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This evening, my brother-in-law started building a fire so we could cook some s’mores after dinner. It’s one of the little things I look forward to most at a cottage.

By the time I got outside, the “fire” was in trouble. It was mostly smoke. My brother-in-law humbly asked for my assistance in getting it going.

It turns out, he skipped a step or two. He didn’t start with paper, twigs and bark as the kindling. Instead, he started it with small branches and logs.

He jumped ahead a few steps.

I could give you the analogy about how building a marketing strategy is like building a fire—that good marketing starts with strategy then builds sequentially from there.

And while that’s correct, it’s too obvious.

The real lesson here is more personal.

I’m in the process of building something new: a marketing mentorship.

I’m not yet sure who it’s for—I think it will be for junior marketers. But I might also make it for self-employed marketers who, like me, are fiercely independent and have an insatiable appetite for new ideas.

Regardless of who it ends up being for, or what it ends up looking like, the lesson here is this: all business ideas start with one customer.

Then a second one. Then a third. And eventually, many more, if it’s good.

I want to build a fire with enough heat to cook some s’mores and cast a bright light in the night. But I can’t start with a roaring fire. I need to build it incrementally.

As much as we all want to build an immediate fire, it’s important to remember that everything big starts small. We have to go in order.

One client. Then two. Then three.

Kindling before logs.

The next time you start something new, I hope this story comes to mind and gives you the patience to build it slowly and intentionally.

The best things are made this way, anyway.

I wrote a tweet the other day asking for people’s favourite personal blogs/websites. People who use theirrealname.com or something similar.

Personal blogs (like this one) are entering a new golden era. They’ve been around forever, but lately I’m seeing them become more prevalent.

And I plan to explore this topic in more detail.

But anyway, in the tweet, I rattled off a list of about 10 individuals who came to mind. I didn’t give it much thought.

However, my quick tweet had a distinct oversight: it lacked diversity.

In particular, it lacked women. But it also lacked other forms of diversity.

And someone pointed that out. Rightfully so.

So, while this was just a quick tweet, it reminded me that I need to think more about the bubbles of influence I live in.

It’s easy to become blind to our bubbles. It’s easy to fall into echo chambers of people who look and talk like us.

But a range of influence is always better than homogeny.

And while I consider myself a progressive and inclusive person, it just goes to show: we can never be too aware of our own biases, bubbles, or privileges.

Even though I follow many of the recommended women in the tweet thread, my subconscious choice to select only men in my original tweet might be an indication that I need to assess my influences.

Diversity of influence makes us better marketers and humans.

What’s not to love about that?

Here’s the tweet for reference:

I'm writing an article on personal blogs/websites.

What are your favourite examples?

So far, I'm liking:@ThisIsSethsBlog@sivers@nateliason@Julian@pjrvs@JamesClear@avc@photomatt@jhooks @donnelly_b

Who else?

For any reason (design, content, style, etc.)

— Kevin C. Whelan 🦕 (@kevincwhelan) May 27, 2020

This week:

1. How to take a sabbatical 😴
2. The concept of a business utopia 💭
3. Being prolific and why it matters 👨‍🎤
4. How to pitch yourself as a podcast guest 🎙

A quick look behind the curtains

I missed last week’s Weekly, so I decided I need to cut down on the time I spend on these Weekly’s to make it easier to do on my Saturday and Sunday mornings.

To make me more focused, I decided to bring my laptop to a local cafe. My goal is to write and publish this Weekly before my battery runs out.

It’s a good thing I spend all week gathering links and resources, so it’s a matter of pulling it all together for you. Wish me luck!

1. How to take a sabbatical (and not go insane)

Sabbaticals are nothing new, but few people take the time to actually take one.

I realize for many people this seems like a completely ludicrous and unrealistic goal. But it might be worth considering at least once in your life. There might be a time when you really need one, or you might value taking a breath of air between this long thing called a career.

Last summer, my wife and I took a mini-sabbatical (kinda). Kait wanted a new job and we both wanted to move into a bigger home, so we decided to put life on pause and go live abroad for an indefinite period of time.

We packed up our belongings, put them into storage, and went to Europe for what ended up being three months.

I worked remotely, so it wasn’t really a sabbatical for me, but it felt a bit like one. Our routine was completely changed and we submersed ourselves into Portuguese, French, German, and Spanish culture.

At the time, there was a degree of uncertainty and some stress involved. After all, Kait was unemployed (by choice) we were essentially “homeless” (by design). We had to have faith that when we moved back, she would get a job she liked better and we’d move into a bigger home with minimal stress.

But with that uncertainty, there was also a renewed perspective about our lives. We explored new cultures, expanded our minds, and shook ourselves out of the regular routine that locks people in, often without our awareness.

Link: How to take a sabbatical (and not go insane)

2. The concept of a business utopia

In order to take a sabbatical, you need to have an underlying belief that you can design your life, at least to a certain extent.

This concept reminds me of a favourite idealist idea that I read about from Derek Sivers.

Derek, at the root of the idea, says:

“When you make a business, you get to make a little universe where you control all the laws. This is your utopia.”

If you’re an entrepreneur, the idea that you can create your business exactly as you want it is a fun concept. Much like the idea living your life by design, it’s fun to stop and think about what a perfect and ideal version of your business would look like, then go about creating it.

I looked up the concept and found him talking about it in two places, so I’ll share both links below.

Link #1: What’s your compass?

Link #2: Make a dream come true 

P.S. I tweeted at Derek and hoping he’ll share more links to places he talks about the idea of a business utopia, so if he responds with more links, I’ll update this post. 

3. Being prolific and why it matters

A few years ago, I read a book by Hugh McLeod called Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity. I couldn’t tell you what it was about, exactly. It’s been too long since I read it, but I remember it being good.

Essentially, his story is that he started out drawing doodles on the back of business cards every day. Not all of his drawings were great, but after a long enough period of time drawing and sharing them with the world, he built an audience and is now bona-fide “successful”.

Ok, so I obviously skimmed on a lot of his story, but that’s not the point. His art is great, and here’s an article highlighting 20 lessons worth learning about business.

My favourite is the one (below), which might be the main reason I am sharing this with you. There’s something magical about being prolific, creating a body of work that is so large that the value you create is undeniable

Here’s a quote from the article:

For example, among the 50 greatest pieces of music ever created, six belong to Mozart, five are Beethoven’s, and three Bach’s. But in order to create those, Mozart wrote over 600 songs, Beethoven 650, and Bach over 1,000.

Similarly, Picasso created thousands of pieces of art, and few are considered to be his “great works.” Edison had 1,900 patents, and only a handful we would recognize. Albert Einstein published 248 scientific articles, only a few of which are what got him on the map for his theory of relativity.

Link: These 20 pictures will teach you more than reading 100 books

4. How to pitch yourself as a podcast guest

I’ve been toying with the idea of creating a podcast for a while, and I definitely will when I’m ready.

Podcasting is a powerful way to spread your message to a highly targeted audience. It’s a far more engaging media type than the written word, for example.

So when I saw a tweet by Yann Ilunga, it caught my eye. In this 11 minute video, Yann offers advice and specific wording on pitching podcasters to be a guest on their show.

Give it a watch, it might help if you’re considering getting on other people’s platforms as well.

Link: How to Pitch Yourself Like a Pro (a Step-by-Step Approach for Podcast Guests)

 

That’s all for this week, thanks for joining!

– Kevin C. Whelan

This week:

1. How to tell your company story in 4 words 📣
2. Succeed in business by focusing on one single benefit 🎯
3. The hands-down best Spotify playlist for getting work done 🎧
4. Unconventional happiness advice 😀
5. Tools I have been using lately 🛠

I’m a big fan of a fundamentalist marketing strategy. What does that mean? It means clarity, specificity, and doing the fundamentals well. No fluff. No extras.

The reason I love it is that it works. It feels right when you do it.

Our tendency is to over-complicate our marketing and core messages. We slowly add more words in the hopes we convince people to do business with us.

Good marketing is often about removing the unnecessary. Removing the unclear, the vague, and ambiguous. All that is left is the clearest communication of your offer to your prospective customers. And with that clear message in hand, we spread it far and wide.

On that note, I have two articles for you that drive home this idealist view of your marketing. I’ve also got some other goodies.

1. Does Your Company Have a Killer Four-Word Story?

The first article I have for you is by Mark Evans – a Toronto-based startup marketing consultant.

I first heard of Mark when he gave a presentation at MaRS – a startup innovation hub in Toronto. Mark is smart when it comes to marketing, and you’ll like this article.

In this article, Mark instructs you to tell your company’s brand story in four words. I consider “story” to mean whatever value you offer to the market. In other words, a value proposition.

How would you describe your company’s value proposition in four words?

It’s a tough thing to do!

He uses an example of Tinder, and makes up a four-word PC story as an example: “It’s where people meet”.

Coming up with a four-word story like this forces you to get clear about what you really offer. And that kind of clarity goes a long way towards succeeding in an intended direction. It’s so easy to get lazy and not do it, yet it’s so powerful when done right.

Read: Does Your Company Have a Killer Four-Word Story?

2. Succeed in business by focusing on one single benefit

This is part two of the fundamentalist marketing articles I have for you this week.

What I love about it is that, like the article before it, it forces you to narrow down your value into one single clearly defined message or idea. It forces you to remove the crap. You are left with nothing but the truest statement of value you offer in your business.

But like with all simple things, it’s not easy. How does one reduce their entire business down to one value?

Well, for the second week in a row, I share with you an article by Jason Cohen, founder of WP Engine. He explains it much better than I do.

I hope you get a few lightbulbs like I did. Or just one…

Link: Pick one and own it

3. The hands-down best Spotify playlist for getting work done

It takes a bold person to come out and claim they have the best playlist in the world for getting work done. But I have it. I am that bold person.

Admittedly, I love movies. And a lot of the songs you hear will be at least vaguely—if not distinctly—familiar to you when you listen to them.

This playlist is all songs from movie soundtracks. It’s classical, instrumental, and hella great to listen to when you need to get work done.

I have a monkey brain that likes to be stimulated, especially when doing dry work (such as writing or research). Having this music play in the background takes you on a sub-conscious journey through distant lands and times. All while not being too distracting nor putting you to sleep.

Actually, you could probably fall asleep to it too, but that’s not the point.

Without further adieu, I give you the Movie Soundtracks – Themes/Studying (Classical/Instrumental) playlist.

Enjoy!

Listen: Movie Soundtracks -Themes/Studying (Classical/Instrumental)

4. Unconventional happiness advice

This video by Scott Galloway, Professor of Marketing, NYU Stern, is worth watching if you want some non-typical life advice.

It’s not PG, and his ideas won’t be for everyone (like all good marketing). But the lessons he teaches about life make it easily worthwhile.

Some ideas he talks about include:

• Experiences > Things
• Happiness = Family
• Success = Resilience/Failure
• Nothing is ever as good or as bad as it seems
• Equity is the key to wealth – buy stocks, real estate, etc. as soon as you can.

Watch: The Algebra of Happiness

5. New tools I am using

I use a lot of different tools, software and resources on an ongoing basis to run my business. Below are a couple I’ve adopted recently:

• Notion – this may one day replace Bear. It’s super powerful and looks like a great way to stay organized. It holds notes, tasks, to-dos, it’s a Trello alternative, can act like a lightweight CRM and a lot more. I’m still getting used to it but may make this my default notes app. The rest of the features are a bonus.
• ManyPixels – ManyPixels offers unlimited graphic design for one low monthly rate ($259/mo). I have another website, Sitelove.com, where I offer WordPress maintenance and support, which is outdated and needs a redesign. I’ve tried ManyPixels and I’m impressed by the speed and skill they have shown in a single draft. I’ll report back when it’s done.
• Bonjoro – Bonjoro is a neat tool allows you to send personalized and quick emails directly to anyone you want. It’s neat because of how easy it is to use, and is set up to be able to get notified whenever you have a new customer or subscriber. I might try it for new subscribers to my Inner Circle and see how it goes. So far, I really like it, and if you have a subscription or info products business, you should really consider looking into it. Keep an eye out, I might just send you one too!

That’s all for now.

Thanks for being a subscriber!

Kevin C. Whelan