Do/Open by David Hieatt: why you need to be more interesting
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\nAbout the\xa0book
\nHow do you grow your business when you don\u2019t have a marketing budget?
How do you stand out in a busy world?
And what if the answer is right in front of you?
\n\u2018For me, the newsletter is the most important tool I have in building a global denim brand. Second only to the sewing machine.\u2019
\nSo writes entrepreneur David Hieatt who has based his entire marketing strategy around a simple email newsletter. And it\u2019s worked. His company has grown into a creative global jeans business with a fiercely loyal community.
\nNow, David shares his insight, strategy and methodology so you can do the same. In Do Open you will discover:
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- Why giving is your secret to success \n
- How to get people\u2019s attention when time is your biggest competitor \n
- Why creating beats sharing \n
- How a small team can win \n
Build community. Build your brand. Build long-term growth. Discover why the humble newsletter is pure and utter gold.
\n\nAbout the\xa0author
\nDavid Hieatt is not a theorist. He has built brands from nothing, with next to nothing, just by understanding a few basic rules. The Scrapbook Chronicles newsletter has become a cult offering from his company, the Hiut Denim Co. Its open rate exceeds almost any industry standard and it is one of those rare emails that people actually look forward to receiving. And it has delivered results. It has grown the company by 25 per cent each year for the last three years. And each year for the last three years, the company has turned a profit.
\nDavid is co-founder of The Do Lectures and has spoken at Apple, Google and Red Bull, amongst others. In 2010 he self-published The Path of a Doer and in 2014 he published Do Purpose: Why brands with a purpose do better and matter more (Do Books).
\n\nBig idea #1\u200a\u2014\u200aBe excellent
\nYou know your audience are busy people, so the best way of respecting their time is sending them something excellent, and most importantly, interesting. If you\u2019ve not got anything interesting to say, you\u2019re probably going to struggle to keep your audience very engaged.\xa0
\nThis point of being interesting and being excellent really does underpin the whole book. You can build your excellence and interest by putting in the deep work required to think carefully about what to send your audience. This requires putting the time aside to think, because the best ideas are going to come from that thinking time.
\nYou don\u2019t necessarily need to be running a business for this to be relevant. You can absolutely use these ideas and techniques to write better emails or comms within the company you work for, in your projects, or to write better social media posts. Whatever it is, if you want it to be great, spend more time on. David says that a good newsletter shares how you think about the world, therefore you need to put the time aside to think in order to then share those thoughts.
\nDavid has the equation of Maintenance + Momentum = Strategic use of time.\xa0
\nMaintenance is your BAU, it\u2019s the stuff you\u2019ve got to do in order to keep going for things to keep making money or keep operating. But momentum is where you get the movement, the traction, and the growth. So that\u2019s where you need to prioritise spending time. He encourages us to think long term; what if this was a 10-year relationship/activity? Not just a newsletter for a transaction to get some short-term sales.
\nAnd if you\u2019re a a small business, this will be to your advantage if you use it well; you can act fast and you can likely bring a lot more personality into your newsletters, which helps build that personal relationship with your readers.
\nBig idea #2\u200a\u2014\u200aBe generous, but\xa0sell
\nYou need to give before you ask. David uses the Gary Vee jab, jab, jab, right hook idea in this concept of give and take. But you don\u2019t want to just talk about yourself. Think about talking about your customers, the people around your business, or other topics your audience might be interested in.
\nBut, when you\u2019re selling, sell. Don\u2019t leave people wondering whether you\u2019re trying to sell something or not, and don\u2019t make it hard for them\u200a\u2014\u200amake it really clear that you are selling something when you\u2019re selling something.
\nDavid suggests actually having two different formats or different newsletters for different purposes, which is not something that you see in a lot of other content around this topic.
\nThe Hiut Denim Company have two different newsletters; the Scrapbook Chronicles which contains 14 things: 12 pockets of inspiration and two company updates, which is their community building newsletter. They\u2019ve also got the second newsletter; Factory Talk which contains three things and ends with their latest offer. It\u2019s much shorter and is very much a sales newsletter.\xa0
\nWhilst generosity is important, David reminds us not to be too generous; a lot of unsubscribes come from people receiving too many emails. Don\u2019t drown people in your generosity.
\nIn order to be interesting and generous in your newsletters, you should curate your own inputs to make sure that you are getting different and interesting inputs in the things that you are reading, because that\u2019s where you\u2019re going to find things to curate and share with your audience.
\nThere is a balance between curation which is more your maintenance type content, and creation, which is the momentum content as it\u2019s original thought that\u2019s often a bit more personal. There\u2019s a role for both, but think about where you need to be investing the time in creation because that\u2019s where you get your momentum.
\nBig idea #3\u200a\u2014\u200aBuild a community
\nYour list is not a list, it\u2019s people, it\u2019s a community. You can use them to help you be more interesting, because if you understand them you can better connect with them and can share more relevant things with them that they\u2019ll find interesting.\xa0
\nDavid encourages you to think about who the minority are that you\u2019re talking to, who is that small group of people or what is the intersect of that venn diagram that where three or four things overlap? This is why unsubscribes for the right reason can be good, as the wrong people filter themselves out. so in\xa0
\nUse your newsletter to instigate a conversation with your community and allow a two way conversation to emerge. Make it really easy for people to comment, share, reply or come back to you with a response.\xa0
\nIn the book he talks about the fact that a community wants three things; connection, meaning, and change. How can you bring those three elements into your your brand, your tone of voice, the design of your newsletter, the things you share, and the way people can interact with you.\xa0
\nFinally, you need to show people that you care. If you show people that you care about the work you\u2019re doing, about your process, your products or service, about your message, and about them, they will let you lead. If you\u2019re not very interesting or you\u2019re a bit soulless and don\u2019t have much of a voice, people aren\u2019t going to trust you as much. If you put out good ideas by spending the time thinking about them, you build a community that trusts you and appreciates your generosity.
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