“The work speaks for itself.”
“The product sells itself.”
Wrong.
Two of the most dangerous fallacies in business and marketing. Most of us learn them the hard way. Hopefully, you learned this early and fast.
But I want to make sure this is clear for everyone. We all know it, but if you know me, you know I’ve got a (mostly appreciated) habit of telling people things they already know — but still need to hear.
No, the work doesn’t speak for itself.
And no, the product doesn’t sell itself.
You have to tell stories.
That’s how people understand the work, the product, the value. There’s no other way.
And if you’re in marketing (or a human!)— good news — storytelling is what we do.
Danish author Karen Blixen said it perfectly:
“Stories have been told as long as language has existed, and without stories the human race would have perished, just as it would have perished without water.”
I started Propr eleven years ago. Not much looks like it did back then. But from day one, I built it on a story. And I’ve kept telling those stories, how it’s evolved, what I’ve learned, my philosophies, tales of my crazy adventures, and most importantly, the value I bring to my clients.
That’s how I’ve successfully stayed in business for over a decade doing what I love.
People buy great stories.
And they repeat the stories they believe in.
If you go to my website, you won’t see any design work (other than the site itself). The website is full of stories. Every week, I publish a new article — sometimes I’ll share it here, but always on my blog and Substack. You can even subscribe if you want (do it!).
Those posts tell stories. I don’t feature client work not just because Propr isn’t an agency anymore, but because telling the story behind the work takes context. Without that, people don’t really get it. It is my job to make sure they get it. And when you leave it up to interpretation, you lose control of the story.
So no — the work doesn’t sell itself. But stories can.
The story doesn’t need to be long or complicated.
It can be simple: problem → solution → outcomes, with proof.
That’s it.
Now the work becomes part of the story, with context you control.
When you don’t give people a story, there is nothing to tell, and nothing to feel. And that’s dangerous. At best, they don’t care. At worst, they get it wrong.
There’s no takeaway when you don’t give them one.
And for the record, I will put work on my website. It’s not like it’ll never happen because the work is part of my story. It’s just not a priority right now.
Why? Because the stories are doing their job.
I’m packed and stacked with ideal clients, doing the work I love.
That’s the power of telling stories; they actually sell.
(Photo by the talented @PentaxJane on IG)
Feed Your Mind
What I’m Listening To:
As usual, I put in a lot of time with WFMU. If you’re not familiar, it is the greatest radio station in the nation. Stream it.
Alex shouted out Gravediggaz this week, and I ended up binge-listening to their debut album.
I also spent a lot of time with:
And discovered
Space Monkeyz: Laika Come Home A banging new dub with Gorillaz
What I’m Reading: The Arrogant Ape: The Myth of Human Exceptionalism and Why It Matters
By Christne Webb
Last month, I was a day out from flying to LA. I was attending my neighborhood fair when I realized that the book I was reading, Ham on Rye, by Charles Bukowski, would finish pretty quickly on the long flight, so I headed to the table set up by our local indie book store and picked this one up. I love this type of book, a scientist writing about their observations. Webb is a primatologist who has studied and lived with numerous nonhuman animals throughout her career. I have about 50 pages to go, so I’ll save my review until then. In the meantime, the human exceptionalism fallacy is real, and dangerous. We are not the apex of life; we’re just another primate and animal on a planet, but we use hubris to justify a superiority complex that enables cruelty and the destruction of our planet, and the sooner we return to a symbiotic and, as Dr. Bronner’s soap labels famously say, All One.
