Good Work Nº 42: Building a good ground game.

🎶 Silver Lining by Mt. Joy

The best journeys answer questions that, in the beginning, you didn’t even think to ask.Unknown

Over the last year, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how we get the word out about Holloway. I’ve read more than I ever thought I would about the field of marketing, but the thing that surprised me the most is how important it is to understand, and master, what I call “having a good ground game.”

In politics this means knocking on doors, canvassing neighborhoods, and talking to people face-to-face. When we were starting Mattermark, we emailed every single investor we could with a screenshot of data about their firm in our product, offer a demo, and see if they would respond. At Holloway, I keep a list of people and when we publish something I think they’d like, I shoot them a DM on Twitter or a quick email. Often, they volunteer to share it without me even needing to ask.

Sharing your work and asking for help spreading the word is intimidating. Nobody wants to be a spammer, and we’re often afraid of asking for too much. And some people do ask for too much. The key to keeping out of shady spam territory and in the land of a sincere effort to grow something you love is to remember that it’s not about you. If you send someone an article you wrote and they genuinely love the thing, then you did them a favor.

This Week

• Good Sales Emails helps people learn how to write good emails by showing off a collection of actual sales emails. It’s fun to browse them and realize some salespeople have figured out how to sell without being overwhelmingly salesey.
• This week, we published The Holloway Guide to Using Twitter by Fadeke Adegbuyi. It’s 70 pages, totally free to read, and I truly think it’s a deeply helpful resource you’ll love.
• The Emotional Journey of Creating Anything Great by John Saddington remains one of my favorite pieces. When we’re in the phase of creating something great that requires a ground game, it can be tough, but it helps to remember what you’re working toward.

That’s Good Work for this week. Looking forward to what’s next.

Andy and the Holloway team