Hey, it’s Payton.

And we’re back in the Lab talking about aliens.

I was a jealous pastor and often caught myself trying to become the megachurch down the road. They had the budget, the branding, the fog machines.

We had 150 people and a coffee pot that never worked.

But I kept trying to sound like them. Talk like them. Teach like them. Market like them.

I thought if we just polished things up, added the right language, used the same tools, they’d take us more seriously. We’d grow. We’d “compete.”

(You can already see the problem.)

Nobody wins when you get into a “who’s better” contest. It becomes a race to the middle. A shouting match in a padded room. A dead-end debate where you waste all your creative energy explaining why you’re “better” than them.

And the people you’re trying to help stop listening because it’s annoying and all sounds the same. And this failure on my part got me thinking about the Different > Better Principle in marketing.

Right now, someone is thinking about [Your product] vs [Competitor]

• Your podcast vs their podcast

• Your Substack vs their Substack

• Your email newsletter vs their email newsletter

Most creators panic and write BORING comparison statements: “My graphics are cleaner. My podcast has less filler. Better support. 30% faster. More accurate theology.”

You become the Christian version of this:

But the best creators don’t play this game.

Here’s what they do instead.

They make the other guy look like an alien from a different planet who solves a completely different problem than they do.

They don’t try to “be better” but fight to “be different.”

And make comparison itself feel absurd.

• Babylon Bee ≠ Christian news

• BibleProject ≠ Bible study curriculum

• The Pour Over ≠ CNN or Fox

• The Chosen ≠ Hallmark Christian media

These companies don’t compare. They say they’re different species solving different problems. And that’s the shift I want you to make.

Jesus never positioned his kingdom as an improved version of the world.

He didn’t say:

• “Rome taxes too much. I’ll only take 10%.”

• “The Pharisees say behave. I say believe and behave.”

• “Temple worship has a few bugs. I’ll release a new patch.”

Instead he said:

• “You’ve heard it said...but I tell you...”

• “My kingdom is not of this world.”

• “The last will be first. The servant is the greatest. The weak are strong.”

He didn’t compete within the system.

He subverted it. Transcended it. Redefined it.

He made the old way feel too small.

You can do that too, with your writing, your teaching, your coaching, your podcasting, your newsletter.

Not by being louder or cleaner or “more biblical.”

But by showing you’re playing a different game entirely.

🧪 Let’s get our hands on this

Here’s how to exit the comparison game and create an alien of yourself.

Step 1: Box the competitor

What’s the most accurate but limiting way to describe what they do?

Step 2: Draw your galaxy

Now do the opposite for your brand. What broader, deeper vision do YOU own?

Step 3: Say it out loud

Test it in a real conversation. If it feels like marketing jargon or “churchy fluff,” rewrite it.

📦 5 Templates You Can Steal Today To Make It Easier

Plug in your ideas below:

🔧 Tool vs Platform: X is a tool. Y is a platform.

• “[X] helps you do one thing. [Y] helps you build a life around it.”

• “[X] works for you. [Y] works with you.”

• “[X] solves a task. [Y] shapes a mindset.”

📈 Task vs Transformation: “X handles the task. Y changes the trajectory.”

• “[X] helps you post. [Y] helps you create.”

• “[X] teaches the skill. [Y] unlocks the identity.”

• “[X] is an activity. [Y] is a discipline.”

⏰ Past vs Future: “X is how it’s always been done. Y is what comes next.”

• “[X] is tradition. [Y] is traction.”

• “[X] helps you survive. [Y] helps you scale.”

• “[X] is rooted in control. [Y] runs on trust.”

🎯 Feature vs Outcome: “X offers features. Y delivers results.”

• “[X] lets you publish faster. [Y] helps you write with purpose.”

• “[X] adds tools. [Y] adds clarity.”

• “[X] gets you started. [Y] gets you seen.”

👤 Doing vs Being: “X helps you do [task]. Y helps you become [identity].”

• “[X] helps you lead better. [Y] helps you become a trusted guide.”

• “[X] helps you write more. [Y] helps you become a voice people follow.”

• “[X] is about execution. [Y] is about embodiment.”

This is a lab. You don’t need to get it perfect.

Experiment. Reframe. Rewrite. Try again.

But please, don’t spend your whole career trying to prove you're 30% better.

Show us you’re playing a different game.

Because if God called you to this, you’ve already got something nobody else can compete with.

Your Turn: Hit reply and send me your “alien” positioning line. I’ll pick a few and share them here.

Share this Lab with a Christian creator who’s sick of the comparison game.

MY BEST FINDS

Here are Payton’s Picks for the week. If you find something worth sharing with the rest of the Lab, reply to this email!

🧙‍♂️ Story

• 7 writing lessons learned the HARD way (World Builders)

📧 Email

• You’re building an audience for the wrong reason, and that’s why you’ll fail (Newsletter Operator)

• A framework for writing newsletters people want to read (Write With AI)

• 30,000 subscribers from super simple content (growth in reverse)

🤖 AI

• AI is going to disrupt course creators in 2025. Here is how people should be responding (YouTube)

• AI is changing local media — here’s what the worlds largest local newsletter publisher is doing differently after 10 years (6AM City)

👀 ICYMI

• How a road‐trip vlog raised +$11M and what creators can learn from it (Christian Story Lab)

• I tell my story how I went from pastor to email marketer in 18 months (YouTube)

• Two of the biggest YouTube channels posted THE SAME video, and it’s on the best topic (YouTube)

Before you go, here are 3 ways I can help:

1. Very Good Email Playbook: If you’re tired of writing “meh” emails, I’ll show you how to write ones people actually want to read. It’s FREE and it’s LOADED.

2. VeryGoodGhost Agency: I handle every aspect of content creation, from research and writing to editing and optimization, so you get scary good results.

3. Reply to Book a Free Call: Want to chat about your story, email strategy, or how to do this whole thing without losing your soul? Reply to this email, tell me what you’re working on, and I’ll send over a calendar link.

Keep writing what matters,

— Payton