Andrew Stiefel | notes

How to Package New Product Features

2024-10-19T00:00:00-07:00

When your company develops new innovations, a key question is: how should you package those features within your current product tiers? This decision can significantly impact customer perception of value and the ease of selling it.

There are two main factors to consider:

Perceived value – How much will customers see this innovation as something that enhances their experience or solves a problem?
Target customer size – How many of your customers would actually benefit from it?

Here’s an easy framework to visualize your options:

1. New Product or Tier

If the new capability stretches beyond the value of your existing tiers, or it could shift the positioning of your entire product, it may be better to create a new tier or even an entirely new product. This will need more effort in field enablement and communication, but it also opens the door to greater potential revenue.

2. Add it to an Existing Tier

This is the right call if the innovation fits seamlessly with the current messaging of your product. Adding it to an existing tier can make the sales process easier because you’re building on something customers already understand.

3. Make it an Add-on

Sometimes, the innovation only appeals to a small segment of your customer base. In this case, packaging it as an add-on is a good move. This way, it doesn’t disrupt your core product offering, but customers who need that extra functionality can still get it.

4. Do Nothing/Kill the Initiative

And sometimes, the best option is to not move forward at all. If the perceived value is low and only a small percentage of your customers would care about it, it might be better to shelve the idea and try something else.

Thoughts on Information Fidelity and Transmission

2023-08-25T00:00:00-07:00

There is a useful axiom to keep in mind whenever you are crafting a message for someone else, whether writing a book, filming a video, or drafting an email.

Simple ideas travel farther than complex ones

Most of us intuitively understand this. But sometimes we forget as we get into the details of whatever we are doing. That’s why I like to keep the idea of fidelity vs transmission in mind.

A book has hi-fidelity, but low transmission. You can read an author’s ideas in depth. Everything they wanted to tell you is there. But the full message — the text of the entire book itself — will practically never be remembered or transmitted, in detail, to the recipient. They may highlight the text, take notes, and summarize the text. But the full message will be lost.

In contrast, a social media post has lo-fidelity, but high transmission. The full idea is almost invariably reduced to its essential elements. Details are left out. Things become black and white. But the recipient might be able to remember the entire message, so it has high transmission.

This is why slogans are so powerful. They are easy to remember, and collect associations with other information you might have received or interacted with about a brand, politician, or idea. But they don’t have to communicate the whole thing – the recipient fills in the rest.

Why does this matter?

There is an inherent tension between fidelity and transmission in all communication. Too much information, and your audience won’t remember what you needed them to know. Too little, and the message becomes banal, or simply worthless.

There is an ethical element to navigate as well, especially when reporting or documenting someone else’s experience. Storytelling is reductive: it removes and flattens details in favor of creating an understandable narrative. The details you include or leave out will shape an audience’s understanding of the message you are communicating.

What does this look like in practice?

Practically, this is why most messaging frameworks provide multiple tiers:

Pillars — Simple, two or three word phrases
Key Message — Short, memorable statements
Proof Points — supporting statements, benefits, or other evidence

From here, you can expand into even higher fidelity forms like blog, videos, white papers, or books that expand and build on the summary provided by the messaging framework.

Closing Thoughts

We see the impact of this all the time. Stories go viral based on a bit of sensational news. But as the details come out, the original story turns out to be false. Bias and hate travels farther and faster than the nuance of compromise and collaboration.

As a writer, marketer, or anyone who works with words, how do you balance fidelity and transmission in your work?

Writing for Technical Audiences

2023-05-06T00:00:00-07:00

Whether you are marketing to software developers, scientists, academic audiences, or other specialized industries, writing is a tool that can serve you well.

But writing for technical audiences is a unique skill that requires a different set of techniques than copywriting for a consumer marketing campaign. You need not only an in-depth understanding of the subject but also the ability to convey complex information clearly and concisely.

The following tips can help you to communicate your ideas more effectively.

Know your audience

One of the tricky aspects of writing for technical audiences is knowing when to simplify something, and when to assume a level of advanced knowledge. Nothing drives developers, scientists, and other technical audiences away faster than overly simplified, 101-level writing. Occasionally, you do need 101-level content! But know what level of information your audience should already know.

For example, I often write about API technologies. In 101-level content, I might define that the acronym API stands for an application programming interface. But if I start an article for a technical audience by introducing “what is an API” and defining the acronym, they are likely to quit reading and look for a resource that is more aligned with their knowledge level.

Use clear language

When writing technical documents, it can be tempting to use complex technical jargon and terminology. However, this can often make your writing more difficult to understand, especially for those who are not familiar with the subject.

To avoid confusion, it is best to use simple, clear language that is easy to understand. This means avoiding overly technical terms and breaking down complex concepts into more digestible pieces. You should also summarize key ideas in bullet points, which can help reinforce your ideas and improve retention.

One of the most important first lessons I learned was to avoid adverbs whenever possible, especially in headlines. Adverbs typically make writing “feel like marketing” because they make broad claims (for example, “quickly, effortlessly, rapidly, always”).

Provide evidence

In technical writing, you should avoid making sweeping statements or generalizations. It is important to back up any claims you make with evidence. This could be in the form of data, statistics, or references to existing research. By providing evidence to support your arguments, you can add credibility to your writing and show that your ideas are based on solid research and analysis.

A brief word of caution: most technical audiences know what is a valuable resource, and what is marketing evidence. Use authoritative sources whenever possible, or commission relatively neutral third parties to conduct research on your behalf.

Give concrete examples

Whenever possible, show rather than tell your audience how your product works. It’s one thing to claim that something is easier. But it’s more impactful to show it in action. Rather than relying on abstract concepts or hypothetical scenarios, try to use real-world examples to illustrate your points. For example, if you are writing a user manual for a software application, you could include screenshots or step-by-step instructions to help users understand how to use the software.

Use visuals

Visual aids can be extremely helpful in technical writing, as they can help to clarify complex concepts and make your writing more engaging. This could include diagrams, charts, graphs, or illustrations. Visuals can be particularly effective when you are trying to explain a complex process or system, as they can provide a clear, easy-to-follow representation of the subject.

Incorporate storytelling

While technical writing is often associated with dry language, incorporating storytelling can make your writing more engaging and accessible. This could involve using anecdotes, case studies, or narratives to illustrate your points. Techniques like metaphors, extended analogies, and other techniques can be valuable ways to explain complex topics or frame a concept in a new way. By using storytelling, you can help your readers understand the subject on a deeper level.

Summary

Technical writing is an essential skill for anyone working in a complex field, or marketing to experts. By following these tips, you can ensure that your technical writing is clear, concise, and easy to understand, helping you to communicate your ideas more effectively to your intended audience.

A few parting questions to consider:

Are there any examples of technical writing that you particularly admire What made it stand out, and what lessons can be learned from its approach to technical writing?
What are some strategies for using visuals effectively in technical writing
Are there any tips you would add to the list above?

Additional Resources

How to Get Started with Technical Writing – tips for building your technical writing skills and portfolio
A Software Developer’s Guide to Technical Writing – useful tips for anyone interested in writing for software developers
Hemingway Editor – an excellent resource for sharpening your writing and removing those pesky adverbs

Thoughts on Open-Ended Writing

2023-03-03T00:00:00-08:00

Writing online, especially for a blog, can feel difficult. Especially for a (recovering) social media and content marketer like myself. Yes, it’s easy to make a blog. It seems like there are constantly new tools popping up promising to help you blog, build a newsletter, or post on social media.

But writing is a different matter. Today it seems like blogging is focused on producing capital “C” Content for consumption. Everything becomes an “ultimate guide to X,” even if you try to use slightly more tasteful titles. With the arrival of Chat-GPT and other AI tools, the world is faced with even more bland and repetitive capital “C” content as the “dark forest” of the web expands, to borrow a term from Yancey Strickler.

This isn’t inspiring. And it’s rarely enjoyable to write these types of articles.

Digital Gardening and Small b Blogging

When I started writing on this website (again), I wanted to treat it more like a digital garden. I’d like to expand my thoughts on digital gardening sometime, but I think Maggie Appleton has the best working definition for now:

“A garden is a collection of evolving ideas that aren’t strictly organised by their publication date. They’re inherently exploratory – notes are linked through contextual associations. They aren’t refined or complete - notes are published as half-finished thoughts that will grow and evolve over time. They’re less rigid, less performative, and less perfect than the personal websites we’re used to seeing.”

This approach resonates with me. Mainly because producing exhaustive articles is, well, exhausting. This definition of the digital garden is similar to the concept of “small b blogging” introduced by Tom Critchlow:

“Small b blogging is learning to write and think with the network. Small b blogging is writing content designed for small deliberate audiences and showing it to them. Small b blogging is deliberately chasing interesting ideas over pageviews and scale. An attempt at genuine connection vs the gloss and polish and mass market of most content marketing.”

I recently read another note by Tom Critchlow that was the direct inspiration for this line of thinking, entitled “Writing, Riffs, and Relationships.” There are lots of good concepts in the article, but the idea of making writing small stood out to me. In particular

“People’s first instinct with content is to try and make it polished and closed. To be useful by solving something or creating the ultimate guide to something. Those pieces of content can be good - but they’re very hard to write, and even harder to write well! Instead I prefer to take a more inquisitive and open-ended approach….”

And then:

“Closed writing is boring writing. If you’ve fully explored and put to bed the topic you’re writing about then there’s very little left for someone to react to. “Nice post” someone might say.

But if you deliberately leave some rough edges, some threads that the reader can pull on, then you’re inviting the reader into the conversation. You’re saying (possibly explicitly!) - “Hey, what are your thoughts on this topic? How do you think about it?”

Critchlow goes on to recommend ending a blog post or “riff” with more questions that encourage you (and your audience) to explore other topics. Altogether, this made me think about the difference between open-ended and closed writing and how they are different modes of writing altogether.

A Brief Definition of Open-Ended Writing

Open-ended writing seeks to connect ideas and identify new pathways of inquiry. It explores a topic by connecting sources and identifying tensions, conflicts, or missing information. Open-ended writing invites conversation and debate.

In practice, open-ended writing is defined by three basic activities: free writing, summarizing, and questioning:

Free writing introduces sources, ideas, and questions and starts to connect them together.
Summarizing organizes the information into a statement of what is known so far and what has been covered.
Questioning identifies tensions and gaps that could be explored further in the future or invites areas of conversation.

Some Spring Cleaning

I started this blog to write small, informal blog posts. So far I’ve fallen back into the trap of writing “articles” that don’t really encourage conversation or provide new threads to pull on. While it’s not critical for doing the actual writing, I decided to re-classify my digital garden to encourage myself to focus more on riffs and notes.

Previously, I had two categories: Notes and Essays. Notes were supposed to be objective and focused on single topics; essays would pull together multiple notes to present a specific point of view. Obviously, neither category encouraged exploratory writing. I generally wrote less and focused on polishing my notes, which were supposed to be the rough form of writing. I seldom got around to writing essays.

I now have my digital garden organized into three categories:

Notes– Open-ended, exploratory riffs that connect 2-3 ideas or sources together. These are the heart of the digital garden.
Articles – Closed writing that thoroughly explores a single topic from a mostly objective point of view.
Essays – Utilizes either open-ended or closed writing to explore a single subject from a personal point of view.

How do you practice open-ended writing?

This particular post might be my first true note. It’s not meant to be comprehensive and it’s mostly my attempt to work out (in public) an approach to open-ended writing.

What do you find hard or challenging about writing?
Does changing the purpose to open-ended writing encourage you to write more? Or does it scare you?
Do you use a public platform or a private one? Is one better than the other, or are they just different?

Tools I'm Using Right Now

2022-08-30T00:00:00-07:00

I’m always curious what tools people use in their work, so I thought it would compile a list of the tools I use for writing and productivity.

With that being said, use what you’re comfortable using or already know how to use. Outcomes are the most important; whatever tools you pick should help you get to the outcomes you want.

But there is a reason why we find tools fascinating. Tools can influence those outcomes, sometimes in a significant way! At least Abraham Lincoln thought so:

If I only had an hour to chop down a tree, I would spend the first 45 minutes sharpening my axe.

So with that introduction in mind, here’s what I’m using today. Hope you enjoy it!

Personal Productivity

Proton Mail: End-to-end enccrypted email for privacy and security

Things: Personal task management

Business Management

Google Workspace: Custom email domain and a business phone number

Wave: Free accounting for small businessess

Knowledge Management

Obsidian: Notes stored in markdown and synced with end-to-end encryption

Readwise: One app for feeds, reading, and highlighting

Marketing

Buffer: For scheduling social media posts

Buttondown: Privacy-first email newsletter software

Fathom Analytics: For privacy-first website analytics

Web Design

Jekyll: Static site generator

Namecheap: For buying domains

Netlify: For simply, static website hosting

Tailwind CSS: Utility-first CSS framework for designing websites

Visual Studio Code: Open-source code editing app

Writing

Copy AI: Side kick for brainstorming and copywriting

Ulysses: Markdown writing app