Below is an archive of every blog post shared through this site since 2010. For posts by topic, check out articles on marketing, leadership, and building new products.
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We emit insecure vibes when we really want something to work out…but aren’t sure if it will. You might be feeling self-conscious. A little desperate.
Insecure vibes are usually subconscious, which is why it's important to be mindful. You don’t want your worries to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
If you appear hesitant, doubtful, or anxious…
The other person picks up on it...
Read MorePositioning and messaging is exciting because you’re picking your angle. Of all the ways you could talk about your product, which way should you talk about it?
Even if you’re feeling confident in your brand’s spiky point of view, it’s important to test your story.
At this point, clients will usually ask,
“So how do we know if our story resonates?”
Read MoreGetting someone to change their worldview is hard.
When it happens, that’s a big deal. If you can change people’s worldviews regularly, or even once in a while, you will always be in demand.
My friend Nathan posted a quick story about him and his daughter going to the car wash.
It made me pause.
Whenever something makes you pause, think about why. Try to dissect what the person did so you can learn from it. It’s been one of the best ways to stay sharp as a marketer.
Read MoreTo create value, you have two choices:
You can raise the ceiling
You can lower the floor
This applies to generating value of any kind.
Driving growth to hit your revenue targets
Navigating hard conversations where you can be the bigger person
Choosing between brand marketing versus performance marketing tactics
When you have writer’s block, you stare at a blank Google Doc or talk out loud.
Here’s why both of those options aren’t ideal:
Talking out loud: We talk fast. So we say a lot. It's unfiltered and seems to make sense at the time. But your tone of voice, speed, and pauses are verbal—they don’t translate into a written medium. A full page of transcribed audio can be completely unusable.
Staring at a blank page: You think you have a lot to say… until you sit in front of your computer. The blank page. The blinking cursor. It’s hard to know where to begin.
Luckily, there’s a third approach.
Read MoreAnalytical skills didn’t come easily for me.
In college, my least favorite classes were quantitative. It was a miracle I even scraped by.
Which is why I was so surprised when Gap Inc wanted to hire me, upon graduation, to be an analyst.
The job was 100% about numbers.
Logically this seemed like the worst possible fit.
Read MoreWe live in a noisy world. Whichever industry you’re in, there are thousands of other people like you trying to get noticed.
Unless you distinguish yourself, you’ll never get a chance to show how different you actually are.
To stand out, you need to develop what I call a “spiky” point of view.
A spiky point of view is a perspective others can disagree with. It’s a belief you feel strongly about and are willing to advocate for. It’s your thesis about topics in your realm of expertise.
Read MoreThere are few philosophical stances that will influence everything about your marketing thereafter.
Deciding to prioritize brand versus performance is one of those things.
I call this the Law of Brand vs Performance Marketing. It states:
All marketing activities are a trade-off between immediate conversion and brand equity.
This means there is a trade-off between brand marketing and performance marketing.
Performance marketing means better short-term conversion, but worse long-term brand equity.
Brand marketing means worse short-term conversion, but better long-term brand equity.
This is worth discussing with your team:
“If you could only prioritize brand or performance, what would you pick?”
Read MoreYou make decisions, allocate resources, and make plans—all based on words.
This is why it’s important to be mindful that your language accurately reflects a few things:
Intent
Meaning
Severity
Level of certainty
Stakes (high or low stakes if you’re wrong)
Your positional authority vis-a-vis your audience
These elements are even more important to consider if you’re sharing your idea remotely, where you won’t have facial expressions and body language to add context.
Read MoreI've been thinking about framing ideas in terms of the upcoming decisions I have to make.
It’s a fast way to focus your efforts. Things will go from being hypothetical, loose, and abstract... to tangible, concrete, and time-bound.
Talking about the “what” has a bad rap because our culture is obsessed with "whys.” Once you know your why, you still have to translate it into a tangible what. And In the process, you might realize you aren’t as sure about your idea as you originally thought.
Identifying the upcoming decision is powerful because it prevents you from hiding. It prevents you from being delusional.
Read More
