"What would my life look like with less?"

You can insert life for marketing and many other things. The prompt helps me realize I need little for maximum happiness.

Or maybe a better question is, "What few things do I need to make progress on what matters to me?" The rest should be disregarded.

But then we take a step further into the matrix and ask what progress am I trying to make (in all areas of life)? And we may realize we are focusing on advancing the wrong things.

Striving for more money/material.
Desiring a better career (or life) position.
Wanting to have a vacation home in the north woods.

Because when you focus on making progress on the things that bring true joy, you find you need little. 

You need love for your family/friends. 
You need peace to persevere and be your best self.
You need joy found in proven activities (spiritual, physical exercise).

The rest is a bonus and sometimes should be avoided. I'm working through that this Lent season.

How can I focus less on the lower desires (treats/sugar/pleasure)
and more on higher desires (growing closer to God/Spirit)

Enjoy this week's letter:

Marketing Micro Essay 💡S2E9: X + Y + Z Featuring Bolaji Oyejide

Time to listen: 103:31 minutes
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Bolaji is a genius at content creation.

He's a showrunner who has mastered producing shows that resonate and engage the audience. His Demand Wars podcast is a top B2B marketing resource.

He's also an incredible human who gives incredible introductions to his guests. For this episode, I did not even try to outdo him. I let the king be the king.

In our conversation, we discuss:

1. Marketing is about understanding your audience and building relationships, not just persuasion.

2. Storytelling ( > Data) is a powerful marketing tool.

3. Build a community by featuring your audience in content creation.

4. Make time for play outside of work to boost productivity and well-being.

5. Adopt an attitude of understanding others before being understood.

Listen to the episode (or click the image below)

Three Books / Three Quotes

"The best AI-first companies are not afraid to publicly communicate their commitment to ethics." – Paul Roetzer and Mike Kaput (Marketing Artificial Intelligence: AI, Marketing, and the Future of Business)

Quick note on the book: Very high-level and impractical for those already involved with AI. I have yet to find a good book on AI. Got any recs?

To the quote: I believe a piece (benefit) of marketing is owning the story. When you communicate your stance/beliefs on things, you own the story.

With AI, it's important to make a public statement (blog/social) on your company's stance on AI. If you're keeping ten feet away from it, share that. If you're approaching it cautiously, make that known.

It's simple to me. With social media and websites, you can own your story and tell it how you wish to. Unless someone tells a different story, in the case of negative press, you still have your story on (digital) paper for all to see.

Maybe I should make a personal statement on AI... 🤔

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"How we frame or reframe failure has a great deal to do with our capacity to fail well." – Amy Edmondson (Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well)

Perspective is everything.

You can move faster when you frame intelligent failure (losing) as learning. It's all about the way you frame trying and coming up short.

Next time you experience failure, consider how you can reframe it to enable progress. 

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"Only by recognizing the limits of our brain's greatest sense will we have the humility to understand others as they actually are instead of as we imagine them to be." – Nicholas Epley (Mindwise: Why We Misunderstand What Others Think, Believe, Feel, and Want)

Let's say it together: I suck at knowing what others think.

As good as we think we are, unless we ask many questions and create a safe space to share, we won't know their inner thoughts. All we have is an illusion of truth.

Instead, accept that fact and be humble and curious as you learn more about the minds of those close to you. Also, be more open to understanding some people and why they believe/think something.

Life would be a lot better if we all opted to know nothing and to seek more about someone—aka care a bit more.

This book has been wonderful—easily in the top 10 in the last few years. I'm reading a new book that already references this book. Highly recommend it.

Heard / Saw / Experienced

Heard:

Another snippet on writing:

"Even if no one reads it, it's worth writing."

Chris Davis discussed a weekly insurance letter he would write for the investment firm he worked for. He was confident no one read it.

But his dad gave him sage advice on why he continues to write it: "We write it for ourselves."

"The writing is not about the product for the client. It's about what you learn writing for yourself."

I love that mindset for writing. While I haven't amassed a huge audience writing, I have significantly increased my ability to think regarding marketing.

The goal of writing is not to grow an audience but to grow yourself.

Click here to watch

Saw:

I love working for a woman-owned company. It has expanded my perspective significantly (ask my wife).

I also love working for a leader who truly cares about our community.

This was highlighted on Wednesday when she was awarded the Nancy Armbrust Impact Award. It was an elegant evening celebrating her and the work that the Women's Fund of Greater Green Bay is doing to support women and girls.

I'm grateful to work for a leader paving the way for women.

I can get behind that.

Experienced:

Family.

I believe it can be a hindrance to helping others or could fuel aimless divisions. But it also has soooo many benefits. And a huge luxury.

I never realized how good I had it growing up. Sure, we've had our family troubles, but my family is incredibly benevolent and cordial.

Which isn't the case for all. And that sucks.

Family should be an oasis—a place to visit and recharge/refocus.

I was able to enjoy a beautiful Saturday with my family last weekend.

May this be a prayer/push for you to enjoy time with your family and the joy that comes from that.

It never fails for me.

Thank you for making it this far. I appreciate you being on this journey with me.

If there is any way I can help you make progress in your life or marketing, let me know! I’m here for you.

– Jo (every second counts)