Time to read: 3:26 minutes
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1. One marketing idea

Marketing has lost its way.

It's wandered off the path like a kid from a good home getting into drugs.

The definition began in the head and has gone to the hands. Hear me out:

We associate marketing with tactics.

Action/movement is what marketing is. For many, thinking is the last thing they think (punny) of when they hear marketing.

Which is sad.

Marketing is thinking. Within the word is "market." What is a market?

It's an imaginary box that includes those you can best serve.

That is the foundation of a business. Picking the market to play in. Which requires thinking!

My recent pod guest, Parthi, touched on this. He mentioned that marketing's job, besides qualified leads, is product marketing.

Which is another way to say defining the foundation:

• Who do we serve?

• How do we best reach them?

• What progress are they trying to make?

When you define this, the tactics become clear.

To get better at marketing, we must improve how we think about it.

2. What's new in (the) marketing (zoo)?

I'm not someone who breaks news.

Nor should I comment on it.

This section is going away and will only return when there is fat news (fat meaning big/important – ask your kids).

One final lesson: Be weary of who you get your (marketing) news from.

3. Content Rewrite (Decide if it's better!)

Before we get in: I love writing.

And to improve, I've rewritten many ads or content assets. Rather than pontificate about whether a piece of marketing is good (who am I even to know), I want to rewrite things—put my money where my mouth is.

Today, we explore copy for a vibey diner, Anna's House.

Before I share my revision, let's explore a larger topic: place.

This was located in a "meh" frame at the entrance. Why was it not more prominent? Why was not more invested into it?

I like the idea. I dislike the execution.

First: Do not start every bullet with the same phrase.

This is an easy mistake, but it makes reading it miserable

The next is to use "you" vs. guests. Are you a guest? I'm not. I'm a human.

Using "you" is important to strike that "connection" with the reader.

I also like creating "headlines" for each bullet point to allow skimming. This allows the reader to choose which to read fully. However, it could be a hassle and should be eliminated.

I wanted to do this because of the vibe and the food, which were killer. But this copy didn't come off right.

Wish they could put that into a bottle and use it to write their mission.

4. Quote of the week

It's all about attention.

"...the number one skill set that you need to master in today's advertising landscape: Understanding attention–what it is, where it is, where it's underpriced, and how to leverage it for brand building and sales." – Gary Vaynerchuk (Day Trading Attention)

As critical as I am of him, I respect Gary for this insight. Marketing is all about attention.

You lose if you can't find, hold, and increase attention (or awareness).

"If you know what people are paying attention to and where they're paying attention, then you have a shot at selling them something." – Gary

Marketing is becoming more about being an observer of attention and collaborating with culture rather than creating it in isolation (pre-internet).

Gary put me onto marketing in 2017 with his daily videos.

I'm forever grateful.

5. Episode on Writing

I love Scott Galloway.

I also love David Perrell and his videos/podcast on How To Write.

This episode is filled with many insights on writing and life.

I'm skipping this week for my podcast as I'm (so) overburned with work.

Watch here 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zo21gITvSQ

6. Life Idea

"I'm a side that no one's rooting for
But you stand by me
Yeah, you stand by me" – Scumbag by ROLE MODEL

This song came on while driving for 12+ hours last weekend.

And I couldn't identify more with the lyrics.

So many incredible people (hi Kate 👋) stand with me.

Even though I rarely deserve it.

And it's something I hold onto for others:

How can I stand for those who no one is rooting for?

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Another busy week.

How is your summer going?

Feels like it began yesterday 🥲

Stay well until next time ❣️