A keynote in my own language.

This past Monday I gave a keynote about customer journey, and it felt wonderful after a few months. Most of my work is in English, so it was nice to be back.

I think it made me realize how much I missed being here with my fellow marketing colleagues.

What do you miss?
Do it this week. Do it for yourself.

In today’s Storyletter:
• Start with the smallest thing; the brand will follow
• YouTube - Episode 3 is Live
• Get with the program: Building in Public
• Fun stuff: weekend music and trailers

What an odd thing.

I’ve been wondering what causes this strange effect where people know what needs to get done, yet they find every reason and excuse not to do it.
When it comes to our industry, they often blame failure on the technology, the numbers, the audience, or the consultants.

I think the problem is that we’re asking people to do something that feels too scary.
Let me explain.

When the task is too big

Going through the branding process always sounds daunting.
But so does running a marathon or losing weight.
The last two have a clear goal.
We often talk about rebranding or changing the whole sales cycle. People understand it’s needed, but it feels like too much.

Too hard to measure

Measuring quality over quantity or measuring brand and feelings.
I get that. It’s too hard to measure.
So we focus on the numbers, regardless of how they serve us.
We measure for the sake of measuring, so we have something to talk about, not something to work on.

Too far

We want to lose weight now.
We want more leads today and sales for yesterday.
I get it. But we need to invest in our future.
Like putting a few bucks into a savings account or the S&P. It might take years, but it will be worth much more.
Patience and planning are key here.

Requires a habit

Repetition is key, focus is a winner, and you need to build habits.
Review, understand, fix, create, repeat.
Forget about the shiny AI objects, the new SaaS tools, or the CEO asking for dumb stuff.
Keep your eyes on the ball and build your muscles.

Determination

More of the same. Nothing new.
Are you determined to make it better?
If so, show it. Don’t just say it.
Be proud of your craft. Fight to make it better.
Build a brand that makes a difference.
You do it by showing up every day.

The cost is too high

What happens when you fail?
For years, marketing managers would keep spending money on TV or avoid social media because if sales went down, they’d lose their job.
What are you afraid of?

More than anything, these things require us to let go of everything we knew, thought, or believed.
Only when we let go can we start to make a change, and the best way to start is with the smallest change possible.

I start with an update to the newsletter or a fix to one landing page.
Maybe running through one customer journey from start to finish.
Make a list: tools, timeline, text, speech, emotion.

Find something and make it better. Do it fast, in a few days, maybe a week. Not months, days.
Then go, test, fail, improve.

Use the data you have as your benchmark and make it better.
Keep pushing small changes, not big ones.
Monitor and write them down; it will all change.

Start small; don’t worry, the brand will follow.

What will be your small change?

Two calls, two ego encounters.

The first was on a video call. The young lady opened with a question asking me to introduce myself because she had no clue who I am. It did not feel good to start like that. Also, it reminded me that I am not famous or anything. But a short online check and a kind word would have gone a long way.

The second call was with a manager who was in her car, telling us what we should do without checking the data, knowing what had been done, or understanding my role in the project. Seeing the client break sales records and lead cost go down, I was hoping for some respect or basic manners. I was angry and a bit aggressive, and it was not cool.

A reminder to me and to all of us. Leave your ego at the door and work harder if you want respect. Let your actions show. And even after you succeed, remember rule number one. Leave your ego at the door.

What a great week.
One of my all time clients, whom I am now consulting, called. With six weeks until the end of 2025, we will break every record. Sales conversions are through the roof and the team is struggling to keep up with all the meetings. Customer journey is the key to your success.

On the personal brand side, I am working hard.
We have a new episode, a new show opener, and new materials written. The keynote this week was a great chance to improve and test new ideas.

LinkedIn connections are going strong with about 100 new people this week, but my big win is new YouTube subscribers. I cannot wait to see where this goes when I unleash more content.

We are working on an updated website, while the new talk went extremely well. It is time to review, fix, translate everything to English and add visuals.

Next week I will start working on a new showreel for my talks and workshops.

The decision to treat my brand as a returning client is proving to be much more fun than I expected.

Quick ask

As always, help me with questions. Sales or marketing, branding or messaging, reply with anything you want to ask and I will include it in one of the next episodes.

🎧 Music
This week’s newsletter was created while listening to Prince - Deep Cuts.
👉 Watch here

🎬 The Sheriff Is Coming
I usually don’t post these types of movies, but something about this one caught my attention.
👉 Watch the trailer

🍿 Childhood With a Twist
Mario and Luigi are back, and it looks kind of fun.
👉 Watch here