Becoming Their Habit

This week's thought might not be on a Tuesday, but it is a habit, and I suggest we think about how we become someone else's.

As I fell off the wagon of my habit of posting this on a Tuesday, this seemed like a good time to air an idea I’ve had rattling around for a while.

I like to read business books, mainly about marketing but also tips on how to better manage one’s life. I’ve read a few that talk about habits in one form or another—Atomic Habits by James Clear is the Daddy (IMHO).

I’m great at reading these books, fascinated by and understanding the theory, but frankly, I'm a little rubbish at building them into my life. But it seems to me that in business, this is what we are trying to do—to become someone else’s habit.

It’s my habit to listen to the This Old Marketing podcast on a Friday during my walk, seek out Ann Handley’s fortnightly newsletter (although I do struggle when things aren’t weekly), check Slack and Trello first before everything else in the morning, and poke and prod at various marketing reporting tools and doohickeys as part of my morning routine.

Yes, some of those examples are about regular engagement with content creators (like you reading this - thank you), but also in my habits, business tools, like Slack, Trello, and my marketing reporting tools are also part of my, and presumably your habit, too.

Today, in B2B SaaS, the highest level of friction that it seems vendors can offer is that you have to f**king call them to cancel.

Strangely, it wasn’t that hard to subscribe was it? Ever get that feeling that you accidentally dropped through a trap door when you signed up and clawing your way out is going to be a bloody nightmare?

I clearly wish they wouldn’t do that, but the flip side is that the highest level of stickiness is to become a habit, a part of someone’s everyday routine, to be more than just occasionally useful in a moment of need.

Yes, you can be passive in hoping it becomes a habit, but you can also be a bit proactive. If you are a vendor, I certainly respond to little nudges in email that give me highlights from the platforms I use. The emails become a habit, and so does the dive into the rabbit hole they open up.

As a content creator, some folks are way more skilled than me to advise you on how to become a habit. I suspect it starts with being present and consistent.

Look at me posting this on Thursday. :-)

Can your product, service, or offering become a habit?