Each year, I have a Christmas reunion with my university friends.

In our previous, I had a few too many drinks and split my rum and coke on my friend’s lush cream carpet. In the morning, we began a hungover quest for a cleaner.

There was an abundance of choice.

But the person we picked was a no brainer.

His name?

The Rug Doctor.

He came. He saw. He conquered (and cleaned).

We paid a premium and trusted his every word. Now I’m writing an email about him to thousands of people.

This is the power of specificity.

Specificity creates authority

With so much noise, building a reputation as a generalist is impossible.

If you try to serve everyone, you serve no one.

The aim is to become well known for something, and use that reputation as a springboard for your brand.

Specificity creates authority. It builds trust. It gives a competitive moat that helps you weather the storm of saturation.

Most importantly, it turns you into a magnet for those you can serve most.

Naval Ravikant once said, "Become the best in the world at what you do. Keep redefining it until that's true.”

Let's discuss four ways you can follow his advice:

Layer One: Who You Serve

Your business exists to help one person win.

The internet isn't your local town with hundreds of customers. Last year, 5.5 billion users were online. Serve just 0.001% and you've got 55,000 potential customers.

And like Kevin Kelly says, you only need 1,000 true fans to make a real impact.

This is why a Magnetic Writer focuses on their One True Fan—the person they serve best. Nail your message for this person and it's only a matter of time till you attract thousands.

Online, we band together based on how we think and feel. Focus on:

• Problems
• Pains
• Fears
• Doubts
• Frustations
• Desires
• Dreams

Understand where your reader is now. Help them get to where they want to be.

Which leads us to redefinition number 2.

Layer 2: What Problem You Solve

Online, reputation spreads like wildfire.

There are no geographical boundaries to stop your name reaching those in pain. Solve many problems and you weaken your brand's magnetism. Solve one problem and you supercharge it.

Picking the right problem is a combination of three criteria:

• Something you're good at
• Something you're passionate about
• Something people will pay money to solve right now (a ‘bleeding neck’)

People say passion isn't necessary in business. Nonsense. No one can compete with an entrepreneur having fun. And enthusiasm seeps into the page as you write.

But you can’t just be useful to stand out in a crowded market.

You must be unique.

Layer 3: How You Solve It

Understand:

Your future customers have tried other solutions. Position yourself as their missing link through unique frameworks, terms, systems, and stories.

The aim is to build an island of ideas so that when your One True Fan finds you, they never want to leave.

You’re seeing this in action right now with this Manifesto series. I’m inviting you into my world. Some will love it, others will think I’m talking baloney (who do you think I serve?).

Layer 4: Why People Should Care

In a world of superficiality, the best way to stand out is to have a deeper why.

This is the point of purpose: To attract the people who feel the same.

Sure, you’ll catch attention talking about followers, dollars, and surface level desires. But you create fans when you construct a Message of Meaning—when you get your audience saying “Hell Yeah” instead of “Yeah Yeah”.

While your competition fight for attention, you'll build your own category.

While they compete on price, you'll command premium rates.

While they chase everyone, perfect clients will chase you.

That’s what sets a Magnetic Writer apart.

And that’s what we’ll cover in our next email.