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Be everywhere. But be your best here.

The biggest trend in branding this year appears to be one of the oldest trends — signature models. From shoes to guitars, old-school brands are flooding the market with products stamped with a creator’s personal brand. A “brand” is just a “reputation.” The bigger you get as a company, the

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Clarity is Expensive

After many years of writing for big companies, a few universal truths have emerged from hundreds of projects, no matter the budget: * Having a clear audience is critical for creation, promotion, and sales. * Having a clear goal is existential for the project and ultimately the company. * It’s rare that

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The Importance of Giving a Shit

This is usually a lesser rule of being a creator, marketer, or human being. It’s almost implied. I’m bumping its status up a bit now. I’ve spent the past month driving through the eastern and southern US. Like many travelers, I was throwing money at businesses for

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Marketing Maps Vs. Marketing Plans

Both are needed. Both must change on the fly to fully be realized. But it’s the marketing map that stirs the most inspiration. It’s a look inside the brain of a creator — messy but clear on principle. This is Walt Disney’s from 1957 (via George Mack [https:

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Algorithm vs. Audience

From Rene Ritchie [https://twitter.com/reneritchie/status/1387781270344699905] (who recently went from employee to independent publisher): > “Replace ‘algorithm’ with ‘audience’ and it’s 900x better for your mental health. From powerless to empowered. You’re the one at bat, picking the swings. You won’t connect every time. Weather

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How does it make you feel?

Carlo from The DO Lecture series [https://thedolectures.com]: > “It’s not how it looks, it’s how it makes you feel.” Even though he’s talking about work spaces here, I think this is a sentence we could use to describe anything we create and market — or just anything

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Trust Without Metrics

From Maneetpaul Singh [https://world.hey.com/maneetpaul/why-metrics-are-hurting-creators-6a209d83]: > “Our inboxes are a sacred place. As someone who’s purchased several digital products before, I buy from people I trust. Being thrown into an automated sales sequence is the last thing that builds trust.“ The problem is that it works.

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You Need 2 Things

Whenever I write copy for a marketing campaign or new product, I ask for two things: 1. Who is the audience? 2. What is the goal of this piece? It’s rare to get a straight answer for both — even from billion-dollar companies (especially from billion-dollar companies). Both are required

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Audience First Vs. Product First

Every year (maybe six months lately), creators post about why you should create a products, then build an audience for the product; or build an audience first and create products based on their needs. It’s a false choice. Reject this premise. You need both. Both need constant attention. Both

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Get Your Ass Kicked

From Brené Brown [https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/9855106-if-you-are-not-in-the-arena-getting-your-ass] via Weekly Thing [https://weekly.thingelstad.com/]: > “If you are not in the arena getting your ass kicked on occasion, I am not interested in or open to your feedback. There are a million cheap seats in the world today filled