Louis Grenier

Stand The F*ck Out

Everyone says stand out, but how?

You can stand the f*ck out. Yes, even in the marketing industry. I help folks working in digital, creative services, advertising, consulting, or PR, who want to stand the f*ck out without selling their soul.

* Freelance marketers
* In-house marketers
* Creative business owners (aka reluctant marketers)

Founder

EveryoneHatesMarketers.com

Everyone Hates Marketers changed my life in so many ways. It helped me to connect with folks I admired. It helped me get a job in tech after burning out running my first marketing agency. And it still teaches me so much about our craft.

It's the only marketing podcast for people sick of marketing b*llshit. It's a Top 1% podcast with nearly 2M downloads. Also, 25,000+ followers across podcast platforms. More than 3,000 downloads per episode.

Podcaster

Hotjar

I was hired to lead the Content Marketing function but nearly got the sack after spending my time designing pretty slides instead of getting leads. Once I got my sh*t together, we grew SEO traffic 10x from ~20k to ~200k/month and first-touch sign-ups from 0 to ~1k/month. We also launched a fun little podcast called 'The Humans Strike Back.'

I then moved on to Product Marketing and repositioned Hotjar from 'all-in-one analytics & feedback' to 'behavior analytics,' making it the complement to traditional web analytics. We ran multiple experiments to test the new positioning, generating big uplifts in accounts created (mainly from the homepage).

My proudest project was the launch of the Hotjar Lightning Talks. Most virtual events are super boring, sales-y, and loOoOong. So, we took a risk and did something different. A 5-day virtual event for ecommerce folks, with 5 talks a day, but 5 minutes (!!!) each. Thousands of people registered. It was really fun to go against the grain on this one.

Content & Product Marketer

Slices Consulting

ZinMobi

Marketing

CMI - Communications & Management Institute

Lecturer

Bonjour bonjour, I’m Louis Grenier, a recovering Frenchman who helps marketers to stand the f*ck out.

You can stand the f*ck out. Yes, even in the marketing industry. You can find your people and position what you do in a way that feeds your soul. You can build a resilient business and have fun—without working 40 hours a day. You can land some amazing opportunities because your message is so clear, unique, and appealing to the right people. You can stand the f*ck out without bouncing from tactic to tactic, hoping it will work.

It's just that there are no shortcuts, no secrets, no growth hacks to get you there—because, if it was easy, everyone would do it. 

In other words, standing the f*ck out is meant to be hard.

I'm just hoping I could make your journey a tad more enjoyable. Whenever you're ready, there are three ways I can help you:

🤘 Subscribe to my daily emails (Mon-Fri) and get advanced positioning, branding, & lead gen tips.
🤘 Work with me privately via 1-to-1 coaching.
🤘Enroll in my training to help your clients Stand The F*ck Out or make your marketing team sniff the same glue.

Drop me a DM!!

Nice things people say about me/my work:

"The positioning GOAT." Harry Dry, creator of MarketingExamples.com

"Louis's work flipped my struggling company from losing money to profiting close to two million dollars in a year. Because of him, we stopped copying others and figured out how to forge our own path to stand out." - Jonathan Goodman, best-selling author, Founder of the PTDC

"Louis is a force to be reckoned with. Give him a product, a bunch of users, and a market opportunity and he will quickly identify the positioning gap—and work quickly to fill it. I should know; I worked with him on a project just like this for a €30M+ ARR SaaS brand. Louis is to positioning what Hoover is to vacuum cleaners—synonymous." - Sançar Sahin, former VP of Marketing at Typeform & Hotjar

I reckon I receive 20 cold emails per day.

And I mark all of them as spam, obvs.

ALL of them?

Well not entirely!

Because this one...

Well, this one was not like the others. I couldn't help but open it. Then, I couldn't help but read it, word after word. Then, I couldn't help but read it OUT LOUD. Then, I couldn't help but sing it to the tune of "Go f*ck yourself" by Two Feet. 

Anyway, since it seems to be a huge flex around here to tear down sh*tty cold emails... Let me break down this amazing online letter.

cheers,

loius

Louis Grenier 🤘

After forking out $36,000 upfront to a "professional" book publishing company called Scribe Media and losing it all last year after they declared bankruptcy, it feels so good to see this.

And by 'this,' I mean the 400+ comments left by 22 beta readers on the first version of my manuscript.

It feels so good to FINALLY have others (outside of me and my imaginary friend Jean-Marc the screen cleaning bottle) take a look at it.

Next steps:

- Process the feedback
- Make the relevant changes
- Upload V2 of the manuscript
- Send an email to the second of beta readers

LFG.

F*ck it, it's done.

I've just sent an email to 22 lovely people who applied to become a beta reader for my book so they can give me unfiltered feedback. In total, 233 people applied — I'm so f*cking grateful — and I'll be selecting other folks for the next iterations.

For context, I've been working on and off on this m$£$$%^&%^*^&* thing for the last 2 years and a half... And I am so SICK OF IT. 

Entire sections are missing (who reads conclusions anyway?) but I couldn't wait any longer to share it.

This f*cking thing...

Anyway, I have an appointment for the barber in 20 minutes. He hasn't seen me in 5 months.

I SUCK at this.

Pricing is my weak spot in marketing; I've no problem admitting it.

So, it's probably no coincidence I've waited 7 years to interview someone on this exact topic (Melina Palmer, behavioral economist and author of "The Truth About Pricing").

My #1 insight from this episode is that pricing is NOT just about numbers.

In other words, everything leading up to the price impacts its perception more than the price itself. This includes how you present your product, your confidence when discussing prices, and understanding what your customers give a f*ck about.

You can watch the first 10 minutes of this episode right here, right now (zero-click content FTW, Amanda Natividad). 

And, if you wish to watch more, the link to the full episode is in the comments.

20 tips to promote yourself when money is TIGHT as f*ck

Self-promo expert & best-selling author Lucy Werner started her career when she was only 17. Since then, she's helped THOUSANDS of business owners promote their stuff *without* a huge agency budget.

I've just rewatched my interview with her in 2x speed and took notes like a maniac to extract her real-world advice.

Here you go:

🛑 Don't solely focus on pitching to high-profile influencers or "marketing bros" for the sake of ego.
✅ Do target the "little people" who might have smaller followings but are a better fit for your audience.

🛑 Don't expect to become the go-to expert in your industry from a one-month campaign.
✅ Do channel your resilient self to patiently build momentum by showing up every week.

🛑 Don't keep it too polished. Most people don't trust others who seem to have no flaws.
✅ Do "show a bit of ankle." People love a fail; it makes you more relatable. Lucy was "flying the next day, and [she]'d let [her] son's passport in French and English expire." She posted a quick photo, and the post went wild.

🛑 Don't treat your launch as a one-time event. 
✅ Do adopt an "always be launching" mindset. 

🛑 Don't chase vanity goals like a TED talk or Forbes feature if you can't articulate why people should care.
✅ Do train yourself to stop caring about PR stunts that won't bring you any new leads.

🛑 Don't overpromise.
✅ Do keep it real. For example, Lucy titled one of her most popular pieces, "Borrow my non-fiction book launch blueprint." Notice how she didn't say "Steal" since, and I quote, she's "giving it as a gift, so just borrow it."

🛑 Don't keep your goals for yourself (you know, in case you don't reach them).
✅ Do shout your big, hairy, audacious goals from the rooftops. Lucy aimed to hit the Sunday Business Post best-seller list with her first book. She missed the mark, but openly discussing this setback actually *boosted* her business.

🛑 Don't be that desperate business owner who sends the same canned email to 300 journalists — it's called spam; ever heard of it?
✅ Do your homework before hitting up journalists, or podcasters, or authors. Actually, read their stuff, give a damn about what they cover, and reach out to them one-on-one; you'll get more replies.

🛑 Don't sleep on your personal brand. It's not just fluff peddled by marketing bros.
✅ Do show your personal brand some love. You have one, whether you like it or not. So treat it like a needy plant that requires constant attention.

🛑 Don't force yourself to do stuff that makes you cringe, just because you think it's what others expect of you.
✅ Do chase the things that make you giggle, like my toddler spitting out her yogurt drink after I removed her bib.

***

Just search "Everyone Hates Marketers" wherever you listen to your podcasts to find this episode.

And plz follow my friend Lucy Werner and subscribe to her newsletter. It's really good.

5 newsletters I happen to read at the moment (instead of archiving):

​The Steal Club

Great artists steal. Similarly, Alex Llull shares ideas he “stole” from the best creators. Cool concept. → https://lnkd.in/eiKJV_HT

​Hype Yourself

Actionable lessons on self-promotion to help you make an income from your expertise and passions, by my friend Lucy Werner. → https://lnkd.in/eB5K7FpM

​Positive Hüman

My pal Marc ✌️ Thomas' zine on overcoming the fear of failing in marketing. I like the personal stories he shares. → https://lnkd.in/e8aJJ-uC

​The Marketing Meetup Newsletter

A positively lovely newsletter for positively lovely marketers who aim to make a positively lovely impact among equally positively lovely people, crafted by a genuinely positively lovely guy named Joe Glover. → https://lnkd.in/e9-pKGGb

Jonathan Stark's Daily List

This guy is the reason why I've been sending an email every weekday for the last year and a half. → https://lnkd.in/eAxDZXas

xoxo

For the sake of your business—or the one you work for/advise—do not wait until there is not enough money in the bank to fix the positioning issues you're having.

That's something I've noticed lately...

Folks come to me when they have "three weeks until the business dies," or when their "confidence is at an all-time low and [they're] about to quit," or when they "had to let go two FT employees who were very good."

Look, I get it, sh*t happens, and we humans are short-term thinking monkeys who wait until we're neck-deep in organic horse manure to do something about it. I do the same thing, honestly.

So, I'm writing this post for you as much as for me.

If your gut tells you something isn't quite right, please, please, please, pay attention to it and act on it. To take specific examples around my area of expertise:

- If you feel like you cannot sell your products (even though they used to sell well): You may have a demand problem.
- If you feel exhausted because you have to work super hard to convince anyone to buy from you: You may also have a demand problem.
- If you feel overwhelmed by all the sh*t you're doing and you can't seem to find a common thread: You may have a positioning issue.
- If you find it super difficult to communicate what you do and why people should care: You may have a segmentation problem.
- If you feel like nobody gives a sh*t about what you say on social/anywhere else: You may have a point-of-view issue.

And all of those problems can be leading indicators that the business is slowly sinking into organic horse manure — and that you're blending the f*ck in.

If you're facing any of those, try to get out of the proverbial jar to read the label that's outside of it: talk to recent customers and lost leads, talk to direct competitors in your category, hire someone who can help you sift through the fog to get sh*t done.

Do not wait until you can't make payroll to do something.

PS: If you work in digital, creative, advertising, consulting, or PR and some of the problems mentioned above ring a bell, I may be able to point you in the right direction. Message me with your #1 marketing challenge, and I'll send you my recommendations.

Have you ever looked at your segment — or niche, or target audience, or whatever else you want to call it — and wondered, "They're all from different sectors. Different sizes. Different roles. I don’t want to pick just one of them… This feels so f*cking restrictive!!”?

Of course, it feels restrictive… because the way you’ve been taught about “niching down” is restrictive. 

Not only that, but thinking about your segment this way will likely prevent you from standing the f*ck out.

So what if folks are not in the same industry? So what if they're not all Gen Z? So what if the decision-makers don't have the same job title?

All of those attributes are arbitrary.

A better way to look into this is to identify a group of people that has struggles in common that you — and only you — can solve in a specific way, which gives them a compelling reason to pick it over anyone/anything else, including big brands.

This way of thinking should feel much more natural (and less restrictive).

Boo has been coughing all night, so I had to review my plans today so I could stay with her and bring her to the doc.

And now she's finally sleeping without waking up every 30 seconds. ❤️

Anyway, I did the bare minimum: I emailed my list, worked on the first sh*tty version of my book manuscript, and wiped Boo's nose 563 times. 

I'm still on track to send the manuscript to the first group of selected beta readers this week.

Thanks for reading, these posts help me to stay accountable.

I may not have bought Bitcoin at $10, but I've made pretty good bets over the last few years.

I stumbled upon this graph in my screenshot folder this morning.

It's the number of downloads my podcast got when I launched it 7 years ago. Back then, most people I knew hadn't even heard of podcasts. Now, everyone and their dog has one.

The beauty of being early is that you don't have to fight that hard for attention. If I launched "Everyone Hates Marketers" today, I doubt it would have taken off. The market is saturated with high-quality marketing podcasts, and the novelty of the format has worn off.

The point isn't about podcasts, though. It's about how being early to the party can help make you stand the f*ck out.

I'm no genius. I didn't predict the rise of Bitcoin, and I can't predict whether product-led growth is going to eat account-based marketing for breakfast. 

But, looking back, there are a few things I've been early at, which gave me some sort of advantage:

- Cohort-based courses: I launched my first one nearly 4 years ago before platforms like Maven hit the mainstream.

- LinkedIn content creation: Around the same time, I started to take this place seriously by posting a few times a week — which helped me grow steadily. Nowadays, it's much more saturated.

- Paid recommendations newsletter: This one is the most recent, but I've been toying with investing $$$ to get quality subscribers to my newsletter... From other newsletter operators. I was among the first to use SparkLoop for this purpose. Most newsletter operators are now using some sort of paid recommendation engine.

Truth is, I don't have some secret formula, and I don't *obsess* over being early at everything. For example, I never signed up for ClubHouse (remember it?).

I just try to pay attention to the people in my space who seem to be doing crazy, funky stuff. And then, if it makes sense to me, I like to try it out myself.

So, yeah, I believe standing the f*ck out isn't about being the loudest or the flashiest. It's also about having the courage to try new stuff because you believe in them, even especially if your friends think you're nuts.

🐔

Folks, I have a problem.

I'm running a live workshop with the wonderful Amrita Mathur from ClickUp this evening, but... There's a good chance I'll fall asleep on my keyboard in the middle of it because it's past my bedtime (8 PM is the new 11:30 PM).

So, maybe you can help?

Because the best way to keep me on my toes is to heckle me in the chat. You know, like asking me super pointy/specific questions related to your specific problems, for example.

Anyway, it's at 12 PM Pacific / 2 PM Eastern / 8 PM London.

Topic: What it takes to say things people don't ignore.

The link to register is the co...

No, f*ck this. The link to register is RIGHT HERE: https://lnkd.in/edzibuHt

This guy has 47 patents under his belt, and he wears turtlenecks like it's nobody's business.

His name is Mauro Porcini.

Yes, of course, he's Italian.

He also happens to be PepsiCo's Chief Design Officer.

His motto?

"Innovation is an act of love."

So cliché. Isn't it?

That's what I thought at first, too. But listen to the first few minutes of my Everyone Hates Marketers episode with him, and you might change your mind... Just like I did.

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