How to Make Yourself MAGNETIC ⚡️

There’s a squishy, sneaky, slutty little epidemic I’ve noticed lately, and it has nothing to do with asking AI to make a magical potato. (Though if this was on a menu literally anywhere, I woud purchase.)

What I’ve noticed is a lot of begging.

Begging, it turns out, seems to be how well-meaning humans on the internet are attempting to sell their work.

Please become a paid subscriber so I can feed my kids!

Here are forty thousand things I’m including here in the hopes you will buy this shiiiiiit.

I reallllllly don’t want to have to go back to work, so could you please donate to the cause?

Some people even resort to threats.

If you don’t buy, I’m going to shut this thing down! I swear I will! DO NOT TEST ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And even really weird pushy stuff:

I don’t know if I’ll EVER offer this again, so you’d better buy it right now, or else I’m removing you from my goddamn email list, you ungrateful piece of internet swine.

The rise of platforms like Substack have only exacerbated the matter, as writers, who are not marketers, try everything in their power to get someone, literally freakin’ anyone, to subscribe.

AS IT WERE, there are advantages to having been prolifically online for as long as you’ve been menstruating (besides some sweet reverse curvature of the neck): not only do you know how to write on the internet. You know how to sell on it.

My peers and I grew up learning how to become our own brand. And, when you become your own brand, there are a few things that naturally happen:

• You view your work through the lens of that brand
• You view your value in the marketplace through the lens of that brand
• And you understand that brands are worth money 💰

No one cares if you’re a photographer. There are lots of photographers. How does one choose?

But, if you’re a photographer who exclusively photographs Airbnbs, now you’ve got a signature. A calling card. Something definitive about you, that makes you memorable, and gives you instant cachet, and serves as a mark of mastery: if all you do is photograph Airbnbs, you are an Airbnb expert. No questions asked.

As such, if an Airbnb host were looking for someone to come out and photograph their space and take killer images in the hopes that it’ll help their property sell, they’ve got two options:

• Hire the random photographer who does weddings, newborns, family photos, and sunset landscapes, all caked together onto one website
• Or, hire the photographer who specializes in Airbnb

Which one would you hire?

And, which one would you be willing to pay a premium for?

That’s the difference between being a photographer, and being a brand.

The photographer must put forth a grueling effort to get the business, get the client, and get his asking price, often losing out to competitors who were merely cheaper. That’s what happens when the only thing different about you is your price.

On the other hand, the brand has a waitlist of clients at all times, can command above market rates, and has authority in the minds of buyers, thereby erasing typical objections found in business, like mere price.

People don’t care about price when you are the ONLY.

And that, right there, is the key to creating a magnetic brand: what’s your ONLY factor???

I know, I know: that’s a lot of pressure. And you’re also worried you’ll pigeonhole yourself into a place you don’t wanna be in. But that second thing you can stop worrying about: all businesses are living, breathing entities that are always morphing and transforming. You aren’t worried about what you’ll want to do five years from now: right now, you’re just worried about how you can make a name for yourself today. Once you have that name? You can take it anywhere. But until then, you must find ways to stand out from the crowd.

The key is in creating a brand, not a business.

Go ahead, I dare you to be the copywriter who writes funny newsletters, the illustrator that draws gardens, the accountant that makes taxes easy, the interior designer who only does apartments.

Take the risk!

Do something SPECIAL.

Be THE ONE.

Be extraordinary.

The real pigeonhole, my dear, isn’t in doing something so freaky it’s memorable: the real pigeonhole is when you aren’t brave enough to make any decisions at all.

Here is a fun-filled list of things you can do to create a hot little strange, weird, ballsy & spectacular calling card for the world:

1. What are you freakishly good at?
2. If someone would pay you to do this all day long, what would it be?
3. If money were no object, what would you do?
4. What’s something that drives you f*cking crazy about your industry?
5. What are people always asking you about—again and again and again???
6. What would actually excite you? (TELL THE TRUTH!)
7. What kinds of other brands are you drawn toward? Is it Cards Against Humanity (a cheeky brand), House of Hackney (an eclectic brand), a type of book, a certain aesthetic, a unique perspective?
8. What would you be proud to tell other people you do? (This is a good one; if you aren’t proud, you probably aren’t on the right path.)
9. What kind of legacy would you love to have associated with your name? How do you want your grandkids to remember you by? What stories do you want them to be able to tell?
10. Who do you want to be this year? Life is one big constant reinvention. You don’t have to be the same person today as you were tomorrow. You can be anyone, anything.
11. Pretend you’re one of your heroes. Take a day and imagine what kinds of decisions they’d make. Role play. Write it down. Take action. It is sometimes easier to do big things, when you’ve got a kick-ass alter ego driving the bus.
12. The best brands are the ones that make a statement and have a perspective. What’s your perspective? How can you help us see the world through your eyes?

Remember: you can always, always, always offer to do other things for your clients, once they’re sold. The Airbnb photographer can then offer to ALSO write their hosting profile, and write a local guidebook, and manage the property for them, and balance some bananas on their head.

You aren’t limited in what you can sell.

But, you should be selective in what you advertise.

There’s a difference.

Lead with your brand, with your one big idea, with your ONLY. Become known for that. And then find ways to continue helping your clients once you’ve got a relationship in place.

Because the best brands?

Are the easiest to understand.

You don’t have to be everything to everyone, but you do have to be something to those who matter.

Find that something, and run.