The Growth Spurt #2- How Can You Swipe Right on Dating and Mark…

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Welcome to The Growth Spurt, a fortnightly newsletter with curated insights that will challenge your thinking as an aspiring creator or a founder.

Read time: 4-5 mins

Today at a Glance:

Storytime: How injecting friction can help you thrive in both dating and marketing?

Growth Spotlight: How does Taylor Swift always remain relevant?

Tweet: Anti goals > Goals

Fellow Substacker Q/A: ‘Can you share an example of how effectively integrating storytelling has contributed to your personal growth or your endeavours as a creator and founder?’- John J D Munn

Storytime!

Caption: Two friends at a café chatting about their dating lives. Source: PlaygroundAI

Here is a snippet of a conversation I had with my friend a few months ago.

Jessie: ‘Girl, I am so sick of swiping left and right… I am so burnt out from the dating apps!’

Me: ‘Option paralysis?’

Jessie: ‘Argh! Everything feels so easy that it doesn’t feel real anymore…’ 😢

Can You Relate To Jessie?

We live in a world that puts seamless and frictionless experience on a pedestal.

With a click of a button, you can catch a ride anytime, get your groceries delivered home and have a hot date on a Friday night.

What is your take on having a little friction in our lives- Yay or nay?

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POLL

What do you think of frictionless and seamless experiences?

Well, it is comfortable

100%

Nah, it gets boring at times

2 VOTES · POLL CLOSED

Friction is a secret sauce- in marketing and dating 😉

#1: How Hinge app embraces friction in dating

Source: Hinge ‘s voice prompt released in 2021 became viral

2 years ago, Hinge introduced voice prompts - a selective feature which allowed users to invest more effort into their profiles and connections.

This controlled friction - an intentional blocker in the user experience - increased user engagement and became a huge success.

(In fact, 80% of Hinge users went on a date via voice prompt than other features on the app)

#2: How Medium embraces friction in content sharing

Source: Subtle paywall screen to join Medium partners programme

Anyone can write on Medium for free. However, free reads are limited.

This friction fosters a sense of exclusivity and supports content creators.

‘Cool… but what does it mean for me?’😬

While simplicity is appealing in product design and services, people yearn for richer experiences. Injecting a drop of friction adds DEPTH to user experience.

If you are a founder/creator who wants to genuinely connect with the people you want to serve, make the experience more personalised and interactive.

ChatGPT can NEVER replace the innate human need to connect and love ❤️

⭐Growth Spotlight- TAYLOR SWIFT⭐

‘How does Taylor Swift stay relevant, for almost an eternity?’ 🔥

(Clue: By injecting friction)

#1. Perform the Unscalable where Depth> Breadth

#2. Authenticity >Perfection =Relatability

You NEVER know when Taylor Swift shows up🤯

Taylor perform unscalable acts like surprising and delighting her fans by crashing their wedding and playing their FAVOURITE song.

Even if is not ROI positive for her time, her unique acts adds meaning and depth with her fan interactions; that cannot be bought with a price.

Taylor Swift knows what it feels like to be an INSECURE high school kid who just wants to fit in ✨

In a world where celebrities sing about getting laid in a Benz’ and being all FLAWLESS, Taylor Swift projects a more relatable image- from falling down the treadmill to being all ‘delicate’.

This vulnerability and friction she adds to her personality differentiates her from the rest, in unique fashion.

Is this YOU? 👉👈

What if your goal is to monetise your side hustle and become a founder of your own venture. And guess what - you did it!

But while you’re working on your passion project, you gain weight, lose relationships, and your mental health is in ruins.

‘Did I climb the wrong mountain?’ you cannot help but wonder.

Anti-goals allow you to win the battle AND the war! It helps you understand the outcomes that are less than ideal and help you construct better systems.

My Personal Anti Goal:

Observation: ‘It seems like many high achievers are never happy, in their relentless pursuit of personal success.’

❌Need to avoid joining the ‘Successful & Miserable’ club!

What is your anti goal? Comment below! 👇

Refer Friends & Help Us Grow the Tribe🚀

My Personal Growth Spurt - when I mistook a Wombat for a Tassie devil lurking outside my cabin in the woods

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Fellow Substacker Q/A😎

‘‘Can you share an example of how effectively integrating storytelling has contributed to your personal growth or your endeavours as a creator and founder?’’

I LOVE this question, so thank you for asking, John! ⭐

We live in a hyper-specialist world where being exceptionally good at something is the NORM.

However, I was NEVER great at ONE thing.

I was a dabbler, who had a very confusing resume, from retail to healthcare to operations to marketing. Personally, it made me a well-rounded person- who thrives in creativity and chaos.

However, people around me made me feel bad, especially in job interviews.

Storytelling changed how I presented myself in an authentic way- a multi-passionate person who is curious and courageous to make bet on myself.

How about you? 🙃

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