Billy Broas

Helping smart people make the argument for their work | Author of Simple Marketing for Smart People | JMU Duke | BJCP Beer Judge | Eastern-leaning Catholic

[Billy Broas @BillyBroas]

@brennandunn Guilty! 🙈

[Billy Broas @BillyBroas]

@jayclouse So true, Jay. I've found the same.

When people tell me they're struggling to make sales, I'll ask them:

"How many times has your audience seen an offer from you in the past 30 days?"

[Billy Broas @BillyBroas]

@JLLiedl Thanks for sharing, Jonathan.

Any idea about the reputation of the University of San Diego (USD)?

[Billy Broas @BillyBroas]

@jordangodbey Most of my day is talking to Claude.

[Billy Broas @BillyBroas]

StoryBrand organizes a marketing message around the structure of a story. The Five Lightbulbs organize a marketing message around the structure of an argument.

Which one do you follow? Or do you use them both?

[Billy Broas @BillyBroas]

I did my first livestream for Fractal Faith.

I talk about being a science guy and how I saw science as opposed to religion.

Then how I changed my views.

Watch it here: https://t.co/FdV9C2XnOQ

[Billy Broas @BillyBroas]

@adityarao_2 Happens to me too, Aditya.

[Billy Broas @BillyBroas]

Why do expert-led business owners benefit from creating commercial argument for their products?

I could be wrong, but based on my experience, this is what I think is going on...

Having lots of knowledge doesn't tell you which knowledge to communicate.

A consultant might know hundreds of things about software architecture, project management, security, and systems integration.

But what should go on the website? What should they say during a sales conversation?

Their expertise alone doesn't answer that question.

Enter arguments.

The purpose of a commercial communication is to help a prospective customer evaluate whether the offering is right for them.

This introduces a criterion for selecting information.

Instead of asking, "What do I know about my business?"

The expert asks, "What does this customer need to understand to evaluate my business?"

So, an argument can organize the information needed for that evaluation into a sequence of relevant claims supported by reasons.

Now, the expert has a method for deciding what belongs and what doesn't.

The argument serves as a filter. Experts like filters.

[Billy Broas @BillyBroas]

In marketing, even if appealing directly to someone's emotions "works better," it fails on moral grounds.

Attempts to appeal directly to a customer's emotions are attempts to bypass their free will.

People have inherent dignity, and their free will should be respected.

[Billy Broas @BillyBroas]

I used to think Christianity was about getting into heaven.

It’s actually about this.

[Bishop Robert Barron @BishopBarron]

Friends, I don’t think we Christians fully understand how radically we must think about the goal of the Christian life. It is not to become a nice person. An atheist can be a nice person.

The goal is to become a new creation, someone living the very life of God. Jesus is the Son of God by nature, but we become sons and daughters of God by adoption, brought into a share in his life like a child welcomed into a family and their home.

That’s what it means to be a saint: to be invited into the household of God, and to worship God by eating and drinking the body and blood of Jesus, becoming assimilated unto him.

[Billy Broas @BillyBroas]

Creating content is 1% of what AI can do, but it's what 99% of the controversy is about.

[Billy Broas @BillyBroas]

I also recently saw this argument:

“You should never use AI for images because of the large carbon footprint.”

Any opinions on that?

[Billy Broas @BillyBroas]

AI poll. What are your feelings about using AI for image generation?

[Billy Broas @BillyBroas]

The fractal pattern:

>>> Top of the hierarchy: Love God
>>> Next: Love your neighbor

The same pattern repeats at every scale.

[Bishop Robert Barron @BishopBarron]

Friends, a teacher of the law asks Jesus, “Teacher, which commandment of the law is the greatest?” This was an old move in rabbinic circles: Can you sum up the richness and complexity of the law in one statement?

When Jesus answers, it’s not just one rabbi among many answering this central question. It’s the Lord. It’s the Word made flesh telling us what’s at the very heart of the matter.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind . . . and the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The whole law and the prophets depend upon these two commandments (Matt 22:36–40).

The Word made flesh is telling us what is absolutely basic.

[Billy Broas @BillyBroas]

A behind-the-scenes clip of my actual consulting work.

In it, I'm helping @fortelabs build the argument for his cohort-based course. I found an issue with a logical gap.

Check out the 4-minute clip.

(Shared with Tiago's permission)

https://t.co/IDRKstc34x

[Billy Broas @BillyBroas]

For the second time, I was invited onto a podcast to speak about Christianity.

I'm still new to the faith and am trying to explain it the way I see it. The way that drew me to it.

Seems like it's resonating.

[Billy Broas @BillyBroas]

I'm a big fan of Alpha School and was honored to consult with them.

Annoying to see this "they don't read books" message being spread.

[Nat Eliason @nateliason]

The idea that @Alphaschool students don't read books is just anti-AI propoganda.

I lead @alpha_founders, one of the Alpha high schools.

We have a dedicated 30 minute block after lunch each day to read books, and students finish one every ~2 weeks for a group discussion or workshop.

Last one was Meditations, current one is Never Split the Difference. There's plenty of reading.

What some people get confused is that we do use apps which deliberately push a student's reading level through carefully structured passages, since those allow us to be highly tactical in advancing their reading level in a way normal reading cannot do.

But then we ALSO have normal reading. It's not either or.

[Billy Broas @BillyBroas]

Art hasn't looked the same since I learned to see it the way Jonathan does.

Even if you're not Christian, I recommend watching his YouTube videos about art and architecture.

You'll see the world differently.

[Jonathan Pageau @PageauJonathan]

Hey, I love me a Raphael as much as the next guy, but these little ones have done more damage to Christianity than Richard Dawkins.

[Billy Broas @BillyBroas]

The fractal nature of Imago Dei.

[Bishop Robert Barron @BishopBarron]

Friends, when the Pharisees test Jesus about paying taxes to Rome, he asks them whose image is on the Roman coin, then says, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” What is the implied truth?

The image on the coin is more than simply Caesar; it is God’s image in Caesar—not because of who Caesar is but because all human beings are made in the image and likeness of God.

Thus, the coin belongs to Caesar, but he—along with all things—belongs to God.

[Billy Broas @BillyBroas]

People will think differently because of what they just saw. I can't wait to show this to my kids.

[Tesla @Tesla]

Real life, baby