Archive of posts from May 2025

If marketers couldn’t lie for 1 day,

this is what would happen:

Brands relying on killer offers & social proof would suffer:

• Deceptive headlines would disappear
• Big bold claims would be toned down
• Half-truth testimonials would vanish

Brands that created amazing buyer experiences would flourish:

• They continue making what users want
• They continue giving it to them in enjoyable ways
• Users continue to love buying from these brands

What would happen to YOUR industry, if lying was banned for a day?

Ambiguity is easy, followed by lots of hard.

Clarity is hard, followed by lots of easy.

We don’t get to choose between hard and easy (we get both either way).

But we do get to choose which we experience more of.

Too tired to practice that skill or start that project?

It can be the middle of the night, you feel sleep deprived from your baby not sleeping, thinking you’ve got absolutely no energy left to do a single thing…

…and then they vomit on you.

Boom! Suddenly you spring up, you’re taking care of that whole situation, while holding your little one.

Maybe we’re not as tired as we think we are!

Do you ever go on social media feeling calm and happy…

…only to then feel anxious and like you’re missing out on some opportunity?

If so…

• Stop going to those feeds
• Stop listening to those voices
• Stop doubting your direction

Because newsflash:

• Those posts thrive on anxious energy
• Those posts have an agenda
• Those opportunities aren’t “better” than yours

Sticking to yours, giving it time love and care, forgetting about the rest and their opinions, that’s where your wins come from.

Nothing that is in the pursuit of something, is failure.

Like picking up charcoal for the first time, going to the zoo, and deciding you’re going to draw a gorilla. That first drawing is going to stink, on a major scale. Maybe you can’t draw well. Maybe charcoal isn’t what you expected. Maybe gorillas aren’t your thing.

What about that is a failure?

You got up and tried. You started to draw. You learned what didn’t work. Your finished work is all smudged up. You had a nice day at the zoo.

What about that is a failure?

You started a lifelong journey toward improving your artwork. There is no end. There are always people better than you. The odds of you even making a living doing it are fairly small, and they’re certainly a long way away.

What about that is a failure?

You’re just on the way. Doing your thing, that you chose, in your timing, without comparison nor judgement. You get a tiny bit better every time you go.

What about that is a failure?

Many of us are afraid of failing.

But being afraid of doing things that might not work makes sense if you can only go once…

…but we can go many many times.

Many many many many many many many times.

Like a videogame where you play with near-infinite lives.

So why be afraid to play?

Inexperienced marketers think they can define the landscape they operate in.

Experienced marketers know the customer already defined it, and its our job to fit into it in a meaningful way.

“Outside the box” means get out of your box… and into theirs.

There’s a flavor of soup available.

How do you know if it’s for you?

You don’t have to believe it.

You don’t have to hope in it.

You don’t have to know it.

You don’t have to trust it.

You only have to taste it.

And so it is with new skills, new projects, and new businesses.

Why write a daily blog?

It’s not for readership. Or numbers, or fame, or profit. Or archival purposes, or to be historically correct, or for the joy of it.

It’s for the ritual.

The ritual won’t last forever, but for as long as it’s useful to me, I’ll maintain it.

The ritual of sitting down and doing it whether I feel like it or not.

The ritual of having ideas on command, something that is vastly easier for me 2,711 consecutive days in than it was on the first day.

I highly recommend giving it a try.

What’s the hurry?

When my son’s older, he could use AI to generate an email to me. Or he could write one himself, using his words. Words we learned together in the living room reading stories together. Words that say so much more than the words themselves. It takes longer, but it means so much more.

When we go on family trips, I could AI generate a story to give him to read in the car. Or I could draw one myself, using my ideas and his interests. One in a little comic, that makes him giggle, maybe sets a challenge for while we’re on the trip, one that comes with a prize at the end. It takes longer, but it means so much more.

We don’t get long on this marble.

Make the effort.

When Netflix or Amazon Prime presents a list of movies for us to watch, we know they paid the creators for that content to be there.

When Apple Music or Spotify presents a list of songs for us to play, we know they paid the creators for that content to be there.

When Kindle or Kobo presents a list of books for us to read, we know the creators specifically chose for their books to be there.

When AI generates videos, songs, pictures or text, we know the creators it was trained on were not paid for it to be there.

This is the one of the biggest problems with AI currently: plagiarism.

If ChatGPT paid videographers to train on Disney movies, that’s different.

If Perplexity paid artists to train on their artwork, that’s different.

If Meta paid authors to train on their books, that’s different.

Many people are so caught up in “not being left behind”, that they’re lapping up whatever is presented to them in lieu of thought.

This could be a real force for good, for humanity.

We just need to remember to not stomp all over humanity in order to get there.

Toon Boom stopped selling perpetual licenses, and animators are furious.

It’s understandable:

• A distressed market is hurting financially
• Most of the market is powered by indie productions
• Most saved up for years to afford the tool
• Many fear they can’t afford the subscription plan
• Many vocal supporters feel betrayed

The gains in ongoing fees from users, may come at the cost of advocacy, support, and loyalty.

As someone who runs a Harmony and Storyboard Pro studio, it’s a shame to see.

We can only hope it doesn’t go the Adobe route: a brand we all loved in 2005. We bought every creative suite update we could afford as a vote of support. And now? A necessary evil in the creative world we’ve mostly lost hope in ever turning a corner, returning to advocating for creatives again.

Advocacy, support and loyalty are rare, delicate things. They’re given to brands that show they care.

It’s worth pursuing, and holding onto if you’re lucky enough to get it.

You don’t need to work all hours to lead a successful, happy career.

You don’t need premium paper and notebooks to sketch well.

You don’t need an advanced keyboard to type efficiently.

You don’t need an iPhone to send messages and emails.

You don’t need social media to connect with people.

You don’t need email hacks to respond thoughtfully.

You don’t need to sacrifice family for business.

You don’t need a premium camera to take photos.

You don’t need 100 products to make a sale.

You don’t need podcasts to have ideas.

You don’t need as much as you think.

I’ve observed two types of ‘supporter’ for your (or my) projects:

Type 1: They want to see you win. They want to amplify your successes and help in your failures. They love what you do, and how it can help them.

Type 2: They want to win. They want to amplify themselves by highlighting your actions, good or bad. They love what they do, and how you can help them.

Both leave comments on social media.

Both make purchases.

One will help you build a healthy business.

The other will ruin that business.

Can you guess which is which?

I feel leaders need to be 4 things…

Caring: Let people feel safe enough to come to you honestly.

Complimentary: Let people feel appreciated and seen.

Consistent: Let people find comfort in your predictable nature.

Clear: Let people know precisely where we’re all going.

Who doesn’t want to feel safe and appreciated around a predictable and precise leader?

If everyone thinks it’s a good idea… is it, really?

Maybe… But it could also mean you’re doing what everyone else is doing, something accepted, something commoditised, something normal.

Do those sound like traits of a good idea to you?

Comics don’t sell amazingly well in supermarkets, next to the glossy magazines.

They sell well in comicbook stores. Because that’s where enthusiasts gather, eager for more.

And so it is with AI, competition, and changes in the rules. They’re not coming to reduce your comic to a commodity. They’re inviting more people to the comicbook store, interested in comics.

That’s a good thing, isn’t it?

Big ideas are hard to build.

Much harder than small ideas. Small ideas you can create quickly, ship quickly, and go again quickly. There’s a visibility and a momentum in small ideas.

Big ideas don’t have that. They take a long time. Plenty will doubt whether or not it’s a good idea. Including yourself.

Stay with it anyway. People tend not to cheer for you during the hard part in the middle. But you’re not doing it for the applause. You’re doing it because you had a big idea.

I remember drawing comics in my bedroom as a child.

Really tiny comics, so I didn’t run out of paper.

So tiny I didn’t write the words, to maximize story-per-page. I knew the story, and that’s all that mattered: I didn’t expect a single other soul to see them.

Now? We can press publish and complete strangers can see our work. Maybe not millions of strangers. Maybe just a few. One or two. Eleven or twelve, even. People you’ve never met. Enjoying at your work.

I know people like to obsess over ‘stats’ and ‘likes’… but think about it.

Total strangers are enjoying your work. Work you’ve created on an infinite digital canvas. You can fit the words in, there’s room for all of them. And you can do it again, and again, and again. There’s infinite paper now. Just uninterrupted creativity, and a few strangers appreciating it.

Isn’t that wonderful?

What to do next:

Get up and stretch?

Impulse-check your inbox?

Start that important project?

Both can take the same amount of time.

But these little decisions add up to the life we lived.

What’s the easiest way to avoid marketing mistakes?

Remember these 2 things:

1: What your people want (to learn, to get, to do)

2: How your people want it (their idea of enjoyment)

Combine those two things in everything you do. Can’t go far wrong when you do.

If you write books, it’s easier to write for your people, than to find people who want what you wrote.

If you make products, it’s easier to make products for your people, than to find people who want what you built.

If you create art, it’s easier to paint for your people, than to find people who want to buy your work.

Learn them, know them, create for them.

Much easier than creating, then trying to find a buyer.

Do we want to be paid for value created, or effort exerted?

They’re not the same thing:

• Effort is what it costs us
• Value is what we created

Are we selling our creations, or our costs?

What customers don’t care about:

• Who has the most features
• Who has the most awards
• Who has the best story
• Who runs the most ads

What customers DO care about:

• Who focuses what they want & enjoy
• Who focuses on features they need
• Who understands their story
• Who cares most about them

We’re not in the “features & benefits” business.

We’re in the “relationship & experience” business.

Marketing gurus tell us to ‘seize attention’…

But great marketing doesn’t do that.

1. When you ‘seize them’:

• You’re the ad they click to skip
• You’re the promotional email they ignore
• You’re the landing page they bounce from

2. When you ‘edutain them’:

• You’re the content they skip ads to see
• You’re the email they look forward to getting
• You’re the landing page they tell others to check out

Choosing #1 is easy up-front, hard over time.
Choosing #2 is hard up-front, easy over time.

What’s it to be?

Two paths in marketing:

1: Stalk site visitors, wear them down with offers. (the ‘conventional marketing automation’ path)

2: Give people what they want, how they enjoy it. (the ‘make them actually like and look forward to you’ path)

Which would YOU rather buy from? (Do you think your market might feel the same way?)

There are two types of ‘extra mile’.

The first is when you deliver more of a service than expected. If you buy a small slice of cake, but receive a large, that’s the extra mile. Noteworthy, appreciated.

The second is when you deliver more than a service they expected. If you buy a small slice of cake, and receive a ‘cake pals’ sticker with it, that’s a different kind of extra mile.

The first gives you more of a service, so you think you got good value for money.

The second gives you more than the service, so you feel like you’re a part of something alive and relatable.

The first might look like a mistake, or desperation, or maybe it delights them and they indulge themselves or share it with someone.

The second might feel quirky and unusual, where the sticker is given to a child and makes their day.

Both have an important role to play: one is for thinking, the other is for feeling.

Anthropomorphizing a virtual pet makes the virtual pet experience more enjoyable. There’s a whimsical nature about it, where we know it’s a ruse, but we enjoy the experience all the same.

Anthropomorphizing AI makes the research experience more polarizing. Enjoyable when it’s working, infuriating when it isn’t. We forget the ruse, and so we lose control of our tools.

Anthropomorphizing only works when you remember the ruse.

Marketing gurus tell us to ‘seize attention’.

But great marketing doesn’t do that:

1. When you ‘seize them’:

• You’re the ad they click to skip
• You’re the promotional email they ignore
• You’re the landing page they bounce from

2. When you ‘edutain them’:

• You’re the content they skip ads to see
• You’re the email they look forward to getting
• You’re the landing page they tell others to check out

Choosing #1 is easy up-front, hard over time.
Choosing #2 is hard up-front, easy over time.

Two paths in marketing:

1: Stalk site visitors, wear them down with offers (the ‘conventional marketing automation’ path).

2: Give people what they want, how they enjoy it (the ‘make them actually like and look forward to you’ path).

Do you think your market might feel the same way?

What’s the biggest difference between Good vs Bad ads?

It seems to all come down to 1 thing: How much you value other people’s attention.

• Bad ads think they ‘deserve’ a win.
• Bad ads don’t try all that hard.
• Bad ads spray ’n’ pray.

VS

• Good ads know they deserve nothing.
• Good ads do something special.
• Good ads honor the user.

And it’s getting worse, as Meta AI trains to make copy/creative for your competitors.

So now’s the time to do better:

• Don’t ‘deserve’ attention.
• Do something special.
• Do revere your users.

There’s still plenty of room for those who do that.