Hi friend,
This will be the first and the last edition of the Triple T newsletter.
Huh?
Let me explain why:
I'm discontinuing the Triple T newsletter
Only 2 types of newsletters are successful
The one who frames the problem owns the solution
How small solutions turn into big ones (and what that means for your offer)
And why I still continue to write my newsletter
Let's dive in ⬇️
One Thought
Last week, I watched a deep dive by Dickie Bush and Nicolas Cole about newsletters.
The title says it all:
"The only two types of newsletters that succeed".
Your newsletter is the bridge between your socials and your offer.
It's where you nurture your audience and give it so much value that they ultimately make a purchase.
Most people know that - but it's not that easy to write a great newsletter.
Just think about how few newsletters make you go: "Oh, finally!!" when they appear in your inbox.
Why do 99% of newsletters fail to make us feel that way?
Nicolas Cole's mindset here is an insanely valuable newsletter has to either:
a) save the reader a lot of time
b) be insightful beyond comparison for the reader
He even went as far as saying:
"If you can't charge for your emails, you have a problem".
(I know, sounds like something a guru would say, but to Cole's defence, he actually practices what he preaches, charging $200 per year for a newsletter subscription.)
Without further ado, the two types of successful newsletters are:
1) The short curated newsletter.
This newsletter researches a TON of news, articles, and other recent findings in a niche or industry, and then curate it into a short, easy-to-read newsletter.
It provides value to the reader by telling him/her what's important while saving them the effort (and time) of researching all of those sources themselves.
This newsletter works best in industries which change quickly (tech, finance, politics).
The downside: it doesn't work with slow-changing topics like writing, philosophy, history.
If you ever start a newsletter like this, your tagline should be centered around how little time it takes and the value it gives.
I.e.
"The 3-minute newsletter with fresh takes on the financial news you need to start your day"
or
"Become smarter in just 5 minutes"
(Sound familiar?)
This newsletter type is well-suited for beginners without any domain authority.
That's because they don't write much themselves (but they still need to have good judgement on whether something is important or not).
If you want me to make the next newsletter about why I think there's a great business opportunity right now in offering curated newsletters for VCs, reply to this email.
That's type one.
Examples: The Milk Road, MorningBrew, Robinhood, 5-Bullet Friday
2) The (long) deep-dive newsletter.
You should think about this newsletter like a 30-minute long deep dive presentation of an expert you admire.
They drop value bomb after value bomb.
You get this feeling when you get all warm in your chest, a little ecstatic in your mind and feel like:
"this is insane VALUE" (idk if you also feel that way, maybe that's just me).
This newsletter should be distilled subject-matter expertise sent to your reader.
Deep dives. Teach them everything you know one one specific thing.
These newsletters can be over 10.000 words long - but they don't have to.
That is, if you're an expert at writing concisely (ex. Saturday Solopreneur).
Think about this newsletter type as the weekly portion of wisdom you give to your readers.
Examples: Saturday Solopreneur, Category Pirates
Why I'm discontinuing the Triple T newsletter:
It's simple: it doesn't fit into one of these types.
The Triple T is both a curated and a deep dive newsletter, meaning it fails to be specific.
I'll continue writing newsletters though, and likely, next week's newsletter will be more of a subject-matter newsletter (type 2).
If you have any input on what you'd like to read from me, please send me a reply - it'd be invaluable to me.
One Tweet
He or she who frames the problem owns the solution.
"He or she who frames the problem owns the solution."
Nicolas Cole
Here's why I think it's genius:
We often think about problems as a static things which exists somewhere.
What few people realise is that problems exist only in our minds and they are plastic.
Outside influences change and re-frame their cause all the time.
Why this is important:
The cause is what largely determines how we solve the problem.
What that means for you:
If you can convince your prospect that their problem was caused by the thing that you can solve, they will buy your solution.
Where this becomes truly powerful is when you consider that problems can have indefinitely sub-causes, and these sub-causes in their turn have many different causes and solutions.
And if a minor sub-problem is what keeps the BIG problem from being solved, its solution will be worth a lot to the person.
Example:
A business owner is frustrated because her company doesn't turn a profit.
That's her BIG problem.
Now, that problem can be caused by hundreds of different factors.
Two of them are:
1) "We don't turn a profit because we aren't making enough revenue"
2) "We don't turn a profit because our operations are inefficient"
Let's say the business owner things option 1 is true.
Now she has to find a cause to WHY the company isn't making enough revenue.
Is it because their sales team is terribly trained?
Because their ads are inefficient?
Because they lack an email marketing strategy?
Because they still have a fax machine? (probably)
To name a few...
You see where this is going. All of these sub-causes have sub-sub-causes in turn, and in 99% of cases, the big problem is caused by a handful of different causes.
Why this matters:
If you can frame the cause of the problem in a unique way so that only your offer can solve it, you will be the #1 in your niche.
If the business owner from the example will be pitched by a sales-trainer, an email marketer, an ad manager, and many more.
The person who is able to persuade the business owner that their service solves the big problem will get the contract.
How small solutions turn into big ones (and why you can get paid 10X more):
If we think that a small obstacle is the only thing between us and a major, big outcome, we don't hesitate to pay more for it.
Every product is perceived as more valuable when you tie it to an outcome that is bigger than itself.
If the business owner is persuaded that all she needs to generate more revenue is a superb sales trainer, she will gladly pay him a lot.
Because in her mind, the sales trainer isn't solving the problem of a terribly trained sales team.
In her mind, the sales trainer is solving her problem of not turning a profit, thus not being a successful business owner, and thus not acquiring the status, money, and happiness she hopes for.
She'd pay $1.000 to fix the sales team.
But she'd pay $10.000 to turn a problem (to "fix" her business).
The small solution became a big one.
Keep this in mind when marketing your services.
Bonus: there's always a causality
As Daniel Kahneman explains in Thinking, fast and slow, humans always seek causality, even when there is none.
We simply hate it to have an event without context, or a problem without a cause, because we love to categorise and sort things logically.
Same goes for your prospects.
Provide them with an in-depth explanation to why their problem was caused by the thing that you can solve, and they will trust you, and buy from you.
One thread
Saying YES is how you create income.
But saying NO is how you build wealth.
How to say no more effectively:
No comment on this one. Sahil says it best. Read it if you haven't
If you read this far: I didn't expect that you found this so valuable.
Please let me know what you thought about this newsletter. Was there anything valuable in it? Do you like the format? Any wishes for the future?
I wish you a peaceful week,
Nils