Welcome to issue #17 of TRUST-able. 
I am Robin Good and I am writing you for the sunny island of Holbox in Mexico.
Come visit me sometimes.

I compile this newsletter for independent authors, creators and consultants who want to become trusted advisors in their market niche.
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To get in touch with me, Robin Good, just email me at:
RobinGood@substack.com 
I am here to make friends. 

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N.B.: There are two language editions of this newsletter:
The original English language edition and the Italian version.

Each edition has a short version, which you are reading right now, and a long, deep-dive, 30-page Google Document, with more info, detail, images and personal stuff, which you can read here.

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Follow a path with a heart.
The time is NOW.

Robin Good

Google Doc extended edition

1) How To Create Real Value

Ask These Questions

More often than not, asking great questions opens up views and panoramas one would have never considered. Here are ten questions I suggest you ask your audience to better understand what kind of product, tool or service they would need the most from you.

Source: Josh Spector - Twitter thread

Build *Content Tools*

My personal suggestion to those who want to speed-up their desire to be recognized as a trusted advisors in their niche is to invest in building *content tools* rather than in traditional written content. To me content tools are content-based formats that provide more than just a reading experience by also having a strong functional role.

In the Google extended edition I list 10+ examples of *content tools*.

Go for the Insights

Analyzing things and extracting valuable insights is a good strategy to stand out. Those “things” could be thoughts and ideas from people you admire. What you do is, you take one key idea from someone and you analyze to do three specific things: a) expose non-obvious stuff, b) find weaknesses and blind spots, c) suggest how to use it.

Source: Robin Good

2) How To Cultivate Relationships

Network Like Crazy

“There are 3 primary ways to rapidly accelerate your career: The first option is to be so damn good people can’t ignore you. This takes years. The second option is to outwork everyone. The third option is to be way better than everyone else at building relationships. This is the easiest to accomplish. Anyone can do it. 

Source: Shane Johnson - “5/25/150: The Secret of the Best Networker I Ever Met”

Ask More Questions

“The secret to being more likable and improving interpersonal bonding isn’t being polite, helpful, or having a good sense of humor. It’s asking more questions.” It’s when you show curiosity and real interest for the other party, that trust starts to gradually build up. The better the questions, the more you can understand who you have in front of you, his frustrations, desires, and needs.

Source: Margaret Pan - "A Hello Love: A Harvard Study Reveals the Secret to Being Likable” 

Get Them To Subscribe

To convert curious readers into subscribers Jens Lennartsson analyzed the sign-up page of over 100+ newsletters with over 29 millions subscribers. Three key elements that emerge from the stats: 1) State outright what’s the key value you offer 2) Ask just for the email (not for name, not for phone, etc.) 3) Give access to previous issues 4) Eliminate navigational menus and content links on the newsletter sign-up page

Source: Jens Lennartsson - Twitter thread

3) How To Communicate Effectively

Write Unconstrained

In the age of AI, authenticity is what makes human writing distinct and recognizable. Because it is not just your ideas but who you are beyond the surface (your character, your values and emotions) that make people get interested in you. Let your passions, your emotions and feelings get through your content, without worrying too much about what others may think. 

Source: Robin Good

Guide the Eye

“When web content helps users focus on sections of interest, users switch from scanning to actually reading the copy.” Practical actionable advice for any written content online: a) Put the essence at the beginning (not at the end), b) Highlight key points in the content to guide the eye, c) Break down the content into a well-structured combination of short chapters and sub-sections  

Source: Norman Nielsen Group - "Website Reading: It (Sometimes) Does Happen"

Use the Right Type

1. Write in lowercase whenever possible. The outline shape of words in lowercase text are more distinctive than the outline in uppercase letters.

2. Format your content with hierarchical visual structure of titles. Type scales help people recognize how ideas relate to each other in hierarchical ways.

3. Proper kerning and letter spacing will increase any text legibility. Crowding letters and words too close both horizontally and vertically diminishes readers' interest.

Useful tools:

• Typetester

• FontVisual

• Google Fonts Previewer

 Source: Hilary Palmen - “How Type Influences Readability”

4) How To Market  Yourself

Identify Your Enemy

To be a trusted advisor in your market niche, you need to have an enemy. A major one. And at least one. An enemy is something you strongly disagree with. Something that takes people away from the very goal you help them achieve. In order to identify your enemy you need to develop a strong point of view about how you help others do, learn, achieve. That’s how you get people to “rally” for you.

Inspired by Alex Lull - The Steal Club newsletter

Claim How You Differ

“I am the only one ………… who ….” is one effective way to clearly communicate to potential customers why they should come to you and not to another consultant in your space. It also forces you to think about what specific traits really distinguish you from other trusted advisors in your space.

Source: Marty Neumeier - pag. 65 of book “ZAG”

Test Your Logo

Four criteria to evaluate whether you have an effective logo.

1. Can you use it as a favicon and still recognize a shape?

2. Does it include text to be read?
   Your logo should have a symbolic, graphic element. Avoid using your brand name as a full logo. When small it will not be legible.

3. Does it work in black and white?
   Design your logo in black and white first. Once you have something that works, explore color possibilities. Not the other way around.

4. Does it contain several details?
   The more details and fine lines inside your logo the more difficult it will be to reduce it to small sizes without losing its recognizable shape. 

Source : Robin Good

5) How To Get More Visibility

Contribute To Medium Pubs

Get greater visibility. Use your already published content inside one of Medium many popular publications. Medium publications are online magazines created by many different author’s contributions. Most Medium publications accept external authors’ submissions and if deemed of enough quality and interest, get published and seen by thousands of people. Here is a great updated list of nearly one hundred Medium publications that accept submissions from authors.

Source: Medium Staff - "80+ stories about Medium Publications Accepting Story Submissions"

Get on Google News

Here’s a passionate indie author who, by consistently writing his newsletter for a few years in a row, has also found a way to show up inside precious and traffic-driving Google News.

Source: Jatan Mehta - "How I got my space blog listed on Google News"

Double Check Your Domain

Did you know that your web domain  may have been tagged as dangerous, unreliable or as sources of spam without you having really done anything of that nature? Did you ever do a reputation check on your domain(s)? It doesn’t cost anything but it could enlightening. Try with this free app: MXToolbox Domain Check 

6) How To Monetize

Sell Value

Not your products. At least not first. That’s what trusted advisors do. “Value selling, also known as value-based selling or value-added selling, is a sales methodology that prioritizes your buyers’ needs and encourages sales reps to deliver value in every interaction. In doing so, your reps become trusted consultants who buyers will turn to for advice on a range of topics — not just those that are related to your product.”  

Source: Jonathan Costet - “What is Value Selling?”

Niche Down

To build a business that works online the more you specialize the better it is. Specializing = focus on one audience + one key need. “Publishers may find that more focused offerings designed to provide deep value to specific portions of their audiences are perceived as more valuable than broader products with complicated or vague value propositions that require audiences to work harder to derive value and/or justify their purchases.”

Source: Faisal Kalim - “Succeeding with Subscriptions”

Sell Newsletter Subs

There seem to be increasing enough good reasons (and proof) to seriously consider this business strategy for indie entrepreneurs. 1) There is ample room for growth - 73% of U.S. consumers’ don’t currently subscribe to digital publications. 2) Those who do it, seem to like it - 69% of consumers who pay for subscriptions currently pay for more than one. 3) 75% of consumers are “completely” or “mostly” satisfied with the value for money they get from the digital publications they subscribe to.

Source: Jack Marshall - "Research Report: Succeeding with Subscriptions | Toolkits"

7) How To Stay Ahead      

Start With Customers’ Goals

“Starting from business goals is dangerous. When you’re building a roadmap, there are two main sources of ideas: 1.  Problems customers have (e.g., write faster) 2.  Goals the business has (e.g., make x amount of money by…, build a network effect, etc.). It’s better to prioritize ideas that come from the first source. When you start with things customers need, you’re much more likely to build products of actual value, rather than get strategy-drunk and embark on misguided projects.

Source: "How to Prioritize a Roadmap - Divinations - Every"

Say No

The words “yes” and “no” are not just opposite in meaning, but of entirely different magnitudes in commitment. Saying no saves you time in the future. Saying yes costs you time in the future. No is a form of time credit. You retain the ability to spend your future time however you want. Yes is a form of time debt. You have to pay back your commitment at some point. No is a decision. Yes is a responsibility.”

Source: James Clear - "The Ultimate Productivity Hack is Saying No"

Big Rocks First

Steven Covey, the great book author, has a short story that communicates extremely well how important it is to distinguish and to put important things before anything else. The story is about filling a glass with different objects (including some rocks) until nothing else can be added. If the glass is your life, unless you give high priority to what really matters, you risk losing yourself in running after things, issues and problems that are non-essential for realizing your deep important dreams.

Source: Dr. Steven Covey - “The Big Rocks of Life”

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From the Heart

Ask Yourself

If you are serious about being in control of your life, well-being, and about your present and future, try this one on you.

Get a piece of paper and see if you can write down a simple and clear answer to this question:

What is your purpose in this life? 

What are you here for exactly?

“To have a purpose is to have a valuable, long-term direction in your life. 

It gives you something bigger to live for, which makes the trivial things dim in importance and the hedonistic distractions fade away. 

It’s like a string: If it’s tied to a point, it leads somewhere. 

And the more it’s tightened, the less it curls along the way. 

But if it’s not tied, nor tightened, it not only curls but tangles. 

Purpose is the antidote to getting lost.”

Source: Jonar Ressem - “2 Unfortunate Misconceptions About Purpose”

Read more on these topics by checking out the extended edition of this newsletter.

Please support this newsletter, by becoming a paid subscriber.

Thanks for reading.
If it did help or inspire you, please do let me know.

(robingood@substack.com)

Robin Good

Follow a path with a heart.

The time is NOW.

From sunny Holbox,
Robin Good

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