The rule of one (but explained in a way which helps you)

I posted my first tweet in November 2023.

Back then?

Not a fucking clue what I was doing.

All I knew was 3 things:

• Every day at my 9-5, all I wanted to do was RKO my boss through his desk for asking me to do yet another shitty task I had literally ZERO interest in doing

• Other people were making a damn good living by writing online about shit they were genuinely interested in

• I wanted to be one of them

I am pleased to say that, while I still haven’t got the whole Creator game figured out yet (no-one does), I have learned 3 key principles which I now apply to all my content.

My tweets.

My long forms.

These emails to you.

Everything.

These are the 3 principles I stand by, and don’t see myself changing my mind on any time soon:

Principle 1: Every single piece of content must sound, unequivocally, like it was written by YOU (and no-one else)

You confuse me, you lose me.

That is a timeless principle from marketing.

Otherwise known as “the rule of ONE”.

Customers want to see ONE straight line which takes them 100% of the way from A → B (not lots of different lines which each only take them 10% of the way).

What does this mean for you?

Every time you post a piece of content which doesn’t drive home YOUR unique voice, and YOUR “core” brand message, you confuse your readers.

They feel like they understand you slightly less.

And they slowly start to feel disassociated with you and your brand.

Principle 2: Every single piece of content must target the same specific person (your ICP)

You think you are winning when you attract a broad audience (because you gain more followers).

You are not.

First, you confuse your existing followers who followed you for your “core” message. Now you’re talking about different stuff? They’re confused.

Second, you end up getting lots of unqualified-leads engaging with your content, which makes them harder to sift through.

Result?

You end up doing more work, and getting worse results to boot.

Attract your ONE true fan.

Repel everyone else as aggressively as possible (yes, I’m serious).

Principle 3: Every single piece of content you post must have ONE goal: shift the beliefs of your ICP towards your offer

There are 3 ways to do this:

1) Insights

These are little “snippets” of knowledge which position you as someone who knows more than your ICP, which opens their mind to the idea of working with you.

How do you find these “insights”?

Time in the game. Talking to creators 2-3 steps ahead of you. Investing in good courses, workshops and mentors.

Leveraging other people’s existing knowledge is the fastest, and more surefire way to fasttrack your results.

2) Proof

Case studies, testimonials, personal wins, screenshots of positive messages.

On a deep psychological level, these all achieve one thing: they show your ICP that you have the ability to help them, which opens their mind to working with you.

3) Stories

Stories bridge the trust gap with your audience.

Why stories?

Because stories prove that you are not just speaking from theory, but from real-world experience (which is infinitely more valuable).

You can tell a story about anything.

But it must always end with a reason to progress one step closer to your offer (otherwise you have wasted your time, and are doing a disservice to your audience if your offer can genuinely help them).

And if I had to sum up all the above in one simple word?

Discipline.

It is unbelievably HARD to relentlessly post ONE message, to ONE specific person, with ONE specific goal for weeks, months, and years on end.

99% of people get distracted.

99% of people get sidetracked.

99% of people end up adopting the “spray and pray” method, out of nothing but boredom and lack of discipline.

But then again… that’s why 99% of people don’t get results.

I want you to be the 1% who do.

So…

My challenge to you today:

Read through your last 7 days of content.

Then ask yourself 4 key questions:

1. Does every single piece of content sound like YOU (and you alone)? Does it feel aligned with your “core” brand message? If you were one of your followers, would you be able to tell, unequivocally, that YOU wrote it? (Or does it feel like it could be anyone?)

2. Who EXACTLY are you talking to? Does every single piece speak to the EXACT same person (your ICP)? Have you mapped out all their pains, desires, motivations, fears, frustrations, and insecurities? Or are you just taking “shots in the dark”?

3. Does every single piece of content shift your ICP’s beliefs towards why your offer, and your offer alone, is the solution to their problems?

If your answer to any of the above questions, is “no”, then now is the time to fix it (before you confuse your audience further).

If this email gives you even a shred of clarity around how to frame your content, then I’ll consider that a big W today 🫡

Talk soon,

Harry

PS. Writing changed my life.

I’d like it to do the same for you.

My Hypnotic Writer course will contain every insight I possess about how to build and monetise your own audience in 2024.

We launch on August 20th.

Join 130+ creators on the waitlist here.