Berleytrails
What if marketing isn't persuasion — it's fishing?
A fisherman in a boat. Three fish getting bigger. Six zones of activity around them. This image encodes the entire ecosystem as a fishing operation — and the essential algorithm as the tackle box.
The Fisherman
Top left. Alone in a boat. This is the founder, the operator, the person with the rod. The image doesn't show a fleet. It shows one person who knows their water. The skill isn't scale — it's reading the conditions.
Platform sits beneath the fisherman. Not technology platform. Capability platform. "The skill is knowing the combination of bait, gear and technique for circumstances and the job to be done." The tackle box is useless without the knowledge of where to cast. This is why platform sits under the fisherman, not beside the fish.
The Fish
Centre of the image. Three fish in ascending size. A small fish, a medium fish attracted by the small fish, a big fish attracted by both. This is the network effect drawn as biology.
The Fish-ball Effect names the mechanism. "Where this small fish can grow, the big fish will follow. Focus on the ecosystem." You don't catch big fish by targeting big fish. You create the conditions where small fish thrive, and the ecosystem scales itself. The fishball is the snowball in water.
The Hook
Between the fisherman and the fishball sits the Emotional Hook — FOMO, call to action, registration form, appointment booking. These are the mechanisms that convert a passing fish into a bite. The hook isn't the bait. The hook is the moment the fish commits.
Big Fish Big Bait sits beside the fishball. "Customer Success Stories. Right bait (message) for the right fish (customer profile)." The bait isn't generic. It's matched. Different fish respond to different signals. The demographics data tells you which bait for which generation.
The Onboarding
Bottom left. Sales and Onboarding — "During the onboarding process you have the greatest opportunity to influence perceptions and behaviours." This is the moment after the bite. The fish is on the line. What happens next determines whether it stays in the ecosystem or spits the hook.
What does success look like? is the measurement beneath it. "Forecast rewards using a DCF framework then walk back along the pipe to qualify belief in estimates." You don't fish blind. You know what a good catch looks like before you cast. The scoreboard tells you if the ecosystem is healthy.
The Horizon
Right side. Two zones that face forward.
Develop Trusted Connections lists the fish worth catching — leaders, coaches, tradesmen, AI threatened, accountants, marketers, recruitment. These aren't random. They're the professionals in the slow squeeze who have both the pain and the capital to act.
Forward Thinking — "Where are fish gonna be? What are they gonna need?" This is the feedback loop of the algorithm. Predictions, convictions, immutable truths. Bet on experiments. You fish where the fish are going, not where they were.
The Mantra
Top centre, above the fishball: "Make it impossible not to Fall into The Flow of Success. The FEELING of making MEANINGFUL progress."
This is the pit of success applied to marketing. Don't convince. Don't persuade. Build the system so the default path leads to progress. The feeling of meaningful progress is the bait that never expires.
The Algorithm
The image maps cleanly to the essential algorithm:
| Algorithm | Berleytrails | Where in Image |
|---|---|---|
| INTENT | Emotional Hook | Centre — the moment of commitment |
| ROUTE | Big Fish Big Bait | Centre right — matched message to profile |
| INFRASTRUCTURE | Platform | Top left — tackle box + knowledge |
| SETTLE | Fish-ball Effect | Bottom centre — ecosystem compounds |
| FEEDBACK | Forward Thinking | Right — predictions drive next cast |
Same five steps. The matter is fish. The meta is every business.
Context
- Ecosystem — The counterparties who swim in the water
- Demographics — Which bait for which generation
- Essential Algorithm — The meta-pattern this image instantiates
- Network Effects — The fishball mathematics
- Berley Trails — The venture that embodies this picture
- Play with Purpose — The compressed version: protocols + platform = agency
Questions
What does your fishball look like — and is it growing or dispersing?
- Which zone of this image are you spending the most time in, and which are you neglecting?
- If you're fishing where the fish were instead of where they're going, what forward thinking signal are you missing?
- What's your emotional hook — and does it trigger the fear vector or the desire vector first?