Archive of posts from June 2024

Better than email productivity hacks?
Having fewer emails.

Better than calendar/schedule optimisations?
Having less to do.

Better than efficient meeting schedulers?
Having fewer calls.

Fewer emails won’t cost you.
Most of them weren’t important anyway.

Less to do won’t cost you.
You already know how much time you waste.

Less meetings won’t hold you back.
The tire-kickers weren’t worth your time anyway.

Sometimes, less is better than better.

Be slower to upgrade to new tools
because you think you need new features.

You may have exactly what you need already
if you only took the time to master them.

You receive an Amazon parcel.

Instead of an Amazon logo on it, you see a giant photo of Bezos’ face.

Bit weird…

Fortunately, he stepped down as CEO in 2021. Phew!

Whether we like it or not, the Profile Picture is the new Logo.

Bezos’ brand affects how we see Amazon.
Cook’s brand affects how we see Apple.
Elon’s brand affects how we see Tesla.

Tesla stock tumbles as Elon stumbles.

But it’s a good thing, really.

Because while everyone else is still paralyzed at the thought of a thousand photos of Bezos piling up in their recycling basket, you can be busy applying edutainment principles to your personal brand.

First, let’s remind ourselves of the big three elements of edutainment:

• WHAT they want
• HOW they want to receive it
• Un-ignorably good delivery

For personal brands:

WHAT they want also includes storytelling. Because people have transformations, overcome challenges, and shop at Amazon.

HOW they want to receive it includes personal connection. Because we want to feel like we’re on this journey together.

Un-ignorably good delivery includes you. Whether you’re a real human or a cartoon character, we want to see you, hear from you, and get to know you.

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

99% don’t bring enough care to their work:

• They settle for good-enough production
• They copy their peers almost verbatim
• They hunt for shortcuts & ‘hacks’

What that don’t realise is:

• Good enough isn’t good enough now
• Copying just makes you a knock-off
• Shortcuts shortchange potential

Meanwhile, 1% is prepared to:

- Revere quality in everything they offer

• Bring variety and options to market
• Pursue mastery, not shortcuts

I’ve seen it first-hand many times:

You’ve no idea how much easier everything is when you build like that 1%.

I paid $100 for a plastic tiger-bunny. Twice.

A lesson on why customers actually leave:

In my experience, it’s not:

• Offer/guarantee
• Product range
• Price per unit

It’s far more likely to be:

• Insufficient relational capital
• Insufficient value exchange
• Insufficient excitement
• Insufficient loyalty

People buy what engages them, not what converts them.
People stay with what engages them, not what convinces them

So make them feel engaged.
Across your marketing & product,
Make what they want, how they love to receive it.
Make it edutaining. It’s an engagement superpower.

Not only will we keep paying for that,
We’ll buy things we don’t even need.
Like plastic tiger-bunnies.

Algorithms are like children.

They think they know what they want…

But:

• They love tasty (like chocolate)
• They hate healthy (like vegetables)

But growth comes from depth of connection.

The algo is giving everyone chocolate,
When we need them to eat their veg.

The only logical solution?

‘Healthy chocolate.’

• Tastes good
• Makes them better
• Guilt-free consumption
• More exposure to your brand
• More likely to purchase from you

So, create healthy chocolate.

That way, both you and algorithms can win together.

Before you ‘delegate’…

Before you ‘automate’…

Spend more time with ‘Eliminate’.

It has so much more to offer than it first appears.

For example, consider a client fulfillment system. Let’s say you need a kick-off call to initiate the project and collect some important information.

Do you?

Break it down:

You might need some important information from the client. You might need to relay some important information to the client. You might need to answer some questions they have. And you’d like to make your experience feel human and personal.

‘Eliminating’ that call makes the step even better:

• Now you need great training material they’ll be able to consume faster than you could relay live, while enjoying it more
• Now you need a great intake form that feels personal, engaging, and digs deeper than you may have live
• Now you need to innovate around how to let them feel intimately connected with you, such as including a personalised video plus choice contact information they can use in emergencies

Eliminating the call, made the call better.

You can do this with so many things.

So before you delegate…

And before you automate…

Remember:

See what Elimination has to offer you.

Best practices aren’t the best.

They’re just common.

They’re Common practices.

Anything that circulates for long enough within an echo chamber quickly becomes best practice.

If you genuinely want ‘best’, don’t take best practices at face value.

Because Common is seldom Best.

Conversion rate optimisation had a good run.

That run is over.

Sure, we need designs to be good. To give users the information they’re looking for. To be easy to use, easy to trust, with clear progression goals.

But ‘squeezing’ users to convert? That’s over.

Peppering them with “but wait, there’s more” conversion tactics? Over.

Done.

It’s not about optimising for conversions at all costs anymore.

It’s about giving people what they want, how they love to receive it, and making them want to do it again.

For example:

“A strong point of view” isn’t why some developers follow DHH, the creator of Rails and prominent Rubyist. It’s the feeling he gets their point of view (counter-cultural views), is entertaining to watch (he gets mad a lot), and they want to see what happens next.

“Great videos” aren’t why aspiring entrepreneurs follow Gary Vee. It’s the feeling he has what they want (large footprint, lucrative businesses), is enjoyable to watch (he comes across as fairly ready-fire-aim with his words), and they want to see what happens next.

“Great art” isn’t why designer toy collectors collect things like Kidrobot or Superplastic. It’s the feeling they sees the world as you do (challenging status quo), is enjoyable to look at (fun designs), and they want to be involved in what happens next (what limited-run products will drop, or what it reveals about you, or what conversations it’ll spark in the community, etc).

People don’t believe in gods for the gods. It’s the feeling they’re seen in lieu of their flaws, they love how it feels to be righted in that, and look forward to what comes next (usually a prosperous afterlife).

Even for fans of a dead artist’s work, there’s the feeling they found great work and love how it looks or sounds, and want to find other collectors and see what happens to the price of original goods and community of other fans. Most of the best dead artists have this to some degree around their work.

But conversion optimisation? That’s just to squeeze more commitment out of someone than they’re ready for.

Get them to engage more with the whole thing and they’ll barely slow down to notice your page A/B test.

Automation is like a giant onion.

It makes your meal tastier… unless your meal is an onion.

So let’s look at how you can automate to enhance your work (instead of bringing everybody to tears)</p>

Bad ways to automate:

• Use low-pay low-skill offshore talent services. Where there are people, hire masters, train masterfully, or both.
• Replace human touch with templates. When challenger brands act like faceless corps, users choose the latter.
• Daisy-chain no-code tools and call it a ‘service’. Do you deem microwave dinners and restaurants comparable?
• Strip away fun, UX, and theatre because it’s not ‘essential’. Despite those being why users feel attached to you.

Good ways to automate:

• Automate when it’s better than you alone. Eg common questions are best answered with a short email + a thoughtful pre-made video, than as an email alone.
• Create leverage when others are better than you. Eg sending all video tasks to a great animator, instead of just doing talking-head selfies, for stickier videos.
• Incorporate each that outperforms manual input. Eg creating scripts that batch-process social graphics to different sizes as you’d do it. Just like you, but faster.
• Use all that recovered time to enhance the user experience. Eg creating immersive onboarding experiences, interactive de-platforming ad experiences, or better content.

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

Around this time of year, big tech shares its new toys.

New features. New tools. New technology. New functionality.

But does any of it really make your work better?

Artists:
Do you really use Photoshop that much differently now than you did 10 years ago?
Sure, your skill may have grown, and client needs may change, but really?

Writers:
Do you really write scripts that much differently now than you did 10 years ago?
Sure, you may have become a better writer, but how much of that was from features?

Developers:
Do you really write code that much differently now than you did 10 years ago?
Sure, some languages may have come/gone, but vim is still vim, right?

‘New and improved’ is sold to us as ‘better’.

What if it’s not ‘better’, but merely ‘different’?

What if not upgrading and changing everything all the time is actually ‘better’?

Something to think about when everyone’s showing off new toys.

Your market is not over-saturated.

Your market is desperate for quality.

Your market is looking for:

• Their favourite type of content
• Their favourite type of videos
• Their favourite type of pages
• Their favourite type of offers
• Their favourite type of interfaces
• Their favourite type of onboarding
• Their favourite type of referral system — Their favourite type of brand to fanboy over

None of us are ‘big fans’ of many brands.

So know what they want. Sweat in the details. Make it quality.

Remember: we’re still the golden years of brand-building.

‘Killer offers’ are mid.

1. They make you sound like a dodgy hustler,
2. They make relationships feel transactional,
3. They damage trust, a lot.

Our timelines & DMs ares full of them.

(If I roll my eyes harder I’ll need a new prescription)

Do this so we don’t go blind:

Make WHAT people want
Make it HOW they want to receive it
Make it SO good they can’t ignore it.

They like real, human chat? Give ’em that.

They like watching fun videos? Give ’em that.

They like buying from folks understand them? Be those folks.

Remember: There’s a quality shortage out here.

Not spoken to any potential customers in a week?

Here’s what you’re missing out on…

(Put a helmet on ’cus you may want to kick yourself)

What potential customers know:

• What has their attention at the moment
• What their problems feel like right now
• What their inner-narrative sounds like
• What ‘cheap’ and ‘expensive’ mean - What they think progress feels like
• What they think the solution is - What they’ve tried that failed
• What ‘easy’ and ‘hard’ mean - What they’re afraid of doing
• What they enjoy consuming
• What ‘no-brainer’ looks like
• What they’ll look forward to

What you know:

KACLUNK!

I’m told that’s the sound it makes when the penny finally drops. (And pennies are a sound you’ll want to get used to)

Do these 3 things:

1. Talk to customers,
2. Have a process for organising that data,
3. Implement what it reveals.


Then put that helmet away, champ. Can’t hear customers with it on.

Happy Fathers Day!

A day to celebrate the importance of your relationship with your little one.

A day to remember why you do what you do with your time and energy.

A day to fast-forward and look back from the future, checking on today’s efforts.

A day to rewind and look forward to today, checking we’re doing what we planned.

None of us get out of this alive. Make the time count.

10 ways to retain more customers
(without locking them in a box)

• Build brand personality with edutainment
• Swap scarcity for limited-run goodies
• Never use AI chatbots; humans only
• Talk to customers more, learn them
• Produce more on-narrative content
• Learn what their inner-narrative is
• Make invitations instead of offers
• Make a better user experience
• Show your users a good time
• Optimise for fans, not LTV

Which will you try next week?


Will AI eventually replace YOU?

There’s a simple test to find out.

It’s very simple:

1. Take one of your social posts at random
2. Take a random competitor’s social post
3. Swap who said which (visually or in your mind)
4. Show them to someone who follows you

If they look at the competitor’s one (which is secretly yours)…
And they don’t think, “Hey, they ripped your material”…
…You’re replaceable.

If they look at your one (which is secretly the competitor’s)…
And they don’t think, “Hm, that doesn’t sound like you”…
…You’re replaceable.

You’d know if your mother or best friend had a personality transplant.
Because you know who they are. And you like them for it. You trust them for it.

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

A short lesson about ‘caring’

(from 100s of client projects):

After consulting & creating for:

• Bootstrapped startups
• VC backed startups
• Multinationals
• Fortune500

The biggest winners approved:

• qualitative user interviews
• creating what users love
• branded world-building
• edutainment content

As for the biggest losers:

• just copy competitors
• educational but dull
• never talk to users
• always cheap out

Simply put?

They cared more about their customers.
They cared more about the experience.
They cared more about their wants.
They cared more about the details.

Sad but true: caring is a competitive advantage.

Is your landing page Delight or Dwight?

A marketing lesson from The Office:

Delight:

• An experience to be enjoyed
• Clearly solves your problem along the way
• Relatable visual metaphors and in-jokes

Dwight:

• Terse instructions with bullets and graph
• No fun, no experience, just do as you’re told
• Un-relatable Battlestar Galactica references

Each time you make ANY marketing asset, ask yourself, “Is this Delight or Dwight?”

The number 1 reason ads fail:

Not the ICP. Not the Offer. It’s this.

It may be WHAT they want.
But it’s not HOW they want it:

Educating viewers? Do it how they love consuming.

Call to action? Invite them to a good time.

Using humour? Use their humour.

Producing content? Make their favourite kind.

People like eating chocolate more than salad.
Even though salad is better for them.
So make them healthy chocolate.

You’re tracking the wrong data.

You might be tracking the ‘easy data’:

• Site visits
• Email opens
• Offer signups

But optimising for those can cause problems.

The solution? Track sentiment:

Swap ‘clicks’ for ‘how excited they are to join’.

Swap ‘cancellations’ for ‘how eager they are to stay’.

Swap ‘affiliate signups’ for ‘fans’.

It’s harder to track.

’Cus when done right,
It blows up your charts.

Notebooks are a life hack.

When you write digitally, you can backspace it out. Delete it. Pretend it never existed. You’ll never look back on those notes. You’ll forget to carry them with you to whatever new note apps you try out.

You lose your history, your thoughts, your journey.

And you lose your ability to commit to thoughts.

It’s like you never wrote them down at all.

But when you jot notes on paper? It’s there. Undeletable. It exists. They’re easy to look back on by flicking through pages. You’ll put it in a drawer, and know precisely how to ‘access them’ later.

You gain a better log of freeform thinking.

You gain confidence in your own mind.

Sure, type up the useful stuff. You can search for it, share it, and all manner of useful things.

But thinking?

That’s done best on paper.

Brands are dying and don’t even know it.

They just need to remember one thing:

Don’t go overdrawn on Relational Capital.

That means: if a new sale doesn’t…

• make folks ask to buy more,
• create a new fan,
• create referrals,

…then each time you ‘sell’, you ‘spent’ goodwill.

And need to build it back up with value.

But if a new sale causes those things?
You win.

So before you ask, ask yourself:
“Is this giving more than it asks for? And is it enjoyable?”

Is personal branding really what you think it is?

It’s not about making people like brands. It’s the opposite.

Personal branding is about making brands like people. Let’s explore how in 3 steps:

1. Flip it upside down

If you’re branding yourself, don’t try to become like a company.

Companies don’t even want to be like companies. They want people to form relationships with them, to be seen as relatable and trustworthy, with shared beliefs and shared culture. Put another way, they want to be people. Doesn’t matter what you’re branding. Could be yourself. Could be your company

Don’t brand either like a company. Brand it like a person.

2. Design a friend

Now we have a person, let’s turn it into a friend.

What’s the difference between people and friends? Friends do the above things. They’re relatable and trustworthy. They have shared beliefs and shared culture. They know how to get great gifts, or show you a great time. They know what you like, how you like to receive it. They know what you think is awesome, or lame. They know what tickles your funny-bone.

That’s who people like spending time with. Design that.

3. Focus on the big three

Now we have a personality (person or company) people want to be around.

Now you just need to do what that person would do. Continue to learn what they want, how they love to receive it. And continually express that to them in the most unignorably-awesome ways you possibly can.

Now we’ve turned that friend into a BFF.

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

Creating content is like creating sandwiches.

Everyone has their favourite kind of sandwich. Favourite bread, cut, etc.

So learn to make those kinds of sandwiches.

Then get creative with how you fill them.

The algorithmic and cultural benefits of making a favourite gets you in the room.

The best filling keeps them coming back for more.

I didn’t get into many fights at school.

But one time I thought I was gonna get my butt kicked:

The school bully says to me in the corridor:
“Adam, meet me here at lunch.”

Gulp.

I go.
(Wondering what Ryu would do; Shoryuken maybe?)

The bully shows up.
And says to me:

“I absolutely LOVE this game. We need to plan tournaments.”

Huh?

One of the games I made & sold on the schoolyard was so popular, even the bruisers wanted to get involved!

2 big take-aways that day:

• Do work so good your enemies become fans
• Practice Shoryuken

Brands are like banks.

You need to know your brand ‘account balance’:

Make ‘deposits’ into your audience with huge value. Try to ‘withdraw’ too early, you’ll go overdrawn.

How to know your brand account balance?

Answer these questions:

1. Do folks adore what they buy from you?
2. Are folks asking to buy more things from you?

If YES to both, your brand’s account balance is growing.

If NO to either, your brand’s account balance is shrinking.

Get 2 Yesses and you’re not ‘withdrawing’ anymore.

You’re ‘investing’.

I’ve made 747 comics.

3 things it taught me about marketing:

1. In a comic, space is limited. In marketing, attention is limited. Make every word/brushstroke count.

2. Make it what they want, they may do it. Make it enjoyable for them, they will do it. Give what they want + how they love it.

3. Do something daily = you get better + faster. Only do it sometimes = you stay the same. The commitment is the biggest part.

Commit. Make it fun. Make it count.

After 20 years at my craft, you’d think I’d say learning is slowing down.

But it’s speeding up.

Currently I’m reading two books on a new programming language, a book about social media, a book about child development aged 0–5, and three comic books.

All at the same time.

Why?

Because I watch how fast my toddler learns ‘everything’, by flitting from interest to interest, chipping away at skills as his energy takes him.

He goes with his energy, sprints down mental corridors, learns quickly, and has a blast doing it.

Toddlers know how to learn.

We should model them.

The creator economy has a dirty secret.

Underneath the surface:

• Some make big promises then outsource it for pennies
• Some refuse to do that, still want scale, and burn out
• Most are scared, anxious, afraid to say anything

To the big-talkers: You’re benefitting no one. Do better.

To the burned out: Slow it down champ. You have time.

To the scared: You have permission to fail forward.

There’s some wonderful talent in here.

Rise it up when you see it.