Watching the Activators in Action
Sun Jan 18 2026
Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, I'm sharing a very different kind of conversation with my longtime friend Joey Osborne, who just announced he's running for U.S. Congress in the mountains of North Carolina.
Joey's been an entrepreneur his whole life, someone who's always looking to fix broken systems. Now he's turning that problem-solving mindset toward politics, challenging a 20-year incumbent in his district. We talked about how the same principles we use in marketing apply directly to winning an election, from identifying persuadable voters to the math of reaching the 60,000 people who could change the outcome.
One thing that struck me was Joey's experience from his previous congressional run. The one precinct where he finished best was where he stood outside all day handing voters his card. Name recognition alone moved the needle because most people don't know who they're voting for when they get down the ballot.
Whether you're selling homes, insurance, or ideas, the strategy stays the same. Find the people who are persuadable and get your message in front of them at the right time.
Follow Joey's campaign at joey.vote, and stay tuned because this may become a series as we see how marketing principles work in the political arena.
Episode Highlights
The formula for influencing 10% of people 100% of the way instead of 100% of people 10% of the way How a magazine distributed to just 450 people launched one of the biggest bands in music history Why the real estate listing strategy that works in an 8-week window applies to any time-sensitive campaign The video view retargeting approach that builds an audience of your most persuadable prospects for pennies What the $79,000 steakhouse receipt reveals about knowing your competitor's real story How to calculate exactly what it costs to acquire a customer—and why most people never do the math Show links
Show notes Joey.vote
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Today on the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, I'm sharing a very different kind of conversation with my longtime friend Joey Osborne, who just announced he's running for U.S. Congress in the mountains of North Carolina. Joey's been an entrepreneur his whole life, someone who's always looking to fix broken systems. Now he's turning that problem-solving mindset toward politics, challenging a 20-year incumbent in his district. We talked about how the same principles we use in marketing apply directly to winning an election, from identifying persuadable voters to the math of reaching the 60,000 people who could change the outcome. One thing that struck me was Joey's experience from his previous congressional run. The one precinct where he finished best was where he stood outside all day handing voters his card. Name recognition alone moved the needle because most people don't know who they're voting for when they get down the ballot. Whether you're selling homes, insurance, or ideas, the strategy stays the same. Find the people who are persuadable and get your message in front of them at the right time. Follow Joey's campaign at joey.vote, and stay tuned because this may become a series as we see how marketing principles work in the political arena. Episode Highlights The formula for influencing 10% of people 100% of the way instead of 100% of people 10% of the way How a magazine distributed to just 450 people launched one of the biggest bands in music history Why the real estate listing strategy that works in an 8-week window applies to any time-sensitive campaign The video view retargeting approach that builds an audience of your most persuadable prospects for pennies What the $79,000 steakhouse receipt reveals about knowing your competitor's real story How to calculate exactly what it costs to acquire a customer—and why most people never do the math Show links Show notes Joey.vote