TDW #015: 40 One-Sentence(ish) Marketing Hacks

Marketing doesn’t have to be something you dread. Or check off a list. Or do because you “have to.” It can actually be enjoyable.

Here’s a collection of marketing tips to help your business get more opportunities. Each one has been tested in the arena. Meaning—I've usually discovered them after either a.) a breakthrough, or b.) a blunder.

Either way, you get them for free. (Another name for this post could just as easily be 'Stuff Justin Wishes He Would Have Figured Out Earlier'.)

Enjoy!

40. Be different to get noticed.

39. If you can’t get noticed, you won’t get business.

38. You spend money, time, or energy on marketing to get more opportunities.

37. Your opportunities, in turn, make you more money (this is sales).

36. Save the cute and clever for another day—make your marketing clear and actionable.

35. Marketing is not a license to manipulate people (even though the same principles are at work).

34. Marketing helps people see how your business can help them get what they want.

33. Manipulation is when you use other people to get what you want (think used car salesmen).

32. Your personality is an asset in marketing—no matter the size of your business. Personality > Everything.

31. If you’re under $1m in annual revenue, do not hire an agency. Learn the craft of marketing. Learn how to clarify and simplify your offer, audience, and voice.

30. The four stages of good marketing are: 1.) “I follow you online”, 2.) “I love your content”, 3.) “I read your emails”, 4.) "how do we work together?"

29. Tell the truth—people know when you’re lying to them, even if it’s subconscious.

28. A good offer or product or solution is not enough—it will not "market itself." You must make it your mission to get the right people to notice you.

27. Less intelligent people with crappier businesses are stealing your clients and customers right now because they know how to get noticed first.

26. Marketing is not about tactics, it’s about understanding human communication.

25. Referrals and word-of-mouth is the icing, not the cake.

24. Your marketing should have a quantifiable impact on your revenue.

23. Send more emails to your list than you’re comfortable sending—then double it.

22. Boring gets ignored (and most marketing is boring).

21. Getting noticed doesn’t mean doing something zany or outrageous—it means doing something people don’t expect.

20. “Best practices” are usually a complete waste of time.

19. If it’s not working, stop doing it.

18. Don’t say there’s a deadline to your offer unless there’s an actual deadline (see #29).

17. You will need to change your marketing tactics every 1-2 years (remember chat bots?).

16. 80 percent of your marketing will not yield the results you think it will (and that’s a good thing).

15. Be obsessed with using the same vocabulary as your Dream Client. Get inside their head and heart. What are the words, phrases, and jargon they use? Speak the way they do. Not the way you think they do. Big difference.

14. Polarize.

13. Always visualize a real person, with a first and last name, when you create marketing materials. Speak to that person—and only to them.

12. Great products do not market themselves.

11. Spend one month literally doing the opposite of what everyone else in your industry does. See what happens.

10. Write a book because you have a message to share—not because you have a product to sell.

9. Learning how to market is like re-learning how to talk.

8. When in doubt, show people your heart.

7. Do marketing that doesn’t scale.

6. Align your marketing with your personality.

5. Desperation reeks.

4. Do not automate your marketing unless you’ve done it manually 100 times.

3. If you do hire an agency, remember this—you are paying them for their time, not their expertise.

2. Bad marketing pushes. It forces. It bullies. It manipulates. It coerces.

1. Good marketing pulls. It's like catching the irresistible scent of fresh-baked cookies and floating to the kitchen to find the prize.

 When you’re ready, here’s how I can help you:

1. NEW: Apply to work with my team and turn content into clients.
2. Get 1-on-1 help and turn your ideas into income (30+ stories).
3. Watch this short training on how to make $10,000 from one post.