Your story sells better than your sales page

You ever have one of those slap-in-the-face moments where you realize you’ve been doing it all wrong?

Back in 2023, when I launched my first marketing course, I figured the hard part would be building the damn thing.

Boy, was I wrong. The real punch to the gut? Spending weeks perfecting every lesson, picking out the coolest platform, and then… watching five people sign up in the first week.

Two of them were my friends.

I remember hitting “send” on the launch email, thinking I’d cracked it. Instead, I got one reply, just “nice work!” from someone who never even bought the course.

That shit stung.

It took me a bit to realize: nobody cared about the content yet. They wanted to see if I was worth listening to.

Nobody gave a shit about the brand until they knew who was behind it.

Let me put it this way, your positioning as a founder is turbo-charged marketing you can’t replace.

Ask Zuck, Musk, or even the new hotshots like Aravind from Perplexity.

Your face, your vibe, how you show up… that’s what people latch onto.

So, here’s what I did: I stopped hiding behind shiny graphics and gave folks a front-row seat to my messy journey. Talked about missteps, why some offers sucked, and what I truly stood for.

And here’s my bet, you’re probably working your ass off hustling features, copy, or content that just gets lost in the noise. If so, stop. Put your story up front. Be the reason someone remembers your brand.

If you want to punch through the noise:

• Be brutally real, even if it feels weird.

• Make your stance clear pick a side, even if it pisses some people off.

• Make yourself visible. No, not just your LinkedIn headshot. Share your fear, your “why,” the thing that keeps you up at night.

Because honestly? The best brands aren’t built on perfection. They’re built on personality.

Here’s what I want you to do: Write a two-sentence story about a recent stumble (the kind you hope nobody screenshots). Add it to your next email or landing page. See what happens.

If you’re not getting more replies or clicks, call me a liar.

— Shashank