A short, weekly(ish) illustrated newsletter by Adam Fairhead that gives indie hackers, entrepreneurs and digital product creators one tip to make your product marketing better (with edutainment and gamification tips you're not yet using) and your mind stronger (because you're a KPI too).
Each issue is actionable & takes less than a minute to read.
Subscribe by email or read recent issues
Ever get to the end of a week and think to yourself…
“Man, I worked hard every day but…what did I even get done?”
The feeling of “literally where did the time go” and “at this rate things will take forever, and I don’t have forever” is not uncommon.
You’re not alone: I’ve talked to a lot of creators over the past couple of decades, and this feeling is normal… and it’s getting worse:
“Oh man, maybe I should be doing more of ______!”
Stop. Hey, come back to me. Focus.
Listen: Eating three uncut pizzas at once is gross.
You’re not an animal. Select a pizza. Slice it up. Then eat 1–2 slices a day during mealtimes.
If you’re going to ship all of the amazing projects trapped inside you, eat work like you eat pizza in polite company.
This week’s challenge is going to help you do that. Please do it:
Challenge for the week: This weekend, make a 4-step list for the month. Give 1 week to each (too heavy? Reduce the size of the list!) Now break each week into 5 slices, one for each weekday (too heavy? Reduce the size of the list!) Each day, only eat that slice of work and forget about eeeeverything else.
Reply with: What’s next week look like for you? Share it with me, and treat your email reply like an accountability step. Let’s get the week!
What’s the difference between a rideshare and a kidnapper?
One impresses you fancy wheels, the other gets you to your destination.
Creators forget this. And when they do, they accidentally become kidnappers.
If you’re fancy but don’t know where your people want to go, you just want them to get into your shiny car. That’s creepy.
But if you know where they want to go, and they see you’re familiar with the place, it doesn’t matter what your car looks like.
A great rideshare experience is much more than the chilled bottled water and smooth jazz radio.
A great rideshare experience is total confidence you know precisely how to get them to their destination safely.
Which does your marketing talk about more: the car, or the destination?
Challenge for the week: Take a look at your website. Count the times you talk about you vs about them. If the former exceeds the latter, fix it.
Reply with: How many times you talked about each, and on what page URL. I’ll try to reply with some feedback. I read every one!
We need another free PDF like we need a hole in the head.
So why… after spending countless hours building a great digital product… would we try to motivate interest using something like a…PDF?
Folks sign up when they’re clear your product solves a problem for them. So make something interactive. Something fun. Something they can’t not interact with. Something that solves just a teeny-tiny bit of their problem. Then offer the product to take care of the rest.
You’re capable of so much more than a boring static document. Your work is worth dignifying with so much more than a boring static document. And the market standard is so low, you don’t need to do much to really stand out.
Challenge for the week: Take down the PDF, and drop something interactive and fun for new visitors instead… a funny explainer video, a free trial with a wizard, a new customer challenge, "something".
Reply with: what you’re thinking of creating. I’ll try to reply with some feedback. I read every one!
You don’t even like your current audience targeting (you know it’s too broad!)
If you’re afraid to narrow down your target, you don't have a target. And then who knows where your message is going to land. Leaving it broad denies right-fit folks the opportunity to join you, and invites wrong-fit folks to be a royal pain in your butt.
As above, preventing butt-pain is good. And attracting great customers is good. So what’s stopping you from better defining your target audience?
Challenge for the week: Tweak your marketing content so it repels butt-pain and attracts YOUR kind of people just a little bit better. Your posterior thanks you.
Reply to this email with What segment of your market you’re going to push away this week. Or if you’re unsure, share that instead. I read every email!
Snackable, actionable insights that make your product better every week. Subscribe to the newsletter you’ll look forward to reading: