Now Hear This (these)
So many great conversations about the power of speed in business.
With my new book: The Time to Win officially out in all formats, I'm loving my podcast tour, talking about how to exceed customers' need for speed in many industries.
Speed for solopreneurs and content creators with Chris Ducker
Speed to create Raving Fans with Brittany Hodak
Speed as a timeless business principle with Scott Monty
Speed as a huge driver of customer satisfaction with J.D. Power & Assoc
Plus, how my tiny book is breaking all the rules in the business book category, with marketing book podcast impresario, Douglass Burdett.
Would love your support of these podcasts, and maybe you'll find a new favorite show while you're at it!
Market WITH Your Customers, Not AT Them
It was 10 years ago, and it wasn't easy, but I did it.
I ate the BIG UGLY burger at Bub's Burgers and Shakes here in Bloomington, Indiana.
The BIG UGLY is 22 ounces of ground beef + a buttered bun the size of a catcher's mitt. Eat it all, and get your picture on the wall.
More than 100,000 carnivores have successfully tamed the BIG UGLY, and doing so creates a company >><< customer bond.
For years after I conquered my burger, I'd show off my photo to visiting friends.
And when I pass the Bub's at the airport on the way to my gate, I always check for new photos, thinking "who would want to eat an enormous burger before boarding a flight?"
You can do this too.
You can build this kind of bond.
You just have to make your customers PART of your marketing.
Market WITH them, not AT them.
During the pandemic, the Getty Museum executed this playbook perfectly. They asked fans to recreate famous artworks using 3 household objects. Some folks REALLY overdelivered on this.
My new favorite
But then I learned about Gordito's Mexican Food, in Seattle.
The best example EVER of customer-cooperative marketing?
These burritos are "as big as a baby" joked a customer, who created a baby + burrito photo to prove the point.
Humble beginnings. And now, it's a THING.
The walls of the restaurant are suffocated with baby + burrito juxtapositions, and there's even an official Instagram account to showcase the best of them.
I love this so much because you don't have to be an amateur Joey Chestnut to be part of this game, you just need to have a baby. And like burritos. That's a VENN diagram with significant overlap.
Your customers WANT you to succeed. They also WANT to be part of that success. Let them do so. Envelop them in your own warm tortilla.
Speaking of which, last issue I asked you for some business books that you love.
Here are 10 thoughtful suggestions from YOU, The Baer Facts community:
Content and Storytelling
Everybody Writes by Ann Handley
Writing Without BS by Josh Bernoff
Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath
Marketing and Consumer Psychology
They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan
Management
Managing for Results by Peter Drucker
From Strength to Strength by Arthur C. Brooks
Productivity
Procrastinate on Purpose by Rory Vaden
The Books Report
We've sufficiently covered the business book category above, and in my own new book. So let me point out a SPECTACULAR new work from my friend, Clayton Szczech.
The Field Guide to Tequila is the best primer ever created on my favorite spirit.
Informative, but not dry.
Interesting, but not desperate.
Fun, but not fanciful.
This is THE BOOK if you want to know more about tequila. Just debuted last week.
Jay's Faves
I am a sucker for stories about why things are the way they are. As a reader of The Baer Facts, you've perhaps surmised this.
I'm loving the new podcast, The Economics of Everyday Things.
Each short episode talks about the supply and demand, pricing, and history of a wirdo industry you probably don't consider often.
If you want to know the ins and outs of: fake money used in movies, pizza boxes, truffles, cashmere, and carnival games....this is the podcast for you.
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