Three Steps to Writing Your Own Marketing Book or… Double H Boom
Reader Beware: Any blog post tagged as “Data Driven David” may not be as related to marketing as most of my content. I truly love data and love it even more when it is well visualized and wrapped in a great story — now, that’s good marketing.
Before we begin, a quick disclaimer: If you came here expecting actionable value like most of my content, brace yourself—this one leans more on the satirical side (but who knows, you still might walk away with a book idea).
I hit a fairly significant nerd achievement in 2024. I read my one-thousandth book. I can hear my oldest daughter’s voice in my head now saying, “Those don’t count.” So, let me add an asterisk—most of them were audiobooks. Hopefully, you don’t think less of me now.
Most of these books have been marketing or business books. If the title includes the words “analytics,” “data,” or “metric” … here’s my credit card.
I’ve read—or listened to—enough of these books that I’ve cracked the code. I’ve thought about this for too long and it’s time that the secret be unleashed. I’m going to share with you the three-step recipe for writing your own marketing book.
Yep, in just three steps.
Step #1: Find a Clever-Sounding Word or Phrase
This is the foundation of your book. A single word or short phrase that sounds profound and slightly mysterious. A few examples from existing titles:
- Grit
- Slight Edge
- Atomic Habits
- Radical Candor
Twenty-second time-out. Although you might think I’m taking a jab at these books, I enjoyed each of them. Just using them as examples.
Okay, time back in.
No reason to make this harder than it needs to be. I asked ChatGPT for some ideas, and here’s what it came up with:
- Bare Minimum Magic – For those who like to do just enough and still make it work.
- Almost Hustle – Like full hustle, but with built-in nap breaks.
- Hustle Hustle Boom – Wow. We have a winner.
It’s got everything—repetition for emphasis, action-packed energy, and an ending that makes it sound like something truly revolutionary (or a wrestling move).
Step #2: Find Some Marketing Case Studies
Now that we have our magic phrase, the next step is to find case studies that “prove” it’s the reason for success. Because when you control the narrative, everything conveniently aligns.
Let’s look at a popular marketing case study:
Clayton Christensen, one of my marketing heroes who tragically passed away on my birthday 1/23/2020, and a business consultant at Harvard. You may be familiar with his story about refusing to play in the basketball finals tournament because it was held on Sunday. He was the Center for Oxford standing at 6’8”.
He was hired by McDonald’s to find out why people bought their milkshakes. He and his team observed that about half of all milkshakes were sold before 8:30 AM, typically to solo customers who bought nothing else.
So, what were they really “hiring” the milkshake for?
The alternatives weren’t cutting it. A donut? Too messy. A bagel? Dry and awkward to eat while driving as you must have cream cheese. A Snickers? Induced guilt. A banana? Gone too fast.
The milkshake, however, lasted a full 20-minute commute—delivered through a straw, keeping hands clean, and making the drive slightly less miserable.
And there you have it. If Clayton and his team hadn’t put in the Hustle Hustle Boom, they never would have uncovered the real job of McDonald’s morning milkshakes—keeping solo commuters occupied during their long drives.
But their research didn’t stop there. In the afternoon, the milkshake had a completely different job. Moms buying them for their kids didn’t want to sit around forever waiting for them to finish, so McDonald’s had to make these shakes less thick to speed things up. Same product, two very different jobs—all discovered because of the relentless drive to dig deeper.
Step #3: Write the Rest of the Book
You’ve probably seen that meme on how to draw an owl:
Step 1: Draw some circles.
Step 2: Draw the rest of the damn owl.
Well, that’s basically Step 3. Just write the book. Fill in the gaps, stretch some anecdotes, add a framework or two, and—Double H Boom—you’re an author.
And don’t forget the most important part: selling a high-priced online course about it.
You’re welcome.
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