How would you feel if someone said Götterdämmerung to you? (It's German.)
Does it have a hint of damnation? Is the appropriate response to say "Thank you", or should you get ready to do battle?
Götterdämmerung means Twilight of the Gods—the title of one of four Robert Wagner music dramas that make up The Ring.
Twilight of the Gods sounds very poetic, doesn't it? Soothing almost.
You are deceived again. It is a German translation of the Old Norse phrase Ragnarök—events that lead to the death of gods, natural disasters and rising waters that drown the world.
Damnation after all. Not soothing at all.
No one gets a Valentine's card addressed to their business. However, every business hopes for love.
I bet you made a special effort to attract a customer last Friday. And again today. You'll do the same tomorrow? And the day after? I'm sure you've written words specially honed to build a long-term relationship. Maybe even a cute image.
Last week, Paul wrote to you the day after Brexit (which was based on feedback from UK citizens about EU membership). I'm writing this dispatch the day after another political feedback loop: the general election in Ireland. The feedback from this election is surprising and disturbing for many people. (For others, just like Brexit, it is welcome news.)
I’m thinking of you on the day after Brexit. Say what you like about Brexit, but it's certainly bold.
In Ireland bold means naughty. In the UK it means fearless.
Whatever your business, being fearless attracts attention. People admire courage. Confident communications carry further. Bold works.
We’re writing this on Chinese New Year's Day—the Year of the Rat—more precisely Year of the Metal Rat. Some of your customers, staff, suppliers may be Rats. You might even be a Rat, like
Gwyneth Paltrow, Al Gore, William Shakespeare, TS Elliot, George Washington, Pope Francis, Nigella Lawson, Ralph Steadman, Hugh Grant, Diego Maradona, Bono, Erin Brockovich, Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, Katy Perry, Andres Iniesta, Prince Harry, AB de Villiers...
This is our first dispatch of 2020.
Is it possible to see better than 20/20?
Yes, it's indeed possible to have sharper than 20/20 vision.
It’s more relevant to your business to have a vision for 2020.
Not a pipe dream, nor a mirage, nor an aspiration. Not a harmless chunk of text.
Surprising facts:
Brazil nuts are radioactive.
Your banana is a descendant of one plant grown at an English stately home.
Paul used to only cut his hair once a year.
Surprising facts, figures and statements are sticky. They stay with you.
How sticky is your business?
Unmemorable news!
I'm sitting at my home office desk, safe from falling trees*. The tree that was threatening our granny annexe has been safely cut up. (The family has firewood for the winter.) The manly men with chainsaws told me the tree was only being held up by the electricity cable it was resting against. The threat is gone. A happy end.
This is frustratingly annoying. There was an Irish band. They had a hit. It was used in a Hollywood movie. You’d know the song if you heard it. The band doesn’t exist anymore.
I can’t remember the name of the band, the song nor the film.
Paul is playing the role of "Father of the Groom" at a wedding in Italy this week. I think he will have a speaking part, even though his character doesn't usually have any lines in the script. But Paul is unconventional. That, of course, is the whole appeal.
Convention makes for boring stories and non-stick surfaces.
Because critics help your cause to succeed
You're going to love complaints this week—if you give them a hearing.
Because every complaint is a gem; it sparkles light into a corner of your business. It shows you still have a relationship with the person who's disgruntled.
Almost nobody turned up when councillor Kieran McCarthy held his first public clinic. But his second clinic was a roaring success. Here’s how he did it.
My favourite social media app is Instagram… was Instagram… (I don’t know anymore). I’m a visual person. I like seeing things. Show me something and I will probably remember it. Tell me something and I probably won’t. (Plenty of people say I don’t listen, so…)
It was hideous. I still want to curl up into a ball of shame under my desk when I think about it.
That vile email I sent to someone I hadn't been in touch with for ages.
Out of the blue, they got a message from me. I'll paraphrase.
"Hi, you haven't heard from me in years. I have a new company now. Can we talk about how you can buy my services?"
It makes me want to vomit.
You know when you visit a website and after a couple of seconds you get a message like this...
Imagine this.
Your business is fresh out of the wrapper. Not a mark on it. Not a customer or client to its name. Not yet a week or month in business, let alone a year.
All your competitors have been around a long time. They have experience. They have track records, impressive client lists and tried-and-tested products. They are gnarly and calloused. And much bigger than you.
They have a blazing aura of credibility.
What have you got?
How do you compete with these beasts?
The more aspirational your business is, the easier it is to get your message out.
But what if your business is one most people find boring?
Don't be delighted.
Or excited.
We don't care
about your share,
when all you do
is talk about you.
Ugh. Why do so many businesses tell people they are "excited to announce ..."? That they're "delighted to announce..."?
I hope your company doesn't.
If you had a direct channel to your target audience, wouldn't you do your best to nurture it? Wouldn’t you be respectful? After all, treated properly, this place could provide you with customers forever.
But no.
Marketers don’t do this.
There are two parts to effective communication. Both can be described by the word 'get'.
First, your audience has to get your message—as in, 'receive it'.
They also need to get it— as in, 'understand it'.
If one of these 'gets' is missing, there's absolutely no chance of your audience acting on your message.
Or to put it another way, there is no guarantee that if your audience gets your message they will actually get it. What is certain, though, is that if your audience doesn't get your message they will never get it either.
As long as we all get that.
