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Marketing

Why you should learn to market stuff (including yourself)

Why you should learn to market stuff (including yourself)

Why you should learn to market stuff (including yourself)

Market research from online reviews

Market research from online reviews

Market research from online reviews

“Don’t write your customer copy. Steal it.

Before you think I’m encouraging you to plagiarize, hear me out…

In an ideal world, every company would heavily invest in upfront customer research. Marketers would interview customers 1:1, send surveys to an engaged email list, and hang around where their prospects talk.”

9 free marketing websites so great, you’ll kick yourself that you didn’t know sooner – Theo Ohene

9 free marketing websites so great, you'll kick yourself that you didn't know sooner:

— Theo Ohene (@theoohene) August 26, 2022

9 free marketing websites so great, you’ll kick yourself that you didn’t know sooner – Theo Ohene

“9 free marketing websites so great, you’ll kick yourself that you didn’t know sooner:
1) Growth Tactics Playbook
2) Landingfolio
3) PageFlows
4) SimilarWeb
5) MailCharts
6) Fatjoe Title Generator
7) Headline Analyzer
8) Do Things That Don’t Scale
9) Email Time Optimizer”

Non-Coercive Marketing: A Primer

Non-Coercive Marketing: A Primer

Non-Coercive Marketing: A Primer

A new philosophy of marketing, rooted in letting go of control, and trusting people to be their own authority.

Big Idea: Instead of high-pressure sales tactics, how about marketing to others the way we want to be marketed to?

Mark Manson Interview: The Path to Becoming a Global Bestselling Author

Mark Manson is the bestselling author of Models: Attract Women Through Honesty, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope, and co-author of the Will Smith memoir, Will. He has sold tens of millions of books in over 60 languages and has over 500,000 email subscribers.

In this interview, Mark shares his journey from his first blog in 2007 to becoming one of the most popular non-fiction artists of all time.

He also offers advice for aspiring writers and creators today. The social media landscape is very different now than when he started. Mark Manson explains what’s necessary to succeed today.

Author Mark Manson Interview

Background

There is a lot of conflicting information about Mark Manson’s early years of blogging so I asked for a timeline of his different websites and an estimate of the traffic he was getting.

The important fact here is that he was getting tens of thousands of unique daily visitors to his websites long before the break-out success of “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck” article. There is no overnight success story here. Mark Manson’s massive success was a decade in the making.

Timeline

2007 to 2010: Personal blog that later evolved into a pickup/dating advice blog as it grew. He wrote on Blogspot under the pseudonym “Entropy.” 

2010 to 2011: Practical Pickup – his brief pickup artist/dating advice online business. 

2011 to 2013: Postmasculine – a general men’s self-help/lifestyle site.

2013 to present: MarkManson.net – his current website.

2015 January: “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck” article is published.

2016 September: “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck” book is published.

Audience Size (estimated unique visitors per day): 

2007: 0-25 
2008: 25-100 
2009: 100-300 
2010: 300-500
2011: 500-1000
2012: 1000-3000
2013: 3000-10k
2014: 10k to 50k

It then ran at around ~50k/day or 1.5M/mo for 3-4 years. Beginning in 2018 or so, that began to taper off and slowly declined to what it is today, which is about 20-25k/day or 600k-700k/mo

How has the overall attention economy changed in the past 10 years from when you first started?

The same way you can’t really give investment advice without considering the overall macroeconomic environment (high inflation, oil prices, fed funds rate, etc.), you can’t really give writing or online content advice without considering the macro environment of the attention economy — i.e., what are Facebook/Google/Amazon/Apple doing, what are the algorithms optimizing for, where is the culture’s attention at the moment, where do young/old/educated/uneducated people spend their time? 

I blew up and developed a huge audience in 2012-14 because of a confluence of a number of factors that I had no control over. First, Facebook decided that it wanted to compete with traditional media and become everyone’s primary hub for finding written content. Traditional media was slow to recognize this, so early on, it was mostly independent bloggers like me and grassroots news sites like Buzzfeed and Upworthy who took advantage and got a ton of traffic to our content relatively “easily.” I say “easily” because by today’s standard, understanding how to go viral is relatively widespread. Back then, very few people thought of it. So I think I also benefited a lot from being one of the first bloggers to recognize what caused virality and leaning hard into it. 

Today is a different story. Facebook is garbage for getting your written work out there. They don’t want anybody to leave their platform and nobody but cranky old people spend time on it. So what worked for me in 2012 is probably terrible advice today. Ten years ago, I barely even had an email list. I had maybe one opt-in on my site and rarely sent out emails to subscribers. Today, if I was starting, I’d probably just skip the site and go straight to an email newsletter. Email is way more dominant today than it was ten years ago. 

Second, millennials were young, hungry and online all the time. Again, traditional media wasn’t really catering to them. Self-help companies were still running massive, expensive seminars in Palm Springs, so they weren’t marketing or advertising to them. By understanding my market and the overall trends and forces of that market, I saw a huge opportunity to be the “self-help guru for millennials” when I switched my site in 2013. That was a key insight that took about six years of writing to get to, by the way. 

Third, audio was still relatively underdeveloped and video was a joke. For a brief moment in history, blogs were king. If you could write well, there weren’t other mediums that people could be distracted by. These days, people can read your article… or they can get on Youtube, TikTok, Twitch, listen to a podcast, get on Netflix, etc., etc. Today it’s much less about having an excellent article in one place and more about having lots of excellent content in many, many places. 

So, yes, write well. Understand your audience. But more than that, understand the attention economy, what is hot and what is not. Where are people looking? Where are there opportunities? Where is everything saturated? I was very fortunate in that I came up in this brief 10-year window where you could pretty much write whatever you wanted on your own website and, if it was great, be found by tons of people. That was not true before and I don’t think that’s really true now either. You have to be very strategic in understanding your audience, your market, and the platforms. 

How many copies of the Models book did you sell in the first year? What are the total sales now? 

Models was a slow burn. When it first came out, it didn’t do very well. It sold a few hundred copies and then kind of stagnated. I actually revised and updated it 2-3 times in the first year. But the main issue was that its message was simply contrarian and unpopular in the market I was in at the time. At the time, I was a large voice in the “pick up artist” market, and I wrote a book essentially telling men that they should be honest to women, take their emotions seriously, and stop judging their self-worth based on sex. As you can imagine, it was widely ridiculed when it came out. Fortunately, within a couple years, that market matured/changed its views on a lot of things and Models eventually became the bestselling men’s dating advice book on Amazon. Today, it’s probably sold 300k-400k copies. 

Why did you switch to MarkManson.net? 

As Postmasculine grew in popularity, a lot of women began to discover the site and become fans. At a certain point, it seemed dumb to limit my brand to be directed towards men when 90+% of what I wrote about applied to women as well. On top of that, rebranding to my own name would allow me to write about basically anything without it seeming weird or out of place.

My first two viral articles were about travel and politics (“A Dust Over India” and “10 Things Americans Don’t Understand About America,” written in 2011 and 2012, respectively). They were one-off articles that had nothing to do with what my website was actually about. So I got millions of visitors and then basically no one stayed or signed up to my email list. I quickly learned the importance of brand — people need to understand who you are and what you stand for immediately, so they can know if they want to spend more time with you. Also, things like web design, UI/UX, typography, etc. A million hits mean nothing if your site barely loads and they can’t find where your article starts. 

What were the key principles to your growth?

It’s hard to isolate them because so many of them happened concurrently. But there are a few principles that have served me well over the years. 

  1. The first is that I started with an extremely small niche and then gradually pivoted to larger and larger markets. If I had started out as a general self-help blogger, chances are I would have had trouble getting an audience. But instead, I started with dating advice for men around Boston. Then I pivoted into a general men’s dating advice. Then I pivoted into general men’s life advice. Then I pivoted into general life advice. 
  2. Understanding which platforms and mediums had the highest leverage at each point. I built most of my initial audience through virality on Facebook. At any given point, there are higher and lower leverage platforms for writing (or any content, in general) and it’s important to always have a general sense of where those are. (See original point about macro environment.) 
  3. The returns on content are non-linear. Making an article 10% better doesn’t deliver 10% better results, it delivers 100% better results. Therefore, back in an era where the conventional wisdom was to post every day/week, I backed off and really focused on nailing a homerun article every 2-3 weeks that would go viral. As a result, I had a handful of hit articles that have probably been as valuable as the rest of my archive combined. One is obviously the Subtle Art article. Another is an article called “7 Strange Questions to Find Your Life Purpose.” Aside from going mega-viral when it came out and catching the attention of Liz Gilbert, Tim Ferriss and a few others, Google has treated it very well over the years for some reason. It’s been my highest SEO traffic magnet for many years now. The article “Fuck Yes or No” went viral in 2013 and for many years was actually posted on thousands of people’s dating profiles on sites like OKCupid. Content definitely follows the 80/20 Rule, if not more like 90/10. 

How much of your growth do you attribute to deliberate strategy versus just trying lots of things? 

Each is worthless without the other. Strategy is worth nothing without trying tons of things. Trying tons of things is a waste of time/energy if you don’t do it strategically. 

How much of an impact did Facebook and Twitter have on your growth? 

Facebook was massive for me. It’s basically what put me on the map. Twitter has had little effect on my business. These days, that would probably be reversed if I was starting out. Facebook is basically dead and kills the organic reach of any link off platform, whereas Twitter offers a lot of writers to show off their content through tweet threads.

What impact did that ‘Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck’ article have?

It was definitely my most viral article ever. I think it got shared over a million times. But it was also at the tail end of a long string of viral articles from 2013-2015. In that two-year period, I had had 7-8 articles that brought in millions of people each. But beginning in 2015-16, Facebook started choking off their algorithm, pushing people to pay for reach. Around the same time, traditional media started to figure out social media marketing and how to go viral on platforms, so my competitive advantage had mostly disappeared. 

For a new writer starting today, what advice would you give to build an audience and make a living?

Unfortunately, today, to build an audience, you have to play with the platforms ON the platforms, which constrains you. It also means that depending on what genre/niche you’re in, you’re going to need to pick a platform that makes the most sense and obsess over it. So if you’re in politics or finance, that probably means just getting amazingly good on Twitter, build the audience there, then get them to move to a newsletter or website of yours. If it’s business, then probably LinkedIn. If it’s self-help or poetry or something, then maybe Instagram. Also, because of these constraints, I think writers should seriously consider concurrently building an audience in audio/video as well. I hate to say it, but the largest growth opportunities these days are in audio and video. I wish it weren’t so. 

So you find your spot, your audience, your message, and then just obsess at becoming really, really excellent at it. I don’t just mean “good” or “better than most” but fucking excellent.

This will all take years to do. As such, this career path’s curve is very non-linear. Year one is rough. Year two isn’t much better. Year three isn’t much better than year two. Then at some point, you hit upon gold and things blow up exponentially. Suddenly, year five is better than years one through four combined. It’s very much a gradually, gradually, then all at once type career path. But, then again, a lot of that depends on niche, audience, brand, etc. I can’t stress this enough but independent writers need to focus on way more than just writing well. Learn copywriting, basic marketing and advertising. Study branding and design. It matters. People aren’t just reading your words, they’re having an experience, and you have to cater to every aspect of that experience. 

Find Mark Manson at MarkManson.net.

How to Use Facebook Ads to Get More Newsletter Subscribers

How to Use Facebook Ads to Get More Newsletter Subscribers

How to Use Facebook Ads to Get More Newsletter Subscribers

“How do you go from 1,000 subscribers to 10,000 subscribers? In this post, we show you how to get more newsletter subscribers with Facebook.”

“I wanted to know:

  • EXACTLY how much it costs to grow a newsletter
  • If Facebook ads even worked (especially considering I’m not an expert)
  • How much energy and time this all takes. 

So I got a modest test budget from our CEO, and set about figuring out this whole Facebook Ads thing.”

17 tips to make your landing page convert

17 tips to make your landing page convert

17 tips to make your landing page convert

Blake Emal shares 17 tips to make your landing page convert.

“There is no guaranteed path to more conversions. I can give you a ton of tips based on what I’ve tested, but you have to test things for yourself as well.

I HIGHLY recommend compiling these (and any other ideas) into a sheet and plotting out a testing schedule.

You only learn when you ideate, test, and analyze.”

1/ Pick your dream outcome before anything
2/ Use more white space
3/ Edit the page down by 50%
4/ Stick to one core CTA, not 5
5/ Spend 80% of your writing time on the headline
6/ Avoid paragraphs
7/ Write the headline first
8/ Embrace clear, avoid clever
9/ Use specific CTA language
10/ Choose imagery wisely
11/ Mobile-first design
12/ Use the voice of the customer
13/ Make it easy to skim
14/ Address objections instantly
15/ Show your product in action
16/ Don’t hide your pricing
17/ Only ask for minimum viable customer information

Principles of Online Marketing: David Perell

David Perell - Principles of Online Marketing

Principles of online marketing: David Perell

If you've ever wanted to build an online business, this thread is for you.

Here are the principles of online marketing:

— David Perell (@david_perell) February 23, 2022

If you’ve ever wanted to build an online business, this thread is for you. 

1. Out-Teach Your Competition: When people learn from you, they promote you. Everybody likes helpful people, so share your best ideas regularly and adopt a service mentality. The more you help others, the more they’ll help you in return.
2. Ride Trends: The Internet is a global conversation. Nearly every social media promotes trending ideas. Aligning yourself with the talk of the day will serve as turbo boost for your creations. One example: Mr. Beast’s video about Squid Games instantly became a viral hit.

3. Build a distribution advantage: Distribution advantages take time to build. But because they require such consistent dedication, they are hard to compete with. One example: Y-Combinator promotes its cohorts on Hacker News, where many of the best software engineers hang out.

4. Trust isn’t for sale: You can buy reach, but you can’t buy trust. Paid advertisements will give you eyeballs, but repeated high-quality interactions are the only way to generate trust. Once you lose somebody’s trust, you can’t buy it back. You have to earn it.

5. Repetition sells: Marketers know that repetition is nearly indistinguishable from truth, and the more people are exposed to an idea, the more likely they are to buy into it. Only once an idea seems obvious and repetitive to you will people finally start to get it.

6. Master one channel: Instead of trying to be active on every platform, pick one platform and master it. Since the Internet is driven by power laws, it’s better to be prominent on one valuable platform than average on a bunch of them. Find what works, then go all-in.

7. Embrace the spreadsheet: Once you start having success, your “marketing formula” will become clear. You’ll be able to quantify the value of each potential customer. Once the formula becomes clear, simplify your marketing strategy and measure your success in a spreadsheet.

8: Ditch the spreadsheet. The best marketing strategies aren’t things you’ll find on a spreadsheet. If they were that simple, everybody would do them. Embrace your creative side. Look for up-and-coming strategies that haven’t hit the mainstream and try them out for yourself.

9. Hire a Chief Evangelist: On social media, people want to follow people — not companies. Companies should hire the top influencers in their space who are aligned with their values, and pay them to create high-quality content. One example: @anafabrega11 and Synthesis.

10. The Paradox of Specificity: In the Internet age, when everybody has Google search and social media, differentiation is free marketing. The more specific your goal, the more opportunities you’ll create. Narrow your focus to expand your horizons.

11. Take people behind the scenes: People flock to stories they resonate with, which is why documentaries have become some of the world’s best marketing assets. Some examples: 1) Food: Chef’s Table 2) Music: The Defiant Ones 3) Sports: Drive to Survive (h/t @patrick_oshag)

12. Grow the market: Everybody knows about the Michelin Star guide. But most people don’t know that it was a marketing ploy to get people to drive more and ultimately, sell tires. That’s why the star system is still broken down by whether a restaurant is worth driving to.

How to use waitlists to build buzz for your startup

How to use waitlists to build buzz for your startup.

How to use waitlists to build buzz

“Give me a product that a few people I know have or use, that doesn’t want me as a customer yet, and I’ll run through a wall to get my hands on it, just show me the way (: !”

– Ali Abouelatta

“My motivation for writing this piece comes from observing my own behavior; my reaction to a waitlist has always been extreme.

I either go crazy to get access to products during their invite-only phase. For instance, I donated $50 x 3 for a chance to “win” a Clubhouse invite, I wrote a handwritten snail mail begging the founder of a certain productivity app to give me access and, of course, did the whole referral thing, getting people to sign up to get earlier access…many many times.

Or, I swear off products completely cause of the mere fact they had a waitlist (I am looking at you, Amie!)

I took the time this week to reflect not just on why that is the case, but more importantly, study the extremely successful, kind-of-successful, and flops of the waitlist world.

My goal is to come out of this research with a better understanding of why I act the way I do, what makes a successful waitlist program and when it makes sense to implement a waitlist?“

Here is part 2

Trends.vc Influencer Marketing Report

Trends.vc Influencer Marketing Report

Trends.vc Influencer Marketing

“Does Influencer Marketing work? How can Creators monetize their audience? Find out and get more insights into successful influencer businesses, right here.”

 Why It Matters

Influencer marketing helps brands build awareness and find customers.


 Problem

Brands need to break through noise.


 Solution

Influencer Marketing transfers trust and attention from influencers to brands.


 Players

Examples

  • Beats by Dre • Musician-promoted headphones.
  • HubSpot Podcast Network • Supports several B2B podcasts.
  • Notion Ambassadors • Supports creators such as Marie Poulin.
  • Brycent • Promotes play and earn games such as Axie Infinity.
  • YG • Featured Ledger in a recent music video.
  • Audible Creator Program • A referral program for influencers.
  • HiSmile • $40 million brand built by working with influencers such as Kylie Jenner.
  • Fenty Beauty • Cosmetics brand by Rhianna.

Helsinki Bus Theory: The Proven Path to Creating Unique and Meaningful Work

James Clear - Helsinki Bus Theory

Helsinki Bus Theory: The Proven Path to Creating Unique and Meaningful Work

James Clear on what it takes to get good at your craft.

“By staying on the bus, you give yourself time to re-work and revise until you produce something unique, inspiring, and great. It’s only by staying on board that mastery reveals itself. Show up enough times to get the average ideas out of the way and every now and then genius will reveal itself.”

“Average college students learn ideas once. The best college students re-learn ideas over and over. Average employees write emails once. Elite novelists re-write chapters again and again. Average fitness enthusiasts mindlessly follow the same workout routine each week. The best athletes actively critique each repetition and constantly improve their technique. It is the revision that matters most.”

Bonus Idea: Creating distinct names for your ideas (e.g. “Helsinki Bus Theory”)is a very powerful way to get them to spread.

The Bizarreness Effect – Make your content stand out

The Bizarreness Effect – Make your content stand out

Another insightful post from Jake McNeill at CreativeHackers.co.

“Bizarreness makes things more memorable. They jump out at us and are easier to recall.

People also gossip about bizarre things. There is social kudos in delivering stories about bizarre and unusual things.

Blackbeard used bizarreness to frighten his enemies but also to create a mythical persona that people gossiped about which increased his effectiveness and success as a Pirate.”

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