The Steal Club - 8 content lessons from my dog

Hey everyone!

This is The Steal Club, where we learn how the best creators use content to grow their audience and businesses.

And how you can do the same by stealing their tactics, tips, and strategies.

Time to read: 3 min 38 seconds

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4 content lessons from my dog

This is my pup Moca. She’s 1 year and 8 months old.

I never had a dog before, so it was a bit hard to adjust and learn how to treat her when we got her.

The first months were hard. But I also learned a lot.

And while reflecting on that, I realized there were many lessons she taught me that could actually be applied to creating content.

I know it sounds weird, but bear with me 😆

These are 8 lessons I learned from her:

#1 - You learn with repetition

The first time you teach a dog how to sit, he won't.

On the 100th, he will.

➝ Lesson: You get better at almost anything by doing it repeatedly.

Wanna get better at tweeting?

Tweet.

#2 - We can learn a lot from failures

You can tell if your dog is healthy by looking at their 💩.

If it's too dry, they might need more water. If the color is wrong, they might be sick.

➝ Lesson: Underperforming content is a great source of information. Check your poop!

#3 - Bark more

Barking is a common way for dogs to get attention, among other things.

Sometimes as a creator, you need to bark to get what you want.

People won't notice what you're doing if you don't promote it.

Be like my dog. Bark it out.

➝ Lesson: promote yourself, or no one else will

#4 - Give value up-front

If I chase Moca, she runs away.

If I have treats on my hand, she comes and pays attention.

The treats are your content.

➝ Lesson: Give value first, and the audience will come.

Building a business without collecting customer feedback is like trying to drive across the country without using a map. You'll be much more likely to actually reach your destination (and get there faster!) if you have guidance along the way.

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• What's annoying, missing, or confusing
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• Whether or not they'd purchase with confidence

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#5 - Be willing to greet strangers

The internet and Twitter are very powerful tools for connecting with strangers.

Whenever my dog sees another dog, she immediately runs to greet him.

➝ Lesson: Apply the same mindset to people that seem interesting online. Send them a DM or email. You'll be surprised!

#6 - Trust your gut

Dogs are great at that. Their first reaction to someone being barking is probably a bad sign.

➝Lesson: Do the same when creating something. If your gut says it’s wrong, it probably is.

#7 - Confidence

Have you seen these tiny dogs standing out to dogs that are 10x their size?

➝Lesson: Have the same confidence in whatever you are creating. If a chihuahua can do it, so can you.

#8 - Play every day

Dogs play every day, rain or shine, inside or out of doors.

Making content should be the same!

➝Lesson: If you are not having fun while at it, then you are doing something wrong.

Just take a look at this essay for example 😅

💡Growth tip: Shorten your email subject

If you write a newsletter, chances are you know that your subject line matters. 

More than anything.

A good one will make people read. A bad one…

Some data 👇

• 35% of customers open emails based solely on the subject line
• 69% of customers mark it as spam based solely on the subject line

The thing is that when we sit down to write a subject line, we don’t think about length.

We just want to fit in everything people will read.

Take into account that some people read newsletters on mobile, so the subject line gets even more reduced.

By writing a short, punchy headline, you are actually increasing the odds of your newsletter being read.

A long one is probably going to get cut.

In theory, the ideal length is to keep it between 21-40 characters and 6 words.

To make it easy, you can check out how your headline performs by using this free tool* (I do it all the time)

*Not affiliated or sponsored.

🕵️‍♂️ Content format: 4x4x4

Repetition is a pretty commonly used copywriting tactic. In this case, adding numbers makes it even better.

How this tweet is formatted makes it visually appealing and easy to read.

On top of that, each line handles an objection or solves a pain:

Line 1 → Learn 4 skills

Line 2 → In no time

Line 3 → To save 4h this week

It’s pretty hard NOT to read it.

The cool part of this hook is that it’s easily transferable to other social platforms.

You could copy-paste it directly to LinkedIn. You can also use it as the first slide of an Instagram carrousel or even as a newsletter subject if you reduce it a little bit:

“4 Sheet skills in 4 minutes to save 4 hours”

I just used it today!

💰 The Stash

• (TWEET) Vanity metrics vs Sanity metrics
• (THREAD) Format analysis of 5 viral tweets (I’m stealing this idea for a future issue)
• (PRODUCT) Learn how to write better hooks for your content. 50% off for steal club subscribers.
• (PRODUCT) The exact system Justin Welsh used to go from zero to 250k LinkedIn followers and $2.4M+ in income. I’m following it right now to build my own profile over there! Get Instant Access for $150

Note: Some of these links are paid promotions or affiliate links. That doesn’t affect you directly but if you make a purchase, you help with the creation of this newsletter.

And this is it for now! 

Let me know what you think about this week's issue by voting here:

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• 😐 Meh - it was ok.
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See you next week!

Alex Llull

Thief Master

The Steal Club

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