Dave Ramsey's Secret

Quick — when you think of Dave Ramsey, what is one word that comes to mind? 

My bet: Debt. 

Hey, Paige here! Back with another creator deep dive.

Starting in 1992 as a radio show host, and still going strong, Dave Ramsey is perhaps one of the most well-known personal finance professionals.

Dave has built his career on taking on the enemy of debt, so much so that his brand practically owns the word. 

From his 7 Baby Steps to the tagline that serves as the foundation of his content, “Debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of BMW as the status symbol of choice,” every single piece of content he creates all points directly back to debt. 

While Dave is a great example of this idea of owning a word, he’s not alone. Other successful brands have done the same thing. 

• Brené Brown — shame

• Jay Shetty — purpose

• Lewis Howes — greatness (He literally owns greatness.com!!)

• James Clear — habits

• Ryan Holiday — stoicism 

This is a masterclass in the art of positioning.

Most people who end up at the very top of a niche have one thing in common: they can be defined by one word. 

This is where a lot of businesses and marketing teams go wrong. Instead of honing in on one word as a content North Star, they create jumbled strategies and goals based on multiple diluted solutions. 

Take a step back — when you look at your brand, what is a single word that could define your purpose? 

Once you have your word, hold up… this is just the first step. 

It’s time to build your ritual around that word that serves as proof your brand helps others become (or overcome) your major focus.

Without a solid ritual, your word holds no power. You’ll lose it the second someone comes around with the right system in place to support it. Need an example? Let’s look back to Dave.

Dave Ramsey developed the debt-free scream as his ritual.

Dave starts with small, actionable steps towards becoming debt-free that anyone can start taking (hence calling them ‘baby steps’). 

Next, he welcomes people to call into his live studio. He celebrates their successes. Throws some shade at their mistakes. But ultimately makes a HUGE deal of throwing them a lifeline that contextualizes his systems to their specific situations.

And when they win and overcome debt, Dave makes a huge deal about it. The proof is in the pudding, and Dave shares the recipe and serves up the whole dish. 

Dave’s strategy humanizes his brand and systems by encouraging audience participation, leveraging their pain points to resonate with others, and celebrating their successes. Every time he highlights a win against debt, he’s adding up more social proof for his system. And when leveraging this massive social proof, it only reinforces his ownership of his one word, ‘debt’. 

By homing in on a shared enemy (debt), creating a social narrative that highlights shared experiences, and highlighting success stories, Dave focuses on unveiling, battling, and overcoming debt. 

No wonder he’s come to be defined by the word — he focuses on nothing else. 

What’s your word? How can you build a ritual to reinforce it?

The Takeaway: When you have clarity around your purpose and your enemy, you can craft a ritual that champions your mission and leverages one word to fuel your brand long-term.

That’s it, ya’ll. Happy creating!

Paige Peterson
Newsletter Aficionado, Sweet Fish