Man-boobs.
Apart from a few hazy years in college, I’ve always had manboobs.
But on that first date, they weren’t welcome.
So, [FIRST NAME GOES HERE], I put on an extra tight t-shirt underneath my France 2006 World Cup jersey and set off to Brigade Mall to meet her.
At the mall, I tell her that I’d foot the bill, my brain watching in horror as a cocktail of hormones staged a mutiny.
We take the elevator to a pretentious little coffee shop on the 2nd floor. They had these exotic brass cups and south Indian utensils to serve coffee.
The place reeked ‘expensive’.
As we squeezed out of the elevator, the smell of coffee short-circuits our brains.
She smiles.
I give myself a mental high five.
We spend an hour there. Two even. Talking about the most inane stuff – but her words were magic.
Time comes to pay and I flourish my knockoff No Fear wallet, complete with a steel chain and take out my debit card.
I was giddy. My first salary was finally getting put to good use.
Beep Beep.
Declined.
Wut?
Try again.
The guy at the counter scratches his wispy moustache.
I start sweating.
More.
Soon, the sweat soaks through the inner t-shirt and starts wafting around, looking for a fight.
She smirks.
Steps up and pays with cash.
The scent of her Head and Shoulders shampoo makes me feel things in ways I can’t describe.
She tucks the receipt into her denim jacket and smiles the cutest smile with the prettiest eyes and says
“You owe me.”
And kids… that’s how I met your mother.
😂
Actually, that’s how I met my waifu.
18 years later, I still have that debt.
And those man-boobs.
(╥_╥)
That first date was an absolute disaster, but as we grew closer (and older!) we’ve had quite a few memorable dates/vacations:
- Trekking in Bali
- Exploring Norway
- Visiting Our In Laws
- Staycation to decompress after visiting inlaws
- Tea estate in Chikmagalur
- Hitchhiking through South India
That’s what our relationship needed at the time, y’know?
You may have guessed, this is all an analogy for your relationship with your customers.
The relationship between you (the guide) and your customers (the Hero) changes with time.
Depending on where they are, your Hero will have different Monsters to fight and different Quests to complete.
That means, your Hero will need your help in different ways.
And depending on your Hero’s needs, you need to give them different Weapons to help them in their adventure.
In business, Weapons are the content, products, services, systems & other things you give your customer to solve their problems.
I like to categorize the Weapons I give my Heroes into 3+1 tiers:
- Common: A free or low-priced, entry level product that solves a specific problem. You can have several, but it’s better to keep it simple.
- Rare: A higher priced product or offer that adds more value and convenience. It could build on the Common tier offering
- Unique: An offer that competes with the best out there. The kind of stuff that makes your hero weep with joy.
- Legendary: Your Magnum Opus. The best you’ve got. Also, the most expensive thing you got. And it delivers the best results for your Hero
Depending on where your Hero is, they’ll take the Weapon they want, pay you and be off on their adventure.
Now, it’s your turn.
What are the Weapons you can create for your Hero? What tiers would they fit in?
Brainstorm something with tomorrow morning’s coffee and send me your ideas.
With love from Bengaluru, this is Arvindh saying over and out.
P.s. I realized something as I was writing this email: In earlier emails, I used to call Weapons as Gifts. For the life of me, I don’t know why. I was an idiot. So, I fixed it. This is now canon. I’ll go update the stuff in V5 of the guide.
P.p.s. I am gonna experiment with making videos this week. I’m looking for questions to answer. You got any questions about taking your marketing from 0 to 1? Send them over!
P.p.p.s I went back to the OG layout for the newsletter. It’s more me, y’know?