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Trigger warning: this is not my usual kind of email.
Yesterday, I attended Brand Voice Brain Opener with Justin Blackman, the top expert on brand voice. It was an intense and insightful experience that reawakened some passions.
And then I read this email from Scott D. Clary.
Subject line: "Unreasonable goals are actually easier to achieve."
"Be realistic."
How many times have you heard that?
Every time you've shared an ambitious dream, someone has probably hit you with those two dream-killing words.
Your parents when you said you wanted to be an astronaut. Your guidance counselor when you aimed for an Ivy League school. Your friends when you talked about starting a business. Your partner when you mentioned quitting your job to pursue your passion.
They all say it with such conviction, as if they're doing you a favor by saving you from disappointment.
But here's the dirty secret no one tells you.
The people telling you to be realistic are often the same ones who gave up on their own dreams."
This email really riled me up. It opened the dam of feelings I had cracked open at Brand Voice Brain Opener.
Why?
Because I've seen this "let's be realistic" attitude handicapping many clients over and over again.
They hire me because they're intrigued by my approach.
They want to build that loyal fan base. They want to have a story.
And we create it.
And then - nothing.
I go back to their site 1 year... 2 years... 5 years later... And they're swimming in a sea of mediocrity.
Their site looks like just another site. Their emails are generic sales emails. Their social posts are so skippable.
The "Stop fighting with your pillow" messaging? Nowhere to be found. The #SmellNothing video campaign? Never produced.
Those are actual ideas I developed for brands, lost to mediocrity.
Because they were AFRAID of that dream. They were conditioned to think only big, famous brands can do that kind of thing.
Well, guess what? You know how they got famous?
Because they had unrealistic goals and did crazy things to achieve it.
That's why I STOPPED taking on clients if I get a whiff of this "that's unrealistic" attitude.
It's understandable if you feel that way.
I even caught myself thinking like this while working on the upcoming relaunch of my side project, ItsYomTov.com. The story I want it to tell is very different. It's not your usual Jewish lifestyle or shopping site.
"No one's going to be interested in this," a little voice whispered. "Look at all the other sites selling Jewish holiday products and content. That's what people like."
We're all surrounded by mostly reasonable people thinking mostly reasonable thoughts, doing mostly reasonable things.
We are TAUGHT to be reasonable.
But I've realized that I no longer want to work with reasonable brands.
If you want to work with me - you have to be all in. You have to skip the middle road and be ready to be bold, be yourself, do things that no one else in your lane is doing.
Is it "reasonable" for me to send an email five days a week? No. 99% of freelancers don't do it.
But I jumped in and did it.
Did I get a lot of unsubscribes at first? Sure.
Did I also get a bunch of NEW subscribers, who open almost every email? Yes.
I want to work with brands who are ready to jump in, ready to get that kind of result.
Because your "reasonable" marketing strategy is stunting your business.
While you're busy playing it safe, creating content that looks just like everyone else's, your potential customers are scrolling right past you.
They're BORED.
They're NUMB.
They've seen the same marketing a thousand times before.
And they don't care anymore.
You think you're being smart by following the "best practices". But all you're doing is ensuring you'll never stand out. Never be remembered. Never inspire true loyalty. And - here's the clincher - never grow your profits significantly.
The most crowded lane is the middle one. Where everyone's fighting for the same attention with the same tactics and the same messaging.
In the words of Scott D. Clary: "99% of people are convinced they're incapable of achieving great things, so they aim for "reasonable" goals. The irony? This makes mediocre goals the most fiercely competitive—and therefore the hardest to achieve.
The level of competition is fiercest for "realistic" goals, paradoxically making them the most time- and energy-consuming...
As Tim Ferriss puts it: "The fishing is best where the fewest go, and the collective insecurity of the world makes it easy for people to hit home runs while everyone else is aiming for base hits.""
Think about it. How many brands are competing to increase conversions by 10%? MILLIONS.
How many are aiming to create superfans who would tattoo their logo onto their bodies? Almost NONE. (Okay, okay, you don't have to take it that far😜 . But you get the picture.)
Your brain has been programmed to seek safety in the middle. To avoid standing out. To blend in with the herd.
That's not wisdom. That's not strategy.
That's FEAR masquerading as "being realistic."
When I look at the brands that have built cult-like followings, none of them played it safe. None of them were reasonable. None of them blended in.
They were WEIRD. They were polarizing. They had a distinct voice.
And people loved them for it.
The most passionate customers don't want sanitized messaging. They don't want another "friendly, human" brand either.
They want raw authenticity. They want to feel something. They want to belong to something.
You can take a path to incremental improvement. That's fine.
Or you can be unreasonable. You can be bold. You can stand for something.
To ruffle feathers. To make some people hate you so others can love you.
If you're ready to break free from the prison of reasonable thinking...
If you're willing to abandon the comfort of mediocrity...
If you want to create marketing that grabs people by the heart and doesn't let go...
Then let's do this.
Fiercely unreasonable,
Chavy