The Steal Club - 🕵️‍♂️ There's always a path

There was this college campus somewhere in Illinois that waited until the snow fell to decide where to pave their new campus trails.

Why?

Once the campus was blanketed in snow and it was time to return to class, students would follow the most frequented paths, revealing their usual routes.

As a result, the campus decided to pave the trails based on the paths students commonly used rather than sticking to their original plans, knowing that students would follow those routes anyway.

This phenomenon of people following the optimal path vs the stated one is known as a Desired Path.

A desired path is the shortest path from A to B.

It's rather a deviation from existing paths that integrates with the existing network of paths while making the trip somewhat shorter.

Let me show you an example 👇

In July 2015, a few people were taking that path above.

In October 2016, a few more. You could start to see the marks.

As it became popular, it eventually became THE path one year later (October 2017).

Why am I talking about snow and paved paths today?

For this path to exist, there needs to be a trailblazer.

Someone who takes that path first when it’s still rough and uncomfortable because it’s the shortest path from A → B

Then, others follow.

Until eventually it becomes the norm.

These desired paths are what I’m spotting at The Steal Club.

I trace the shortest path from A to B, proven by someone who successfully reached that destination before.

What’s that thing that just a handful of the top creators do today?

What is it that’s giving them a unique edge?

I’m trying to find these desired paths and share them with you so we can be among the first to steal them before they become the norm.

In the past two emails I’ve already given you two examples with tagging yourself and the problems database, but let me give you one more 👇

This is something ALL top creators do to promote their newsletter on social media

→ They tease their audience the day before

The concept is simple - tease your work before publishing (usually a day in advance) to generate excitement and encourage people to sign up.

Someone that excels at this is Chenell (from the amazing Growth in Reverse newsletter) 👇

I’ve heard she gets 50-80+ subs every time she does one of these posts.

🕵️‍♂️ How to steal it?

To succeed with this tactic, consider your teaser post as a hook.

The goal is to lure them in with the first part of the post and then lead them to your CTA if they want to read more.

The way algorithms work today, it’s important not to put the link to your newsletter on the first tweet or the original LinkedIn post (so you don’t lose reach).

You first hook, then add your call to action.

This is one of those things that now look obvious but I was never doing simply because I didn’t think about it.

Go steal it!

See you tomorrow with more thief wisdom 🕵️

Alex Llull, Chief Thief

PS: Reply to this email if you want a complementary tactic to this one, a tactic that I’ve already played on you and you might not have noticed yet.

It has to do with an island east of Africa 👀, and it’s part of our Vault (more on that later)