Messaging

Sep 27, 2026 ∞

Don’t play coy.

Say what you are (as you see it).

We live in a 6 seconds or less world, don’t waste seconds (or minutes (or, god forbid, days / weeks / months)) making your customer work to categorize you.

Sep 17, 2026 ∞

Match the message to the moment.

The instinct is to info dump as soon as you get their attention.

But that’s a hell of an introduction. And not the most helpful for someone who already knows.

Serialize your story. It worked for Dickens.

Sep 8, 2026 ∞

There are five keys to a good podcast trailer. And they work for any messaging:

energy,
show-name recall,
topic clarity,
ease of understanding
and authenticity

Pair this with the research owning flaws and being open to feedback improves outcomes and you’ve got a solid brief foundation.

How many of these does your messaging check off?

Aug 19, 2026 ∞

All Marketing Is Done In Translation

Two poets discussed translation on the Poetry Unbound podcast as an ongoing activity of living.

Ó Tuama:

locate translation for us as something that perhaps most people are doing most of the time.
…
what I’m thinking and then what I say, and then what you might hear me say and what you might comprehend in terms of what I say — that each of those are layers of translation as well.

Leeder:

We all translate all of the time. It’s, you know, just in the kind of micro movements and the situations, we’re understanding everything, we’re translating all the time.

The act of marketing is translating what is obvious to you for an audience that doesn’t know or perhaps, frankly, care.

This is what makes fandom so powerful.

Shared slang, references, and jokes create a new shared language. Shorthand for the in-crowd. Mystique for those outside it.

What they heard matters more than what you said.

When you release a piece of messaging into the world, how much translation are you asking the audience to do? Are you trying to speak to the fans or find more?

Jul 13, 2026 ∞

~~When seeking to change or improve performance, the common default is addition.~~

Mention more selling points. Launch more products. Add more colors. Create more ads.

More. More. More.

But the more might be the problem.

In plants, pruning leads to growth.

~~Focus. Simplify. Double down.~~ Subtract

Sep 24, 2024 ∞

Minimum Viable Website: A Thought Exercise

If your website had to fit entirely on a phone screen—only one page, no scrolling, no links—what would it say?

How would you:

Tell your story
Establish your value
Drive one action (buttons are allowed to trigger forms, checkouts, etc.)

How can you turn visitors into customers with one frame of an Instagram Story?

What is the one core nugget your audience needs to understand to “get” what you do, what the value is?

What are their primary questions / concerns / blocks that you need to address immediately?

What is the one action you want them to take that creates the highest exchange of value between both sides?