🎩Can I tell you a story about a hat?

Hey, you weirdo!

It's been too long. Seven days is too long, right?!

Anyway, these past days have been a mix of wild and wonderful. I've been adding new income streams so I can reach the massive financial goal I have for 2024.

I'm focusing on passive income streams, but I discovered a helpful active income stream. I'll tell you more about my newest stream at the end.

About that DnD group. I didn't join it, and I ended up eating a ton of almonds, not walnuts, but those are awesome too.

Now, onto the...

Fun Sci-fi Quiz: Do you know the answers?

1. Which sci-fi film franchise features the Weyland-Yutani Corporation?

2. What is the primary power source for the DeLorean time machine in 'Back to the Future'?

3. What is the name of the fictional substance that powers Iron Man's suit?

Remember your answers. The truth'll be revealed at the end ;)

Marketing tips

“My hat, my hat!” My three-year-old nephew screamed at the top of his lungs, reaching up to me.

I’d just put my hat on my head. It was one of those winter hats with the floppy ears — and made me look like a Black Russian. You’ll see it later.

I shook my head. “No, it’s not your hat. It’s mine.”

But he wasn’t havin’ it.

“My hat, my hat!” He stood on his tippy toes, reaching up harder. Big, glossy, brown eyes stared up at me from under his skinny dread locks. He was one of my favorite nephews. Always ran full-force to slam into me for a hug with a massive smile on his face. Knocked me over a lot.

That kid was strong as heck.

“My hat!” He kept screaming it. Was so insistent I started looking for his hat. All six of us did. “My hat!”

He had a hat somewhere, and he knew it.

This is what my hat looked like

Eventually, I pulled a ball of fabric from behind the couch.

But this story isn’t just about a hat or adorable three-year-old boy. It’s about learning how to pull people toward us by fighting the marketing assumptions we make that pushes them away.

Here’s ways to fish, not jump in the water with a net:

Tip #1: Serve them

Even if your readers, clients, and customers are screaming like a three-year-old missing his hat, approach them from a position of serving.

Not a servant. Not less than. Not taking their crap. But from the mindset of providing them the knowledge, tools, services, and products only you can offer that’ll solve their problems.

You don’t have to make up problems for folx; you only gotta solve the ones they already have.

Examples

Publish value and insights without asking for anything (blogs, Xitter threads, YouTube, podcasts, art, etc.)
Watch and listen for their problems. Don’t just badger them about what they want. Stay observant
Build solutions to problems. Show pieces of the creation-in-the-making. When your system works, people’ll come to you wanting to know how you did it

Tip #2: Obsess over clarity

Create a vision of your ideal reader.

Be like my cutie-pie nephew: know what you want.

It’s important to ask what your readers/clients/customers are interested in, and even more important to know who you want to work with, market to—and who you don’t.

You want magical unicorns coming to you, so don’t chase sparkly horses with fake horns.

To do

Make a list of your ideal reader or client, and ONLY market to them. If you’re a sci-fi writer, focus on other sci-fi writers and readers.

Yes, people who don’t read sci-fi have friends who do, but to become a human magnet, focus on those already scaldingly interested in what you’re providing.

Remove everything and anyone that’s not aligned with your vision.

It’s better to have ten people running to your orbit, than chase a thousand, lukecold people into theirs.

Ask yourself:

Do they need what I have?
Do they see value in what I’m offering?
Can they buy what I’m selling?

Tip #3: Be like Isaac Asimov

No, not his writing style, love of small spaces, or adoration of letters — he wrote 90,000! — but his definition.

When you hear “Asimov,” what do you think of? Science Fiction. I, Robot. Author.

Asimov was well-defined. So well defined that many don’t know he was also a Professor of Biochemistry.

How to define yourself

Decide what you want to be known for
Choose a field(s) you can be great at
Find the simplest way to package yourself clearly for your readers/clients

Oh, and my nephew’s hat that I found behind the couch? This is what it looked like:

His hat? My hat?

I was wearing his hat. Or maybe… my hat. Ha, ha! We had the same type of hat! He was right, and I’m glad I listened. Not only can assumptions frustrate a three-year-old, but they can push your readers/clients away.

Don’t do that. Focus on becoming a magnet.

Resources