7 lessons I’ve learned on my way to 75,000 Twitter followers...

(Plus 5 cautionary tales that no one tells you) Everyone says you should build an audience

Many share their tips on how to do it

Few share the pitfalls of having an audience

I’ll share it all, starting with the lessons I’ve learned...

Do you want to grow your Twitter following but hesitate to post your ideas because of what people might think of you?

Read this: Growing a Twitter audience is one of the best things I’ve done for my business

I started posting consistently in 2019 and two years later...

My Twitter following saved my ass

I had a new baby, my husband had emergency spinal surgery, and I suddenly had <2 hours a day to work

65% of businesses are making the same HUGE mistake

It’s costing them time, money, and possibly even millions in sales

Are you one of them? The mistake: not talking to customers

The world’s fastest-growing businesses aren’t just data-obsessed—they’re customer-obsessed

And with good reason

Studies show that teams that invest in ongoing customer research grow 2-3X faster

Yet 65% of teams AREN’T doing it

Why not?

The counterintuitive marketing strategy that drives record-breaking sales (and drives perfectionists crazy): Imagine this...

You arrive at a job interview dressed to impress

The interview starts and you’re nailing it, but just as you’re wrapping up, you spill coffee all over yourself 😬

This is every perfectionist’s nightmare, right?

But then something surprising happens...

If you don’t know who your competitors are... you’re f#cked

Yet so many businesses get this all wrong

Here’s why: Many business leaders have an oversimplified view of the competitive landscape

They think about it from their own point-of-view—not from the customer’s

In other words, they don’t know who they *really* compete with in the customer’s mind

7 psychology-backed tips to be more persuasive: Every day smart, hard-working people—people like you—pitch brilliant ideas to their clients or teams...

That immediately get shot down *whomp whomp*

If you want to wow your team and earn their trust, keep reading...

12 pricing psychology tips to help you sell more stuff: Before we dive in...

1. What you’re about to learn is powerful—use it for good (ie. to sell great stuff that actually helps people)

2. If you read this post all the way to the end, there’s a surprise for you 🎁

Ok. Let’s get into it...

I did 300 customer discovery interviews before launching my tech company

We still managed to build the wrong thing

5 big mistakes that people (including me) make when interviewing buyers: I believe 1:1 customer interviews are extremely powerful

My whole business is about helping teams to better understand buyers so they can market smarter

But I wasn’t always a research nerd—I used to be a research skeptic

Turns out I’d been doing interviews all wrong...

You've heard of "social proof", right?

Humans look to others for guidance when we make decisions

But have you heard of "social doubt"? Social doubt—sometimes also called "negative social proof"—is the opposite of social proof

Instead of making people feel assured about their purchase, like social proof, social doubt makes them question it...

9 mental errors that could be costing you customers (and you don't even know it): Decision-making is hard work

Our brains don't like thinking hard and so we use shortcuts to decide faster

Sometimes, these shortcuts leads us to misinterpret the world around us

Recognizing these mental errors can make you a better marketer (and human)

So let’s get into it...

It took 12 long months to get our first 3000 newsletter subscribers

We’ve added 4000+ subscribers in the last 9 weeks

Here’s what changed: A quick caveat...

I’m not really an expert on newsletter growth

I’m learning as I go and there’s plenty that we could do better

But Why We Buy has attracted 11,539 readers and was named as one of the top marketing newsletters by @Forbes

These 6 tips helped us get here...

Everyone wants to be a better copywriter

But most people are going about it all wrong

Here’s why: You can study the world’s best conversion copywriters

There’s lots to learn by analyzing their work

But few will tell you their dirty little secret...

I quietly launched a new product yesterday...

I shared it with a very small segment of my email list and got 82 new customers in 24 hours

Here’s how: I mined online reviews and testimonials for insight before:

→ Designing the product
→ Writing the sales page (which is converting at 18%!)
→ Crafting the promo emails

Wanna learn more about review mining?

Luckily for you...

In the past 12 years, I've read 100s of business books

90% of them are overhyped

But if you wanna learn *why people buy* so you can market smarter...

These 11 books are worth your time: 1: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, @RobertCialdini

Cialdini explains how to get people to say "yes" using the principles of influence:

• Reciprocation
• Commitment and Consistency
• Social Proof 
• Liking 
• Authority
• Scarcity
• Unity (newly added in 2021)

How to stay motivated (according to science): Scientists define motivation as “a general willingness to do something”

James Clear describes it better saying motivation appears when, “At some point, the pain of not doing it becomes greater than pain of doing it”

We’re sparked into action when we envision a better future...

You know social proof drives sales

But if you think you can slap a few testimonials or logos on your website and call it a day... you’re missing out

12 crafty ways to use social proof from the pros: Before we dive in, let’s cover the basics:

When evaluating people and products, we look to others for “social proof” that they’re trustworthy

Common forms of social proof are:

→ Testimonials
→ Case studies
→ Reviews

But uncommon ones can be even more convincing...

Marketing experts like @TheCoolestCool give simple advice:

Create once, distribute forever

But publishing on your own channels only goes so far, right?

If you’re hunting for new ways to get your awesome content in front of your ideal audience

Read on… “Creators” are on the rise in B2B

Hubspot is spending big bucks to partner with the podcasters their audience already loves

Morning Brew and Workweek are hiring smart people to spend their whole day creating—tweeting, podcasting, memeing, etc.

Why invest in Creators?

“Sell people what they *want* and then give them what they *need*.”

How does that phrase make you feel?

If you’re anything like me, maybe it made you cringe. I certainly used to feel that way…

But then I reframed my thought process… People buy products because they want a specific outcome

Typically they’ve tried multiple other solutions in an effort to get the job done and those solutions somehow fell short

They want outcomes—typically with minimal effort

That’s where you come in…

The best marketers are customer-obsessed

Here are 6 free tools to help you better understand your audience and market smarter (even if you’re not techie) 👇 Let me preface this by saying that if you really, REALLY wanna understand what works with buyers, you should

*Wait for it*

Talk to actual buyers

Buyers are the best source of contextual insights. Period.

That said, if ya need a quick hit of inspiration these tools can help...

The world is funny sometimes

Yesterday I was telling @nathanbarry about how one mention from @amandanat led to 10K new followers

Then last night @heyeaslo mentioned me in a viral thread and today I woke up to 2000+ new followers—wow!

Thank you, Easlo 🙏 Hi, New Friends! 👋

Since you may be new here, I tweet about:

> Actionable Customer Research
> Buyer Psychology

And how you can use both to Market Smarter

On that note...

Every day 1000s of marketers pitch brilliant ideas to their clients or teams...

That immediately get shot down *whomp whomp*

Here are 8 psychology-backed hacks to make your pitch more persuasive: 1. Recency Bias

*When* you present your idea matters

If your pitch is one of several ideas they’ll hear in sequence—like during a team meeting or pitching your agency—try to present last

People tend to remember what they heard most recently or first (the middle is a blur)