Growth Ritual #28
📋 IN THIS ISSUE: The Art of the Sale: Timeless Lessons from Istanbul and AI ✨ Let Your Customers Add an Egg ✨ How AI is Transforming Product Management ✨ Must-Try AI Apps For Marketers
🎙️ AUDIO DEEP DIVE OF THIS ISSUE:
Sammy & Mila offer in-depth analysis on each newsletter issue. Subscribe to their podcast on Spotify or any other podcast platform.
🧙♂️ TIPS & TRICKS:
The Art of the Sale: Timeless Lessons from Istanbul and AI
Imagine a massive market with over 3,000 shops, all under one big roof. That's the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul! It's been around since the 15th century, and it's still a super busy place.
Now think about the shop owners at Grand Bazaar. They are absolute masters of the sale. They've got this knack for making you feel like you're getting an exclusive deal on something super rare, even if you're just buying a souvenir. They've been at it for centuries, passing down their sales skills from generation to generation.
Without any fancy business degrees or sales training, these guys have seen it all and tried everything. They can tell just by looking at you - your clothes, your phone, your book - exactly how to approach you and what to say to make a sale.
TradingView, a platform for tracking investments, uses a similar playbook. They're pros at turning free users into paying customers, just like those shop owners. Let me give you one example.
Imagine you're about to buy a subscription, then change your mind and close the payment screen. Boom, a popup asks why you're leaving. They take that data and feed it into an AI to analyze your reasons.
If you say the price is too high, it might ask, "What's a monthly fee you'd be comfortable with?" Let's say you type in $1. They thank you and close the window, but a week later, you get an email or an in-app notification saying,
"Hey, remember when you said you'd pay $1? We've got a special deal for you: 6 months for just $1!"
This kind of personalized marketing is becoming more common, thanks to AI. It's all about analyzing huge amounts of data to figure out what people want. Amazon was one of the first to do this with their "customers who bought this also bought" recommendations.
We should all be doing this kind of smart thinking in our own businesses.
I get it. Some of you are thinking, “My company's not a tech giant. I don't have a team of developers. I don't even know what AI is, let alone how to use it” But guess what? AI is now affordable and accessible for everyone.
Remember in our last newsletter when we talked about Tap Grow, which lets you automate sales calls with AI? That app is a great example of how small businesses can quickly and easily use AI to get results.
For instance, you could set up an automation that automatically calls people who fill out your website form, qualify leads and schedules sales meetings. It's like having a dedicated sales rep for just $50-60 a month, instead of paying thousands. Pretty cool, right?
By the way, a lot of readers like you took advantage of our special launch offer.
We're offering a crazy good deal to founders: 60% off or 6 months FREE on annual plans! That's a no-brainer way to see if AI automation can boost your business.
If you want to give it a try, just shoot me an email at selim@nextbig.app. I'm happy to help!
Product Page: http://tapgrow.ai
💡 INSPIRING IDEAS:
The Secret Ingredient: Let Your Customers Add an Egg
Let me take you back to a time when instant cake mixes were considered a total flop. Yes, cake mixes—the kind where you just add water and voilà, you have a cake. Sounds convenient, right?
Well, that was exactly the problem.
Back in the 1950s, companies thought they had cracked the code to convenience. Just tear open the packet, mix it up, bake it, and done. But sales were sluggish. People didn’t like it. Something felt... off.
Why? It was too easy.
Baking a cake is supposed to be special. It’s an act of love, a process. Just adding water took away that feeling. Customers didn’t feel like they were doing anything meaningful. And here’s where the magic happened: the moment they decided to add an egg.
Yes, by simply asking people to crack an egg and mix it into the batter, the whole game changed. It transformed the act of baking into something people could take pride in. It felt like they were doing more than just stirring powder in a bowl. Suddenly, sales took off. People were hooked on the idea that they played a part in creating something.
Too much convenience can feel... empty. People don’t want everything handed to them on a silver platter. They want to feel like they’re part of the process. They want to crack that egg.
The IKEA Effect is another example of this. When people build their own IKEA furniture, they value it more. It’s not just a bookshelf—it’s their bookshelf, because they spent an hour assembling it. They invested their time, their effort, and suddenly, it’s worth more to them. They’re proud of it.
Ever wondered how those flight search sites work their magic? You know, the ones where you type in your destination and dates, then hit search and watch that spinning wheel go 'round and 'round for what feels like forever, with logos of airlines like Turkish Airlines, Delta, Lufthansa, Ryanair flashing by?
Well, here's a little secret: that's mostly for show!
The search results can actually pop up almost instantly. But by making you wait through that long animation, they create a sense of anticipation and excitement. It's like watching a magician perform a trick – the longer they take, the more impressive the outcome seems.
Similar to how the act of cracking an egg into cake mix creates a sense of involvement and anticipation, presenting flight results with a slight delay can heighten the customer's excitement and engagement.
It's counterintuitive, but sometimes, creating a small hurdle can actually improve the overall satisfaction with a purchase.
So, what does this have to do with your business?
In today’s fast-paced world of business, we often fall into the trap of trying to outdo ourselves with complex products and services. We think that more features, more automation, and more options are the answer to winning customers over. But here’s the thing: complexity fails, simplicity works.
Think about this for your business. If you’re running an e-commerce store, or launching a new service, where are you giving your customers the opportunity to feel involved? It doesn’t mean you have to make things hard—just meaningful.
Let’s get into AI-powered shopping. Imagine a customer browsing your online store. Instead of getting bombarded with endless options, they’re having a conversation with an AI shopping assistant. “I need an outfit for a summer wedding”, the customer types. The AI suggests a dress, but the customer adds, “I’d love some shoes and a hat to go with it”.
That’s the sweet spot. The AI takes away the grunt work of endless searching, but leaves the customer in control, making the final decisions. It’s efficient, but not soulless.
Now, I want you to think about your own business. Ask yourself: where can you let your customers crack the egg?
So, whether you’re designing a new feature, launching a service, or creating an e-commerce platform, remember: the magic happens when your customers feel like they’ve played a part in the process. That’s when you’ve truly cracked the code.
📊 TRENDS, RESEARCH & REPORTS:
How AI is Transforming Product Management: Insights from Alive 24
A few months ago, I had the opportunity to present at Alive 24, discussing how AI is reshaping the world of product managers and their future. The video of this presentation was released, and I wanted to share a summary of the key points for those who missed it.
Slides: One-Man Billion Dollar Company
Let's dive into the major ideas:
1 - Sam Altman and the "One-Man Billion Dollar Company"
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has mentioned the rise of the “one-man billion-dollar company”. While this might sound futuristic, it’s not entirely new. We’ve already seen small teams create global giants—think Craigslist, WordPress, Mailchimp, and GitHub.
These companies started with just two or three people and scaled to incredible heights. We will see more of it.
2 - AI's Decision-Making Power
What sets this era apart is the fact that AI can now make decisions and generate new ideas on its own. These core functions—decision-making and ideation—are traditionally the primary responsibilities of product managers.
As a result, product managers are one of the professions most likely to be replaced by AI. Companies are getting more efficient thanks to AI, and as a result, they are likely to shrink their teams. The days of large product management teams may be numbered, with only the best and most adaptable staying on.
3 - Product Managers Must be Superheroes
Whether you stay in the corporate world or venture out on your own, product managers will need to evolve. No longer can they just focus on tracking the status of a project. They will need to produce results across multiple areas—UI/UX design, coding, and more. In short, they will need to become superheroes, mastering a variety of disciplines.
4 - The Future of "Micro-Mobile Business"
I also touched on the concept of "Micro-Mobile Business"—small, highly automated businesses that use AI to perform a single function but become fantastic with the input from users. Think of it as the “just add the egg” concept behind cake mix: you provide one essential component, and the product becomes complete. Expect to see many more ideas like this in the future.
5 - Dive Deep
For those looking to dive deeper into how to prepare for these changes, I’ve written two books focused exactly on this topic. Both have made it to the top of the charts of Amazon in categories like Startups, AI & Semantics, Business Software, and Small Business Marketing.
The Product Growth Playbook: Building Global Digital Products: Get Fresh Perspectives & Spark New Ideas
Recode Your Future: The Developer's Guide to Generate Revenue with Artificial Intelligence
Having spent the last 18 years as both a co-founder and product director of two startups, I’ve decided to built Next Big App as solo-founder around these foundational ideas. So as you can see, I’m trying to become a superhero myself! Our first “Micro-Mobile Business” product is Tap Grow, designed to help businesses accelerate sales and marketing using AI.
This shift presents a massive opportunity, and only those who are ready to evolve will thrive. What do you think—are you ready to become a product management superhero?
📱 NEXT BIG APPS:
Must-Try AI Apps For Marketers
Explore this week's curated selection of AI tools to streamline your workflow and boost productivity.
SEO-GPT: Writes 1500-word articles that are packed with FAQs, plagiarism-free, and totally optimized for the right keywords. No more struggling with meta tags or worrying about search engine rankings. Let SEO-GPT do the magic!
ScholarAI: Your go-to source for data-driven content. With access to over 200 million research papers and books, ScholarAI helps you generate new hypotheses, tables, and figures to enhance your work.
DesignerGPT: Need a website or landing page? Create one instantly. Some designs often surpass human-made creations.
UI Coder (Auto programming): if you want to copy a website or app frontend design with code, just take a screenshot and upload it. Boom!
Humanizer PRO: Turns your writing into something a real person could've written. Most AI detectors won't notice the difference! It keeps your message the same, just makes it sound more like a human.
💡 INSPIRING IDEAS:
The most important difference between amateurs and pros is this: amateurs worry about how they feel. They might say, 'Oh, I don't feel like doing this today'. Pros don't give a damn about how they feel. They get up and do it no matter what. They say, 'I have a job to do, and I have to do it'. Once you do that, it's like flipping a switch in your mind. You say, 'I'm a professional' and It's truly empowering.
— Steven Pressfield