Finally got REM sleep last night.  And OMG it was so... *good*.

Been a looooong time it has.  And now I'm up and ready to make wonderful things happen!

When's the last time you had a real, deep sleep?

Belated Good Afternoon all.  It's been quite the day indeed.  Character-building!  How has it treated you?

#1  Ever put up a product and it flames out more brilliantly than the finale of the 4th of July fireworks?  Complete with that “oooooh… ahhhh… wait, is it over already?” awkward silence?

Yep.  Not fun!  Next question:

Ever wonder why?  A thread 🧵

#2 Welp, there be many reasons indeed.  For today, however, I’ll focus on one rather painful fact:

❌ Nobody wakes up at 3 AM whispering, “I need a 47-page PDF NOW!!!!!” 

Gnope.  No how, no way.

#3 Instead, they wake up muttering:

❓ “How do I stop this headache of a problem that is eating my life, wrecking my sanity, and making me forget to brew my morning coffee???” Forgetting coffee should be illegal, you know!

#4 🚧 “But Barb,” I hear you say.  

“My product I launched SOLVED that problem!”

And indeed, you are probably quite correct.

But!

#5 🚀  Did your sales page convey the *benefits* of your product?  

Or did you instead rhapsodize about how glorious said product is (aka, swooning over your product’s features like a teenager writing bad poetry to their crush)?

#6 🚄 If so, you are most definitely NOT alone.  Not by a long shot!

See, singing about features simply doesn’t do it for your future customer.  Just like Moosemobile drivers don’t care how many gerbils are powering up the engine under the hood...

#7 🌅 ... they just care if said Moosemobile gets them to their destination without breaking down outside Starbucks.

The sad truth is that buyers really don’t care *how* your product works...

#8 🛑 They just want *their* pain to *stop*.  

In other words, pushing “the thing” (aka your product) doesn’t resonate nearly enough as pushing “the solution” (still your product, just in a superhero cape) that said product provides!

#9 ✒️ So here’s an action shift you might consider.  

Even before putting pen to paper (or finger to keyboard, or quill to parchment if you are feeling all medieval-like), ask yourself:

“What problem can I *solve*?”

#10 🥇 The difference, you’ll see, is night and day.  

Problems make people itch.  Itches demand scratching.  You want to be THE back scratcher, not THE lecturer on skincare biology to folk who can barely pay attention due to the 637 itches currently assailing them.

#11  🙁 "But Barb!," I hear you say once more.  

"How on earth can I achieve this nirvana-state of product creation??"

Agreed - figuring this out can really be tedious!

#12 🧰 So IF you find yourself with brain-freeze, ask yourself the following question (or even type it into ChatGPT, who by now should already know who your customers are - here's my results of this query: https://chatgpt.com/share/68b9fb75-e640-8001-a4e0-34f9e9168d4f  

#13 🔦 (I've customized ChatGPT to ask me further questions, which is why I included that last statement in my example)):

“My customer is sick of ______.”

Fill in the blank with the problem that keeps them annoyed, stuck, or secretly Googling for help at 3:14am.

#14 🎁 Then your product becomes the cure in disguise, and all you have to do is ensure the benefits shine thru on the sales page 

(Pro tip: lurk on niche marketing forums and watch the same questions get asked over and over again.  That’s your personalized bat signal)!

#15  📥 What else can you do?  How 'bout:

Picture your customer’s before and after story.  What’s it like?  Is it something like:

Before: overwhelmed, frustrated, cursing under their breath, possibly hiding under the desk and hoping nobody notices them until 2027.

#16  🦸  After: calm, smiling, sipping their fav beverage of choice, and letting their friends know the solution you provided, while secretly feeling like a genius superhero!

When *that* happens...

#17   🦸‍♂️  Your future product then simply *becomes* that bridge!  So build it sturdy and paint it in a gentle, enticing, bright blue neon.  Maybe throw in some glitter if you are feeling fancy?

#18 ❎  Bottom line?  Even though yep, it sure is hard to do sometimes... 

STOP worshipping your digital creation like it is the next Mona Lisa.  To your customer, it is not about the *thing*...

#19  🏆 It’s about the *fix*!  You want customers to feel like you magically removed a month-long toothache with zero pain, maximum relief, and perhaps a free lollipop at the end.  They will not remember your PDF or video length...

#20 🎯 ...  but they *WILL* remember that sweet, sweet relief!

And *that* is what helps ensure your solution (notice, I did NOT say “product”) fly off the shelves like squirrels at an all-you-can-eat acorn buffet.

Enjoy!


Product Failure Insights

Yep.  'Tis a day that only 1 thing can power!  Coffee!  Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! Coffee!

Good morning!  How's that rising and shining coming along?  Me, I was absent just about all of yesterday but more alive today!  However, methinks there IS one thing possibly missing...

And good morning creators!   Zero sleep, up at 6:30am.  Joy!

Weirdest part? I'm absolutely wired and ready to tackle it all! The human body makes no sense sometimes.  Especially mine!  :)

Who else is running on pure caffeine and chaos today? Share your sleep-deprived adventures below.

Caffeine-Fueled Morning

Let me tell you - if there's one thing that is NOT happy happy joy joy, it's root canals!  

I did have an excellent dentist perform the procedure, mind you, but the pain that gently erupted that measured 8.4 on the Richter Scale?  ('course, it did result in this convo)  

I strongly do NOT endorse *that*!  I hate it whenever unexpected opportunities to develop more grey hair happen - it *really* smooshes my day-do-day output.  Ah well, these things happen.  

And may the day treat you wonderfully creators!  Time to make things great.

Root Canal Woes

1️⃣  Welp, this just happened. When last you tuned it, you saw that I was embarking upon an exciting adventure, called:

'Abandon Hope,  Ye Who Enter!'

In other words, a magnificent root canal.  But I digress. Returning to my adventure (which happend in bed)... 

2️⃣ I tried to force sleep. Hah! 

So I was sort of in that fuzzy space where your brain is running Windows 95 on dial-up... two clicks down from real sleep. Blame the root canal pain? 

Didn’t doze until 10am today, maybe later. Time transformed into oatmeal/local honey.

3️⃣ With me so far? Excellent! But then...

The Commander Moose *called me*. Actually called. Like full telepathic voicemail. "Mom, I’m scared." Words in my head  - but not in English either.

And I got it instantly. No confusion, no pause. Just, bam, understood. And then?

4️⃣ MamaBear instincts kicked in! But did I get out of bed like any normal person?  Pardon me for laughing!

Instead, I launched out of bed like someone had hit the panic button. Straight up!  I still remember how that felt.

5️⃣ This brought home the facts: When my kids, furkids, orphaned wolf etc. need me, I somehow *know* it before any verbalization.  

But I digress, Part 2.  (That's a megaskill of mine, y'know?)

Off went I to locate the husband.  Once discovered...

6️⃣ I asked him where the Commander was.  No clue. Delightful!

So The Rebel Moose and I did the wandering search party thing. Think "Scooby Doo transmogrified into the BBC BC Sherlock."

Obviously the Commander had activated stealth mode. Cloak of Invisibility, level 99.

7️⃣ And then? Plot twist #N : the husband had let him sneak into the garage. Totally didn’t notice. Classic.

But here’s where it goes Twilight Zone. If Commander Moose had barked, I wouldn’t have heard him. Given where I was existing, the physics says nope.

8️⃣ Instead, the *CM*  hacked into my half-sleep brain and zapped urgency straight in!

 Jedi dog powers!!?  And he dropped that phrase crystal-clear: "Mom I’m scared!" directly to my brain.

The result? I rocketed out of bed like Mentos in Diet Coke. Zero hesitation.

 

9️⃣ See, that's *MY* Moose who was involved!  It's all okay now, mind you, but earlier?  EEEEK!

And then doing that Spockonian "My mind to your mind.  My thoughts to your thoughts. My working alarm clock to your... lack of a timing device..."  

Most bizarre; it also reminded me:
 

1️⃣0️⃣ Y'know, virtually every time any one of kids needed me, I *knew* their needs with *zero* verbal interactions. 

And now, that ability carries over to the furkids??  Wow.

What... a Sunday.  Hope yours is going simply swimming as well.

Enjoy!