Notes on teamwork, social proof, and my essays in Harper’s.
Healthtech start-ups and the right team
As a fellow owner of a small business, I know the temptations of the do-it-yourself (DIY) ethos. And, if time were infinite, our time management skills would always bear fruit.
Time, though, resists our management efforts. It just keeps ticking. Your response, then, is to build the type of team that lets you attend to the biggest commitments: the science itself and the bottom line. You follow the Pareto Rule, which indicates that 20% of your input should produce 80% of your results.
The corresponding principle is that the last 20% of the project can take 80% of the time.
Work samples in the sciences: I respect the necessity of NDAs, and I understand the serious nature of proprietary knowledge. I am still looking for a client in the sciences who’s comfortable with my sharing before-and-after versions of a page from the significance section of an SBIR proposal or part of a manuscript under review.
For confirmation of my skills and diligence, please check the case studies below, other client reviews, and this series of essays, in which I write about current developments in health, science, and technology.
Current news (September 28, 2020): a proposal I helped prepare for a client just netted $600K. Huzza!
Newsletter editing and coaching
Here’s a some fodder for you proof-is-in-the-pudding folk. (Note: I like pudding, too.)
Client: Ari Lewis, @ arilewis.com
In summer 2020, I had a great time working with Ari Lewis, host of the Mastering the Attention Economy podcast, on brand identity and his newsletter. Ari was especially delighted with:
- the growth of his platform
- the boost in the quality of his writing, and
- the improvements he made to his process.
“Since working with Randal,” Ari says, “everything writing-wise has become so much easier.”
Click the thumbnail above.
Take a look, too, at my newsletter editing challenge here. For each entry, I note the source, the key metrics, and the key challenge. You can see details the on my process for this exercise here.
On branding, web copy and case studies
Client: Christine Kotik, owner of CK-ADHD Coaching @ www.ckadhd.com
I worked with Christine in spring and summer 2020, and the results were so robust they even surprised me. The web copy — including the social proof of a client success story — shored up the buyer’s journey, and we targeted two different personae via her LinkedIn and Facebook profiles.
Three months after launching, Christine tallied a 350% jump in prospect inquiries, and a 210% jump in year-over-year summer appointments.
I’m delighted for Christine, and look forward to working on our next project together.
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On stories well told
My essays in Harper’s Magazine.
The genius of George Martin, the producer for The Beatles, lay not in his engineering prowess, but in what ended up on the cutting-room floor.
Whether it’s science or music, It’s simply not possible to tell the whole story.
Good storytelling assembles the most compelling parts of your story, in all their complexity, and represents that complexity in a simple and persuasive way. Enjoy my essays here on the 1970 bombing at the Cleveland Museum of Art, images of America in rock’n’roll, and middle-age music fandom.
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A note on our design
I often rely on music metaphors for writing, so I wanted a musical logo. Blue was the obvious color, and I drew upon the visual translation of Morse code for the blocks. I knew I needed a six-letter word, and rhythm made perfect sense.
Let’s talk. Click here to get things rollin’.
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