Hey Reader,

Last night, I met with my writers group (you know the ones, where you sit around, critiquing each other's work… I guess cancer wasn’t enough punishment).

No…JK… I love it and we ended up talking about marketing, exposure, and how to get people excited about your launch (now we are talking my love language).

One example that came up was a local bookstore that’s starting to sell vinyl albums.

I LOVE this idea.

Maybe it’s because I’m at the age where hearing a vinyl album crackle through speakers immediately transports me back to sitting cross-legged on a green shag carpet in my bedroom, pretending to be rebellious while smoking a Virginia Slim I stole from my mother’s ashtray.

The window was cracked open in the dead of winter because, apparently, I believed one inch of fresh air could erase the smell of cigarette smoke 🙈

Meanwhile, I’m listening to "The Band" like every lyric was gospel and feeling every word in my soul

Vinyl does that to people.

It turns music into a whole emotional event.

Or maybe it’s because vinyl feels intentional.

You don’t casually toss on a record the way you half-listen to Pandora while folding your laundry.

Vinyl is an experience.

Which is exactly why this bookstore has such a good opportunity here.

But the big question became:
​
How are they going to get the word out?
What’s the strategy?

“Grow organically?”

Listen…

Sometimes “organic growth” means intentional community building, relationship marketing, and creating genuine buzz over time.

But OTHER times?

It means:
“We’re posting random stuff and hoping the algorithm blesses us like the Holy Spirit of Instagram.”

😬

Because here’s the thing nobody really wants to hear:

You can take every business class under the sun, but success still comes down to your ability to execute these two things well:

“Deadlines and Anticipation.”

I see businesses make one random announcement and hope people buy.

Or…

They nonstop promote offers until everyone quietly hits the unsubscribe button.

Anticipation is the missing ingredient in most marketing strategies (read this again).

You can’t expect people to care about your class, event, service, or product launch if you haven’t given them a reason to feel excited about it first.

Without anticipation, you become just another faceless “thing to do” in an already crowded world.

And if you launch something without building excitement or creating urgency beforehand (we’ve ALL done it), the good news is you saved yourself some work.

The bad news?

Your launch will almost always perform worse.

Let’s take Apple as an example.

Every year, millions of people wait for Apple’s keynote presentation. Weeks before, Apple releases teaser content designed to build curiosity and anticipation. The keynote becomes an actual EVENT people look forward to.

That hype is one reason Apple remains one of the most profitable companies in the world.

As a business owner, your job is to entice people into your world.

Apple has people lining up outside stores because they understand something important:

Humans are wired to pay attention to things that excite us.

That anticipation releases dopamine.
Dopamine creates curiosity.
Curiosity creates engagement.

And engagement creates sales.

Give People a Taste of What’s Coming

Hollywood does this brilliantly.

They release teaser trailers…
Then teaser trailers FOR the teaser trailers.

“Coming this summer…”
“The thriller everyone is talking about…”

That’s strategy.

What businesses SHOULD be doing is creating previews of what’s coming long before launch day.

Not just one announcement.

Not just one post.

Not just “BIG NEWS 👀.”

Real anticipation.

Because before you launch something, people should already be excited about it.

And yes…
This takes work (which is why most people don’t do it or they hire me 😀).

When you do this well, your launch gets its own spotlight.

You don’t hide it at the bottom of an email like an afterthought.

You make it feel like:
“The thing everyone’s talking about.”

The keyword here is EVENT.

You don’t need fireworks or Michael Jackson descending from the ceiling.

But you DO need to say:
“Hey! We’ve got something special coming, and here’s why you should care.”

Then you remind people consistently.

This is also where many business owners get uncomfortable.

Promoting yourself can feel awkward.

You’d much rather have OTHER people talk about your thing.

Totally understandable.

But if people are already on your email list or following your business, they WANT to hear from you.

You don’t need to scream.
You don’t need to sound salesy.

You simply need a dedicated content and email strategy designed to build excitement over time.

And honestly?
That alone elevates your business.

So let’s use this bookstore example.

Imagine they’re launching vinyl albums in September.

Most businesses would announce it two weeks before launch with:

“BIG NEWS COMING 👀”

…followed by panic, three rushed reels, and one lonely email sent at 4:52 p.m. on a Tuesday.

Instead, here’s how I would do it: a smart 4-month pre-launch strategy could look like:

MONTH 1: BUILD CURIOSITY + COLLECT PEOPLE

Goal:​
Get new people aware that this is happening.

Content:​
– “The 5 albums everyone should own.”
– “The smell of bookstores + vinyl should honestly be bottled.”
– Staff picks and nostalgic music stories.
– Polls: “What album changed your life?”

Social media’s job:​
Attention and sharing.

Email’s job:​
Get people OFF social media and onto your list (because if you’re not collecting email addresses from your social, you’re leaving money💰on the table).

So instead of:
“Follow us for updates…”

You create:
“The Vinyl Drop List”

AKA:
– Early access
– Secret events
– First dibs
– Exclusive releases

Because followers are cute.

Subscribers buy things.

MONTH 2: CREATE DESIRE

Now we start making people emotionally invested.

Content:
– Behind-the-scenes album sourcing
– Shipment unboxings
– Stories about why vinyl is making a comeback
– “Best rainy-day records”
– “What your favorite album says about you”

Notice something?

None of this is screaming:
“BUY OUR STUFF!”

It’s building identity.

People share content that makes them feel seen.

(Which is why someone will repost a Fleetwood Mac quote faster than your “20% OFF THIS WEEKEND” graphic.)

Email’s job here:​
Nurture the relationship.

Weekly emails could include:
– New arrivals
– Staff recommendations
– “Album of the Week”
– Local music culture
– Sneak peeks

This is where trust starts building.

MONTH 3: BUILD ANTICIPATION

Now we start acting like something important is coming.

Because if YOU don’t treat your launch like a big deal…

Why would anyone else?

Content:
– Countdown posts
– Sneak peeks
– “First 25 people get ___”
– Listening party teasers
– Artist nights
– Community events

This is also where partnerships happen.

Collaborate with:
– Coffee shops
– Breweries
– Local musicians
– Restaurants
– Book clubs

THIS is strategy.

Not just “posting consistently.”

Consistency matters…
…but consistency without direction is just being busy in public.

MONTH 4: LAUNCH + FOLLOW-UP

Most businesses stop after launch day.

Big mistake.

Launch week content:
– Customer reactions
– Photos/videos
– Sold-out albums
– Reposted customer stories
– “What should we stock next?”

Email:
– Launch reminders
– VIP shopping hours
– Event invites
– Best sellers of the week
– Post-launch thank-you emails

Then AFTER launch?

You keep going.

Because one successful launch should feed into the next one.

THAT is strategy.

And honestly?

This is what’s missing from most marketing.

Businesses are throwing spaghetti at Social while wondering why sales feel inconsistent.

But content works best when every platform has a purpose:

Social Media = attention
Website/blog = discovery
Email = relationship + sales

That’s the ecosystem.

Yes, things have changed since the blogging glory days of 2012 when people actually READ blogs and left comments like civilized internet citizens.

But humans haven’t changed.

People still want:
– Connection
– Entertainment
– Usefulness
– Identity
– Trust

The businesses that understand that?

They win.

Easy, right?

Why don’t more businesses do this?

Because most of us creatives would rather poke a cocktail sword into our eyeball than sit down and create a strategy.

Can I get an AMEN?

But the truth is:
Not planning creates WAY more stress later.

STOP winging it.

Here’s the thing most small businesses don’t realize:

EVERYTHING in your business needs a content strategy.

Not just social media.
Not just launches.
Not just “posting consistently.”

If people need to:
– Notice you
– Trust you
– Remember you
– Understand you
– Buy from you
– Refer you

…you need a strategy.

And honestly?

THIS is why marketing feels overwhelming to so many business owners.

Because they think content means:
“Post on Instagram more.”

No.

Content is communication.
Strategy is intentional communication.

And the businesses growing fastest right now?
They’re not necessarily creating MORE content.

They’re creating content with a JOB.

To quote Benny:

“If You Fail to Plan, You Are Planning to Fail.”
— Benjamin Franklin

I appreciate you,

XOXOXO,

P.S. If your current marketing strategy is: “We’ll grow organically”…we should probably talk. 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

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