How to build a list and sell them stuff

A Single Source of Truth for all of Unusually Focused's methods

A Warning

Mature Audiences Only

If you don’t like hearing about “controlling people,” or using what some might see as manipulative tactics to gain compliance, well - I suggest you leave now.

What you’ll find here

Soon, you’ll find clear documentation for the entire suite of Unusually Focused methods and strategies. It’s broken out into distinct categories to best help you in whatever circumstance you’re in. (more on this below)

In the interim, I’ve opened access to two modules:

Is it free?

Yes. It’s free. There’s no catch. You don’t even have to opt-in.

A favor

Would you be down to help me out with this project? My goal is to make it THE canonical reference for all of these weird ideas about marketing & personal development.

You’ll get early access to the modules and an open line to me.

You’ll find a form below. That opt-in is not required, but it’s recommended. Magical things await.

Without further adieux…

You’re in one of two modes

1. You’re learning (or practicing)

You want to learn marketing tactics to prepare for future work. Or maybe you’ve heard about #randomtalkingvideo and you want to find out more about how it can help you.

Or you might be looking for some writing prompts to figure out which direction you should with your next product.

The key distinction is that you’re not working. (yes, I understand there’s a case to be made for learning being work. I mean actively working on a project, right now.)

2. You’re working.

Like right now. You’re in the middle of a project and you need help solving a specific problem. Maybe you’re writing an email sequence and you don’t know how to pitch your product.

I designed this app (the underlying architecture of the information/lessons) to suit those specific needs.

The 4 Types of Teaching Content

I’m inspired by how open-source software projects assemble technical documentation.

They have clear boundaries between tutorials, guides vs explanations, and reference material.

I’ll explain this in more detail soon, but the here’s the gist:

For when you are working

Guides

When you open this app and you’re actively working on a project, you don’t want to wade through long explanations of foundational concepts.

Nor do you want long tutorials that take hours to complete.

Reference Material

You want easy access to done-for-you reference material to solve the specific problem you’re dealing with in that moment.

This might be copy & paste email templates, starter scripts for social media videos, or social media ad campaign scaffolding.

Or a super-quick video that cuts right to the chase and guides you through setting up a Custom Audience of people who watched your last Instagram video.

You don’t want to read an explanation about why email marketing is great, or how effective videos on social media are.

You just want The Thing. You want to know what to say, a writing prompt, what campaign objective to choose.

For when you are learning

When you aren’t actively working on a project, the only other reason you would be here is to learn something to prepare for work in the future.

Explanations

This is where it makes sense to explain things in more depth - challenging ideas, core concepts, nuance.

Or you may be here actively applying what you’re learning in a practice session (when the writing tools go live).

Tutorials

When you are working, you can easily find solutions to problems by looking up solution in the guides — or finding something in reference materials.

But when you are practicing - or learning - you can take the time to peruse the explanations to gain a deeper understanding or complete full tutorials that walk you through a process from beginning to end.

Examples

Stuff for working

So if we use this site as an example, the Stuff for When You’re Working (Guides & Reference) would be things like “how to promote a hot social media post to squeeze more value out of it” or “10 subject line templates to guarantee your next email gets opened.”

In the first case, “How to Promote a Hot Social Media Post to Squeeze More Value Out Of It” is a Guide: a short video and accompanying article walking you through how to promote a post the “cool way” (not using the “Boost” button). The video would be there for people who prefer video, but it would not be required watching. The article and screenshots would take you there.

And “10 Subject Lines” would be simple reference material that you can copy, paste, tweak and send. You don’t need learn about how important subject lines are, or the latest statistics about deliverablity and open rates (Explanations). You just want to send the damn email.

Stuff for learning & practicing