Write.
Remove.
Reevaluate.

Solid editing advice from Lee Kiernan, guitarist in IDLES.

You can craft more engaging messages if you think of them as songs you want your fans to sing with you. Which means they need to emotional anchor points and can benefit from the poetry of gaps—spaces for the fans to fill in their own meaning.


If you’re in the business of selling to other businesses

Your clients are paying you with their customers’ money

If you don’t help them make money, it’s hard to justify taking their money


Finished reading: Do Recruit by Khalilah Olokunola 📚


Real life is impressionism. Forget the perfect paint strokes and embrace the art of life that is a little less polished.

Advertising used to sell polished ideals of life with the product or service. People bought the dream.

Social media killed that.

People don’t buy the dream of perfection. They want to buy the thing that acknowledges reality—the rough edges, the good enough, the messiness of life.

Take some sandpaper to the polished edges of your brand and rough it up a little bit. Show some personality. Ditch the gloss.

via Arnold’s Pump Club


Consumers are feeling a little less confident as Labor Day looms.

The Consumer Confidence Index, Present Situation Index, and Expectations Index all decreased from July (which had an upward adjustment on its confidence index).

Among demographic groups, confidence fell for consumers under 35 years old, was stable for consumers aged 35 to 55, and rose for consumers over 55.

Blame: tariffs, inflation / high prices, recession concerns

via The Conference Board


Crafting your narrative can create an irresistible draw for some because words affect emotions, which leads to a response. The right words can attract the perfect candidates… But be cautious, as the wrong words could put off your ideal match.

Marketing is the process of creating and sharing a narrative about your brand and offer. Attracting customers that are interested in the narrative and, eventually, want to help co-create it.

from Do Recruit by Khalilah Olokunola 📚


Crafting your messaging isn’t just about what you want your audience to know.

It’s about what you want them to feel.


we have decades of research in behavioral science that tells us that predicting what individuals are going to purchase is logistically impossible. We can predict what large groups of populations are going to buy and that’s what makes it possible to stock grocery stores with the right assortments based on where they’re located. But knowing exactly what Sarah Marzano is going to purchase on her next grocery order is nearly impossible.

We market to abstract groups.
We sell to individual humans.

via Sarah Marzano on Behind the Numbers podcast


Handy chart for your channel mix planning from EMARKETER.

As always, what’s old is new again.

The key is figuring out where we are in that looping cycle.


Your product should meet demand, not attempt to create it.

-Codie Sanchez