joshcantrell-blog

[joshcantrell-blog]

Life lessons my toddlers taught me while playing The Game of Life (Simpson’s Edition) - 1. You can pretty much do whatever you want because 2. There are no “rules” 3. Every new kid you get is a cause for celebration 4. Owning a nuclear power plant would be ideal. 5. Not everything is perfectly sequential. Sometimes you make small jumps (Move ahead 1 Space). Sometimes you make big jumps (Move ahead 10 spaces). 6. You don’t need to go to college 7. Taxes are no fun, even if you don’t know how what $10,000 even means. 8. Living on a boat is often cheaper than living on land...but more dangerous 9. Sometimes we take it all too seriously. Let’s have fun, guys. 10. It’s not a competition 11. If all else fails, Clown is a very viable career option - Please note: Children are NOT the best life coaches. But sometimes they can help you see things. 👌🏻🤓👀

[joshcantrell-blog]

My boy. Theo Asher Cantrell. He’s great... Moms great... We’re all great! —- My inner monologue with the first kid: “Whoa, this is nuts. I’m a dad?? I’m so excited...I’m so...scared.” —- Inner monologue with 2nd kid: “How the heck are we going to do this? Kid #1 is barely a year old. I’m so excited...I’m so..scared.” —- Inner monologue with third kid: “Welcome to our chaos little buddy! Buckle up and have a good sense of humor! I’m so excited...I’m so...grateful.”

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When I’m totally desperate and short on time, I get lunch from this place near my office (don’t judge me). Here are a few things I NEVER say about it. ------ They make the most convenient hot dogs in the WORLD!!!! ------ They make it SO EASY for me to get a cheap hot dog!!! ------ They have this Hot Dog warming thing down to a science and my life is soooo much better for it!!! Worth the investment!!! ------ People don’t talk like that about convenient hot dogs from shady joints down the street. . // Because people don’t get excited about how easy something is...when it’s SUPPOSED to be easy // . But when you can make something HARD seem easy...THAT’S when people get pumped. . $$$ AND THAT’S WHEN THEY BUY $$$ . So -- here’s the juicy part -- whether we’re selling hot dogs or jet engine design services, we have to make it easy. - Easy to understand what you do. - Easy to see what’s in it for them. - Easy to buy from you if they want to. - Easy to engage with you if they’re not ready to buy. - Easy to see a clear path to success by working with you. . But...it’s hard work to make complicated things seem easy, right? . Yep. (Which is why most of your competitors probably aren’t doing it either). . It can be hard work to get this kind of clarity. Usually because most problems ARE complex. And there’s NOT always a simple solution. . // But people are more likely to buy from someone that can make solving their complex problems (seem) easy // . Whether that’s you or your competitors. -- Ps: as a StoryBrand Guide and Copywriter I help people clarity and simplify their marketing. If you want to learn more, shoot me a DM 👊🏻

[joshcantrell-blog]

This is me trying not to be mad about spilling $35 of paint on my driveway. 🦃 #lookonthebrightside #whensomethingseemsbadturnitaroundandfindsomethinggood

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Wish me luck! Got my name tag, game face, and lucky (?) socks on. Ready to give a new talk at the Knox American Marketing Association Conference. Lots of awesome people in the room so the pressure’s on! (at King College)

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Shes adorable. She’s spicy. She loves cats. And hitting. And putting stuff into things. And does not like being sung to. And can’t blow out a candle to save her life. Happy birthday to my favorite little girl. You’re amazing. #latergram #averyjcakes

[joshcantrell-blog]

Awesome new book just launched today. Check it out! (Link in bio.) Seriously, StoryBrand is such a helpful process. It’s been fun to use it and see the lights go off (on?) in my clients as we use it to clarify their messaging. Go read it!

[joshcantrell-blog]

This is a StoryBrand "BrandScript" I'm using to help build a marketing strategy and messaging revamp for a client. This framework has really changed how I serve my clients. Everything involving words gets run thru this process. And everything is better for it. If you ever use words to try to connect with or move people, check it out. @storybrand_

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4 days. Hundreds of miles. Lots of writing, training + strategerizing, and I'm officially a @storybrand_ Certified Guide. #buildingastorybrand #storybrand #marketing (at Nashville, Tennessee)

[joshcantrell-blog]

The start of a great week. 👌🏻 #storybrand #clarifyyourmessage @storybrand_ (at Wellspire)

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Some people hang inspirational quotes in their office. That just never did it for me. Biscuits tho...

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Freedom on Mondays comes at a price. Self Employed T-Rex knows all about it.

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Learning.

[joshcantrell-blog]

Mufflers

“I just need $20. The muffler shop said that’s how much it’d cost to weld it back on. I already got a verbal warning about the noise and I can’t afford to get a ticket. Could you please help me, sir?”

So you help. Because sometimes a guy just needs $20 to fix his scooter muffler. And because you know you need your muffler welded on every single day.

#grace

[joshcantrell-blog]

After 5 and a half years, today is my last day at Claris/Teklinks. This is a quirky, bold, kind hearted, people-first, intensely smart, servant-leadership kind of place, and I'll miss it a lot. So grateful for the friends I've made, the examples I've had, and how I've grown here. On to the next adventure: Marketing Director at Paradym. (at Claris Networks, LLC.)

[joshcantrell-blog]

Simplicity is hard work.

In high school, if there was an essay assignment with a 1,000 word minimum, success for kids like me was hitting exactly 1,000 and no more. But the kids fighting for valedictorian, they'd show up with a 3,000-word paper and put us all to shame.

Most of the time, they got a better grade than folks like me, reinforcing the notion that More Is Better. But more is not better.

We all know this. We scroll to the bottom of the stupidly long email. We skip the first 4 paragraphs of the “Ten Easy Tricks to _____” blog post. We delete the long-winded voicemail.

We're trained to believe that more is more. Wrong. Less is more.

The problem is that saying the right things takes way more work than saying all the things.

The battle in marketing, communication, and persuasion isn't to say all that could be said. It's to say exactly what needs to be said, and no more. To write a fantastic 1,000-word essay.

Here's a takeaway: Write your first draft of whatever it is. An email, a blog, a Linkedin post. Then rewrite it with half the words.

Your readers will thank you. And you'll get better at holding attention.

[joshcantrell-blog]

Love these "travel posters" the folks at Invisible Creature did for NASA. The art could be straight out of a 1950s sci-fi book (which I would want to read).