❝Story06:30
"Binders of Women": Why Sticky Phrases Can Backfire
Lulu uses Mitt Romney's "binders of women" as an example of a phrase that spread virally because it was concrete, image-rich, and easy to repeat. The catch: it was a negative for Romney, showing that the same qualities that make a phrase memorable can be turned against you. A word of caution that stickiness is neutral, not always in your favor.
- "Binders of women" caught on because you could picture it and it lent itself to jokes
- Specific, unusual phrasing is highly repeatable
- The same virality can backfire and work against you
“you remember when Mitt Romney said binders of women and it just absolutely caught on like wildfire and it's because you could picture the binder…”
#comms#virality#messaging#pr
❝Story09:00
The Tweet That Flopped: An Inside Joke Released Into the World
During Substack's free-expression stand, Lulu wrote a well-received thread but slipped in an esoteric New Yorker book-review reference that made no sense out of context. The likes dropped off precipitously on that single tweet. Her lesson: never release an inside joke with yourself into the world, because what's evocative to you is meaningless to everyone else.
- An esoteric reference that felt fresh in her mind landed as nonsense to readers
- You could see the likes drop off on that one tweet in the middle of the thread
- Sharing missteps is useful because there are more misses than hits
“I did the thing you're not supposed to do which is take an inside joke with yourself and release it”
“and that one tweet was sort of a dud in the middle of the thread where you could see the likes drop off precipitously and…”
#comms#twitter#mistakes#messaging
❝Story16:00
Selling K-12 Education to People Who Care About National Defense
To make an unsexy topic land, Kamala Harris's Senate campaign reframed K-12 reading standards for a national-security audience: you need a 10th-grade reading level to enlist and read the Army Field Manual. The bridge made people who care about a standing army suddenly care about middle-grade reading. It stuck with Lulu so well she was still repeating it years later.
- K-12 education is not a "sexy" topic and mostly moms cared about it
- The reframe: you need a 10th-grade reading level to enlist and read the Field Manual
- Tie your cause to what a target audience already cares deeply about
“did you know that in order to enlist for the Army you have to have a 10th grade reading level because below that if you…”
“if you care about the future of National Defense and being able to maintain a standing army you need to care about middle grade reading…”
#messaging#framing#audience#comms
❝Story20:30
How Substack Turned Power Users Into Its Own Growth Engine
Lulu points to Lenny himself as an example: Substack propagated product updates through power users first, making them feel invested and on the inside. Because Lenny was brought on early and made to love the product, he evangelized recommendations for a year unpaid. The second-order effect of listening to power users is that they voluntarily spread the word to their own circles.
- Substack pushed updates through power users before newer writers
- Making someone feel invested turns them into an unpaid evangelist
- A favor-tweet gets done once; organic ownership keeps someone spreading it
“you've been telling people about recommendations for nearly a year no one asked you to do that we didn't pay you to do that you've…”
#substack#growth#power-users#comms
❝Story37:30
How Balaji Launched The Network State Without the Traditional Book Tour
Lulu credits Balaji's success with The Network State to building his own distribution channels instead of competing on HarperCollins's turf. He focused on true fans, went on podcasts that reach them, and refused to water down his message to please people who'd never like him. His die-hards propelled the book to the top of the Amazon list by evangelizing it, unpaid.
- He skipped the traditional book tour and built his own channels
- He fostered die-hards rather than diluting his message for universal appeal
- True fans propelled the book to the top of Amazon without being paid
“biology did this really well with his book the network state that book was super successful he didn't”
“so biology Fosters his true fans and then when the book launched they propelled him to the top”
#distribution#audience#launch#going-direct
❝Story49:30
The Makeup Industry Cracked Going Direct Years Ago
Lulu says makeup companies are smarter than the rest of us at social media because they understood early that people don't buy makeup to subscribe to a brand, they buy because an influencer or Kardashian has a look they want. NYX (an L'Oréal division) spends essentially zero on marketing and pours everything into influencers, selling out a fungible black eyeliner at CVS nationwide. They speak through humans and move on trends within the hour.
- People buy makeup to copy a specific person's look, not to follow a brand
- NYX spends ~$0 on marketing and everything on paying influencers
- Consumer/makeup brands speak with a human voice and move on trends fast
“people don't buy makeup to subscribe to makeup brands that they do it because a certain celebrity or influencer or Kardashian has this nice looking…”
“NYX is one of the makeup companies that has as far as I know zero dollars spent on marketing and all of their dollars and…”
#going-direct#influencers#marketing#consumer