Adam Street's Blog
The spiritual and practical path to freedom to do your art

I’m Ranting Cats and Dogs!

Yesterday, I blogged about Seth Godin’s book This is Marketing.

I called it his newest book but a quick trip to Amazon told me I was wrong.  This one came out in 2018 and The Practice is his newest book.  Whoops.

While I was on Amazon I glanced at the reviews and this one caught my eye (also above)

“I like Seth a lot but sometimes his ideas are not a reflection of the real world. There are some products that benefit from telling a brand story but 99% of products don’t need a story. When I buy a frozen pizza or cereal I don’t need a brand story, just give me a good product at a fair price. If marketers should want to change the world why do some brands who have violated consumer trust still grow and make money? Yes, some products solve my problems but most just meet my basic need as a consumer.”

This guy does have a point.  The average person who goes to buy a frozen pizza may grab any old pie off the shelf but that’s NOT everyone.  

Not all brands tell stories but ALL brands are storytelling.  What’s the difference?

Digiorno Pizza tells a story (which is also their USP).  It’s not delivery, it’s DiGiorno.  Their pizza is like ordering from a restaurant.  Not really, but that’s what they say.  And back in 1995 when DiGiorno came out, it was a lot better than most frozen pizzas.  

Now on to storytelling.  

Every product is storytelling.  The price tells a story.  The font on the box tells a story.  The color of the packaging tells a story.  When you package a product or service everything matters.  

If you think like that guy, you’re gonna be stressed.  And you’re gonna shell out tons of time and cash trying to keep clients from running away faster than Usain Bolt.

I will admit, some commodities or his “basic needs” type products do require little brain power.  Like hangers.  Hangers are not particularly exciting to most people.  Even though I saw an article where two experts reviewed 32 different models of hangers for over 8 hours.

This guy helps make my point from yesterday clear.  If you make a product for everyone I hope you have a rich and generous uncle.  But if you focus on a small niche, you’ll find people who actually give a damn about you.

Winston Churchill said, “I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” There’s nothing wrong with all animals.  But if you like pigs, market to pigs.  Cats and dogs will be fine without you.

Adam

Old School Marketing is so Gangsta

Seth Godin is an OG (original gangster) of marketing.

I would recommend you read all of his books.  The man is just that good.  His audiobooks books can be a little monotone but his content is off-the-wall good.  

His newest book, This is Marketing is a new “old” book.  Brand new book but what Seth talks about is old school.  Forget the glamour and glitz of trying to reach the masses.  Reach a few people instead.

   

It’s really important if you got pulverized by 2020.  It’s like starting over again or you may have started a completely new biz altogether.  Your transformation starts with your marketing.

I wanted to do a break down on Seth’s Marketing in Five Steps.

The first step is to invent a thing worth making. with a story worth telling , and a contribution worth talking about.  

Why are you offering coaching or marketing courses?  And why should anyone buy it from you.  The transformation?  Well, duh but you can get that from anywhere with a good google search. 

Your story and your why is what makes ‘your thing’ worth making and telling.

Look at Lily Born, this kiddo started her own cup company.  You may think the story is that she is a child entrepreneur.  That’s cool, but those story grows on trees.

The real story is when Lily was 8, she noticed her grandfather, who has has Parkinson’s, spilled  his drinks a lot.  She made him a cup from moldable plastic and later a ceramic cup for coffee.  She eventually started a business and made The Kangaroo Cup.

Yes, her cups solve a problem.  But she invented a thing worth making, and her story is worth telling.  And people talk about it.  Kinda like now…

That’s actually the litmus test for your product.  If it’s not unique in it’s own way that people talk about it you need to do two things.

You either need different people to show your offering to or you need a different offering.  

Sometimes it’s both but iterating will get you there.

Next time we’ll talk about Seth’s second step.

Adam

Angry Enough to Slap Jesus

My wife has had a bipolar relationship with her weight most of her life and a few months ago she hired a weight loss coach.  His name is Chris but I call him Jesus.  

Jesus is perfect.  All I ever hear is…

  • How fine he is.
  • How he knows calories and macros. 
  • How great his recipes are.

He’s helped her drop about 20 pounds and I’m happy for her.  But when she talks about him, I throw up in my up mouth a little.

Yesterday she told a woman at the gym she’s NEVER lost weight before.  My wife is like Oprah, she loses weight all the time.  But now that she’s found Jesus…

It drives me crazy because his ‘plan’ is all stuff someone (usually me) has told her before.  

But it didn’t matter.  Now that Jesus says it, it means something.  

It’s annoying.  It’s make me wanna run off and slap somebody.  But you’ve probably spotted the problem already.  Haven’t you?

People who get free advice rarely use it and don’t value it the same as paid advice.  Charge for your advice.

You may need to offer freebies to get started, or to test your course, and that’s ok.  But this ain’t charity work, baby.  Charge for what you do.  And charge the right amount.  Don’t bill what you think they can pay.

Action and lack of action have a price.  Your clients will eventually pay.  That dinero may as well go to you.

Adam

2 Ways to Improve Your Reviews

I used to suck at getting reviews of my work.  I’ve gotten better but I’m still no where near AKC best of show.

You want to get reviews.  They help people trust you and believe in what you do  Whether you get a few or a bucket load.  There’s a couple of things you can do to make the ones you get better.

First, show the diversity of your clients.  Like attracts like.  

If you have a course that teaches cats to pee on a toilet (don’t laugh, this is really a thing) and one of your testimonials is from a retired grandma.  There’s another Meemaw in Oklahoma captivated, thinking…  Hey, I can do that too.  

Let’s get fancy and put it in a more scientific way.  Author and most bad-ass psychology professor ever Dr. Robert Cialdini said in his book Pre-Suasion, thinking is linking.  

“The brain’s operations arise fundamentally and inescapably from raw associations.  Just as amino acids can be called the building blocks of life, associations can be called the building blocks of thought.”

You also want to add some drama when you can.  Which sounds better?

• Adam coached me and helped me lose 30 pounds. 

• I struggled with my weight for nearly a decade after the birth of my second child,  After I was coached by Adam I lost 30 pounds.  

Same result but the second one is much more impressive and relatable with some back-story sprinkled in there. 

“Readers want to see a character overcome obstacles.  They want to live vicariously through the character in your book, feeling every setback.  Feeling the conflict.  And getting the satisfaction of accomplishment when the character finally reaches his goal.”

Debra Dixon, from Goal, Motivation & Conflict

In the movie Iron Man, imagine if they glazed over Tony being captured and creating his armor out of necessity?    They could have done that but the movie wouldn’t have been no where near as good.

And neither would have Spider-Man.  Thor.  Or any other super-hero movie.

Don’t for a minute think I’m telling you to make this stuff up.  Pay attention to what your clients say and their individual experiences.  And when they give you a review coach them on framing their story. 

I used to work at an insurance company and we used to joke that all the customer reviews started in the rain or with some other melancholy situation.    

You don’t have to get all Joseph Campbell on them but do what you can to get great feedback.    It is for you after all.

Adam

The Marketing Secret No One Talks About

When it comes to marketing ‘secrets’ tactics always get mentioned.  They have their place but they’re a bit over-rated.  

It’s better to understand principles.  Like, WHY you do what you do.  Your story is SO important.  It’s what holds it all together like Gorilla Glue.  

If you don’t pump your why into your story you risk being generic.  It’s like baking a cake with no sugar.  You can call it cake it but…almost no one will want to eat it.

In 2009 Simon Sinek introduced us to what he calls the Golden Cirlce.  And no, it’s not a new James Bond movie.  

I love Sinek’s work.  And when I first saw his TED talk video it hit me like a brick to my chest.  His philosophy works like this.  Most leaders (and successful companies) market and talk about WHAT they do.

• We deliver sandwiches the fastest.  

• We unlock your greatest potential  

• Our pizza is the best tasting.

 

These things are Unique Selling Propositions (USPs).  They work for a while until someone does what you do better.  You have an alternative though…

WHY.

If you talk about WHY you do what you do, now you are a original story.  People know what you stand for.  They know why they should care or why they should have nothing to do with you.  

Many pros think they need a story like Brendon Burchard who almost died in a car accident to find his why.   It makes a for a cool story but you don’t need ALL that drama.

There’s a book called Save The Cat.  According to the author Blake Synder  there’s only 10 genres to EVERY movie ever made!  Ten!  And just about every song ever written was made with 7 notes.  

Don’t fear simplicity, embrace it.

Focusing on and marketing with your why is the real secret sauce of standing out.   

John Carpenter said, “Movies are about making mental things physical”.  That’s what we do too.  A person wants a change in their life and they hire you to help them make waves.

But none of that happens if you keep freaking out looking for great headlines and SEO rankings.

Adam