Write to one person

Hey Reader,

Tom Brady focuses on football and nothing else. It’s his life. He dreams about football, studies it, obsesses over it, and dedicates himself to getting better at his craft.

His manager, Ben Rawitz, was surprised to find that Tom really did not pay attention to anything else.

“Did you see the news?”

“What news?” Tom said.

There was a big story that had broken, and Ben thought surely Tom knew about it.

Nope. He was focused.

That’s when Ben decided to start sending an email to Tom every week with current events, updates on what was going on in the sports world, real estate, and more.

Ben was writing for one person: Tom.

Fast forward 6 months, and Ben was at a Patriot’s event. Another player came up to him.

“I love the email you send to all the players!”

“What?” Ben said, confused.

Another player chimed in to explain Tom forwards the email Ben sends him to all of the players.

Without realizing it, Ben had been writing a newsletter.

He eventually turned the emails he wrote for Tom into a newsletter called Playing Field. It’s an invite-only newsletter limited to 1,000 people. In order to be on it, you have to be a professional sports team player (or work closely with one).

There’s a whole other story in there about limiting your audience and when it might make sense to put a limit on subscribers that I might talk about at some point.

But the thing I want to highlight today is Ben wrote for one person—Tom—and in doing so, he wrote something that resonated highly with many people who are like Tom.

So many people start with the desire to reach a large number of people and water down their message so it will apply to everyone. But this is exactly the wrong way to go about achieving that goal.

Have one person in mind for your newsletter, your book, or your video script.

Not only should you write to one person in terms of the topics you choose, but you should also write to one person in the way you speak.

Don’t open with “Hey everyone,” because that immediately makes your message feel impersonal.

Write the way you would write a message to one person you know well. Those are the kinds of messages people forward to a friend.

Who do you know that would resonate with this message? Feel free to forward it.

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SPONSORED BY LEVEL UP CREATORS​ How to use AI to write on-brand content that sounds like you You’ve heard AI can help you save time writing copy, but every time you’ve tried to use it, what’s generated sounds like it was written by a robot. It’s not that it’s impossible to get good AI generated content that actually works for you. It’s that you’re missing the right prompts. When you include your own unique Creator Brand Data points in your prompts, you’ll be able to generate copy that’s much more engaging and requires fewer tweaks. Say goodbye to bland, generic content, and say hello to an authentic voice that resonates with your followers! ​Get the free guide »​

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INSTAGRAM

Fonts hanging out

Ever wonder what fonts look and sound like?

Some designer humor for you.

​Watch video »​

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PODCAST

How Marques Brownlee made $1M with brand partnerships

I got to sit down with my good friend and creative director at ConvertKit, Charli Prangley. Charli is a successful creator and deeply knowledgeable about what it takes to make it as a creator. We broke down the success of several creators, including Marque Brownlee and his partnership with Ridge, and some of the different paths they took.

This was a super fun one and I hope you enjoy it.

​Watch the video here »

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BOOK

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

Successful entrepreneur and investor, Naval Ravikant, has shared many bits of wisdom in various places over the years. This book is a collection of his most insightful philosophies on everything from wealth, to happiness, to decision-making, and personal growth.

No confusing jargon. Just useful ideas, including:

• If you can’t decide, the answer is no.
• You’re never going to get rich renting out your time.
• Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want.

I also like Naval’s breakdown of the four types of leverage: Labour, Capital, Code, & Media.

​View book »​

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Have a great week!

—Nathan