Tag: marketing

Jabs and right hooks

Posted on by philipdodson

OK, I’ll get it straight out now, I am not a huge fan of Gary Vaynerchuk, I am more James Altucher, Cal Newport, Seth Godin, Brene Brown, Simon Sinek, Brain Clark, and a few more.

That’s the thing we are not here for everyone, not everyone is going to like us and we don’t have to like all the same things. There is, after all, no right or wrong in any of this.

My mate Doug, if you sat him next to Seth Godin on a long flight, he’d be met by law enforcement officials at the destination! The same would happen if you put me next to Gary.

I just used the ‘Jabs and right hooks’ as a title based on Gary V’s ‘Jab, Jab, right hook’ book. His book is based on give, give, give and then ‘boom’ ‘bash’ wallop’ you ‘sock it’ to ’em, or something like that.

For me, that feels like an intentional strategy, whereby you’re giving with the sole purpose of expecting something in return. That is not generosity that is manipulation and a revamped take on the kind of selling you’d see and laugh at, well I did, in classic films like ‘Tin Men’ and ‘Glengarry, Glen Ross’.

Being generous is something you do without any expectation, you do simply because it makes you feel good, that is OK by the way.

The moment you start to envision future invoices that you can send that person, then it turns from being a generous act to a manipulation.

There is a huge difference though from giving someone that ‘right hook’ after giving and asking for help or now and again putting your message out in a direct way.

The problem with all this expectant giving is it leads to disappointment when nothing comes back in return. Give because you want to, give because it makes you happy and lessens disappointment, manipulation and stress in your life.

Being authentic is exactly what it means, not latching on to a fashionable strategy to get more business.

When you do need help or you need to push something you are doing, then you will never have an issue. But don’t give to ‘bank it’ for the future, just give.

It’s sadly not about ‘how you tell ’em’

Posted on by philipdodson


It’s often said ‘don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story’. 

Film posters often say things like ‘totally amazing’ cutting off the true quote ‘totally amazing for 5 minutes then utter crap’. 

People also say ‘make it look as good as you can’ or ‘polish it up a bit’. 

On the tube I read an advert for a broadsheet leading newspaper that said ‘our manifesto, the best….’ then underneath ‘we’ve correctly predicted every General Election and referendum this decade’. 

So that’s 2 elections and 2 referendums. Each referendum was ‘yes’ or ‘no’ so 50/50, just toss a coin you don’t need the newspaper. Then the General Election are fairly similar it’s either one or other who win, Labour or Tory. 

One can assume their predictions we’re poor, for these easily called results, in the previous decade, otherwise they would have said ‘we predicted every election for 20 years’. Slightly more impressive. 

The thing is all that marketing splosh and gloss is wasted. 

Better to be brutally honest about what they are good at not trying gain readers with wishy washy statements that few will fall for. 

Tell ’em as it is, because if we’re good why would we need to deceive people? If we’re not good, then get better, people always work out deceit and remember it long after. 

If  we are great at what we do and honest about it, what will happen is our fans will also tell others and become our evangelistic advocates. 

Better than any tube ad we could place. 

Be honest, be good. Simple.