Inspiration often comes from unexpected places. For our team at UNQA, a recent source was a two-hour YouTube guide on starting a woodworking business. Amid the lessons on choosing wood and the discipline of sanding, we found a powerful metaphor for the soul of modern marketing.
There’s a strange disconnect in the business world. Founders, makers, and service providers pour immense care into their work. They obsess over the quality of their code, the elegance of their design, and the integrity of their service. They are, in every sense of the word, craftspeople.
And then it’s time to market that craft.
Suddenly, that spirit of patience and quality vanishes. It’s replaced by a frantic search for shortcuts, “growth hacks,” and algorithmic tricks. The language becomes generic, the visuals feel like stock photos, and the soul of the craft gets buried under a pile of soulless tactics.
What if we closed that gap? What if we marketed our work with the same intention and care we use to create it?
Principle #1: Start With What You Have (Embrace Your Natural State)
The woodworker’s first piece of advice wasn’t “buy a $5,000 table saw.” It was “start with what you got.” Use borrowed tools, work in a garage, and build something simple. The act of starting, he argued, is everything.
In marketing, this is a radical idea. We’re told we need a huge budget, a massive email list, and a perfectly polished brand from day one. It’s paralyzing.
A craftsman’s approach calls for Naturalness. Your marketing doesn’t need a giant, artificial setup. It should start with the real, authentic resources you already possess: your story, your expertise, your unique point of view. The most powerful marketing asset you have is your own reality. Stop waiting for the perfect conditions and start sharing your work from where you are, right now.
Principle #2: Find Your Unique Spin (Celebrate Your Uniqueness)
No master woodworker ever made a name for themselves by creating a perfect replica of an IKEA table. The video stressed the importance of taking a popular design and “tweaking something to make it your own style.” A different joint, a unique finish, a surprising curve. That’s where the magic is.
This is the essence of Uniqueness. Yet, so much of modern marketing is about conformity. We adopt the same templates, use the same buzzwords, and chase the same trends, sanding down our own interesting edges until we fit a generic mold.
Your brand’s true power lies in its quirks, its history, its opinion. Is your process messy and creative? Show it. Do you have a strong belief that goes against the grain of your industry? Share it. Marketing shouldn’t be about becoming like everyone else; it should be about amplifying the very things that make you, and your work, one of a kind.
Principle #3: Let the Work Speak (Show, Don’t Just Tell)
You can’t describe the quality of hand-sanded oak in a bulleted list. You have to show it. The woodworker spent half his time talking about the importance of good photography—capturing the light, showing the texture, and staging the piece so people could feel its presence through a screen.
This is a commitment to Quality. Your marketing content should be a direct reflection of the quality of your actual work. Instead of just listing features and benefits, show the process. Show the “sawdust.” Show the sketches, the failed attempts, the late nights, the human hands and minds that brought your product or service to life.
People no longer connect with sterile perfection. They connect with effort, with passion, with the story of creation. Let the quality of your marketing tell the story of the quality of your craft.
From Hacking to Crafting
Shifting a mindset from a “growth hacker” to a “brand craftsman” doesn’t mean ignoring results. It’s the opposite. It’s about building something more sustainable and resonant than a temporary spike in traffic.
It means building a brand that feels as solid and well-made as a handcrafted piece of furniture. It’s about creating marketing that isn’t just a loudspeaker, but a bridge—connecting the deep quality of what you do with the people who are genuinely looking for it.
Your business is your craft. Let’s start showing it to the world.