A thought experiment
If Nike built a hotel, what would it look like?
Can you see the outside?
The front desk?
What would the rooms look like? What photos would be hung on the wall?
What about the gym? It wouldn’t be your ordinary hotel gym.
It’d probably be a arena with a turf field and a track gong around it. State of the art workout machines and all the sports equipment you can imagine.
Now, think about a Hilton Hotel.
Does it look any different from a Marriott or Double Tree?
Nope.
That’s the difference between having a brand and not having a brand.
On the base level, any hotel solves the same problem. A roof over your head when you’re traveling.
When it comes to down to picking a hotel when I travel, I don’t really care about choosing Marriot or Hilton unless I’m earning points to one or I’m choosing based on which is cheapest.
When you think about your brand, are you just another expert in your field that solves a problem?
On paper…
- a couples therapist is the same as any other couples therapist
- a breathwork facilitator is the same as any other breathwork facilitator
- a storytelling coach is the same as any other storytelling coach
What would drive me to intentionally seek out a Nike hotel?
Why would I turn down a bigger room with a better view at a Hilton and pay more money for a smaller room at the Nike Hotel?
Because choosing to stay at a Nike hotel is a representation of who I am.
I am an athlete and I love playing sports.
You’re telling me I could wake up and go hit some baseballs in the batting cages and field some ground balls first thing in the morning?
Lets fucking go!
And imagine the people I’ll meet there.
People just like me who want to wake up and play.
I know if I go to the Nike hotel I instantly belong.
So the question becomes, why would your followers choose you over all your competitors (who they also follow)?
Are you giving them a reason to see themselves in you?
To say, “this is my guyyyyyy!” (or gal)
Or are you just another expert in a sea of other experts?
ChatGPT slam dunked this one for me
Just for fun I asked ChatGPT to, “Create an image of what a Nike/Hilton/Marriott hotel looks like.”
Here are the results.
It’s not surprising at all the Marriott and Hilton are almost identical. Take the logo out and you wouldn’t be able to tell which is which. Remove the Nike logo and you still have the shoes and athletes on the side of the building. Especially if those athletes were Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Serena Williams.
Thanks for making my point ChatGPT
Stop making content for your audience
Like me, you’re probably writing out your 2025 goals around the time of reading this.
With relation to my business and work, I found I have two buckets.
- Business growth goals
- Lifestyle goals related to work
Let’s take the example of a running coach
- Business Growth Goals
- 20,000 IG followers
- 5,000 email subscribers
- 200 members in my community.
- Make $200,000 this year
- Lifestyle goals related to work
- Run a sub 3-hour marathon
- Mobility 3 times a week – pain free by end of year
I have found that business growth goals ad lifestyle goals remain separate. I don’t know why we do this to ourselves.
If the running coach wants to grow her following, she ends up making content that she thinks her audience wants or needs.
She convinces herself, “my audience is new to running and is trying to run their first 5k so they don’t care about me trying to run a sub 3-hour marathon”
sad face
This runner LOVES chasing down this bucket list goal of running a sub 3-hour marathon.
She loves doing speed workouts.
She loves testing out new gels for fueling.
But again she think, “my audience doesn’t love this like me.”
So she waters down her excitement and joy in service of her audience.
ughhh pukeeeee.
This is the classic example of putting your oxygen mask on first so you can serve others.
What if instead of the same old boring content, she chose to unapologetically chase down her sub 3-hour marathon goal and share the journey.
Not only does this allow her to go ALL IN on her dreams, but it makes content so much easier.
No thinking about what her audience wants to hear and struggling to think of ideas or stories to tell.
You’re living it!
Make the content for YOU and allow your audience to find themselves in it.
Someone who is running their first marathon will learn SO MUCH from somebody trying to break a 3 hour marathon and will be so engaged to ask questions from the expert like
- what shoes do you wear?
- how do you stayed fueled?
- what if you have to poop during a long run?
- what’s your training schedule like?
The 2025 Game Plan
Step 1: Choose your 90 day goal
You may already have some goals written down.
Choose a work-related goal that you can pursue in the next 90 days.
Like our example of the runner. She can find a marathon to sign up for (roughly) 90 days out.
You can aim for a tangible result oriented outcome like:
- An interior designer builds out their dream home office in 90 days
- A travel planner visits the top 10 national parks in the US in 90 days
Or commit to doing something X times a week like:
- A video editor posts on Instagram everyday for 90 days
- A body builder follows a 5-day a week bulking program over 90 days
90 day goals are great because they are long enough to experience real change and short enough where you won’t burn out.
Remember, this should be something you want to do and are excited to accomplish. Hopefully something that stretches you and brings you closer to living your dream life.
Step 2: Your 4 content pillars
This part is as simple as documenting the process.
That’s all storytelling is. Sharing something that happened to you.
I’ll use examples of the runner again.
Pillar 1: Tangible Updates
The runner will update us on how training is going. Is she getting faster? What have her workouts been? Is she finding nutrition supplements she likes? What has she tried and what does she like and dislike about those products and why?
Pillar 2: Emotional Updates
Training is easy some days. It’s hard others. Some days it rains and you have to run on the treadmill land that suuuucks. Sometimes injuries crop up and make you doubt if you can hit your goal? Share the fun, the struggle, the doubts and the worries. But ALWAYS share the strategies you are using to help you move forward through the difficulties.
Pillar 3: Past Mistakes
If she’s running a sub 3 hour marathon then this ain’t her first time running. Share mistakes she’s made before like wearing old shoes that lead to injuries, not eating enough, not getting enough electrolytes, over training, etc. This is gold for your audience so they don’t make the same mistakes as you. Be sure to share what you’re doing differently/better this time.
Pillar 4: Past Fears
What doubts, fears and worries did you have when you first began training. Your audience will have those fears NOW. Your audience will feels deeply seen when you share these past fears because they are the things they aren’t brave enough to tell others about. You will also show how you overcame those fears and thus position yourself as a leader for them.
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Step 3: Passing the Nike Hotel test
The final piece is to not blend in.
You already have a leg up by pursuing your goal and embodying the dream persona of your ideal clients compared to other entrepreneurs online who are still making boring educational content.
When you add this wrinkle into your content you will build a deep connection that allows your audience to find themselves in you and say, “This is my guyyyy!!” (or gal).
Go back and take a look at the non-work related goals you wrote out for next year.
Those goals are part of your life and contribute or prohibit you from completing the 90-day goal you’re going to share.
Say our runner wants to run a sub 3-hour marathon and she’s also has a goal of growing her business to six figures and home schooling her kid.
Naturally her training will be effected by these other goals.
Let’s add this wrinkle into the 4 pillars
Pillar 1: Tangible Updates
Did training have to be modified today because your kid got sick? How did you modify your training?
Are you extremely budget conscious when picking shoes and other equipment because you’re growing your business and raising a child? What are the best budget running shoes?
Pillar 2: Emotional Updates
Overwhelmed trying to grow a business and figure out the best way to home school your kid? That must be hard. How are you managing the overwhelm?
Feeling like you should be working more instead of running so much because you’re trying to build your dream business? How do you manage the guilt?
Pillar 3: Past Mistakes
In the past she never asked for help with her kid because she felt like she was being selfish. Now she’s built a community and unapologetically asks her friends to help watch her kid so she can train.
Pillar 4: Past Fears
Last time she tried to pursue an audacious running goal she feared if she failed her clients would see her as a failure and it would ruin her business. Even though she didn’t hit her goal, her clients were insanely impressed by her ability to overcome challenges and adapt along the way it actually lead a few referrals.
Summary
In my own experience, I work with people like me because I trust them.
Right now I am looking a tennis coaches to hire and I am far more attracted to a younger coach who is building their own business and has a spiritual practice than the boomers at my club who do it part time.
All of my clients have very similar identities to me.
Even YOU, my audience!
I would put my money on the fact that you fit almost all of these identities:
- spiritual
- entrepreneur
- love the outdoors
- creative or an artist
- former athlete (still are 😉)
- have a meditation or breathwork practice
- don’t drink much alcohol anymore (or sober)
- doesn’t live in their home state or strong desire to move
- friends would describe you as curious, thoughtful, loving and passionate
This is no accident.
We all have a type.
Just like dating with the goal to fall in love, it’s a big vulnerable risk to give your heart to someone. If the person is like you, you feel safer and are able to relax, learn and play.
It’s the same for your relationship with your audience and potential clients.
Pursuing big audacious goals into the unknown is scary and unsafe.
If I’m gong to dive into that unknown, I’d much prefer to choose someone who is like me, who gets me, who I feel safe with and who I see as a role model for the life I want to life.
This is your chance to do that.
Pursue the life you desire and document it.
And don’t forget to enjoy every step of the way.
With love,
Matt
PS – The StoryGrowth Framework, a 6-week cohort based course designed to help you tell incredible stories, make content you love and build a deep connection with your audience begins on January 6th, but the doors close this Monday 12/23 at 9am PST. This is your last chance to join!!
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