retained credit card and a retained person are different things. It’s not just about running the card each month, it’s about renewing their love for the brand each month. A user can still be retained long after they’ve cancelled a service, and refer others to it often, thanks to that positive brand affinity.

I go into more detail on this topic in this week’s issue of The Productoon Newsletter. Check it out!

Competing for attention is the wrong game.

More and more are trying, it’s harder than ever.

It’s awesome. Why?

Because it means less competition for the real game:

Being the show, not the commercial break.

While they’re:

• pumping out more content
• running more sensational ads
• hammering DMs harder
• discounting their prices

You can be:

• making things they look forward to
• amplifying what works with ad spend
• letting folks come to you when ready
• letting folks spread the word for you

We want less commercials.

We want more shows we love.

Be the show.

Most marketers have this upside down.

They think being ‘omnipresent’ is how you win.

It’s not.

If:

• 91% of buyers think ads are getting more intrusive
• 64% of buyers cite shared values as reason they love a brand
• 500% more sales from word-of-mouth than conventional paid media

Then:

• Being ‘omnipresent’ is an impossible battle
• A relationship with your chosen few is a superpower
• Being in curated places you like is a supercharger

Don’t be ‘omnipresent’, retargeting and following-up to death.

Be ‘present’ with your weird bunch, in their weird places.

And when you are, put on a show they’ll never forget.

What people think user retention is:

• Still paying for the service
• Badgering users to upgrade
• Making cancellation difficult

What user retention really is:

• Emotionally invested in the brand
• Actively looks for things to buy from you
• Refers users years after they cancelled

Retain the whole person.

Not just CC information.

Think you need to produce more content? Post more times a day? Guru as a verb all over social media?

Heads up:

There is no content shortage.

There’s a delight shortage.

So create and publish things people will sorely miss when you’re gone.

Are you ‘available’?

‘Available’ means you’re ready to be interrupted:

You’re available for incoming chat messages that expect an immediate response.

You’re available to receive more emails from people asking for your attention.

You’re available to swap deep work for light chatter when anyone asks.

You’re available to be taken away from the focus your work needs from you.

You’re available to receive push notifications from every marketer behind every app.

You’re ‘available’.

Don’t be available.

We were discussing this over tea this morning:

I’m certain about a very small number of things.

Often, online gurus will tell you to be certain about everything you turn your hand to. I tried tricking myself into thinking that way, but it never really felt right. It never really felt ‘me’.

In reality, I’m far more likely to find comfort in uncertainty. In being okay not knowing everything. In there being more to learn. In being a student of my craft, for the past 20 years and for the next 20 years.

Certainty is blindness. It’s accepting a definitive conclusion with no space left to explore if I’m wrong.

I’m certain of things like my love for my family, or of my commitment to love and protect my wife and son for as long as I live. But everything else? I leave a little space for doubt. For uncertainty. For the ability to maneuver and turn around, like a vehicle on a narrow street.

I think the certainties make me a better husband and father.

I think the uncertainties make me a better creator.

Pick your certainties wisely. Let them appear only in areas you’re happy to be blind.

How do you turn your customers into your salesforce?

That’s what we’re covering today.

In just 5 steps, since simple is better than complex:

Step 1: Don’t start with what they want.

Start with what they believe.

When you go to market with their beliefs, seeing your work gives their brain a massage.

They’ll feel like they “belong” around you, rather than merely exist in your world.

Step 2: Don’t just make what they want.

Make what they want, and give it to them how they love to receive it. You want both ‘want’ and ‘love’ represented here.

They’ll feel like they “look forward” to your work, rather than merely “use” or “consume” it.

Step 3: De-platform through brilliance.

If you email or post about something you’ve prepared (content, say) and it could have existed on-platform (eg a video, or a graphic), then they’ll just wonder why you’re taking them off-platform.

Give them an experience their platform (email, social, etc) can’t possibly contain. Something interactive, immersive, something special.

They’ll feel like they can’t wait to click, rather than needing to be convinced.

Step 4: Give them a ticket to ride.

Moving from that page to your product should be a rollercoaster of fun and problem-solving.

If it’s fun, solves a problem and gives them prizes before they’re even done getting set up, they associate you with progress, with results, with success.

And that’s powerful stuff, when your competitors just throw them a form and call it good.

Step 5: Make your success their success.

Most of the time, customers don’t care how well you’re doing. And they’ve no interest in helping you achieve your goals. That is, unless you make your success their success.

Referral bonuses, milestone giveaways, badges, points, prizes, whatever you choose, make certain that every time you succeed, they succeed.

Now they’ll conspire to help you succeed because of what it gets them. Of course, they’ll continue not caring about how your competitors are doing.

I go into more detail on this topic in this week’s issue of The Productoon Newsletter. Check it out!

You know that huge list of things you want to get done…

…but just feels overwhelming?

You might need a Judo list.

Here’s what it consists of:

1. You write your challenges, one by one, with the word “Restate” at the start.

For example, “Restate getting website’s features/benefits icons all made up.”

Another example could be, “Create SOPs for all components of our new service.”

1. Underneath the challenge, write down what you already know would be a much, much simpler solution than the one you were agonising about.

For the icons example, the Judo answer could be, “Ship the website without the icons, it shouldn’t hold up deployment.”

For the SOPs example, the Judo answer could be, “Make a doc in the system we already use, write up as I go, and let that be enough.”

Your Judo list will squash your roadblocks.

Your Judo list will maintain pace, and help you ship more often.

You should start a Judo list.

You have an untapped salesforce.

• Hiding right under your nose
• Always eager to sell
• Costs you nothing

You just didn’t notice it.

Let’s fix that:

1. Stop selling ‘at’ your customers
2. Start edutaining ‘for’ your customers
3. Repeat to convert customers into fans
4. Give opportunities to spread the word

Results:

• They learn & grow thanks to you
• They have a BLAST doing it
• They look forward to your next move
• They enjoy sharing it with others

Get out of the ‘convincing’ business.

Get into the ‘falling in love’ business.

Your users are your salesforce.

• Your leads
• Your customers
• Your JV partners
• Your team

ALL of these can:

• Follow and like content
• Refer you to others
• Forward your newsletter
• Buy your products
• Amplify your work online

Nurture them accordingly.

Sales are not the goal.

Sales are the starting line. Here’s why:

When they’re the goal:

• Close as many leads as possible
• Close at all costs, persuade harder
• Chase bad-fit leads to make quota
• Growth comes from selling more

When they’re the start:

• Delight as many customers as possible
• Turn them into fans, edutain harder
• Reject bad-fit leads to focus on fans
• Growth comes from fans inviting others

R=≥1 fans is better than +1 customers.(It’s also a more fun business to run!)

Only lazy businesses have competitors.

Here’s how to turn competitors into fans:

A competitor:

• Same race, for the same resources
• Sees your success as their problem
• Follows your marketing to replicate wins
• Wants to beat you at your thing
• Celebrates when you lose

A fan:

• You winning your race = they win theirs
• Sees your success as worth celebrating
• Follows your marketing because it’s fun
• Wants you to be #1 at your thing
• Offers to support you when you lose

5 steps to turn competitors into fans:

• Communicate like they’re already a fan
• Amplify what makes you unique
• Amplify what makes them unique
• Put on the best show in your space
• Invite them to the show

TL;DR: Subniche, edutain, and play nice.

Think of you’ll achieve when you can turn your enemies into your biggest advocates.

Small ventures require less people. Less people means faster pivots and more media/code-based leverage.

Small ventures require less overhead. Less overhead means more profit and less deal flow to get it.

Small ventures require less complexity. Less complexity means less time managing and more time doing.

Small ventures require less.

That’s a superpower.

The secret to generating great marketing ideas?
It comes in the form of two pills.

Two big, tough-to-swallow pills.

And today, we’re going to cover them. (If I were you, I’d grab a glass of water.)

I swallowed them by accident over 20 years ago, back in high school when I made video games for the other kids to play on lab computers.

Some games flopped and got laughed at (lame).

But others? Everyone played them. Even the school bullies.

So if I was able to swallow them back in my teens, you can swallow them as a full-grown adult with market experience.

Here’s the first pill, open wide:

Ask your customers what they like to watch/see/read.

Simple enough, but most folks would rather blow through ad budgets than simply ask the question and get insights up front.

Here’s the second pill, here comes the airplane:

Ask your customers how they love to consume content.

Simple again, but everyone has preferred types of entertainment. If you’re not making things in the way they enjoy, they’re far less likely to enjoy yours!

I go into more detail on this topic in this week’s issue of The Productoon Newsletter. Check it out!

Your landing page = DELIGHT or DWIGHT?

Let’s see if yours ranks highly or not…

It’s DELIGHT if it:

• Solves a real problem PRE opt-in
• Solves a problem they actually have
• Solves it in a way they will enjoy
• Is built with real customer feedback

It’s DWIGHT if it:

• Just tells people what to do
• Gives no solutions, only rules
• Doesn’t show people a good time
• References Battlestar Galactica

Which do you think is more popular? 😉

AI is carjacking user satisfaction. GTA-style.

It’s yanking humans out of the seat, driving off, and crashing the account down the road.

• Chatbots are easier than manning chat
• Ticketing systems are easier than email
• GPTs are easier than writing

And… it kind of sucks.

Users don’t get the UX they want. We feel like a number. Invisible.

“Thank you for holding, your call is very UN-important to us.”

But it’s not AI’s fault.

It’s our fault.

AI is great at UX enhancement.
AI is awful at UX replacement.

There’s a super-easy fix:

Want to show users you care?
↳ Show them you care!

Want to make users feel special?
↳ Make them feel special!

Want them to feel worthy of your time?
↳ Treat them that way!

Use AI to ENHANCE a delightful user experience.

But don’t forget that a delightful user experience is the goal.

Why your customers leave (using marriage as a metaphor).

When dating:
↳ Restaurants, Gifts, Movies, Attention.

When married:
↳ Mealtimes, Xbox.

We know what happens next:

• “Where did our spark go?”
• “We never talk anymore”
• “I don’t feel special”
• “Do you still love me?”

Customers leave when you take them being here for granted.

Never stop dating your customers.

Most brands are “bankrupt”.

Here’s how to raise your “trust balance”:

Zero balance with audience?
↳ they won’t want your offers

How to increase balance?
↳ SOLVE problems for free w/ marketing

That’s the point of marketing.
To solve problems for fun.

So while others pitch with zero balance…
You:

• Run ads that delight & educate
• Make pages to solve problems for fun
• Let them sign up for more solutions

That means:

• Your brand balance = positive
• Your audience = ready to buy

Now, they don’t feel sold to.

Now? They can’t WAIT to see what you’ve made next.

Social influencers like to remind us we have one life. One shot. One chance.

And that’s true.

But then they miss the point:

The point isn’t to amass as many riches as you possibly can before dying.

The point isn’t to go harder, faster, always, forgetting why you started.

The point isn’t to take on more tasks, meetings, duties, neglecting those back home.

The point isn’t to adopt other people’s goals as your own because of peer pressure or culture.

The point is to do you.

So do you.

No time for ‘great’? Sounds like a problem.

Many creators and marketers fall into this trap:

“I was told I need to make 64 pieces of content per day!”

As though there’s an international ‘content’ shortage.

As though YouTube is experiencing an upload drought.

As though everyone hit the bottom of their timelines and wondered “what now?”

There isn’t a content shortage. There’s a delight shortage.

For all the YouTube content out there, most people don’t have more than 2–3 channels they really, really like.

See the opportunity yet? Consider this:

Have a piece of content you run each week (or bi-weekly, or monthly) that doesn’t chase attention. At all. It simply sows seeds. It’s thoughtful, well-produced, makes you proud, and contains easter-eggs for fans to discover.

When people discover it, they’ll be blown away. They may even tell their friends.

I cover this topic in a little more detail in this week’s issue of The Productoon newsletter. Check it out!

“Meat Before Metal.”

Try to remember that phrase; here’s how it helps guide your product marketing automations:

1. Evaluating automation tools is worthless until you’ve first done the tasks manually. Only then do you know what truly needs automation, what benefits from a human touch, and what should be eliminated (instead of automated). That‘s the “Meat” part (you!)

2. Once you’ve done the task with “Meat”, you can start applying “Metal” (machines, automation) in the most high-value areas first, one at a time. You’re able to evaluate automation tools not just on their philosophies or sales letters, but on which actually best solves the problem at hand.

3. The result is effective, fit-for-purpose automation where it’s needed.

THE most important email marketing ‘tool’?

YOUR inbox.

Ask questions of your audience. Understand what they most want to hear, and how they’d love to hear it. Understand the challenges they face, and how they’d love to address them.

Solve it for them, personally and individually. Did it work? Did they love it? Was it successful?

Then make a campaign out of it: package up the best solution, and give it to everyone. You already know that’ll be a huge hit!