Free marketing tools @ https://xitter.cf/t.co/Yt7x3ZPgPY product positioning @ https://xitter.cf/t.co/NyfdgwjDYn startup copywriting @ https://xitter.cf/t.co/6wiWOLG0FF founder positioning @ https://xitter.cf/t.co/qES8gWOUg3
Text me →
Joined December 2013
- Tweets19.2K
- Following1.2K
- Followers92.4K
- Likes30K
Pinned Tweet
Serious about growing your brand/revenue w/ content?
Book a 15-min discovery call:
cal.com/heyblake
how to write better copy:
- talk to customers before you write
- record the calls
- steal their exact words
- write down the problem in their phrasing
- know what they used before you
- pick one reader
- pick one idea per page
- write the headline last
- lead with the result they want
- say who it's for in the first line
- swap adjectives for numbers
- cut the first paragraph
- use short words
- put proof next to every claim
- name the thing you replace
- answer the objection before they raise it
- make the next step obvious
- read it out loud
- cut 20% on the second pass
- show it to a stranger
- ask them what you sell
Blake Emal retweeted
i grew a company from 0 to $4M in a year.
i've led marketing at 3 multimillion-dollar companies.
11 marketing principles i still use every week:
1) say one thing. buyers remember one sentence from you. pick it on purpose.
2) the buyer's words beat yours. steal phrases from sales calls, reviews and support tickets.
3) name what you replace. "better than nothing" is a weak pitch. "better than the spreadsheet you hate" sells.
4) sell the after. show what their week looks like once it works.
5) put proof next to the claim. a number under a promise does more than a row of logos.
6) specific beats clever. "set up in 4 minutes" beats any pun you'll ever write.
7) the founder is your best marketer. buyers trust a person before they trust a logo.
8) price is part of the message. a cheap price tells buyers it's a small problem.
9) write for the skeptic. once the doubter nods, everyone else follows.
10) repeat yourself. you'll get sick of your message long before the market hears it once.
11) taste is the edge now. AI made average copy free. buyers pay for judgment.
i grew a company from 0 to $4M in a year.
i've led marketing at 3 multimillion-dollar companies.
11 marketing principles i still use every week:
1) say one thing. buyers remember one sentence from you. pick it on purpose.
2) the buyer's words beat yours. steal phrases from sales calls, reviews and support tickets.
3) name what you replace. "better than nothing" is a weak pitch. "better than the spreadsheet you hate" sells.
4) sell the after. show what their week looks like once it works.
5) put proof next to the claim. a number under a promise does more than a row of logos.
6) specific beats clever. "set up in 4 minutes" beats any pun you'll ever write.
7) the founder is your best marketer. buyers trust a person before they trust a logo.
8) price is part of the message. a cheap price tells buyers it's a small problem.
9) write for the skeptic. once the doubter nods, everyone else follows.
10) repeat yourself. you'll get sick of your message long before the market hears it once.
11) taste is the edge now. AI made average copy free. buyers pay for judgment.
how to make better decisions:
- write the decision down in one sentence
- list what you know vs what you assume
- ask what would change your mind
- set a deadline to decide
- decide how reversible it is
- move fast on the reversible ones
- slow down on the one-way doors
- get one opinion from someone who disagrees
- talk to someone who made the same call
- picture it failing and ask why
- check the base rate
- separate the decision from the outcome
- sleep on anything that scares you
- ignore sunk costs
- pick the option you can explain simply
- write down why you chose it
- set a date to review it
- grade the call, not the luck
I regret to inform you that a lot of growth problems are solved by calling 10 customers a week.
Ask this stuff on every call:
→ What were you using before us?
→ What almost stopped you from buying?
→ What would you Google to find us again?
→ Who else on your team should be using this?
→ If we disappeared tomorrow, what would you do?
Underrated sales advice: keep a list of every deal you lost
- prospect who went dark after a great demo
- CFO who said "not this year"
- yada yada you catch my drift
Every 90 days, email them one line about what you shipped since.
Template:
"Hey [name], you passed in [month] because of [reason]. We fixed it. Worth a fresh look?"
Lost deals already know your product, your price and your team. That's the warmest pipeline you have.
Blake Emal retweeted
how to become known for something:
- pick one topic you can talk on forever
- pick one buyer who cares
- write down the 5 things you believe
- say them in plain words
- use the same phrases on repeat
- share your opinions, not only tips
- show your work in public
- post the numbers you can share
- teach the thing you get paid for
- turn every client question into a post
- write one long piece a month
- say no to off-topic invites
- put the topic in your bio
- use the same photo everywhere
- show up on other people's shows
- answer questions in your lane
- collect proof as you go
- repeat it for a year before switching
"Post every day" is how founders waste a year on content.
volume only pays off when the posts say something a buyer wants to save.
i took one founder from 0 to 100K followers and another from 0 to 50K.
These are the 6 signs i watch to decide whether to keep going or change course...
keep going if:
1. buyers quote your posts back to you on sales calls
2. your saves outpace your likes
3. the replies come from people who could buy
change course if:
4. your best posts talk to your industry instead of your buyer's problem
5. you can't say what you want to be known for in one sentence
6. peers love your posts and buyers stay quiet
I'm begging founders to run their own sales calls...
Your first 20 calls will definitively hand you your positioning in the buyer's own words on a silver platter
Every objection is either a feature request or a pricing test
The worst case is you learn exactly why people don't buy
how to get better at AI:
- use it every day on paid work
- start each chat with who you are
- paste examples of what good looks like
- give it your messy notes, not a summary
- ask it to interview you first
- ask for 3 options, not 1
- tell it who the reader is
- set a word limit
- ban the words you hate
- ask what it's unsure of
- make it argue the other side
- have it grade its own draft
- edit every line it writes
- read the output out loud
- keep one doc of your best prompts
- turn repeat tasks into saved instructions
- give it files instead of describing them
- try the same prompt in 2 models
- check every fact and number
- use voice when typing feels slow
- let it do the first draft, never the last
- learn one new feature a week
how to get more done:
- plan tomorrow tonight
- do the hard thing first
- close every tab you don't need
- stop at an easy restart point
Been building this for a minute now and can't wait to share soon.
Looking for early feedback for any willing 👀
DM me or comment and I'll share the link
The biz version of this:
Low conversions? Rewrite the headline in your buyer's exact words.
Weak pipeline? Post every day for 90 days.
Churn? Call 5 customers who left.
Price objections? Show proof they can verify.
Messy positioning? Pick one buyer and say one thing.
Slow growth? Go narrower.
unfortunately it's the small and simple things in most cases
If AI labs come for your market, the model won't save you
What they can't copy overnight:
1. A buyer who already trusts you
2. An audience you own
3. A position so narrow they'd never bother
4. Proof from customers in your exact niche
5. Workflow details you only learn on sales calls
6. A founder people follow by name
how to become known for something:
- pick one topic you can talk on forever
- pick one buyer who cares
- write down the 5 things you believe
- say them in plain words
- use the same phrases on repeat
- share your opinions, not only tips
- show your work in public
- post the numbers you can share
- teach the thing you get paid for
- turn every client question into a post
- write one long piece a month
- say no to off-topic invites
- put the topic in your bio
- use the same photo everywhere
- show up on other people's shows
- answer questions in your lane
- collect proof as you go
- repeat it for a year before switching
I wanna connect with more founders.
Drop a 👋 and I'll follow anyone building something I think is dope!
How to grade your positioning in 5 minutes.
(what bad, good and great look like)
category
bad: "all-in-one platform"
good: a category buyers search for
great: a category the leader ignores and you can own
buyer
bad: "teams of all sizes"
good: a job title
great: a job title in a moment ("a vp of sales 3 weeks before the board meeting")
problem
bad: "inefficiency"
good: a cost they feel
great: a cost they already gripe to coworkers over
alternative
bad: "we have no competitors"
good: a named competitor
great: the spreadsheet, intern or duct tape they use today
proof
bad: logos
good: a number
great: a number the buyer can check
one-liner
bad: needs a demo to make sense
good: clear on the second read
great: a buyer repeats it to their boss
3 or more "bad" answers? fix your positioning before you spend another dollar on marketing.