A marketing mistake to avoid

Hey there, 👋🏼

You’ve known me as a marketer for a quite a while now. And today I am going to share an observation that I am not too comfortable sharing, tbh.

But truth is truth.

As a marketer. I believe in marketing early.
Talk to your audience. Validate ideas. Don’t build in the dark.

But I’ve also seen the shadow side—what happens when we market too early.
When the making gets compromised by optics. When we mould the offer to fit the funnel before we even know what it is.

Here’s the distinction:
Yes, market early—but make first.

Let the work exist before you shape it to please.
Let it become what it wants to be—then figure out how to position, sell, and scale it.

The Discipline of Uncorrupted Creativity

1. Start in the studio, not on stage
Studios, your idea center, and the place where you first execute your ideas are sacred. They are private and messy. It’s in here where you explore without pressure.
When you invite the crowd too soon, you end up making too many changes before you understand what change is actually required. Protect that space.

2. Don’t rush to audience-fit
There’s a time to ask “Who is this for?”—but not while the idea is still forming.

Surely you came upon this idea because you found a gap that needs to be addressed. You have some idea as to who could be a target audience. But don’t build the product by locking in on that particular set of audience. You never know, what kinds of possibility your idea may have in the market.
Also, know that you are the first audience. If it doesn’t move you, don’t expect it to land.

3. Separate signal from strategy
Your creative signal is subtle, whereas metrics are loud.
When you obsess over performance mid-process, you lose the quieter thread.
Build. Then measure. If you start measuring too often while you are building, you will be disappointed beyond belief. Trust me when I say this, I have seen this happen over my 13 years of marketing career.

4. Let the product teach you how to market it
Once something exists—really exists—you’ll see who it’s for.
You’ll hear how people respond. You’ll feel the angles.
Let the truth of the work guide the campaign. Once you have gathered enough audience insights, you’ll be running some of your most amazing campaigns on auto-pilot. Because the insights will guide you to the right people on the right platform without breaking sweat.

5. Make it non-negotiable to finish the first draft in solitude
Even if it’s a rough sketch, write it, build it, record it before you run a poll or share a teaser.
This preserves the originality that gets diluted when marketing muscles in too early.

✴︎ Marketing is a mirror, not a mold.

Use it to reflect the thing clearly.
Not to reshape it into what’s most clickable.

🜃 This week’s cauldron cue:

Where in your creative process have you let the market lead before the idea?

This week’s SaaS recommendation:

As we come to the end of this edition here are some proud plug-ins of some amazing stuff I have created for you all. My mantra is always, to learn fast, fail fast, and do more by reducing time spent on repetitive tasks. These products help you do just that!

Like the newsletter? Would love it if you would share it on your socials and with your marketer and founder friends!

Till I see you next!

Cheers,

Answer to Quiz: C. Spanx
Sara Blakely created Spanx with no background in fashion, no audience, and no marketing budget. She built the first prototype herself, got it into stores through relentless cold calls and demos—and only then started generating buzz. Her focus was solving a real problem well, not scaling hype early.