Introduction

I’ve written forewords for over 20 different authors.

So when Louis asked me to write the foreword for his book, I wasn’t surprised.

I like what Louis is doing. I’ve been on his podcast. I’ve been following his writings on LinkedIn. And then I read this book.

So I said yes … And I knew I had to step up my game.

I spent hours crafting a message about differentiation. About how marketers need to listen to Louis and stand the f*ck out.

I finished and was generally happy with my work.

On May 1st, I emailed it to him.

“Edit at will. I hope you like it.—JP”

Then, nothing.

Nothing on day two.

Nothing on day five.

On May 9th, I followed up.

“Did this work for you?”

Louis emailed me back 14 minutes later.

This foreword would be perfect for most marketing books but … does it stand the f*ck out?

I know it may sound cheeky coming from someone who hasn’t accomplished 1 percent of what you have, but (1) I didn’t feel your personality come through, (2) it needs to slap more, maybe with a story? How did you come across my stuff? Or something else entirely?, and (3) I never read forewords and I suspect most of my readers won’t either … Unless we make it so good, they have to read it.

My initial thought:

• Who the fck is this guy? What the fck does he know about writing a foreword? What does he know about writing a book, for that matter?

• Five hours later, I started writing this story.

• After this experience, I wondered how many people didn’t tell me the truth about my writing, branding, or whatever. I thought about all the marketing programs I was a part of. Did I really do my best? Or did I hold something back?

• I think most people in marketing just blindly accept whatever they are given. They don’t rock the boat. They don’t get challenged to be better. To do better. They probably don’t have any sarcastic Frenchmen around to force them to think and be different.

• Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité

• I’m honestly still pissed as I write this. When someone criticizes you, it’s not easy to take. You want to deflect. You want to take that emotion and create a laser of hatred the other way.

• Or … you could listen to that advice and redirect it into something amazing. Something that stands the f*ck out.

• So, you and I. We need to step up our game if we want to stand the f*ck out.

• And this book will do it.

• Read it, and stop making excuses about why things just aren’t working out for you.

• By the end of this book, you probably won’t like Louis either, but you’ll thank him for it.

• Oh, and Louis … f*ck you.

• Joe Pulizzi

• Author of five bestselling but mediocre marketing books

• Ever Feel Like … ?

• Jonathan Goodman (Figure I.) is the CEO of the PTDC (Personal Trainer Development Center), an education business that has trained more than 250,000+ fitness trainers and nutrition coaches. He also happens to have my dream body (but don’t tell him that, please).

• Figure I.1. Jon Goodman looking cool. (Photograph by Taryn Baxter, 2019.)

• When we met through a mutual friend, Jon’s business was stuck: “We don’t have a clear and focused direction. We’re all over the place and tend to jump on whatever tactic seems to work for others instead of defining and sticking to our positioning.” Worse, post-Covid boom, their revenue had flatlined.

• I was so surprised. Not by the business plateau, which is common, but by Jon and his team looking like deer in headlights. These people weren’t rookies. We’re talking about a guy with 11 books published, 250,000+ sales, a blog with more than 1,500 articles, and a team of brainboxes who train others in marketing. Nice people, too.

• What the fuck was going on? They had plenty of stats on their customer demographics, strategy docs, messaging frameworks—you name it. On paper, they had their shit together.

• But in reality? They were neck-deep in marketing bullshit: overwhelmed, triple-guessing themselves and convinced they were missing some sort of magic trick. They went as far as copying their bigger rivals’ intense, discount-heavy communications. And yet, deep down, they believed they were here to make real, lasting changes in people’s lives—not selling shortcuts or false promises. It was like watching a couple clinging to a dead marriage “for the kids,” you know?

• Have You Experienced Something Similar? You Know What I’m Talking About

• The constant pressure caused by those you’re-just-one-funnel-away gurus. The “secrets” all your competitors know already (except you!). The new artificial intelligence (AI) tools that will 100x your business while you’re sleeping with almost no detectable brain activity. The FOMO (fear of missing out) bullshit like, “Marketing is moving so fast, you have to keep up! It’s changing all the time!”

• They make you wonder, Wait … am I missing something? Or am I just fucking stupid? Should I just quit everything and start a goat farm? They chip away at your confidence, self-worth, and joy in what you do … leaving you feeling useless. And that’s when they suck you into craving the quick fixes they peddle.

• But here’s the thing: you don’t have to play that game. Just like Jon and the PTDC, you must stand the f*ck out, yes, but on your own terms. You deserve to feel confident in your abilities without selling your soul. You deserve to build a brand that truly reflects who you really are without copying competitors. You deserve to attract the right people and have fun in the process.

• Look, if you had one shot or one opportunity

• To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment

• Would you capture it or just let it slip?

• Yo

• Yo, indeed.

• Enter: The Stand The F*ck Out (STFO) Methodology

Stand The F*ck Out (STFO) is a no-nonsense marketing methodology designed to help businesses find their unique positioning, build a distinctive brand, and reach their ideal customers—all without falling prey to marketing bullshit. It’s the guide I wish I had when I started my career as a naive “digital marketing enthusiast,” burned through $20k in savings launching my first agency, or nearly got the sack from my dream job at a bootstrapped tech start-up. Unlike most positioning, branding, and lead generation advice:

• It’s actionable. There’s some theory, of course, but you’ll find practical exercises you can use right away alongside real examples from all kinds of businesses—big or small, B2C, B2B, B2B2C2C2B2C, and even personal brands.

• It’s simple. Simplicity is underrated; complexity is fake-smart. I’ve made it easy to understand and implement—even if you think you couldn’t market a fresh croissant to someone starving in a boulangerie.

• It’s fun. I’m sick to death of the borefest in marketing circles. Life is short; might as well have some fun, right? I hope the examples, drawings, and other bits will make you forget, at least for a fleeting moment, that we’re on a rock traveling around a giant burning star at approximately 107,000 km/h.

This methodology has been years in the making. It began as a course idea for the 2,000 followers I had from my marketing agency in Dublin. Twelve people signed up, earning me $6,000—the most I’d ever made online. I used their feedback to refine the course. I also used information from hundreds of podcast interviews (shown in Figure I.) from my podcast Everyone Hates Marketers, along with books, research papers, and other lovely stuff. Then I moved on to one-on-one coaching and team sessions for a few years. After that, I felt ready to begin working on the book.

Figure I.2. Photo of the printed transcripts of interviews and my notes.

Once I finished the shitty first draft, I invited 70 marketers and business owners to rip it apart. This was by far the most frightening yet valuable thing I ever did in my career. Without their 5,000 comments and reactions (!) across three versions of the manuscript, this book would have been … shit.

While I cannot promise STFO is going to skyrocket your business and launch it into hyper-mega-giga-growth, I can promise the following:

• Keep reading for a few minutes, and you’ll feel relief. Because you’re not the only one feeling like you’re not good at this marketing thing. You’re not the only one who’s scared of fucking it up. None of this is your fault, and I will show you why.

• Read the book once, and the foggy shit is going to clear. You’ll know what to do, what not to do, and where to spend your time and money for maximum bonanza.

• Apply the methodology in real life, and you’ll become unstoppable—no matter what shit is thrown at you. You’ll have the tools to handle anything and the results to prove it. Work will become satisfying again.

This mirrors the PTDC team’s journey after we started working together. After our first workshop, they realized they weren’t missing any secret marketing tricks (the relief!). After a few more weeks, we worked through the four stages of the methodology, which gave them a clear, simple plan to follow. That’s when the fog lifted. Within a month, their confidence grew. Jon came out of hiding and (re)became the face of the brand, growing his online following to over 200,000. More importantly, this strategy turned their struggling company around, leading to nearly $2 million in profit within a year.

Is This Book for You?

The ones who need the methodology the most and will get the most from it are:

• Marketing business owners. You want to grow your creative business and help your clients stand the f*ck out. I’m loosely using the term “creative business” to include ad/digital/social media agencies, PR firms, consulting practices, and so on.

• Marketing executives. You’re working in a high-pressure environment where you’re expected to deliver much more with far less. You must prove your worth to shareholders, bosses, or teammates, almost every day.

• Reluctant marketers. You’re a creator, founder, or small business owner who didn’t set out to be a marketer. Yet you find yourself creating a “lead magnet” to grow your email list, maintaining a content calendar for your “socials,” and learning copywriting from a 19-year-old YouTuber.

• But please don’t put the book down if you don’t fit neatly into these categories. Over the years I’ve seen this methodology benefit gelato makers in Saudi Arabia, physiotherapists in Québec, and real estate agents in Ireland. So, in short, if you have a conscience, want to grow your business, and feel overwhelmed by marketing bullshit, I hope you’ll still give it a go.

• Now let’s get down into the weeds a bit more.

• The Methodology Has Four Stages

• It’s really a step-by-step guide (see Figure I.) and it all starts with insight foraging, where you dig deep to uncover what makes your customers tick. Then you’ll use unique positioning to give people a damn good reason to choose you over the rest. With a distinctive brand, you’ll make sure you’re impossible to forget, even if people aren’t ready to buy right now. And finally, continuous reach keeps the right people coming back for more while drawing new ones in.

• Figure I.3. The four stages of Stand The F*ck Out.

• Stage 1. Insight Foraging

• To stand the f*ck out, we start by digging for the raw, unfiltered truths about your customers—the kind of insights your competitors wouldn’t know where to find. You’ll use these insights to answer the questions plaguing many others: What to sell? Whom to focus on? What sets us apart? How to get better leads? Why should people care?

• With insight foraging, the goal is to uncover the hidden truths about your customers. It’s about getting your hands dirty and unearthing the insights that will become the foundation of your quest to stand the f*ck out.

• Stage 2. Unique Positioning

• A gazillion other brands are screaming, “We’re the best!” through megaphones pointed to microphones attached to amps set to 11. How are you supposed to stand the f*ck out so the right people choose you?

• With a unique positioning, you give the right people a compelling reason to choose you. It’s about finding specific problems that the competition has overlooked. This is where you may find new market space and how you can win as an underdog.

• Stage 3. Distinctive Brand

• You can have the most unique positioning from the Pyrenees to the Alps, but if no one has ever heard of you it doesn’t matter. And even if people pay attention to you, they may not be ready to buy right now.

• With a distinctive brand, you’ll boost your odds of being noticed, sticking in people’s minds, and ending up on their shortlist when they’re ready to buy—all without resorting to ridiculous stunts like dancing naked with a pineapple on your head.

• Stage 4. Continuous Reach

• And finally, you can’t just rely on your current fans and their loyalty. People’s lives change—they move, switch jobs, or their needs evolve. That’s why you need a constant flow of new customers.

• Continuous reach means getting in front of the right people at the right time with the right stuff, as often as your budget allows. This consistent visibility keeps you top-of-mind, so you’re more likely to be picked when they’re ready to buy.

• OK, that’s all you need to know for now.

• Ready to stand the f*ck out?