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Marketing Startup

To win against competitors – Tell a different and new story

Most marketers (and founders) like to do competitive analysis and follow the leader.

The natural instinct is to check what’s working for the competition and then try to outdo them.

They try to be “cheaper” or “faster” than their competitor.

The problem with this approach is – that once the market believes in someone else’s story, convincing them that you are “better” than your competitor is the same as convincing them they were wrong in believing your competitor’s story.

And nobody likes to admit that they’re wrong.

Instead, the better approach is – you tell a different story.

You convince the market that your story is more “relevant” to their new evolving and future needs than the story they currently believe.

That way, you are not telling them that they were wrong.

You are just telling them that the world has evolved now.

And it’s time to re-evaluate their needs.

If your competition is selling the story of “visibility”, you sell the story of “productivity”.

If they sell the story of “intelligence”, you sell the story of “collaboration”.

If they sell the story of “best-of-breed”, you sell the story of “all-in-one”.

You get the idea.

You need to tell a new story, that’s relevant to their new world.

Categories
Marketing SaaS Sales Startup

The Most Exciting Part of Apple’s Product Announcement

The most exciting thing for me about Apple’s product announcements is not about their products.

It is about their website’s copywriting. 📝

They are one of the best copywriters in the world.

They make me believe everything they’re doing is the biggest, thinnest, lightest, and fastest. 😀

They convince me everything they’re launching is revolutionary, magical, and first of its kind. 🤩

They make it catchy too: E.g.,
• H2OK.
• 5G Speed. OMGGGGG.
• Blast past fast.
• Big news. Mini news.

If you’re a marketer, then you should read every single page and paragraph on their website.

Observe the word choices they’ve made.

Get inspired and steal what’s best.

Categories
Entrepreneurship Marketing Philosophy Product Management SaaS Sales Startup

Know More

What separates a great salesperson from a good one?

It’s the same thing for a marketer, copywriter, engineer, lawyer, surgeon, and many others.

They know more.

There are only 3 ways they can know more:
1. They have more experience
2. They seek more knowledge
3. They continuously apply their knowledge

1. The hack to gain more experience at less age is to be more curious and take risks to work at small-scale companies.

The first job I got in 2002 after college was with one of India’s largest IT providers – Infosys.

I left it in 8 months, took a 40% pay cut, and went to work for a 100 person company.

2. The hack to seek more knowledge is to have a growth mindset and devour as many books and training as possible on the subject matter.

I’m an engineer by education, but people get surprised by how much I know about UX Design principles, Sales methodologies, or Copywriting.

All credit goes to reading a lot of books and taking online courses.

3. The hack to apply more knowledge is to try more in your day job but also do side hustles.

The only way I became an SW engineer from an HW engineer, or a product manager from an engineer, or a salesperson from a PM is – my side hustles.

So invest in yourself and know more than others.

Categories
Marketing Sales

No ‟link in the comment” for LinkedIn posts

Isn’t it a frustrating experience when people share their main message in the Post area and link in the Comment area?

Hey, CEOs, Sales and Marketing leaders, and LinkedIn influencers – I have a few questions for you.

You say you’re customer-centric.

You say you strive to deliver the best customer experience.

But your customers are your prospects first, who are your LinkedIn connections.

Why don’t you strive to deliver a better experience for your LinkedIn connections?

Why do you ask me to read something in your post and then keep searching for a link in the Comment area?

LinkedIn is stupid to encourage such behavior.

But just because they didn’t fix this issue, why are you taking advantage of this situation?

Where is “don’t be evil” or “being right” value?

I’ve made this mistake too.

I’ve fallen into the trap of LinkedIn hacks.

But not anymore.

I’ve decided not to share any post with “link in the comment” hack.

Even though it means it comes at the cost of not getting more visibility.

Let’s do the right thing.

Categories
Marketing Startup

Produce, don’t just consume.

Anyone who is creating content (including me) is seeking your attention and time.

What if, you seek your own attention and time?

Content creators want you to read their articles, listen to their podcasts, and watch their YouTube videos.

So you invest your time in reading, listening, and watching.

What if, you want to observe your world, think about new ideas, and produce great creations?

Shouldn’t you be investing your time in observing, thinking, and producing?

Produce, don’t just consume.