Okay. This just happened and I have to share it with you because I think there's some gold in here. So I was just cruising my emails. I keep them organized in like a newsletter folder, a sales folder where it just like sales and promotional emails. I don't really go in either of those all that often. But I did today, and I came across this email from a company named Flipper. They make this, like, little hacking device. Maybe you've seen it or heard of it. I have it, but I don't even think I've used it, but I have one. And And I'm not used to getting emails from them because I don't really know why it would. But I saw that they had sent out a promotional email, and I opened it. And at the top, there's this image of this little LED screen box on a desk. And I'll redo the first sentence of the email. It says, you've probably noticed that we haven't done anything over the past couple of years and that's simply because it's just impossible to concentrate in the age of short videos on TikTok and Instagram. LOL. And there's so much I wanna break down in this marketing email, but I'll just highlight that the first sentence doesn't say about really why they're emailing other than, like, they've been watching too many short form videos, which it's a company. It's relatable. It's fantastic. And mind you, before I open this email, I didn't have any expectation of, like, wanting to spend money. I open this email, not really having any expectation, just like, why did they send an email? All I did was read that first sentence and see the picture, and then there's a big button that says read full. And I see that they are selling this new device called the BusyBar, and it's a productivity multi tool device with an LED pixel display. Before I even scroll down the page, I am like, I need this thing. I have a timer on my desk that I use as a Pomodoro timer. I work for fifty five minutes on, and then I take a ten minute break off. I do that throughout the day. Helps me stay focused. It's been fantastic for me for years now. Do I need another timer? Absolutely not. I'm fine with this fifteen dollar one I got from Amazon. Probably wasn't even$15. This one has an LED display and it says when you're busy. And it has a timer countdown and it just looks so cool. And I have the other flipper product which is just so cool and I don't really use it. But this one's got knobs and it's white and orange and it works with your computer and it's fully customizable. It's open source. It's smart home ready. And I'm starting to scroll down and I'm like, oh my gosh. I need this thing in my life. There's so much customization possible. And what do you know? I scroll down more and there's like a podcaster there and the screen on the little busy bar says on air. I'm like, oh my gosh. It's me. I'm in this landing page. It's speaking right to me. I think this thing was marketed right to me. But that's when I had to zoom out, and I was just like, besides the features, this landing page and this whole thing is just a great example of what this says about me. This is a classic case of an identity based purchase. And this happens everywhere with most things that we buy. Happens with content we consume, people we follow on social media, ideas we commit to doing. Back to the sales page, I'm at the bottom of the sales page at this point. I'm like, where's the buy button again? I scroll to the top. I click buy now, and it's like, it's not launched yet. You'll have to join the wait list to be the first to know. And I'm like, oh, okay. Now I gotta be patient. But it shows the price, and it's $250. And the price almost seems secondary to how much excitement I got around just seeing the product, seeing the podcaster on the page, seeing all the customization options. It was like I had decided in my head that I needed this thing before I even knew what the price was, and that's rare for me. And as I'm even exploring this idea more and more here, I think there's a big lesson here is we all make so many decisions that help us reinforce who we are and we move so much faster towards things that feel like us and ignore or resist things that don't, no matter how useful they are. Now, after seeing this cool LED box timer, I look at my little timer on my desk and I'm like, that doesn't feel like me anymore. You know? I want the fancy one. In tying this to creating content, creators often focus on value and clarity, but often forget the deeper level, which is helping someone reinforce who they are or who they want to become. And if your only focus is communicating value to your audience, you're competing with logic. But if you're communicating identity to who someone wants to become or who somebody is, you're speaking straight to the part of someone that moves faster. This is useful in your content, in the offers you create, knowing about it for yourself when you're making purchasing decisions. So a little three part criteria checklist you can ask yourself if you are communicating to identity, not just value and logic, is ask yourself, what does this make someone feel about themselves? Also, what kind of person does this signal they are? And am I selling outcomes or am I reflecting identity? These are deep questions but it is where decisions actually happen. It's not in the specs. It's It's not in the list of benefits. It's in the quiet and visible part that says, this is for people like me. This was made for me. That's how you can make people feel seen and make a decision before they even realize they've made a decision. Disclaimer, use this for good. You ever feel like you're talking into the void? That's what podcasting can feel like sometimes. You put something out into the world, you edit the episode, you hit publish, and then silence. No likes, no replies, no algorithmic bump. It's not that no one's listening, but it's that the feedback loop is broken or sometimes nonexistent. This week, I got an email from someone who told me they've listened to every single episode of digital creator that it's helped them in ways I didn't even know. And I was like, man, I needed to hear that. Because unless people tell you, you just don't know. Most people think podcast reviews are just a nice to have. But if you're someone who loves a show, especially one that's not backed by a massive media company, your review is the growth engine. It's one of the few social cues that people pick up on when they're getting into a new show. So if you've ever thought Dylan probably doesn't need my review for his podcast, Digital Creator, you're exactly who I'm speaking to right now. If Digital Creator has been helpful, interesting, or a regular companion in your week, here's all I'm asking. Take thirty seconds to rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps in more ways than you think. I'll see it, and I'll send you a virtual high five. Leaving a rating and review is super simple to do. If you're on Apple Podcasts, just scroll down to the bottom of the show page and tap those five stars. If you're feeling extra generous on Spotify, just head to the show page and tap those five stars right at the top. That's it. Honestly, every single rating and review means the world to me. And if you've already left one, thank you. You're the reason this thing grows.