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- 😔 My marketing identity crisis
😔 My marketing identity crisis
Hey…
I had an identity crisis.
If you’ve been a subscriber of this newsletter for some time, you may have noticed I stopped sending these emails. Since July 2023 to be exact.
(And to the several thousand new subscribers since the last edition, welcome 😅. I promise these newsletter intros are usually not this deep and include practical insights.)
In fact, you may even be noticing for the first time that I’m using the word ‘I’.
I’m not someone who likes attention. My comfort zone is behind the camera, building a brand outside of myself that aims to help people in the most authentic way I can.
But this identity crisis hit me with a realization. In the process of building something for others, I had started to neglect my own soul. It's a familiar story, isn't it?
You might be doing it too. Maybe even right now, as you put others before your own needs and desires.
It’s a difficult thing to face, especially when you're passionate about what you do (for me, it's marketing) and are driven to serve others. It's like toggling between single-player and multi-player modes in life, trying to find the right balance.
In marketing, the focus is often on the multi-player aspect — understanding and serving your customers. But here's the twist: if you're out of touch with yourself, how can you truly connect with and understand others?
Can you really grasp the desires, needs, and wants of your customers if you haven't found that for yourself first?
These were the questions that made me toss and turn at night. And with all this greed, hate, and war happening in the world — all while AI is simultaneously evolving rapidly — I became overwhelmed. And I figured others were overwhelmed as well. So, I took a break from sending these emails.
I’d rather take a hit to my ego and brand than continue to spew out regurgitated content to keep the content train going. It does a disservice to the ethos of Marketer Milk.
It wasn’t till about a month ago where I started to find my love for marketing again. Reading books, consuming content, curating content, and just immersing myself back into what I love — trying to find a deeper meaning to this whole “marketing” thing that wasn’t just centered around exploiting people for money.
And that's when it clicked.
Loving yourself stems from knowing yourself. It’s the essence of single-player mode.
And loving your customers stems from knowing your customers. You can't be a world-class, ethical marketer without this self-awareness.
The game of life is generally multi-player, but you need to retreat to single-player mode from time to time in order to play the game to your best of abilities.
So, as we continue to explore the world of marketing (and ourselves) through future editions of this newsletter, I invite you to reflect on your own balance between the single-player and multi-player modes of your life.
How well do you know yourself, and how does that reflect in how you understand and serve your customers/users/subscribers/neighbors?
I'm excited to hear your thoughts and experiences on this. Feel free to respond directly to this email (I read every single one of them).
Remember, in the world of marketing, our greatest strength lies in our self-awareness. It's the foundation upon which we build not just successful campaigns, but also a sense of meaning and happiness in our lives.
With that, let's get into what we have in store this week (lots of good stuff):
Marketing news from the past week
How to increase sign up conversion rates
How to write great introductions
The ultimate guide to SaaS SEO
Why you should (or shouldn’t) rebrand
Ad from the past
Website of the week
Cool marketing jobs
And much more
🗞 In the news
🚀 All things growth & product
How to increase signup conversion rates, your B2B marketing playbook for 2024, and a guide to outbound automation.
💭 Guess the riddle
What has 4 letters, never 5, and sometimes 9?
Answer is at the bottom of this email
✍️ Content, copy, & emails
How to write great blog intros, how to build a content brand, and how to drive traffic from Google Discover.
⚙️ SEO (Search engine optimization)
My ultimate guide to SaaS SEO, input metrics for SEO, an insight on affiliate SEO, and an SEO game plan for 2024.
🎨 Branding, psychology, & websites
Should you rebrand, how to reassure and not pressure people, and the anatomy of web page.
🦖 Extra stuff
Focusing to win, and OpenAI’s announcement towards AI agents.
📣 Ad from the past
Ford Thunderbird ad from 1974
💻 Website of the week
🏝 Cool marketing jobs
Okay, that's it for now 🖤. See you next Tuesday (most likely)!
What did you think of this newsletter? |
“Why would you kill, rob, or harm someone if you were content within yourself? It is only because people are struggling inside that they are driven to struggle outside. That’s the only reason we need so many rules and laws. People left to their own create great trouble struggling with their inner disturbances.” — Michael A. Singer
Riddle answer: What contains four letters. Never contains five letters. Sometimes contains nine letters.