Just Tell Me What They're Doing

Here's the framework, once again.

Here's the feedback I get.

Reader:  Just tell me something that one of your clients is doing that is working.

Kevin:  I can't tell you. Would you want me to tell my clients your business secrets?

Reader:  Absolutely not.

Kevin:  Ok then.

Reader:  Is somebody else doing this stuff, and you know it is working?

Kevin:  Yes.

Reader:  Give me the example.

Kevin:  I've shared Headphones.com numerous times.

Reader:  They don't count. Give me an example of a company in my vertical that we directly compete against who does this stuff and it works perfectly. My vertical is all that matters to me.

The "they don't count" line of reasoning is always telling. It means the reader doesn't really want to employ anything different - the reader just wants to approach tactics from a point of superiority. "Yes, my business is struggling, but it isn't my fault, I follow best practices." It would be like having a CNN executive criticize Joe Rogan or even This American Life, though both have a far larger and more loyal audience.

Every one of you knows that the bottom 80% of your customer file is leaking out of a hole in your bucket. Every one of you knows that. It's a bigger hole than it used to be. Amazon clearly made that hole bigger, no question about it ... but you have to compete against Amazon while simultaneously selling on Amazon ... which must be fun ... for Amazon.

Something else is making the hole bigger ... it's all of these marketers in what I'd call the "Shopify/Etsy Ecosystem" ... those smaller brands are employing modern marketing tactics that don't include renting a list of Lands' End customers. When I share what some of these tactics are, you're free to bark at me about it, sure, but I'm free to point out that you might not be willing to modernize.

And yes, I have clients employing Customer Media Marketing tactics.

P.S.: The amount of fun that some of my clients are having ... they're having FUN! They're creating. They're building. They're taking chances. They're iterating. They fail often. They are inventing the best practices you'll employ in five years. There is energy in their work. Optimism. I realize some of you will unsubscribe after reading this (my unsubs are 2x/3x of normal if I publish the image I published at the top of this post). But if you are about to unsubscribe, at least employ a moment of introspection regarding your tactics. I'm done now. I appreciate all of you for getting this far with me on this topic.