“I just don’t know how to promote this. What do you think?”
I leaned back in my chair and paused.
“Well… I think you gotta be brutally honest. You gotta think like an employee.”
This was the conversation I had at least once a week when I worked as a marketing manager.
Gauren-damn-teed.
In a past life, I ran a program that was basically like the 401(k) guy—you know, that person who comes into your office, hands out stress balls, and answers questions about your retirement plan?
I was the marketing guy behind that guy.
I was the reason you were getting stress balls.
My company offered an employee benefit that provided financial wellness education—free sessions, Q&As, and the option to get paid help if people wanted it.
It was a win-win: my coworkers (the financial professionals) got warm leads, and the employees got free advice that could actually help them.
But being the marketing manager for this program, people would often come up to me looking for marketing help.
“Should we make a video?”
“What about a social media campaign?”
“Could we do something… viral?”
They loved the idea of marketing.
The bells, the whistles. The toys.
It was intoxicating.
Always is.
But most of the time, the truth was, they didn’t need new marketing materials to be successful.
They needed to be brutally honest about how to reach the people.
What being brutally honest in marketing means.
Being brutally honest in marketing means thinking about what marketing activities actually deliver results, and not just what looks fancy.
It’s kind of like getting in shape.
For some people, they want new expensive gym clothes, a membership, and a personal trainer.
But in reality, if they just watched what they ate and did some at-home exercises… they’d get in shape – fancy clothes not required.
So when it came to my program, I had to look at what we were offering with a brutally honest filter.
Because we offered an employee benefit, I started to ask, when do employees actually look at their benefits?
I came up with two moments:
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When they first join the company.
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When their life falls apart.
That’s it.
They’re not sitting around at work wondering if they’re maximizing their dental plan. They’re wondering what’s for lunch. They’re wondering if anyone will notice them quietly sneaking out ten minutes early. They’re wondering why their boss sends passive-aggressive emails at 4:59 P.M. on A Friday.
But this was discouraging for me as a marketing manager.
I can’t recreate the first days for people who already have a job. And I’m not going to bet on someone’s life going down the shitter.
So I paused and reflected on my own life.
When did I, as an employee, really think about my benefits?
Well, the first two reasons, also applied to me, but the more I thought, a new third reason stuck out like a turd on a toilet seat.
Employees will think about their benefits when you show up.
For example, the benefit I knew the most was that this health and wellness company showed up for a health screening at the office.
Or even the 401K guy.
It wasn’t like I’m someone who’s naturally going to be thinking about my portfolio.
But if he shows up and sits in my office, I do.
So it was with brutally honest insight that I found my third path.
If we want to market a benefit. We don’t need the videos. We don’t need to send emails that get ignored.
We need to get our ass in a chair and start talking to people.
And this core idea worked.
The people who actually followed this advice did significantly better than those who didn’t.
Because they were being honest about how employees view their benefits and ignoring everything else.
What This Has to Do with Writing
So what does all this have to do with writing?
Well…everything.
Writing—like marketing—is about reaching real people. And real people don’t care about your clever ideas.
They care when you meet them where they are.
Whether you’re writing a blog post, a short story, a novel, or marketing copy, ask yourself:
Why do people actually read?
To me, it’s usually for two reasons:
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To solve a problem.
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To be entertained.
That’s it. That’s the whole gambit.
But if we go even further, we can ask what type of experience people want when they’re reading.
Well to me, if someone’s reading to solve a problem, they want the solution explained in a way that’s actually understandable.
If someone’s reading to be entertained, they want the read to be easy and enjoyable, not a chore.
And it’s with these obvious yet overlooked insights that we can use to guide our strategy.
What You Should Actually Do To Improve Your Writing.
Is in short, remember the reader.
If you’re writing non-fiction:
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Step into the reader’s shoes.
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Start with the real version of the problem, not the polished, over-intellectualized one.
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Then walk them through the solution in a way that’s so clear they can’t forget it.
If you’re writing fiction:
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Respect your reader’s time.
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Make it fun. Make it flow.
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Don’t dumb it down—just don’t make it harder than it has to be.
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Your job is to make the story in your head play like a movie in theirs.
Full Circle
It all comes back to honesty.
Brutal f*ckin honesty.
You grow as a writer—and as a communicator—when you take time to be brutally honest.
Not just with yourself, but with how you see people.
Ask:
-
What does my audience actually care about?
- What type of reading experience do they prefer?
- What are they hoping someone will finally say out loud?
When you get clear about that, everything else gets easier.
Your ideas get sharper.
Your writing gets tighter.
And suddenly, the people you’re trying to reach finally start listening.
So be brutally honest and start seeing people not as the polished, “living-my-best-life” avatars they post online…
But as they actually are: distracted, flawed, overwhelmed—and human.
Just like you.
Just like me.
Please like comment, share and tell me what you think. Do you agree?
Never miss a blog post by following me here: Tonysbologna | Anthony Robert | Substack
Very good advice, Tony, and it ought to work for me because I’m the person who works out my own weight-loss plan rather than joining a club, and organises my own exercise in tatty old gear at home rather than joining a stylish club with all the gear (and no idea?). My problem – and that of thousands like me – is finding where those readers are so I can get my writing in front of their eyes. That’s the hard part – but I appreciate your ideas. Thanks for posting. 🙂
Appreciate your reading, for me it’s trying to get where your audience hangs out -which is easier said than done – but I’m searching for the same – maybe getting published by like a popular mag
It’s difficult, but we persevere in trying to find that magic button. Thanks for all you write, Tony, it is very much appreciated. Have a good week. 🙂
Thank you so much for reading and your support, I appreciate you!
Your job is to make the story in your head play like a movie in theirs.* That’s what I try to do when I write. I’m a fiction writer. I feel I’ve done a good job when people tell me it’s like watching a movie when they read my books.
Thanks for sharing. Great advice.
Thanks for reading and you do do a good chin with that
Thank you.
Do a good job***
That’s always my plan.
Sure, if someone is brutally honest with you, then it means you have the experience there
Great advice. As a DIY learning writing, this advice is about what audience care about is so simple and dismissed and valiable, my content style is already related to authentic thoughts, events and thought-provoking conversation.
As a matter of fact the rejection of family and friends towards deep conversations pushed me forward to my childhood dream of become a writer instead, I started writing to myself and later deleting because I was aiming to publish when I reach perfection until I realized that perfection is unrealistic but seek excellence everyday is not.
Love it – for me – I try to dictate success by actions -like if I wrote for 30 mins, I had a successful day – thank you so much for reading
Absolutely!!
Thank you for this post. I am taking notes. Have a great weekend!
Thank you for reading, you do the same!
Yess!!! Not enough authenticity on social media as a whole. I think (and hope) this will change though.
I think it will, we can keep supporting the fake bs
Such a great perspective! And you write very well, so obviously it’s working, 😉 have a wonderful weekend!
Thank you so much!! I hope you did too
Thank you for liking my post. I like to be brutally honesty. Some people take your brutal honesty as an offense. We got to watch what we say to people. I hope to hear from you soon. Have a good week. I am enjoying reading posts on here. I like type on Word then I copy it then I paste on here to post it.
Great advice. And yes, I love a fiction book to read like a movie, but I’ve been rejected by agents who say, “It reads to much like a movie.” So, I tightened up my writing and self-publish. Agents are frickin annoying. 😂
This is brilliant. We’ve just opened an Etsy shop for our jewelry. The hardest part of it is the marketing and self-promotion. I can’t visit all the potential buyers, but I can be more proactive in getting the word out … and often. The writing advice is also great. My latest novel has taken a back seat to the jewelry, but I will not forget this when I get working on that again. Thanks so much for offering your insights for free!
This is a super piece. Its what made me start by blog in the first place, to be raw and authentic and hopefully relatable. I loved the analogy between marketing and writing and sometimes its really going back to the basics. Thanks for sharing.
So happy you enjoyed, thank you!
Well said! I like the analogy, and it’s true. So simple, and yet the world needs more of both authenticity and humor. I strive for both in my writing (although I decided to keep them somewhat separate — seemed like it might be harder to be taken seriously on real life issues when half the time I’m writing randomness about things like why we should blow up the moon*).
* Long story short, we shouldn’t. But there was once a petition to do so, and it had over a thousand signatures, and some people had interesting reasons why we should.
I was called brutally honest once lol when I told a parent that their child needed more discipline, that way they don’t have so many problems at school and at home, the father thank me, left the meeting, went to the Principal of the school where I work at, and said That teacher right there is brutally honest, and that’s what our schools need more of! She told us exactly what we wanted to hear! lol
Well there you go!! And I agree
Amazing work on this post!
Would you be interested in reading my blog about “Woman in Marketing” is a personal blog that explores the experiences, insights, and challenges faced by women navigating the marketing industry. It offers practical tips, professional reflections, and inspiration aimed at empowering women to thrive in their marketing careers.
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Absolutely! I totally agree! I’m also a fellow blogger and marketer and I’d love for you to check out my blog Raw Real Hrit and give me your honest feedback so I can improve 😊🙌✨
Consider it done