I remember quilts made with the faded prints. Old ladies at sewing circles still talked about searching for the best patterns and how lye soap would make the rough cloth soft as old cotton.
But the feed companies did not print patterns on their feed bags out of the goodness of their hearts, well not completely. It was marketing. The companies that did so sold more than their competitors. Recognition of their customers and what would make their lives a little kinder and brighter paid in the end.
This is a lesson I take on board when thinking of a newsletter or any other marketing. What can I offer that is that extra pretty print that feels like a gift.
This post on what we all feel from AI selling us corporate "largesse" says it all. Do the opposite and people will notice.
"Search is full of ads and wrong answers. Every other email is an ad. Prime Video charges you and shows ads. Paramount? Ads. Peacock? YouTube? Hulu? Ads
followed by more ads. Netflix full of ads. Meta and X, every other thing is an ad. Pinterest is nothing but ads. Al is in everything. Al finishes sentences incorrectly and won't stop. Al reads your email and search history to target you with more ads. Every
time you open an app or visit a site there's an update making it worse. In a hurry? First, click here to agree to terms you don't have time to read and must accept. You
need an account to do that. Change your temporary password. Enter your 2FA code. Check your email and enter that code. Now use a passkey. Your password is too
simple to remember. Change it. No, not like that. Now log on. Enter your 2FA code. Check your email for a code... Welcome back! We've updated our terms of service
and privacy policy (you have none). Subscribe to the site. Subscribe to Netflix. Subscribe to toilet paper. Subscribe to these groceries. Pay a membership fee for the right to subscribe then tip your driver who delivers the subscriptions your membership lets you subscribe to. Time to work? We've got to update your laptop and will slow
down everything you do until you agree to update. But first, click here to agree. Update installed - your laptop's broken now. It doesn't matter, since your boss just replaced you with Al. Go to your phone to complain on social media. Wait, your phone needs an update so we can add more Al. Click here. Oh sorry, your phone can't handle this update. Now it's useless. Go get the newest phone. Here's a text from a friend, an email, a voice mail they left three days ago but you didn't see until now because of sync problems with the cloud. It's their GoFundMe. Their MLM. Their Patreon. Never mind, you didn't respond to their text within 9 minutes and now you're no longer friends. They blocked you. Make new friends. Download this app to find
people in your area. In your neighborhood. On your street. Two doors down from you. Do you know this person yet, we think you'd get along. You need an account to use this app. That username is taken. Enter a password. Not that one, you used it on another site. You need to be connected to WiFi to download the app. Allow the app to connect to other devices on your network. Allow the app to access your contacts, know your precise location, store your credit card details. Oops, sorry, we got hacked now all that info is available on the web. There's a class action suit. You can join. It'll take a decade to get your $3.73 share of the ten billion settlement. We'll send it via PayPal or deposit it to your bank, just tell us those details. Oh no, another hack. That info is circulating now, too. Here's a spam call, a spam email, a spam text. Why are you angry? Why are you talking about getting rid of your phone? Why don't you like Al, it lets us make all of this easier? Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? This is
progress. You'll be left behind. Do you want to be left behind? Do you???"
But the feed companies did not print patterns on their feed bags out of the goodness of their hearts, well not completely. It was marketing. The companies that did so sold more than their competitors. Recognition of their customers and what would make their lives a little kinder and brighter paid in the end.
This is a lesson I take on board when thinking of a newsletter or any other marketing. What can I offer that is that extra pretty print that feels like a gift.
This post on what we all feel from AI selling us corporate "largesse" says it all. Do the opposite and people will notice.
"Search is full of ads and wrong answers. Every other email is an ad. Prime Video charges you and shows ads. Paramount? Ads. Peacock? YouTube? Hulu? Ads
followed by more ads. Netflix full of ads. Meta and X, every other thing is an ad. Pinterest is nothing but ads. Al is in everything. Al finishes sentences incorrectly and won't stop. Al reads your email and search history to target you with more ads. Every
time you open an app or visit a site there's an update making it worse. In a hurry? First, click here to agree to terms you don't have time to read and must accept. You
need an account to do that. Change your temporary password. Enter your 2FA code. Check your email and enter that code. Now use a passkey. Your password is too
simple to remember. Change it. No, not like that. Now log on. Enter your 2FA code. Check your email for a code... Welcome back! We've updated our terms of service
and privacy policy (you have none). Subscribe to the site. Subscribe to Netflix. Subscribe to toilet paper. Subscribe to these groceries. Pay a membership fee for the right to subscribe then tip your driver who delivers the subscriptions your membership lets you subscribe to. Time to work? We've got to update your laptop and will slow
down everything you do until you agree to update. But first, click here to agree. Update installed - your laptop's broken now. It doesn't matter, since your boss just replaced you with Al. Go to your phone to complain on social media. Wait, your phone needs an update so we can add more Al. Click here. Oh sorry, your phone can't handle this update. Now it's useless. Go get the newest phone. Here's a text from a friend, an email, a voice mail they left three days ago but you didn't see until now because of sync problems with the cloud. It's their GoFundMe. Their MLM. Their Patreon. Never mind, you didn't respond to their text within 9 minutes and now you're no longer friends. They blocked you. Make new friends. Download this app to find
people in your area. In your neighborhood. On your street. Two doors down from you. Do you know this person yet, we think you'd get along. You need an account to use this app. That username is taken. Enter a password. Not that one, you used it on another site. You need to be connected to WiFi to download the app. Allow the app to connect to other devices on your network. Allow the app to access your contacts, know your precise location, store your credit card details. Oops, sorry, we got hacked now all that info is available on the web. There's a class action suit. You can join. It'll take a decade to get your $3.73 share of the ten billion settlement. We'll send it via PayPal or deposit it to your bank, just tell us those details. Oh no, another hack. That info is circulating now, too. Here's a spam call, a spam email, a spam text. Why are you angry? Why are you talking about getting rid of your phone? Why don't you like Al, it lets us make all of this easier? Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? This is
progress. You'll be left behind. Do you want to be left behind? Do you???"
