Slop. Slop. Slop.

Machine-made, frictionless, soulless… slop.

(And grifters, but we’ll get there in another read)

Underneath all of it is a quiet fear I’m beginning to see surface - even in well-established founders and teams: “pretty soon, no one will be able to tell mine apart from it.”

AI can generate a song, an essay, content, deep fakes, an app, a brand, a whole deck in the time it takes to pour a coffee.

The internet is filling up with what Merriam-Webster named its 2025 word of the year: slop.

The instinct it triggers in most is to speed up. Produce more. Out-run the machine.

But that’s a losing move.

The machine already won the volume game. Nobody can out-produce infinite.

And volume was never the real problem.

You do want to show up as often as you can, and consistency still wins.

The trap is volume for only volume’s sake, with no real signature or place of human origin.

To be clear, I’m not anti-AI, either. I use it to research, crunch big data sets, and manage cash flow.

The trouble starts when the tool becomes responsible for your core thinking, differentiation, and point of view.

I’d argue the flood is on your side.

Cheap, infinite output is the backdrop that raises the perceived value of the human hand.

When everything around you is AI-generated, the thing a person actually made or puts effort into is more easily perceived as rare and valuable.

So where’s the real game?

The premium only shows up next to the flood.

Researchers at Columbia Business School found people valued the same piece of art 62% lower the moment it was labeled AI-generated - and the human work earned its premium most when it sat right next to the machine version.

Alone, unlabeled, the “hand-crafted” premium shrank.

Read that twice. Human-made, actually, earns its value in contrast.

The AI flood is what turns a made thing into a gem. So everyone racing to out-produce the machine is charging at the one battle they can’t win.

The takeaway: make the human visible. The clearer it is that a person made this, the more the slop everywhere else works in your favor.

Output is free now. Everything around it appreciates.

When the thing itself becomes infinite and nearly free, value moves to what it can’t carry - trust, judgment, provenance, the story of who made it and why.

A Journal of Marketing study found that people pay around 17% more for the identical product when it’s labeled handmade, reflecting the sense that a real person cared.

A sign that we’re pricing the source behind the product or work now.

You see it in who keeps their pricing power. Chrome Hearts has hand-finished its silver in the same LA workshop since 1988 and still won’t advertise.

The aesthetic gets knocked off everywhere; the source behind it never does - and the more slop floods in, the more that source is worth.

The takeaway: if your value lives in the volume of output, the machine is coming for it. Move your value into what infinite output makes even more scarce. Move it into what infinite output makes scarcer.

Your version of the hand.

This goes well beyond luxury. Every category has its’ version of a “human hand” - the part infinite output can’t reach.

In hospitality, it’s your people. As the world fills with kiosks, QR menus, and chatbot concierges, the host who knows your name becomes the premium.

In two years, a real person running your card (in a timely manner) might actually be an advantage, allowing for 5-10% higher pricing.

In CPG, it’s the product batch: the quirky product design you fought with your manufacturer for, the founder’s voice on the label, the small drop with each product numbered.

In music, it’s the lived struggle - the years it takes to master the craft, the life story too specific to fake, the ability to work and control a crowd, actually sounding good live.

In tech, it’s opinionated design or an actual human answering support when everyone else automated theirs into a void.

Find the hand only you have, and build there.

Ok, in closing...

Every time the tools get cheaper, people predict the makers are finished.

Then the makers get more valuable, because cheap makes rare obvious.

We saw it with vinyl - over $1 billion in U.S. sales last year, out-earning CDs three to one, in the middle of infinite streaming.

View slop more like the water that makes your hand dramatically visible.

Stop racing the machine. Build the thing it can’t.

If you enjoyed this post or know someone who may find it useful, please share it with them and encourage them to subscribe: differ.so

~ Amanda

Where are all the cult brands today?

Every founder I talk to wants one. The kind that generates real “community.”

One that has rhythm, soul, and bounces to the beat of its own drum alongside a group of people…who will eventually buy and tell others they bought.

But the ones who do have cult communities (think Pokemon, Bandit Running, Chrome Hearts) tend to share the same thing in common.

They were built by makers, not marketers.

Today, we unpack the producer-turned-DJ, Fred again..

He’s the cleanest example in the world right now of what happens when a maker takes the wheel - and he’s a useful one because he isn’t operating outside of “the system.”

He’s signed to Atlantic. Universal handles his publishing. His management company just got backed by a half-billion-dollar fund. The infrastructure is conventional.

And that’s actually more amazing to me, because what’s underneath it isn’t.

And that, coming from conventional infrastructure, is… rare

Start with the instinct, not the category.

A maker, in the traditional sense, builds by hand, from raw material, for the love of the build. A woodworker that’s just making starts with the wood, a feeling, and sees where it goes from there.

A marketer starts somewhere else, with what the market already wants, working backwards.

If we go back to our example, instead of thinking “woodworker,” think contractor starting with a spec and (attempts) to build to it.

Both build businesses. Both are needed. But almost every brand that becomes cult-like started from the maker-first.

Fred has been a maker since he was a kid recording on his aunt’s 8-track.

He was a producer before he was a DJ. By 2019, he had production credits on roughly 30% of all UK number-one singles, and almost nobody knew his name. He could have stayed invisible and rich.

He told Rolling Stone UK: “I crave the intimacy and the humanity of it.”

And that’s the origin. Everything else - the music, the content, the community - is an extension of that one instinct.

The takeaway for you: your differentiation starts with what your leading instinct is aligned with what the market is missing AND needs.

Reverse the order, and the work tends to read as good marketing versus this organic thing you made for them and their life.

And trust me, audiences can tell.

Let your quirks elevate your differentiation.

The instinct is the foundation. The quirks make it uncopyable.

Fred collects voice notes. He names every song after a real person - Kyle, Angie, Dermot, Carlos. The construction worker in Atlanta whose offhand “we gone make it through” became the inspiration across is last project The songs aren’t about people. They’re made from people.

Pitchfork called him “the Ed Sheeran of house music” – implying the emotional rawness is manufactured.

But I’d Beg To Differ* and say that Fred actually loves the humanity of the people inside the samples. And that affection can’t be copied.

Then make the distribution match.

Here’s where most brands fall apart. The product is fine. The marketing is fine. But the distribution feels like it was built by a different company - because it usually was.

Fred’s distribution is the maker move, extended outward. The Discord has 60,000+ members, and it feels nothing like a marketing channel.

It feels more like the old-school internet chat rooms I used to get in trouble for sneaking into.

Fans vote on songs, share day-to-day photos, and express their interests. These fan artificats become live show visuals. The community helps make the work, and they know it.

The rituals reward attention and commitment to the thesis, not worldly status.

Before his 65,000-seat LA Coliseum show, Fred reportedly invited 150 fans to a private listening party and served them tea.

These fans were the ones who came to his first LA show in 2021, when he played a thousand-capacity room.

I’m sure this one tea-sesh alone made his early fans feel…remembered.

And feeling remembered goes a long way in both community and brand connection.

Even his partnerships reinforce his “maker” positioning.

He opened a public Dropbox folder full of working files from his latest tour - show posters, vinyl artwork, including the rejected versions, and the actual material his team used to build the era.

Anyone can download and remix it. Dropbox helped distribute it, but didn’t manufacture the partnership or throw their logo on his set with some cool animation.

Ok, let me wrap this up for you.

Most brands have positioning that doesn’t match the product, and a product that doesn’t match the distribution. Different teams optimizing for different metrics.

And the audience can feel that confusion.

Cult brands run a single instinct through every layer.

The maker shows up in the product, the quirks show up in the design, the articulation shows up in the marketing, and the distribution is just the same making, extended.

That’s why cult brands aren’t built by marketers.

Marketers optimize and tweak across layers. Makers stay consistent through them, creating cohesion, legibility, and belief.

It’s not easy, although it looks that way, and it’s also why almost nobody runs it.

You don’t have to be obscure or underground to run this play. You just have to make the work from somewhere real, and keep making it the same way as the business gets bigger.

Here’s a Fred again.. track for your listening pleasure:

If you enjoyed this read or know someone who may find it useful, please share it with them and encourage them to subscribe at https://www.differ.so

Until next time,

Amanda Sabreah

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Customer Feedback Analysis Framework: We focused on how to collect and interpret customer feedback without biasing responses. The goal is to get customers to describe their problems and solutions in their own words, not ours. Key reminders included avoiding leading questions that push customers toward desired answers, listening for the “boring specific human stuff” (e.g., “dependable,” “clarity”) that often signals real value more than flashy positioning, and writing down exact customer phrasing while recording conversations whenever possible.

Powerful questions to ask include: “What almost stopped you from buying?”, “If you had to describe what we do to a friend, what would you say?”, and “What would you miss most if we disappeared tomorrow?”

Real-World Feedback Examples: We reviewed several examples showi…

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Not your pitch. Not your offer. The 8 seconds before any of that - when someone decides whether your message is about them or about you.

We worked through the framework live with four founders: a music manager, a bakery founder, an event production company, and a yoga instructor. Different industries, same problem. And the fix was the same every time.

If you’ve ever felt like your messaging is accurate but not landing - this is why.

Replay + full framework breakdown below.

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You’re Underselling Yourself

Most founders and leaders I work with are almost never telling the most powerful story about themselves.

The story exists, every time. Your story exists.

Most of the time, they just can’t see it. They’re too close.

And the gap between the story they could be telling and the one they are telling is costing them clients, roles, and deals they don’t even know they lost.

But it’s mostly frustrating bc once we uncover the more powerful story, it’s more visceral, electric, and has the tentacles to inspire.

The Lens

The Different Way To Look At It

I have two scenarios from just this week:

I was recently in a room with a senior VP at a major sports league. She said something that stopped me: “Internally, we’re known as the league that stands up for the underdog.”

I looked at everything they put out externally. None of it said that. Not a word. Not a frame. Not a feeling.

The most compelling thing about them was locked inside the building.

So what if you’re not a major sports league?

Well, I was helping a senior leader reposition her resume. She had 15+ years of experience in an adjacent industry, easily transferable, and sure to get any executive team’s attention.

But the way she was describing it? Flat. Functional. A list of what she did, not what it meant.

We rewrote the entire thing - not the facts, but the frame around the facts. She’s now in her second round of interviews at Coca-Cola.

I felt like I was yelling the whole session. But that’s how amped I get when I see the frame come to life.

This happens constantly. This is an articulation problem.

Most people aren’t telling the wrong story badly. They’re telling the wrong story entirely.

They jump straight to wordsmithing → tweaking the bio, polishing the pitch deck, rewriting the homepage for the fourth time.

But the problem was never the phrasing. The problem is they haven’t found the real story yet.

The real story almost always lives in the moments that changed something. The inflection point that shaped the product.

The decision that redirected the whole company. The thing a founder says casually in conversation that makes you go wait - tell me more about that.

Those moments are where the magic is. But people walk past them because they don’t look like “marketing.” They look like personal history. They feel too specific, too small, too obvious to the person living them.

They’re not. They’re the raw material. And once you find them, then you can build a story that actually lands - one that signals the right person, makes the value legible, and pulls them in further.

Most people nail maybe one of those. Almost no one nails all three. And the difference between one and three is the difference between being considered and being chosen.

Put It To Work

Apply The Lens To Your Work

Part 1: Find the Right Story

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Most founders, creators, and execs make the same mistake when they talk about what they do.

They explain.

“We’re a health wearable company.” “I’m a leadership coach.” “We help brands with their digital strategy.”

And then they wonder why no one reaches out. Why the pitch didn’t land. Why the homepage isn’t converting.

Whoop just showed a different way - and it has nothing to do with having a bigger budget or a famous name attached.

The Breakdown

First - if you don’t know Whoop:

It’s a fitness wearable that built a $3.6B company in a market dominated by Apple.

No screen, no apps - just a bracelet on your wrist initially sold to athletes, biohackers, and performance obsessives. That audience knows them.

This week, they announced Samuel Ross as Global Creative Director - a multiyear partnership through 2028.

But Samuel Ross isn’t a fitness guy.

He’s a fashion and design world figure - built a fashion streetwear brand: A-Cold-Wall*, was Apple’s first external design consultant, and did art installations across the UK.

His audience cares about aesthetics, craft, and cultural relevance.

On the surface, it looks like a big hire announcement. It’s about telling a new audience: “We’re for you too. And we’re serious about it.”

Underneath, it’s a positioning play.

Why this matters for you:

You might not be expanding into a new market. But the same principle applies whether you’re:

• Finding your first audience - Who specifically are you signaling to? What would make them feel like you’re serious?

• Re-engaging an audience that’s tuned out - What commitment would force them to see you differently?

• Expanding to a new segment - Who’s adjacent to your current audience, and what would signal that you understand them?

The announcement reveals the strategy.

Whoop used Ross to answer: “Who are we becoming, and who do we want to notice?”

How Whoop Made The Market React

Here’s where most people would just announce the hire and move on.

Most companies would’ve written a press release. Whoop built a case.

They answered every question the market was already asking - before anyone had to ask.

What the market wonders

What Whoop answered

“Is this real or just a PR stunt?”

“It’s a multi-year commitment through 2028.”

“Does this designer actually believe in them?”

“He’s an investor, not a consultant.”

“Why should I care about a wearable company hiring a designer?”

“We’re funding his British Artist Grant. This is bigger than product. It’s our new commitment to design as lifestyle and of importance.”

“Is leadership actually behind this?”

CEO on camera, personally explaining the why and interfacing with Ross.

The insight:

Most positioning fails because it explains.

“Here’s what we do. Here’s who we serve. Here’s our process.”

But explaining doesn’t make anyone care.

Explaining assumes the market is already interested.

Whoop assumed the opposite: The market is skeptical. What are they actually wondering? Answer that first.

That’s the difference between explaining what you do and positioning yourself so people care.

The 5 Types of Market Skepticism

Before you can answer what the market is wondering, you need to know which type of skepticism you’re up against.

Every market has doubt. But the doubt isn’t generic - it falls into patterns.

Here’s what I see most often:

1. Legitimacy skepticism “Is this real or a stunt?”

The market isn’t sure you’re serious. They’ve seen too many announcements that went nowhere. They’re waiting for proof this isn’t performative.

How Whoop answered it: Multi-year commitment through 2028. Not a campaign → a direction.

2. Commitment skepticism “Are they actually in this or just testing?”

This is different from legitimacy. They might believe you’re real, but they’re not sure you’re invested. They want to know you have skin in the game.

How Whoop answered it: Ross isn’t a consultant → he’s an investor. He’s not hired help. He’s in. Signaling to the market → we’re investing in lifestyle & design.

3. Relevance skepticism “Is this for someone like me?”

They see you, but they’re not sure you see them. Nothing in your positioning makes them feel recognized.

How Whoop answered it: By choosing Ross, they signaled to a specific new audience → design-conscious buyers - “we get you.”

4. Differentiation skepticism “What makes them different from everyone else who says the same thing?”

They’ve heard your category/product/pitch/sound/tone before. “Leadership coach.” “Growth agency.” “Productivity tool.” They’re waiting for you to say something that doesn’t sound like everyone else.

How Whoop answered it: Funding the British Artist Grant. This is bigger than product. No other wearable company is doing this.

5. Credibility skepticism “Have they actually done this before?”

They want receipts. Not claims → proof. Especially if you’re entering new territory or asking for premium prices.

How Whoop answered it: CEO on camera, interviewing Samuel, talking through his receipts. Three British Fashion Awards, his design philosophy, working with Beats by Dre. Discussing how Ross has worn WHOOP for five years. He’s not a hired name. He’s a user who became a partner.

Your Diagnostic:

Which skepticism are you facing right now?

Symptom

Most likely culprit

Also check

Engage but doesn’t buy

Relevance

Differentiation

Ignore entirely

Differentiation

Legitimacy, Credibility

“Interesting” but doesn’t buy

Commitment

Relevance

These aren’t clean buckets - you might be facing two at once.

Start with the one that stings most.

How To Use This

Whether you’re a founder pitching investors, a creator building an audience, or an exec trying to get buy-in - the framework is the same.

Step 1: Get clear on who you’re trying to reach.

Before you worry about what to say, get specific about who needs to hear it.

• Are you trying to reach your first audience and establish credibility?

• Are you re-engaging people who’ve gone quiet on you?

• Are you expanding to a new segment that doesn’t know you yet?

Each scenario requires a different answer - but they all require you to name the audience first.

Step 2: Write down what that audience is probably wondering about you.

Not what you want them to know. What they’re actually skeptical about.

If you’re a founder:

• “Is this just another [category] company?”

• “Why would I choose them over the obvious alternatives?”

• “Is the founder serious or is this a side project?”

If you’re a creator/artist:

• “Why should I follow this person over the thousands of others?”

• “Is this a serious body of work or a side project?”

• “Is this someone with real vision or just chasing trends?”

• “Is this for someone like me?”

If you’re an exec or consultant:

• “What makes them different from everyone else who says the same thing?”

• “Have they actually done this before?”

• “Why should I pay a premium for this?”

Step 3: Answer those questions directly - before they ask.

If they’re wondering...

Your answer might look like this…

“Is this real?”

State a timeline or commitment. “I’m going all-in on this for the next 2 years.”

“Do you actually believe this?”

Show your stake. What you’re risking. What did you turn down to do this?

“Why should I care?”

Connect it to something bigger than your product or service.

“Is this for me?”

Name their specific situation. Make them feel seen in the first 8 seconds.

Step 4: Put the answers where they’ll see them first.

Your homepage. Your bio. Your pitch deck. Your first slide. Your email signature.

Not buried in an FAQ. Not saved for the sales call. Not on slide 14.

(And also, please don’t have 14 slides).

The Mistake

Answering questions no one is asking.

“We use a proprietary methodology.” (No one asked.) “I’ve been doing this for 15 years.” (No one asked.) “We’re passionate about helping founders/creators/leaders succeed.” (No one asked.)

If you’re answering something they weren’t wondering, you’re explaining. Not positioning.

The flip:

Those same facts can work - if they’re answering the right skepticism.

If they’re wondering...

Then this works

“Have they actually done this?” (credibility)

“15 years. 200+ clients. Here’s what I’ve learned.”

“What makes them different?” (differentiation)

“Our methodology is different — here’s the specific thing we do that no one else does.”

“Is this legit?” (legitimacy)

“We’re not going anywhere. Here’s our commitment.”

But if they’re wondering “Is this for me?” and you answer with “15 years of experience”” you’ve answered a question they didn’t ask.

The rule: Social proof answers credibility skepticism. It doesn’t answer relevance or differentiation. Know which one you’re facing first.

Can’t tell which one you’re facing? Bring it to War Room #001 (January 29th). We’ll diagnose it live.

What Else I’m Seeing

📖 READING: “Click Here: The Art and Science of Digital Marketing and Advertising” by Alex Shultz, Meta CMO.

What stuck with me:

On finding the problem (Rule 1): Your “North Star” metric should be something your customer does, not something you measure just bc you can. Schultz built Meta’s growth around “monthly active users” - not impressions, not downloads. The metric that matters is the one that proves someone got value from you. Find your value point.

On the little solution (Rule 2): Most businesses over-invest in acquisition and under-invest in activation. Getting someone in the door means nothing if they never experience what keeps them there. The gap between “signed up” and “actually used it” is where most growth dies. Your little solution has to be experienced fast.

💰 STRUCTURE I’M NOTICING: Netflix’s big entrance into podcasting

Netflix doubled down on video podcasts with deals with Spotify, iHeartMedia, and Barstool - bringing over 30 shows to the platform starting early 2026. ^TechCrunch

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the lines between podcasts and talk shows are “getting pretty blurry,” and they want to work with great creators across all media. Watch this space. ^{What’s on Netflix}

The bigger signal: This isn’t about Netflix wanting podcasts. It’s confirmation that video is eating audio. YouTube is already the #1 podcast platform. Spotify went all-in on video. Now Netflix.

The production bar is higher, but that leaves room to counterposition and get down and dirty.

🎧 LISTENING TO: Nick Huber on My First Million - Rich People Do One Thing

Great leaders hold two things: where you’re going and what’s actually working.

You can’t outsource knowing who you’re for and why they choose you.

They create space to zoom 10,000 ft out and 5 levels deep — that’s where the clarity lives.

🛠 TOOLS: Loom for announcement visibility

Early take: A 90-second Loom from the founder explaining the “why” behind an announcement outperforms a press release every time. Low production value can actually be a feature - it signals authenticity over polish.

Your Move

By EOD Monday, do this:

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Founders, or you - reading this 😊, want to make money. That’s not new.

What’s new: consumer spending growth just dropped from 5.7% to 3.7% - and it’s heading lower. (Morgan Stanley)

And guess what’s getting cut first?

Discretionary budgets.

People are still spending. But they’re spending carefully. Very carefully.

Which means you have to earn every dollar harder than you did last year.

From new and existing customers, clients, and fans.

For 15 years, the answer was social. Post more. Build the funnel. Hope something converts.

That’s not the move anymore.

On A Personal Note (I don’t want to read this today, take me Being Besties With My Audience)

Remember, you’re not alone.

The weight you’re carrying right now? Your team is carrying it too. So are your customers, fans, and audience. We’re all moving through the same economic anxiety, the same uncertainty, the same “is this working?” or “what am I doing?” spiral at 2am.

Remember, shared struggle is the fastest path to real connection. The people around you want to know that you’re in it with them, not that you have all the answers.

So don’t be afraid to open space for that. A “how are you actually doing?” in a team meeting. A moment of honesty in your content. A meme that breaks your polished character.

Leaders who win in hard times are the ones who can acknowledge and hold space that “this is hard” - and keep building anyway.

Now, let’s talk about how to build.

Be Besties With Your Audience

That sounds like advice from a 22-year-old influencer giving marketing tips on Tik Tok.

But the data says the 22-year-old is right.

Brand communities deliver 2.7x higher lifetime value than traditional marketing approaches.^{(Single Grain)} Community-driven word of mouth increases conversions by 22% ^{(Marketing LTB)}

Treating followers like friends is outperforming treating them like a metric.

You should get to a point where at least 80% of your followers feel like they’re seeing your “Close Friends” green circle - not just being updated on what you have coming next.

The Shift: What’s Actually Working Right Now

Community Over Followers

Engaged communities drive revenue. This isn’t new - I’ve heard “brand community” for eight years.

So why bring it up now? Because most still don’t get it right.

Community building is less a strategy than it is a posture.

Stop asking “how do I build community?” The real question is “how do I become the kind of brand people want to be in community with?”

One is a tactic. The other is a transformation.

Think about your closest friendships. You didn’t build them by optimizing touchpoints. You built them by being genuinely interested. By remembering the small things. By giving without keeping score.

Most brands do the opposite. They’re present but not available. Consistent but not in progress. Listening, but only to respond - not to understand.

And people can feel it.

Community isn’t a funnel. It’s not something you “leverage.”

Community is what happens when people feel seen by you - and you actually meant to see them.

Build In Public

Ok, what does this even mean? Is it process content? Behind-the-scenes footage?

Fundamentally, it’s about showing your community you’re listening and applying feedback.

And it works because it proves responsiveness. Not just presence.

Remember, it’s about being besties.

Besties are listeners, responders, supporters.

People trust what they can see built, and they emotionally attach to the connection.

Building in public is a window to that two-way connection.

Here’s the hard part for founders: showing unfinished work feels vulnerable. You’ve spent years building credibility. Showing the messy middle can feel like giving that up.

It’s not. (See more about emotionally navigating being real and raw vs. looking perfect - while still upholding your standards in this week’s playbook)

The Gut Check

Ok, before you post again or invest in more content:

• Are you broadcasting or conversing?

• When’s the last time you showed something unfinished?

• Would your followers refer to your brand name (your name if you’re a creator or solopreneur) as a friend?

If you can’t answer these, that’s your starting point.

The Strategic Playbook: 3 Moves To Build A Stronger Customer Base With A Community Mindset

3 tactics, ideas, and the emotional framework for sharing unfinished work - all to use Monday morning.

Ground Zero: Tackling the emotion.

The brands (people and companies) winning right now aren’t the ones that look perfect.

They’re the ones who look real. And real means in-progress.

Real means “we’re figuring this out.” Real means trusting your audience enough to let them see behind the curtain.

Most founders and creators trip up here because they equate looking perfect with not being judged - with keeping all the chaos living in their head or inside of their organization hidden.

There will always be chaos. If it helps, know that customers today actually want to understand that.

If you want to keep a certain quality standard, establish a minimum viable quality standard.

Here’s what I’ve learned: the fear of being seen as “not ready” is really the fear of being seen at all. And that fear doesn’t shrink by waiting until you’re more polished.

It shrinks by being seen anyway - and realizing you survived. That people didn’t leave (Or that you can survive a few leaving). That they actually leaned in.

The truth is: people don’t connect with your wins. They connect with your becoming. They’re not looking for someone who has it all figured out - they’re looking for someone honest enough to say “I’m building this and I’m not sure yet.”

Step 1: Audit your engagement.

The move: REFY Beauty flew actual customers, not influencers, to Mallorca for their product launch.

Brands that treat their community like collaborators, not consumers, build the kind of loyalty that sustains through tumultuous times.

Your version:

• Reply to comments yourself, not through a team (or hire someone who has the voice to reply without multiple rounds of approval)

• Feature customer or fan content with the same prominence as influencer content

• From time to time, DM new followers a genuine thank you (not an automated one)

• Ask for feedback publicly - then show what you did with it. Remember to remind your community that they gave you feedback. If you show updates with no reminder it won’t register as a response to their feedback.

• Share something unfinished and let people react before it’s “ready.”

Talk about it with your team or ask yourself:

• What would change if we added our top 100 followers to close friends?

• Where have we automated something that should stay personal?

• What’s one thing we’re hiding until it’s “ready” that we could show right now?

Where can you create proximity instead of distance?

Step 2: Take it off social.

Social is an introduction to your brand world. It’s not the whole thing. The relationship has to deepen and develop elsewhere.

Think about your actual best friends. You don’t just comment on their posts. You text them. You voice memo them, random thoughts, and memes. You send them things that made you think of them.

Your audience should feel the same way.

Your version:

• Start a private group for your most engaged customers (Slack, Discord, WhatsApp)

• Send voice notes instead of typed DMs

• Text your top 10 customers when you launch something - well before you post

• Handwrite a note in first-time orders or 3rd time orders - appreciate the loyalty

• Email like you’re writing to one person, not a list

Talk about it with your team or ask yourself:

• If Instagram disappeared tomorrow, how would we reach our best customers?

• What feels hard about this that’s actually very easy?

• Who are 10 customers we could reach out to this week - off social?

Step 3: Make them insiders.

Besties don’t find out when everyone else does. They get the text first.

Your most engaged customers should feel like they’re in the room - not watching from outside. Early access. Sneak peeks. The decisions you’re weighing before you’ve made them.

This isn’t about creating a “VIP tier” for marketing purposes. It’s about actually treating people like they matter before you need something from them.

Your version:

• Send new products or whitepapers to your top customers or clients before you announce publicly

• Share what you’re working on before it’s finished - and ask what they think

• Give them first dibs on launches, drops, or limited inventory

• Let them vote on decisions (colors, names, features) and show the results

• Tell them things you haven’t told “everyone” yet

Talk about it with your team or ask yourself:

• Do we know the 2-20 people who would care most about what we’re building next? If not, find this out first.

• What do we know that we’re not sharing yet - that would make people feel closer to us?

• Where are we treating loyal customers the same as we treat brand-new ones?

Your move this week: Pick one. Audit how you’re showing up. Take one relationship off social. Or make someone an insider before you need to.

Do it before next Friday. See what happens.

Strategically yours,

Amanda

I recently finished In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters & Robert Waterman. Written in 1982, it studied what made the best-run companies work.

One of eight principles: “Close to the customer.”

Not close to the algorithm. Not close to the trend. Close to the customer.

The book argued that most companies ignore this fundamental, failing to understand what their customers need and truly want.

While the best-run companies are very close to the customer.

That was 1982. It’s worse now.

People see 5,000 pieces of content per day. And according to SAP research, attention spans are around 8 seconds, and brand loyalty fell to 29% in 2025 - that’s a 5% drop from 2024.

Most are focused on reach - how can I get new eyeballs and acquire new customers? Almost no one is optimizing for closeness - how do I get to know and build a connection with those who are already paying attention to me?

Enter LaRussell.

Meet LaRussell: 2,600 fans. $57k in 24 hours.

If you don’t know LaRussell: independent rapper, 40+ albums, nearly 2 million Instagram followers, ~475,000 monthly listeners, and 2,600 incredibly loyal fans.

In 2021, he turned down a national tour to build The Pergola - a performance space in his parents’ backyard. Self-funded with help from friends & family.

And what I like about The Pergola is:

• It’s not overly polished - it feels in process.

• His mom is there. His dad is cooking. You’re with him, not watching him. Everyone’s on the same level.

• He built with what he had instead of waiting for a bigger, more polished stage.

He’s used “offer-based pricing” where fans can decide what value his art has to them. It’s a way of letting people self-select their commitment level.

Those who can’t pay much still get access (building loyalty). Those who can pay more, will. The average ends up being higher than you’d set on a fixed price.

And, here are the numbers to back it up: (Billboard)

• $11,001 - Kyrie Irving’s album purchase (world record)

• $57,000 - First 24 hours of sales from 2,600 fans

• $250,000+ - His $1,000 birthday show (first time he set a price - sold out instantly)

And it’s not just music. He’s built an ecosystem on top of that trust.

They subscribe. They pay for features. They buy royalty shares. One attendee became VP of Marketing for the Giants and hired him to write their anthem.

It’s reported by NBC that he now makes will over 7-figures through is Good Compenny company.

Key takeway: A small audience with deep trust will outspend and outlast a large one without it.

Brand Audience vs. Community

Audiences watch. Communities participate.

An audience consumes your content, maybe buys your thing, and moves on.

A community feels like they have a stake in the outcome - they’re rooting for something they feel like they helped build.

Kyrie didn’t just buy the album from the rafters. He called into LaRussell’s live stream to say “I’ve been watching you and you earned it.” He wasn’t a customer. He was claiming ownership of his discovery.

This week, LaRussell announced he’s giving the entire $11,001 back - to help his community pay rent, utilities, and bills.^{Berkley Patch}

LaRussell’s Pergola shows have a roundtable at the end where fans take the microphone and share what the experience meant to them. (Steal this)

Food, bounce houses, hugs in line, and personal calls. He’s not running a concert. He’s running a family reunion where he happens to perform.

One woman, 45, said, “It’s like church for her.”

That’s community. Shared meaning.

Assess Where You Are

Before you copy the tactics, figure out where you actually stand.

• Are you focused on reach or depth? Reach refers to the number of people who see you. Depth is how much they care. LaRussell picks up the phone and calls attendees to thank them for coming, he gives back to the community, where are you using hospitality to build connection?

• Do your customers feel like customers or co-authors of the brand’s success? Where are you letting your audience hold the mic?

• What’s your version of the backyard? The Pergola works because it’s raw and unpolished. His dad’s cooking. His mom’s there. They’re interfacing on the same level. It’s not a performance - it’s proximity. Where could you create that kind of closeness?

The Strategic Playbook: 3 Moves To Steal

3 tactics and ideas to use on Monday morning.

Step 1: Let Them Into Your Space

The move: LaRussell turned his parents’ backyard into a venue - dad cooking, mom greeting fans, bouncy castle for kids. A place to intimately interface with his fanbase.

Your version:

• Host customer dinners at your office or restaurant that matches your brand feel, not a hotel ballroom

• Livestream from where you actually work

• Run office hours from your home studio

• Do pop-ups in your hometown or tier 3 cities, not just major markets

• Let them see the mess, not just the polish

Talk about it with your team or ask yourself:

• Where are we creating unnecessary distance from our customers?

• What would it look like to invite 10 customers into our actual space?

• What are we polishing that would feel more authentic raw?

Where can you create proximity instead of distance?

Step 2: Let Them Into Your Space

The move: Every Pergola show ends with a roundtable - fans take the microphone and share what the experience meant to them. They’re not just spectators. They’re participants with a voice

Your version:

• End events with open conversation - let your customers ask real questions, and express their real feedback

• Feature customer stories in your content, unscripted

• Let your audience vote on what you build next - then share the results and actually build it

• Create a space where they can talk to each other, not just to you

• Publish their wins, not just your own

Talk about it with your team or ask yourself:

• Where are we talking at customers instead of with them?

• What decisions could we let them weigh in on?

• How do we make them feel like co-authors, not just buyers?

Where are you letting your customers hold the mic?

Step 3: Let Them Into Your Space

The move: LaRussell calls ticket buyers to thank them. Before his $1,000 show, he came outside and hugged every person in line. It shows true customer appreciation. Hospitality and warmth as a loyalty builder.

Your version:

• Send a personal voice note to new customers

• Call your top 10 customers once a quarter

• Handwrite thank-you notes for first purchases

• Reply to comments yourself, not through a team

• Remember details and follow up on them

Talk about it with your team or ask yourself:

• What’s one thing we could do for 100 customers that we couldn’t do for 10,000?

• Where have we automated something that should stay personal?

• What would it cost us to be unreasonably generous with our time for the next 90 days?

On A Personal Note (I don’t want to read this today, take me to LaRussell)

It Takes A Lot of Effort To Give A Little Effort.

I meet with a lot of founders - some pre-product market fit, some who’ve hit a wall after a big growth spurt. Last week, it was a founder running an upscale member club.

As she was talking, I noticed something I notice with a lot of founders: they’re trying to figure out the business while simultaneously looking for ways to coast.

Not because of laziness. More like, “Surely, it can’t still be this much work.”

And it is.

Getting to a business that works is work. The systems, the trust, the depth with your customers - that comes from the unsexy work upfront. There’s no shortcut to the shortcut.

But the work stacks. Keep going.

Your move this week: Pick one. Just one. The space, the mic, or the unscalable thing.

Do it before next Friday. See what happens.

Strategically yours,

Amanda

They couldn’t out-spend the competition. So, founder Joe Coulombe did something else.

He started writing a newsletter.

Yes, a newsletter.

He wrote every single issue himself for 19 years. 19 years.

This wasn’t to push products, but to explain and bring to life the Trader Joe’s world to his customers.

This is what we call a relationship asset. And it’s one of the most underdeveloped aspects of modern brand strategy.

The Asset That Prints Money & Drives Real Relationship…Without Ad Spend.

In 1969, Joe Coulombe started writing a newsletter for Trader Joe’s customers.

He called it the Insider’s Wine Report. It was just the results from wine tastings they were holding in stores. Nothing fancy.

Then he expanded it. Added food. Modeled it after Consumer Reports. Renamed it the Insider’s Food Report. Added his perspective on top.

He wrote every single issue himself for 19 years.

I’m going to say that last part again: 19 years.

This is what we call a relationship asset.

The newsletter trained customers to see Trader Joe’s as their guide. Their translator. The person explaining which wines were worth it and which new products deserved space in their kitchen.

It worked so well that Dave Nichol, president of Canadian grocery chain Loblaws, paid $100,000 to license the name “Insider’s Report.”

In 1985, Trader Joe’s renamed it the Fearless Flyer. It still runs today. Same energy. Same voice. Same job: be the customer’s guide.

Here’s the detail that tells you everything - for years, the Fearless Flyer was printed with three rings on the cover because customers were keeping them. Collecting them. Referring back to them.

This was content that earns trust and trust drives business forward.

The Consumer Psychology Underneath

We all have to understand, sometimes, well, most of the time, that our customers/fans/audiences don’t want information. They want a guide.

Read more