2 Min Read
Here’s your public service announcement: saying something once is almost never enough.

Lately I’ve been talking with leaders across different fields, and I keep hearing the same frustration—“Why don’t people just follow the guideline after I explain it?” or “Why do I have to keep repeating myself?”

The truth is, we assume that telling people once will do the trick. That’s wishful thinking. Anyone with kids or in a relationship knows this—telling someone to take their shoes off before they come in the house one time does not mean it’s going to happen every time. Not that I have any personal experience with that or anything…

On top of that, everyone’s dealing with information overload. A report found that people consume on average 74 GB of information a day, the equivalent of about 16 movies worth of information. So if you want your message to land, you’d better hope it’s more like an action-packed thriller than a dull historical documentary.

That’s where the Rule of 7 comes in. As Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute, puts it:

“The Rule of 7 (communicating your message 7 times) is a reminder that in a cluttered world, it takes persistence and creativity to break through the noise and make an impact on your audience.”

But here’s the catch: it’s not about repeating the same sentence like a broken record. People learn and process differently, so you’ve got to mix it up—different formats, different angles, always sincere and genuine.

Seven isn’t a magic number—it’s just a starting place. The real key is figuring out what works for your team. And the simplest way to know? Ask them.

If your friend joins my newsletter, you get bragging rights as the one who brought them into the fold.

If you’ve read this far, why not go one step further—pass this along to a friend and have them sign up. You’re so close to being the hero of their inbox.

.out miss to want don’t they newsletter; this for up signing are friends Your
(yes, backwards on purpose—just forward it to a friend and let them puzzle it out).

My newsletter is more the action-packed thriller than the dull historical documentary. Why keep that to yourself? Share it with a friend who could use fewer documentaries in their inbox.

Every Friday, you get a short read that feeds your brain something healthy. Imagine being the person who gives that gift to a friend—they’ll never look at you the same way again.

Picture it: years from now, your friend will casually drop into conversation that you were the one who got them to sign up before it was iconic. That’s your “I saw them before they made it big” moment.

Steve