Apply Domain

Apply Domain-Specific Strategy

You are adapting general memetics principles to a specific domain.

What This Skill Does

Takes general memetics strategies and adapts them for specific domains:

• Personal Branding - Building thought leadership and audience
• Product Launches - Achieving market adoption and dominance
• Social Movements - Creating cultural and value change
• [Other domains as needed]

Outputs domain-optimized playbook with domain-specific tactics, metrics, and timelines.

Input/Output Contract

Accepts:

• Domain (personal branding | product launch | social movement)
• Classified idea (meme | antimeme | supermeme)
• Fitness assessment (GO-level commitment)
• General strategy (already designed)

Produces:

• Domain-specific playbook
• Domain-specific metrics
• Domain-specific timelines
• Domain-specific risk factors
• Examples from similar domain success

Passes to: Terminal (execution phase for domain)

[NEEDS SOURCE MATERIAL]

Source provides brief overviews for three domains (lines 205-226):

Personal Branding:

1. Build memetic library
2. Pick villain
3. Create rituals
4. Niche down
5. Secondary channels

Product Launches:

1. Meme strategy (short-term)
2. Antimeme strategy (long-term)
3. Narrative warfare
4. Network mapping
5. Champion recruitment

Social Movements:

1. Assess position
2. Follow playbooks
3. Network building
4. Long timeline

But each needs full detail:

• Step-by-step implementation
• Domain-specific metrics
• Risk factors
• Timeline expectations
• Examples and case studies

Domain 1: Personal Branding / Thought Leadership

What This Domain Is

Building yourself as a recognized authority and trusted voice in a specific domain.

Success Metrics:

• Audience size (followers, newsletter subscribers)
• Engagement rate (people actually read/respond)
• Authority perception (recognized as expert)
• Economic value (ability to monetize)

General Playbook for Personal Branding

Step 1: Build Memetic Library (Create Experiences, Not Memes)

• Collect reusable hooks, frameworks, metaphors
• Signature ideas you're known for
• 3-5 core concepts you repeat
• Examples and stories illustrating each
• Vibes > Memes: Create experiences that resist precise definition rather than trying to engineer replicable content. Focus on community, culture, and belonging rather than formulaic attention-grabbing.

Step 2: Pick Your Villain

• What are you fighting against?
• System, company, idea - not person
• Credibility anchor (you're against X, therefore for Y)
• Example: Fighting "conventional wisdom" ⟹ for "original thinking"
• Note: "It's more prestigious — by mimetic standards — to use proven formulas for grabbing attention than to do something risky and original" — personal brands that take genuine creative risks stand out BECAUSE most people don't.

Step 3: Create Rituals

• Consistent posting schedule
• Regular newsletter/essay
• Weekly podcast or video
• Daily standup or thought
• Frequency builds "symptomatic period"

Step 4: Niche Down

• Target specific domain/audience
• Smart people in your niche value you more
• Easier to become "top voice" in niche
• Don't try to appeal to everyone

Step 5: Secondary Channels (Risk Management)

• Test riskier ideas on alt account
• Experiment without brand risk
• Some experiments move to main
• Keep brand consistent, reserve experimental
• Strategy: Use secondary account for the risky, experimental work while primary builds credibility through proven approaches

Domain-Specific Metrics

Audience Growth:

• Followers per month (trending up?)
• Newsletter open rate (>30% is good)
• Monthly active readers
• Follower quality (engaged vs. passive)

Content Performance:

• Engagement rate (likes, replies, shares / impressions)
• Reach trend (increasing or plateau?)
• Viral posts (which content resonates?)
• Click-through if you link externally

Influence Metrics:

• Are people citing you?
• Are people interviewing you?
• Are people building on your ideas?
• Industry recognition?

Economic Metrics:

• Consulting/speaking opportunities
• Product/course sales
• Sponsorship opportunities
• Community membership revenue

Timeline Expectations

• Year 1: Building foundation, 0-1000 followers, establishing voice
• Year 2: Growing audience, 1000-10K followers, becoming recognized
• Year 3: Authority emerging, 10K-50K followers, opportunities increasing
• Year 4-5: Established authority, 50K+ followers, high influence

Domain 2: Product Launches / Marketing

What This Domain Is

Getting adoption for a new product, service, or company in competitive market.

Success Metrics:

• Customer acquisition cost
• Market share in category
• Time to profitability
• Brand awareness in target market
• Customer lifetime value

General Playbook for Product Launches

Step 1: Meme Strategy (Short-term awareness)

• Viral content for broad awareness
• Lightweight, shareable messaging
• Reach new audiences quickly
• Quick decision to try product

Step 2: Antimeme Strategy (Long-term believers)

• Build core believers who evangelize
• Deep engagement with early adopters
• Community building around product
• Long-term loyalty and expansion
• Use private/dense networks to refine before public launch

Step 2.5: Memetic/Antimemetic City Dependency

• Memetic and antimemetic cities depend on each other: the stronger memes become, the more we need private spaces to refine them
• Product launches should use dense networks (beta groups, private communities) to refine before going sparse (public launch)
• Test and iterate in Phase 1 (dark forest / private beta), emerge in Phase 2 (coordinated emergence with handpicked networks), then go public in Phase 3

Step 3: Narrative Warfare

• Control story about your category
• What is the conversation about?
• Position your product as solution
• Create language you want others to use

Step 4: Network Mapping

• Identify dense networks of early adopters
• Who are connected to early adopters?
• Which networks have lowest resistance?
• Where should you launch first?

Step 5: Champion Recruitment (Open Source Lesson Applied)

• Find advocates willing to promote for years
• Influencers, community leaders, experts
• Create program with incentives
• Long-term engagement vs. one-off
• Open Source Lesson: After talking to hundreds of developers, most projects were built by one or a few developers who faced burdensome demands for customer support. Open, borderless communities were a recipe for entitlement, rather than collaboration. Movements and products that go fully open too early face the same problem. Start dense, go sparse strategically.

Domain-Specific Metrics

Acquisition Metrics:

• Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
• Conversion rate (visitors → customers)
• Viral coefficient (are customers bringing others?)
• Time to first customer

Market Metrics:

• Market share in category
• Category awareness trend
• Brand sentiment (positive/negative)
• Share of voice vs. competitors

Retention Metrics:

• Churn rate (% of customers leaving)
• Customer lifetime value (CLV)
• Repeat purchase rate
• Net promoter score (would customers recommend?)

Growth Metrics:

• Month-over-month growth rate
• Viral growth rate (word-of-mouth)
• Secondary product adoption
• Market expansion to new segments

Timeline Expectations

• Months 1-3: Private beta, core believers, viral coefficient testing
• Months 3-6: Public launch, meme strategy (awareness), initial adoption
• Months 6-12: Market fit validation, champion recruitment, community building
• Year 2: Scale phase, narrative dominance, market expansion

Domain 3: Social Movements / Cultural Change

What This Domain Is

Creating lasting cultural or value shift in large populations.

Success Metrics:

• % of population belief shift
• Policy influence (laws/rules changed)
• Cultural practice change
• Movement size and commitment

General Playbook for Social Movements

Step 1: Assess Current Position

• Is idea meme (spreads naturally)?
• Is idea antimeme (hard to spread)?
• Is idea supermeme (spreading parasitically)?
• Different approaches per type

Step 2: If Antimeme - Follow Dark Forest → Tipping Point

• Phase 1: Private development with believers
• Phase 2: Coordinated emergence (semi-private)
• Phase 3: Tipping point (public)
• Timeline: 3-10 years typical

Step 3: If Supermeme - Narrow and Reframe

• Don't amplify supermeme characteristics
• Find tractable sub-problems
• Create measurable goals
• Prevent attention consumption

Step 4: Navigate Institutional Bottlenecks

• Social institutions are the bottlenecks through which all ideological demands must eventually pass
• Culture wars intensify when too many competing ideas are jostling for limited paths to change
• Movements must identify and navigate institutional bottlenecks, not just build public support
• Map which institutions control policy, culture, practice in your domain
• Target bottleneck entry points strategically

Step 5: Network Building (Start Dense, Go Sparse)

• Create private spaces for believers
• Develop shared language
• Build trust and commitment
• Create community culture
• Start with dense networks before going sparse
• Movements that go fully open too early face entitlement and dilution

Step 6: Long Timeline

• Plan for 5-10 year effort minimum
• First 2 years: mostly failure
• Champions need to persist through doubt
• Cultural shift doesn't happen quickly

Domain-Specific Metrics

Belief Change:

• % of population aware of idea
• % of population accepting idea
• Belief strength (deep vs. surface)
• Demographic breakdown

Policy Influence:

• Laws/rules changed favoring movement
• Resources allocated to issue
• Government/institution acknowledgment
• Policy implementation

Cultural Practice:

• Are people acting on the belief?
• New norms emerging
• Social cost changing (easier to do)
• Intergenerational transmission

Movement Strength:

• Number of active members
• Geographic spread
• Diversity of participants
• Commitment level (what will they do?)

Timeline Expectations

• Years 1-2: Core group formation, message development, slow recruitment
• Years 2-4: Expanding networks, increasing visibility, facing opposition
• Years 4-7: Tipping point approaching, policy attention, cultural shift becoming visible
• Years 7-10: Mainstream adoption, new generation integration, idea becoming "obvious"

How to Adapt to Your Domain

Step 1: Identify Your Domain

• What are you trying to accomplish?
• Personal brand, product, movement, other?
• What's the primary success metric?

Step 2: Understand Domain Dynamics

• What accelerates in your domain?
• What slows things down?
• What are standard timelines?
• What resources matter most?

Step 3: Customize the Playbook

• Which steps from general playbook apply?
• Which need domain modification?
• What domain-specific tactics matter?
• What are domain-specific risks?

Step 4: Set Domain-Specific Metrics

• What can you measure?
• What indicates progress?
• What indicates problems?
• How often to measure?

Step 5: Plan Domain Timeline

• How long will this realistically take?
• What are phase milestones?
• When should you reassess?
• When should you pivot vs. persist?

Output Template

## Domain-Specific Strategy

**Domain:** [Personal Branding | Product Launch | Social Movement]
**Your Goal:** [Specific outcome you want]
**Timeline:** [Realistic duration]

---

## Domain Characteristics

**What accelerates in this domain:** [Specific factors]
**What slows things down:** [Barriers and resistance]
**Standard timelines:** [Industry expectations]
**Key resources:** [Money, people, visibility, etc.]

---

## Adapted Playbook

**Step 1:** [Domain-specific version]
**Step 2:** [Domain-specific version]
**Step 3:** [Domain-specific version]
**Step 4:** [Domain-specific version]
**Step 5:** [Domain-specific version]

---

## Domain-Specific Metrics

**Metric 1:** [How to measure, target, timeline]
**Metric 2:** [How to measure, target, timeline]
**Metric 3:** [How to measure, target, timeline]

---

## Domain-Specific Risks

**Risk 1:** [What could go wrong, probability, impact, mitigation]
**Risk 2:** [What could go wrong, probability, impact, mitigation]

---

## Implementation Timeline

**Phase 1 (Months 1-X):** [Domain-specific goals]
**Phase 2 (Months X-X):** [Domain-specific goals]
**Phase 3 (Months X-X):** [Domain-specific goals]

---

## Success Looks Like (End of Timeline)

- [Specific outcome 1]
- [Specific outcome 2]
- [Idea is established/dominant in your domain]

Common Domain Application Mistakes

Mistake 1: Wrong playbook for domain

• You use personal branding playbook for product launch
• Different dynamics, different success factors
• Fails because it's misaligned
• Fix: Understand domain dynamics first

Mistake 2: Generic metrics

• You measure reach instead of domain-relevant metrics
• Track wrong things, miss real progress
• Fix: Define domain-specific success metrics

Mistake 3: Wrong timeline expectations

• You think personal brand can scale in 6 months
• Actually takes 3+ years
• Burnout and abandonment
• Fix: Research domain-specific timelines

Mistake 4: Not customizing tactics

• You copy playbook exactly
• Domain-specific context matters
• Generic approach doesn't work
• Fix: Adapt to your specific domain

Mistake 5: Ignoring domain opposition

• Every domain has different opposition
• Product domains: competitors, distributors
• Movement domains: institutions, opposing beliefs
• Underestimating opposition kills progress
• Fix: Identify domain-specific opposition early

When to Use This Skill

• After design-strategy → apply-domain: Adapt general strategy to domain
• During execution: Refer to domain playbook for tactics
• At reviews: Check domain-specific metrics

References

See /references/source-summary.md:

• "Practical Applications by Domain" for domain overviews
• "Strategic Playbooks" for general playbook adaptation
• "Examples" for domain-specific case studies