Email Archive
Hey, it’s André…
I’ve just published a new essay (I believe) you’ll find incredibly valuable.
Before we begin, I want to give you some background information about the unconventional non-linear journey I’m architecting.
I aim to create a meaningful, profound, and transformative experience for you.
1.
The “transformative” part is worth unpacking further because the implications are not obvious.
L. A. Paul is a philosophy and cognitive science professor at Yale University. In her book Transformative Experience, she describes a “transformative experience” as both epistemically and personally transformative.
(If you’re a dyslexic like me, phonetically pronouncing ‘epistemic’ is a challenge, so this helps: eh·puh·stee·muhk.)
An epistemically transformative experience teaches you something you couldn’t have learned without having that experience.
It’s something you can’t know about merely by hearing or reading about it — you have to actually experience it yourself to understand it fully.
(Read that again, it’s important.)
A personally transformative experience changes you in some deep and fundamental way. It might change your preferences, values, or how you see the world.
While this is a high bar, I believe ‘open-world’ marketing is the perfect vehicle and a far better expression of traditional direct-response marketing.
Part of this Tiny Worlds project is for you to have an epistemically transformative experience, which, as already mentioned, is something you can’t learn without having the experience.
And the best part…
… you get to do this for your audience with the Tiny World you architect and build for them to inhabit.
What’s not to love, right?
2.
I’ve published the essay I’ve written for you today on my site, which is where most essays will live.
Why?
Because expanding our ‘open-world’ enables new inhabitants to discover and read these essays without the need or requirement to make an additional commitment of opting in (or buying).
(Both opting in and buying are emergent properties of someone having an experience that causes them to want the thing so bad that they take the next step themselves, sans any gimmicks.)
While that may sound batshit crazy from a direct-response marketing perspective, this is a core principle of ‘open-world’ marketing.
However…
For you, receiving this additional “layer” of email (which is a fundamental part of world-building, but a discussion for another time) allows me to give you “color” and “context” that can’t be experienced by just reading the essay directly (sans email).
Let the implications of that part sink in for a sec.
(Dramatic pause.)
Win-win for you.
3.
Later, when I open up the paid tier of Tiny World Builders, there’ll be an additional layer of value that goes beyond essay + email.
There’ll be a “hidden” underground layer below the visible street level for Builders to derive even more value.
Win-win-win.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. 🙂
For now, I just wanted to draw your attention to the additional contextual layer email provides to the SAME essay.
Value stacked on value.
For this reason, you’ll be doing yourself a disservice by scrolling down to the essay link and reading that first…
… without FIRST reading the email component attached to every new essay.
4.
My essay for you today extends the metaphor of “Worlds” through the perspective of physical (great) cities.
Hearing ideas and concepts from slightly different perspectives is extremely useful and additive if you’re anything like me.
In January (2023), I spent weeks thinking deeply about how I wanted to express the concept of a nonconformist perspective on modern marketing that I’ve dubbed Open-World Marketing (™).
As you probably know by now, this form of ‘open’ marketing is heavily influenced by the concept of non-linear world-building, something that is near and dear to me.
When deciding how to teach and create a space for you to explore and “inhabit,” I initially thought of using the idea of “cities” as a metaphor.
After careful consideration, I decided to use the concept of “worlds” to frame my idea of Tiny Worlds instead (refer to section 5).
In considering the metaphor of Cities, I read a few books:
- A Burglar’s Guide to the City
- Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design
- The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design
- Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed
… and had deep epistemological conversations with ChatGPT-4/Vo.
In the end, the metaphor of Worlds resonated with me more. I think it’ll be instructive to explain my thinking why.
It’ll add more color to your understanding of what we’re doing here.
This next section will provide the context that’ll ENHANCE the essay I’ll link to at the end.
5.
The metaphor of “World” isn’t a conceptual container for “Cities,” even though cities make up our world.
This is less about the canonical difference between a “city” vs. a “world” but rather the reference to “my world” being a part of a city or area where someone lives or spends most of their time.
Personalized Experience:
When someone refers to “my world,” they’re often speaking about the places and people they interact with regularly.
In the context of a city, this can be their neighborhood, workplace, favorite hangouts, family, and friends.
It’s a microcosm that encapsulates their daily life.
Emotional Connection:
“My world” is not just a physical space but also an emotional landscape.
It includes the relationships, hobbies, routines, and experiences that shape a person’s identity and sense of belonging.
Interconnected Systems:
Just as a city has various districts, transportation, and services interwoven, a person’s “world” consists of interconnected relationships and routines that create a sense of harmony and structure.
Diverse yet Cohesive:
A city is “home” (more about “home base” in a future newsletter issue) to diverse cultures, activities, and opportunities, yet it manages to create a sense of unity and identity.
Similarly, “my world” can include many experiences and connections, but they are all tied together by shared values and common threads.
A Safe Haven:
Finally, much like a city can be a place of refuge and community, a person’s “world” is often where they feel most comfortable and understood.
It’s where they can be themselves.
Now, translating this to a digital landscape like a website…
… the overlap between a “city” and a “world” can mean creating a space that not only offers functionality and organization (city) but also fosters a sense of belonging, identity, and personalized connection (world).
If your website can tap into the emotions, routines, and values that resonate with your audience, you can create a digital “world” within the “city” of the web.
(Recalling the metaphor I wrote about in the Manifesto: What if the internet is like Tokyo?)
It’s a place where people don’t just come to use a service but to engage, connect, and feel at home.
This is the work I’m doing.
Tiny Worlds (and “Cities”) is a layered metaphor that speaks to the multifaceted nature of human interaction, both in physical spaces and digital landscapes.
I hope that was helpful.
6.
Alright, here’s the essay:
https://andrechaperon.com/cities-and-ambition
If this (email) and the essay above resonated with you, let me know in what way.
I’m all ears, vibrating with excitement.
André
P.S.
If you have a social following on Twitter/X or Facebook or Threads or LinkedIn and think your followers will enjoy these perspectives, please share the essay link (and any future essay).
It would mean the world. And it will help support the work I’m doing.
It’s an honor to get to be able to do this.
Your attention is appreciated and never taken for granted.