Archive of posts from March 2025

Everyone seems to want to “beat” their competitors these days.

But “beat” can be aa friendly sport too, if we want it to be:

Option 1: Try to do what others are doing, and “crush” them.

Option 2: Try to see what your people really want, and aren’t getting, and “love on” them.

One is a game of manhunt. You chase after someone else, always behind, looking for clues, fixated on your target.

One is a game of care. You listen and ideate, like when a spouse’s birthday is coming up, eager to love them well.

I know which version appeals to me most.

I gave this advice to a friend recently.

It sounds so simple as to feel redundant… yet when you’re drowning in tech like so many of us are these days… it was a real insight for him.

When in doubt, step away from the computer and hit up your notebook.

Why? Because it doesn’t let you multi-task, text a friend or ask ChatGPT.

It’s just you, and your thoughts, and nobody else.

Multi-tasking may make us more ‘productive’…

But paper makes us more ‘effective’.

It’s the ultimate ‘focus mode’.

Writing the overall story for a new show? Takes a long time.

Writing the first draft for a pilot episode? Takes a long time.

Writing episode two? Much less time.

Writing episode three? Even less time.

Yet we look at the grind toward episode one… then at the calendar… and think to ourselves, “This is taking way too long! I’m moving too slowly!”

What folly it is to forget the realities of the creative process.

In the early 2000s, underground art and vinyl designer-toys were popular.

Now, they’re not.

That doesn’t make them bad. Or less valuable. They’re equally valuable to those who care.

It just means they’re not as popular overall.

But it’s not a popularity contest. So what does it matter?

The same is true of developers/engineers - popular for a time, and now increasingly less so thanks to AI developments.

That doesn’t make them bad. Or less valuable. They’re equally valuable to those who care.

it just means they’re not as popular overall.

But it’s not a popularity contest. So what does it matter?

Marketing ‘best practices’ aren’t best.

They’re just:

• Most quoted by the uninitiated
• Most common in an industry
• Most frequently sold to us

That doesn’t make them best.

So if people are online to…

1. Check on friend/brand
2. Learn something
3. Be entertained
4. Buy things

…then your ‘best practices’ should give them 2+3 until they 1+4.No ‘best practice’ can best that!

Google’s leaning into brand personality with their “Build you bot” campaign.

What they did & how I’d improve it:

What they did:

• Realized Android is anthropomorphic
• Realized Android is about diversity
• Made a ‘Build your own bot’ UX
• Let users ‘identify as’ Android

What I’d add:

• Make it your tech guide (via email or Gemini)
• Let you interact/communicate with it
• Turn it into your phone’s personality
• Let you purchase it as a desk toy
• Turn it into a PFP you can use

Take-aways:

• Give your brand personality, so users spend time with it.
• Let your brand be enjoyable, so users look forward to it.
• No one has it all worked out, not even Google.

Sounds like opportunity, doesn’t it?

Algorithms are like children.

They think they know what they want, but:

• They love tasty things
• They hate healthy things

The algo is giving everyone sweets, But brands want them to eat veggies.

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

Give them the value they need, in ways they enjoy.

Put another way: give them healthy chocolate.

That way, people can find you + WANT what you’ve got.

Isn’t that better?

You should lose leads. On purpose.

If you’re not, you’re missing these 10 things:

• Not clear enough on your audience
• Not selective on who you serve
• Not brave to say no to misfits
• Not choosing quality over quantity
• Not setting clear business boundaries
• Not trusting intuition on dud leads
• Not matching offers to core strengths
• Not choosing long-term over quick wins
• Not working to attract the right crowd
• Not clear enough about what you offer

Instead, focus on those who:

• Want exactly what value you offer
• Enjoy exactly how you deliver itThat’s your perfect offer.They’re your perfect leads.

Don’t spoil your party by letting in bad fits.

What’s the difference between important work, and your work?

Sometimes, nothing.

Sometimes, there’s an important problem or market opportunity, and you find your work directly in line with that.

Othertimes, they’re totally different.

Maybe your work isn’t important in the eyes of major media. Maybe there’s no big market opportunity where you’re heading. Maybe no one cares about it quite like you do.

Maybe that’s okay.

Because it’s not your work just because others deem it important.

It’s your work because it’s important to you.

And maybe that’s all that really matters.

Sometimes, the simplest solution is right in front of you.

You could create a wonderfully powerful note sync setup where your thoughts follow you from device to device effortlessly, across platforms, with local backups.

…Or you could just have a single plain text file on your desktop and leave it at that.

You could have a sophisticated, well-crafted plan for how to mitigate excessive smartphone use on your year-model flagship device.

…Or you could just use a simpler, older device that does less so you need no plan at all.

You could craft a thorough project plan prior to getting started, detailing every wrinkle of and concern before finally getting started.

…Or you could simply scratch down your goal, the simple steps to get there, and get going.

In each activity, it’s worth asking ourselves,

“What if this were easier?”

Not to avoid doing hard, meaningful work.

But precisely to enable us to do the hard, meaningful work.

Sometimes you work on things that don’t work.

Maybe they were quick tests that flopped.

Maybe they took a year or more, and they just weren’t quite it.

That’s okay.

In every case I’ve seen, it only counts as a failure if you quit.

For the rest, it’s simply part of the learning process, and part of the story.

Don’t sweat it.

Too many product teams waste time on:

• Worrying about algorithms
• A/B testing our button colors
• Asking GPT for marketing tips
• AI-generated content for scale
• Annoying exit-intent site popups
• Looking up productivity tips again
• Spray-n-pray outbound campaigns
• Doing more delivery methods at once
• Sensational offers that beg for attention

Not enough product teams invest time on:

• Seeing what users really want
• Seeing how they love consuming
• Making things that combine the two

Doing things that make a great buyer experience.

Stop doing things that don’t.

Isn’t that better?

They just showed us all how to do AI properly.

Toon Boom just released their ‘Ember’ product.

Ember sees:

• where their users struggle (removes it)
• where their users do busywork (completes it)
• where their users thrive (frees them up to do that)

What can we learn from this?

In our own markets, we get to look for:

• where our users struggle (remove it)
• where our users get bored (reverse it)
• what our users enjoy (do more of that)

Let your #1 priority be creating an amazing buyer experience.

Let your #2 priority be ensuring it stays that way.

Isn’t that better?

Low sales / empty pipeline is an easy solve.

You have 2 paths to choose from:

1 ‘The persuader’:

• Become more persuasive
• Hound prospects more
• Higher sender volume

2 ‘The order-taker’:

• Produce what they want
• Make it enjoyable for them
• Swap persuasion for delight

Hey, both work…

One means you chase people forever.
One means people chase you forever.

Which sounds better to you?

The biggest problem with remarketing campaigns?

They ‘chase’ business with:

• Follow-ups
• Boring pitches
• Ambiguous offers

When they could ‘attract’ business with:

• What they value
• In an enjoyable way
• With no risk to them

Remarketing stops being “chasing people”.

Remarketing starts being “more ways to make their day”.

Which do you think gets a better response rate? 🙂

Which is cheaper…

A car that’s expected to run for 150,000 miles…

Or a car that costs almost twice as much, that’s expected to run for 300,000 miles?

Which is more enjoyable…

A comedy video that’ll have you roaring with laughter…

Or a card game you’ll play with your family for many years to come?

There are no right or wrong answers here. Only different perspectives.

And so it is with most things in business and life: others have their opinions, touted as fact, which you’re free to disregard entirely.

A fancy pencil that’s easier to draw with?
You’re great with the one you practice with.

A new application that’s got faster features?
You’re faster with the one you’ve mastered.

A new productivity hack to get more done with?
You’re productive when you’re not busy looking for new hacks.

There’s always a shiny new thing promising to make you better/faster/stronger.

They don’t know who they’re dealing with.

It’s not about your phone’s operating system.
It’s not about how awesome you are using it.
It’s usually about how long you can leave it alone.

It’s not about choosing the right project.
It’s not about how naturally talented you are at it.
It’s usually about how much commitment you show up with.

It’s not about the resources you have as a family.
It’s not about the fancy holidays you go on with them.
It’s usually about how present you were in the empty moments.

The most important parts don’t usually seem all that important in the moment.

Pay close attention. Or you may miss them entirely

There are lots of things you could be working on right now.

And yet you’re working on that.

“Is it really the best use of your time?”

That, right there, is a silly question.

One you’ve probably asked yourself many times.

Am I working on the ‘right’ thing?
Should I be doing this, or that?
What if I’m going to regret this?

Forget those questions.
Replace them with this salve:

You’re working on it, because you wanted to.
You will never know if it’s ‘right’ or not.
Because there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’.
Only ‘this’ or ‘that’.

You chose ‘this’.

And you can always choose ‘that’ later if you want to.

Don’t waste energy worrying about it any more than that.
It leads nowhere.

If someone doesn’t like your work, fine.

It’s not for them.

I have small toys all over my desk, painted by various underground artists.

One is dead. One is about to pop his own head. One has a cow’s udder for a face.

Some people may not like them.

That’s fine. It’s not for them.

It doesn’t distract from the art.
It doesn’t negate nor diminish the art.
It’s simply not for them.

And so it goes with your work. By all means, take feedback. Make it great for those you make it for.

But everyone else?

Nor for them.

When I started creating toons and games and designs and worlds as a kid?

I did so because it was what I wanted to do.

The act of doing it, was the reward.

The idea of being able to do it ‘as a grown-up’ was a pipe dream. Family assured me (frequently) that I would eventually have to think about what ‘real job’ I would like to do when I grew up.

The idea of fashioning it into a real career wasn’t realistic. Family assured me (frequently) that it wasn’t a viable path, that the tertiary skills required to even try weren’t ones I posessed, and that it was better to do something else.

And yet it’s all I’ve ever done. I’ve earned more doing it by my 30s than I ever imagined I’d ever earn across my whole lifetime. I proved them wrong, and I did my kid-self proud.

But you know what?

If it only ever generated minimum-wage,
If it only ever worked through struggle,
If it only ever made family say “told you so”,
That wouldn’t matter.

Because I remember why I started. Not for money. Not for comfort. Not for proof. But because it’s simply what I wanted to do.

I married a woman who loved me when all I had was minimum-wage and struggle. We’d be happy together if it’s all we ever had.

So wherever you are in your career or your interests,

Don’t let new goals move into your mind like squatters. Don’t let nay-sayers dissuade you from doing you.

Remember why you started.

You can’t not care less.

If you care about everything, you can’t show any of them that much care. You care about each thing…less.

If you care about fewer things, you can care more about them, at the expense of everythint else. You care about…less.

If you care about everything in your product, even if your customers don’t, you care less about what they want than what you want.

If you care about what your family needs, to the point of not making any time for yourself, you care less about the person doing the caring.

I guess we’re all care-less.

There’s no getting around it.

All that remains is to choose what we want to care about.

And care less about the rest.

I’m hearing more and more creatives freak out about AI.

Some are drawing conclusions such as:

“If I don’t delegate to AI, I will be too slow, too expensive, and obsolete.”
“If I don’t delegate to AI, I will be stuck with skills no one wants.”
“If I don’t delegate to AI, I don’t know how I’ll pay my bills in a few years.”

If you read the news, you’ll sympathize.
Except here’s what all of these thoughts are missing:

Some artists use the latest digital art tools, others still use paint on canvas.

Some writers prefer to write without inspiration, others love to bathe in ideas before starting.

Some animators will auto lip-sync their sequences, others will take pride in subbing mouth shapes manually.

None of these things are right or wrong.
None of these things have been about tools.
Only about the creative process for that creative.

Maybe AI will make some things cheaper.
But art has always been found at a variety of prices.

Maybe AI will make some things easier.
But tools have been doing that for generations.

Maybe AI will change the job market.
But creative job markets have always been changing.

Maybe you have nothing to worry about.
Maybe you should simply focus on doing your best work.

“Oh my goodness we’re already 20% through 2025!”

I saw this on social media, or words to that effect.

This kind of thing strikes panic into the hearts of every ambitious person who feels the need to compare themselves to others.

Here’s the thing about this:

Deciding you’re behind and panicking, is a useless activity that makes you feel bad, and may cause you to rush, cut corners, and fail to do your best work.

Deciding to grade your performance based on days passed so far is a great way to put pressure on yourself even if you’re actually doing just fine.

Deciding to ignore such nonsensical measurements in favor of simply trying your best to do the right work and move forward meaningfully, is a much better way to invest your emotional energy.

Don’t get sidetracked by silly grades.

You’re doing just fine.

Everyone has an opinion about what it means to spend time well.

That you should do this, or shouldn’t do that.

But you should ALWAYS or NEVER do this in particular.

In reality, they’re just reflecting the sum total of their regrets, progress, goals, and books read.

Some—or all—of those sources may have nothing to do with you, your goals, or even your interests.

Feel free to discard advice that doesn’t suit you.

“Time well spent” is simply time you spend in ways in-keeping with your definition of a good life.

Don’t deviate rom that.

Strangely, the opposite of a good idea is often another good idea.

“What if we did this as a small team?”
“What if we did this as a huge team?”
“What if I did this with no team?”

All viable options.

Don’t get caught up on which is “best”.

Think about which is “best for you” and move on.

(And remember others may choose differently, and that’s fine too.)

The hard part about building big projects, isn’t usually the bigness of it.

It’s usually one of three other things:

One: Our ability to see a path to the result that will actually work. Ill-defined paths lead to nowhere, as so many well-intended ideas have discovered.

Two: Our ability to chunk the work down into digestible pieces, so that we can actually move meaningfully toward the goal, instead of getting stuck.

Three: Our ability to stay motivated for long enough to get there.

That’s all.

There’s no fourth.

Take care of those three, and htey’ll take care of the rest.

You’re tracking the wrong data.

(If you want more customer signups)

You might be tracking the ‘easy data’:

• Site visits
• Email opens
• Offer signups

But optimizing just for those can cause problems.

The solution? Track sentiment:

Instead of clicks?
How excited they are to join.

Instead of cancellations?
How eager they are to stay.

Instead of affiliate signups?
True fans.

It’s hard to track. But done right, it’s hard to ignore.

Isn’t that better?

If there’s only one lesson we can take from Amazon’s press conference,

It’s this: Experience over Product.

Amazon conferences usually announce lots of new gadgets.

But they don’t have great product record:

• Products often get discontinued
• Quality control is hit-and-miss
• Underpowered hardware

So this time, they made Alexa Plus:

• Works on all current hardware
• Natural, AI-powered help
• $0 for Prime members

The experience got better,
So everything got better.

Maybe your users don’t need more products.
Maybe your users need an amazing experience.

Maybe your users will buy more of what you already have, thanks to that experience.

Isn’t that better?

The best way to increase conversions

Isn’t to “optimize the website”.

I’ve seen inside some of the top website conversion firms in the world and many of them now struggle with:

• ‘Sure thing’ tests underperforming
• ROI that justifies their prices
• Generating strategic ideas

Why?

Because big wins aren’t often found in page optimization.

Big wins are often found in experience optimization.

That doesn’t just mean “make it easier to use”. It means:

• Anticipating what users want
• Know how they enjoy consuming – Combine the two in meaningful ways

Users don’t want you to change button colors.
They want you to blow their minds.

Users don’t want you to shorten the buying journey.
They want experiences so great they wish it was longer.

Isn’t that better?

The hardest part about a good offer isn’t the offer…

It’s that your market’s tired:

• Too many broken promises
• Too many missed deadlines
• Too many mediocre deliverables
• Too many unhonored guarantees

Course sales down? Too many opportunists spoiling the fun.
Agency sales down? Too many hustlers who didn’t deliver.

Maybe your market doesn’t need another big promise.
Maybe your market needs someone to care more.

Great products,
With great experiences,
Assembled with great care.

Isn’t that better?