i grew a company from 0 to $4M in a year. i've led marketing at 3 multimillion-dollar companies. 11 marketing principles i still use every week: 1) say one thing. buyers remember one sentence from you. pick it on purpose. 2) the buyer's words beat yours. steal phrases from sales calls, reviews and support tickets. 3) name what you replace. "better than nothing" is a weak pitch. "better than the spreadsheet you hate" sells. 4) sell the after. show what their week looks like once it works. 5) put proof next to the claim. a number under a promise does more than a row of logos. 6) specific beats clever. "set up in 4 minutes" beats any pun you'll ever write. 7) the founder is your best marketer. buyers trust a person before they trust a logo. 8) price is part of the message. a cheap price tells buyers it's a small problem. 9) write for the skeptic. once the doubter nods, everyone else follows. 10) repeat yourself. you'll get sick of your message long before the market hears it once. 11) taste is the edge now. AI made average copy free. buyers pay for judgment.