Three Examples Make a Trend
Pitch a broader pattern by assembling three credible examples.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 99%
This media-pitching rule reframes a solitary launch as one example of a larger, verifiable pattern. First select an umbrella theme that genuinely includes the product, such as remote work. Then locate at least two additional examples that express the same shift, ideally in different geographies or contexts. Explain what connects the three cases and why the pattern matters now. The mechanism is editorial leverage: one company often looks like self-promotion, while three credible cases give a journalist enough evidence and range for a trend or style piece. Your product still receives attention, but it enters through a story that is more useful to the publication and its readers.
Origin
Tim Ferriss said a writer at a large publication taught him the rule, which he later used when pitching coverage around The 4-Hour Workweek.
Core principles
- 01A single example is easy to dismiss as an exception.
- 02Two separated examples create interest.
- 03Three examples support a credible trend narrative.
- 04The broader story can make one product easier to cover.
How to run it
- 1
Select the umbrella
Choose a timely category or shift that truthfully includes the product or launch.
Pro tip Use a theme broad enough for multiple examples but narrow enough to make one clear claim.
Watch out Do not retrofit an unrelated trend merely to gain attention.
- 2
Add a second signal
Find another credible example, preferably separated by geography, audience, or implementation.
Watch out Two examples are interesting but still may not establish a pattern.
- 3
Complete the pattern
Add a third example and identify the mechanism or shift common to all three.
Pro tip Use independent evidence for every case.
Watch out Three superficial similarities do not automatically make a meaningful trend.
- 4
Pitch the larger story
Offer the journalist a trend piece in which your product is one useful example rather than the entire subject.
Pro tip Make the other examples strong enough that the story remains valuable without your launch.
In the wild
Ferriss placed The 4-Hour Workweek under the remote-work umbrella, paired it with examples from Silicon Valley, New York, and Chicago, and used the set to pitch a trend piece rather than asking a journalist to cover one book launch.
→ The broader pattern became a key ingredient in the book’s media coverage.
Common mistakes
Pitching only the product
A single launch gives the journalist little independent range and reads like promotion.
Inventing a pattern
Weak or unrelated examples undermine the pitch instead of strengthening it.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for founders, authors, and publicists seeking earned coverage for a real emerging pattern.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal when the examples are cherry-picked, causally unrelated, or too weak to support a trend claim.
From the transcript
“one example is an exception two is interesting especially if they're geographically separated three is a trend”
“I can pitch a trend piece or a style piece with three examples”
From the episode
#671: Bobby Hundreds — Building an Iconic Streetwear Brand, Making $7 Million in 40 Minutes, The Power of Garfield, Why Korean Entertainment is Taking Over the World, Maintaining the Mystery, The Fickleness of Fortune, and Developing “Nunchi”
Bobby Hundreds