Time to read: 4:38 minutes
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1. One (marketing) Idea

If writing = thinking AND marketing = thinking

Then marketing = writing.

I love math. It's objective, unlike marketing. So, I can't help but try to use math to wrap my head around this marketing concept as writing (please throw away this example).

The lesson is that both are rooted in thinking.

"Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That's why it's so hard." ― David McCullough.

I'd say the same for marketing. To do meaningful marketing, you must think clearly.

(Which is why most marketing is meh)

But writing has a vicious cycle; the more you write, the better you think, and the more you think, the better you write.

From all of this, I can hypothesize that increasing my writing will help me become a better marketer.

I will be able to think better and thus do better marketing.

Something I haven't touched on yet is our next idea:

Writing is the material for all marketing

Think of something in marketing that writing doesn't touch… I'll wait.

Videos have scripts. Designs tie to concepts. Speaking requires an outline.

Words underpin everything in marketing.

This means your ability to generate words is vital to marketing's success.

And I see two ways of doing this:

1. Write more

2. Observe and document (more)

Writing more helps you lower the cost of every future word. This was a concept I came to understand from a coder. He said for every line of code you make, you lower the cost of the next.

Writing is no different.

Second, I believe you can have more fodder (material) to use by observing and documenting life. This is also how you progress (observe → write/document → learn → progress). Ask more questions, pause longer, and carry a notebook or phone to jot things down.

Another tactic is to record conversations with (ideal) customers.

Doing this adds more words (transcript) to the "database" you use to generate marketing stuff.

If attention is the currency in marketing, words are how you generate revenue.

Example: My podcast

I have two types of episodes: solo and with guest(s).

To create a great podcast episode requires two things:

1. Preparation of episode (and guest)

2. Execution in interview (listening + following up)

The first leads to the second, and the first is fueled by research and writing. Main focus on writing.

You need to create a script with an outline of words and questions (with words!).

So, to generate a good outcome (episode), I must be able to write (think) well.

So why not focus on writing?

Challenge: Write daily (15 mins) for 6 weeks.

Find 10-20 minutes daily for the next 6 weeks to write. About what?

• A challenge/opportunity at work (ex. how to leverage content)

• Concepts or things in your field you want to know deeper

• How you feel and maybe why life is great (or sucks)

It seems easy, but it's not. Like meditating for 5 minutes daily (which I've done since 2019).

But habits are so fucking powerful.

If you commit to them, they pay you back tenfold. I've been writing semi-daily for over 6 years.

I do better marketing because of it.

I will commit with you to write daily for 6 weeks starting on September 22nd, 2024.

2. One Quote

"Negative self-talk and self-shaming don't make us more effective or more peaceful parents. In fact, it does the reverse." – Hunter Clarke-Fields

If a friend spoke to me like I talk to myself, we wouldn't be friends.

I've struggled for a while with being hard on myself (negative self-talk). I thought it was the way to improve myself. Make myself suffer.

It's not. It's counterproductive.

How we speak to ourselves is vital to how quickly we grow. While everyone needs something different to succeed, being overtly hard and negative usually doesn't result in good outcomes.

While this is a quote for parenting, it's true for marketers. I act the same way with my work.

It's never good enough.

But what do I gain from being so hard on myself? Nothing.

Then let me try being nice and encouraging.

3. One Episode

Think of something in marketing that writing doesn't touch… I'll wait.

Videos have scripts.
Designs tie to concepts.
Speaking requires an outline.

Words underpin everything in marketing.

This means your ability to generate words is vital to marketing's success.

Which is why my challenge in this episode is to write daily for 15 minutes.

Can you do it?

Enjoy 👉 https://podcastonmarketing.transistor.fm/53

4. One (life) Idea

"You are worthy. No matter what you do."

When asked what idea my friend would incept in the minds of all humans, that was it.

What a deep and important belief. I mean, at least it is for me.

For a long time, and still do, I struggled with feeling unworthy.

In my sophomore year of high school, I felt so unworthy that I was ready to leave. I would rather be dead than feel the inadequacy I felt. High school is a struggle, but it was deeper than high school.

I didn't believe I was worthy to live and enjoy life.

Thankfully, those feelings subsided, and I could move on feeling "worthy" again.

Before I go further, I must share that my parents instilled in me the idea that I was worthy.

Unconditional love allows the human you love to feel worthy no matter who they are. My parents did that.

Most love is not that.

If you have never had someone love you in a way that increased your self-worth, you'll likely struggle with feeling worthy more than I am. Tell a kid they are worthless and better off dead, and check in when they are 20 and see if they feel "worthy."

They likely won't. Or struggle with it.

Back to my messed up story. My feelings of unworthiness never truly left. They shifted from a depressed state to an anxious state.

I will be worthy when _____.

This results in constant action, striving, and sadly, a feeling of not being worthy…yet.

Once I become a ___, then I will be allowed to feel worthy.
Newsflash: The ____ is constantly moving.

The ideal we must achieve to feel worthy never stops moving further from us.

For many, our worth is found in the words after "I am…"

I am a father. I am a chief marketing officer. I am sober.

But what comes after the "I am" is conditional.

You could lose your child in a tragic crash.
You could lose your coveted marketing position.
You could relapse and fall back into your addictions.

And just like that, you no longer feel worthy.

But what if we found our worth in the "I am?"

Whatever comes after is the cherry on top.

Can you rest in the I am? Can you feel worthy simply by being?

I'm working on it.

5. One Photo

Go for more runs at 6am.

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Today is our baby shower, so wish us (me) luck!

Photos to follow next week 😈

– JO (every second counts)