Every Friday, get Adam Fairhead’s short illustrated newsletter that gives creators, indiehackers & entrepreneurs:
Each issue is actionable, free, and less than 1min to read.
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“I never met a creator more talented and diverse than Adam. His newsletter is everything the creators' economy needs – it's full of warmth, coziness, and incredibly useful insights.”
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@RubiksLive, Founder of The Growth Innovator
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@char1ieBennett, $0-$60k in 5 months
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@kylevamvouris, $100M+ in B2B sales
“Where do I begin? The Productoon is amazing for teaching how to build online income, and Adam is an absolute wizard. From value creation to sales, I thoroughly recommend subscribing to The Productoon, or booking a call if you’re serious about building something big. I feel honoured to be in the community and to call him my friend.”
@TheWayOfBushido, Educational course creator
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@curtiscoffeew, Community builder
“Literally one of the most amazing newsletters I've ever seen! SO different and helpful and motivational! Thank you for putting it together for us each week!”
@kopybykenz, Creator copywriter
“The Productoon is the first newsletter to make me actually reply and engage, not just read passively. One of the best newsletters around for creators, solopreneurs or indie hackers. I unsubscribe to most newsletters after a while… but I won't with this one!”
@youcef_appmaker, SaaS startup founder
“This is a one-of-a-kind newsletter. Creativity through art and writing. It honestly just makes you smile when you know you’re getting something new and fresh every week. Adam shares great tips for building online. Definitely recommend subscribing to this one.”
@zbijelic, Business builder & podcast host
“Short, sweet, and to the point. Valuable insights packed between engaging, hand-drawn visuals. Worth the subscription!”
@sapidigi, CMO at Sapien Digital
“Adam’s newsletter is awesome. I’ll know by I’ve made it when I’m a cartoon by Adam Fairhead.”
@abaloo, Publishing business entrepreneur
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@joeDmarti, Digital Adobe/Scorpion/Stanford
“Love this! Well worth reading!!”
@iSocialFanz, Keynote speaker
“Game changer. The short actionable nuggets that come in each edition makes The Productoon one of the few newsletters that I feel better after I’ve read. Each week, it takes me one step closer to where I wanted to go anyway!”
@TobiasTalltorp, developer & indiehacker
“The Productoon newsletter is phenomenal! He has an incredible talent for bringing product insights to life through captivating illustrations. Playful mascots, powerful insights, delightful animations. Definitely worth subscribing.”
@UrmiFormly, building Formly
The internet has a shortage of bizdev opinions.
Oh wait…
That’s not right, is it.
Everyone who’s ever received a five-figure check is a business guru now.
They’ll all share their opinion about their one new hack that changes everything.
And, impressively, they’re not wrong once about that.
No. They’re wrong three times:
What good news this is.
It means you don’t have to search for ‘the answer’, you just have to make iterative progress.
It means you don’t have to watch for what’s new, you just have to do what works.
It means you don’t have to discover a hack, you just have to care enough to show up fully.
What a relief.
Challenge for the week: Do you find yourself secretly wondering if there’s a ‘one new hack’ that will change everything in your business? Answer honestly!
Reply to this email with: Your honest answer! Accountability helps keep us on the straight and narrow.
Let’s make it a week of peaceful progress, huh?
Throw a dart.
But careful, you’ll hit a ‘storyteller’ on Twitter/X.
Is it a fad?
Sometimes.
Here’s when it is:
And here’s when it isn’t:
We all know people love good stories.
But we don’t all remember what the best story is.
And no, it’s doesn’t contain superheroes or even three wise men.
The best story is: the one that’s all about the listener.
It’s the story they’ll tune into, attend the call for, opt-in for, and buy to experience the next chapter of.
So consider this week’s issue a reminder:
Challenge for the week: Are you telling the best story there is, to your audience, every single day? If not, try doing it in some way, just once, this coming week.
Reply to this email with: Whether or not you are, and what you’re going to do this week about it!
Drop a reply, you storyteller, you.
The one thing that takes care of sales for you:
"Community"
Done right, it can transform your business.
Done wrong, it can be be a stupid, stupid waste of time.
Everyone thinks they’ve got a community.
They don’t.
We don’t "have" communities.
We can "form" communities…
We can "lead" communities…
…But we don’t "have" them.
(That’d be slavery… which is generally pretty frowned upon these days.)
But what is "Community", then?
Isn’t it something for people who sit in degenerate chatrooms all day?
Isn’t it something for people who don’t have any real work to do?
Nah.
That’s just what people who haven’t experienced community for themselves think.
It’s when likeminded people congregate and engage their like mindedness.
That’s it.
Ancient tribes formed communities…
to share their interest of "not being eaten by lions".
Fans form communities…
to nerd out on nuances of the thing they’re fans of.
That’s all lovely but: how does it take care of sales for you?
Simple:
If you skip two steps, you’re outcast (stupid waste of time)
If you skip one step, you lose equity with the group.
If you skip no steps, you have an army of referrers.
So.
Is there a community around the topic of what you’re passionate about (that relates to your work?)
Then join it, silly. And be there often.
If there isn’t, you might consider starting one.
It might just transform your business.
Let’s get to the challenge for the coming week!
Challenge for the week: Find a community related to your work, join it, and engage selflessly.
Reply to this email with: Are you in any communities right now? If yes, do you engage? If no, will you go looking for one?
Drop a reply, you social butterfly, you. It’s time to grow!
What makes a good course, anyway?
That’s the wrong question.
Let’s fix that first.
What makes an excellent course, anyway?
(Much better 😎)
Well here’s what doesn’t:
As it turns out, people don’t like being lied to, bored, or ignored.
I know, shocker.
Good news: turning those frowns upside down reveals the answer:
There’s a lot more to it.
Virgil from a few issues back will testify to that.
And so will Andrew in this issue below.
But it’s not just about courses:
If we make what they want…
deliver it how they love…
keep it honest, safe and transparent…
then double-down on what works when you find it…
We can’t go far wrong, can we?
So let’s get it:
Challenge for the week: Ask yourself (honestly) if you’re being totally honest, safe, transparent, making what they want, and how they love to receive it. The answer is either YES or NO. Both are good, they reveal the path ahead.
Reply to this email with: Whether it’s YES or NO, and what you plan to do about it. Show me your link, I’ll share my thoughts too!
Drop a reply, champ. It’s time to grow! 🌳
Know what’s gross?
Being gross.
That’s why gross people doing sales make sales seem gross.
But you know what powers businesses?
Exactly.
Creators often find sales scary.
(Like, I’d-rather-go-out-of-business-than-do-this scary.)
So here’s the thing about doing sales:
This week’s guest (Kyle Vamvouris) calls it the three poisons of sales: Not knowing what to do, not knowing how to use data, and maintaing a culture of poor performance
Could it be that simple?
Could you be good at this after all?
Sales conversaions aren’t gross unless you make them gross.
Y’know, like any conversation with anyone ever.
You’ve made friends online before right? Alright then.
Then you can make sales online.
So let’s get it:
Challenge for the week: Ask yourself (honestly) what your relationship with sales is. Can you change how you think and feel about it, so you don’t misappropriate it as gross anymore?
Reply with: What your feelings about sales are at the moment. Do you struggle with it? Do you want to be better at it?
Drop a reply, champ. Now’s the time for you to clear this hurdle. 💪
Formulas. Formulas everywhere.
There are more 'formulas' in my Twitter X timeline than an Applied Math textbook.
Content 'formulas'… Success 'formulas'…
(Even the app has an algebraic name now for goodness sakes!)
We’re told there’s a secret. That the cheatcode is the only way to win.
It trains us to believe there’s only one way. That there are walls all around us.
On our interests, our schedules, our creative pursuits.
Hogwash.
So here’s an anti-formula formula.
This one basically means "screw that, you can do anything you want:
Fun + Volume + Skill = Outcome
If you like formulas… there’s your formula.
Want progress? Make it fun.
That could mean working long hours, or taking afternoons off. It could mean optimising for more cashflow, or more time off. Or for some kind of happy medium between any of those things.
We need your creativity. Your genius. Your ideas, products, services.
And so we need you to keep it fun.
So that you’ll show up tomorrow, even if it’s a crap day.
So that you’ll keep getting better, rain or shine.
So that you’ll win, eventually, guaranteed.
Let’s make that the new creator rally cry.
Challenge for the week: Ask yourself (honestly) if you’ve been over-optimising one area of your life, and sacrificing the others as a result.
Reply with: Yes or No… and what you’re going to do about it :)
Stay in the game, champ. You’ve got this.
"Personal branding."
Perhaps you’re old enough to remember when we called it "being a nice, sociable, helpful person."
But no…
It’s "Personal branding" now.
Fine.
Except, the name messes up many creators:
But what if we swap the name?
You wouldn’t think,
"I don’t have time to be nice, sociable & helpful. I have a business to run."
You wouldn’t think,
"Nice? Sociable? Helpful? How self-important. That’s not me at all."
You wouldn’t think,
"Nice? Sociable? Helpful? I’m not trying to be a media company…"
You wouldn’t think,
"Who’s even got time to be nice, sociable, and helpful to others?"
Here’s the thing:
Having a personal brand Being a nice, sociable, helpful person helps your business grow.
A lot.
It means you:
Nice!
Maybe being a nice, sociable, helpful person personal branding is worth investing some time in after all?
Let’s push yours forward this week:
Challenge for the week: Ask someone (honest) to look at your social profile. Ask them to tell you what they think you’re about, if that’s all they had to go on. Listen.
Reply with: What they said! And how far off you feel they were vs what you want people to think you’re about.
Let’s make being a nice, sociable, helpful people a priority, shall we?
I mean, he’s right…
If you want attention, you could just set yourself on fire in public.
The problem is, it only works when you’re the only one doing it.
Also, it’s not really the kind of attention that moves product.
(Unless the product is water, I guess.)
Also, third degree burns 👎
But fire isn’t the problem. We’re just setting the wrong thing on fire.
If you want fast attention, set yourself on fire.
If you want lasting attention, set their world on fire.
Here’s how to set your customers on fire:
Phew, that’s quite a bit of change!
Not really:
It’s just shifting your affections from your work to those in your care.
Let’s make a dent in that this week:
Challenge for the week: Look at your product/service. List 3 reasons it exists. If at least 2 of the 3 aren’t purely focused on your target market, we’ve got work to do until they are.
Reply with: What the 3 reasons your product exists are. I’ll help you realign it if the focus is off!
They need you. Let’s go.
Snackable, actionable insights to grow your business every week. Subscribe to the newsletter you’ll look forward to reading: