This week:
- How to tell your company story in 4 words 📣
- Succeed in business by focusing on one single benefit 🎯
- The hands-down best Spotify playlist for getting work done 🎧
- Unconventional happiness advice 😀
- 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
