Marketing Musicians and Misfits.

We ordered coffee.

“What name?” she said.

“Pendle”, he said.

“Pendle?”.

“Yep, it’s like handle, but with a P”.

Pendle is a musician, an artist, a creator, a maker, a crafter of sound. Samples, specifically. Strange and beautiful sounds for strange and beautiful music. He’s a geek. A wizard. Equal part programmer, musician, inventor. An independent in an ever homogenised marketplace, the best kind of misfit. He’s been bashing sounds together for years. Thousands are in his orbit. And hundreds of true fans, as Kevin Kelly would say, are always there, eagerly awaiting the next release, the next opportunity to buy.

The marketplace needs more independents like Pendle. The world needs more independents. Independents stand for craft, for doing things as only they can, of maintaining a diversity of voice; voices which stand apart from the gloss, the mainstream, the mass produced.

That doesn’t make it easy, of course.

The glossy, the mainstream, is alluring - because it is where most of the market sits; most customers, most makers. It’s where the big beasts reside, the marketplace gorillas, those ugly beasts who appear to wield all the power and enjoy all the opportunity. Fear not, though, looks can be deceptive.

Being a gorilla is expensive. And just because it costs a lot doesn’t mean it generates a lot. Not proportionally.

And you can’t out gorilla a gorilla. No. You beat the gorilla being more misfit.

A simple test:

Like Pendle, how many customers and clients do you genuinely delight? Not ‘please’. Not ‘like’. Delight?

If you’re not delighting (even just) a few, you’re delighting nobody. And if you’re delighting nobody, really, what is the point of you?

Corporate gorillas delight nobody.

You though, you’re bigger than that. Misfits know they’re not for everyone. And that’s ok. Polarising is your friend. Revel in the difference. It is strength and opportunity.

Which makes it hard. Doubly so. And not for the faint of heart.

The Misfit Manifesto is here to remind, support and guide you. A call to arms. Something to reflect on when the pull of the gorilla feels strong. Read on. And resist.

Misfit Manifesto



Think small, act small and go quick : your strength is in your speed. You’re a little ship. It’s big enough to bring down Amazon. Stand tall. 



Remember, people decide emotionally and justify rationally : people buy your things because they like how it makes them look and feel. And this is true whether you sell products or services. Buying you wakes up my own inner misfit. Buying you is being you.

Being for everybody = being for nobody. Polarise. It’s your friend. Yep.



Creatively Destruct : End things often and well, it’s part of nature. Don’t milk your products and services. They are not cows. 

Kill them regularly. It invites creativity, energy. And these are your life blood. Ending things fuels creativity. 



You’re only as strong as the network you help. But serve it genuinely, generously. 



Ever decreasing effort is the goal. Less is definitely more. Celebrate constraint. Hone your sweet spot of delight. Say ‘no’ often and free up time for only your most desirable ‘yeses’. And with it have more time, more energy, to create more valuable things. And so earn more, but that’s for another day.

Create Things. Do Things. Actions speak louder than words. Yes.


Old ideas are the best. East betters West. Lao Tzu, the gnarly old Daoist said a full and rich life can be lived in a small village. Never a truer marketing word has been said. Delight the few, not the many. And that was thousands of years ago. Old ideas are better. They come stress tested over time.

Analogue trumps digital. Digital is a route map. 
 
Analogue is where our hearts beat.

Improve iteratively. Always and for ever. Like nature. Sure, know your direction of travel. And then iterate and improve. Because nothing stands still….



Everything is always changing. Uncomfortable and undeniably true.

The world needs more misfits.

Don’t compromise.

Don’t bend.

Worry not about the masses.

Zero in on your misfit nature and…

Turn. It. Up.

______

Are you a misfit who thinks marketing is evil and shit and a pain in the arse?

If so, email me with a YES, NOW request. I have something for you.

____

And check out Pendle and his Sound Dust.