How a Bedroom Rule Became a Lightbulb 3 | Messaging Case Study

How “No Naked Meetings" became a shareable marketing hook that transformed a relationship coach’s business

Welcome back to Behind the Message, our series featuring my favorite messaging projects.

You can catch up on the series on the main page.

By now, you've read about my work with beer courses, marathon training, wellness brands, and tech companies. But 2019 was when everything changed.

That’s the year I met Tiago Forte, best known for Building a Second Brain, and started working as his behind-the-scenes marketing strategist.

Years later, we co-wrote Simple Marketing for Smart People.

But back then, most people had no idea who I was. They just saw Tiago’s rapid rise and started asking him for marketing advice.

Tiago wanted to stay focused on productivity, so he asked if I’d launch a program to his audience.

That’s how I met Jed Bickford, one of the first people to enroll, and someone with a story I’ll never forget.

Jed is a relationship coach who specializes in what he calls "couplepreneurs": couples who run businesses together. It's a challenging niche that requires incredible sensitivity around both business and personal relationships.

He knows this territory intimately. His previous business partnership with a romantic partner had ended in divorce. Now in business with his partner Madison, he'd learned hard lessons about maintaining boundaries between work and relationships.

During one of our calls, Jed shared a common problem he encounters with his clients.

“Billy, you wouldn’t believe how often these couples end up fighting in the bedroom about business decisions,” he said. “It’s a huge problem. The bedroom should be a sacred space, but they’re turning it into a boardroom."

Let’s be honest: the phrase paints a picture. And that’s exactly why it works. Great messaging makes people picture something they can remember and repeat.

That’s when the idea hit me.

“Jed, that’s your hook right there. Call it ‘No Naked Meetings.’”

He went quiet for a moment.

“That’s… brilliant,” he said with a laugh.

“That’s exactly what I’ve been trying to say, but I never had the words for it.”

I told him it was more than a great tagline. It’s a Lightbulb 3 and could be the foundation for everything he does.

“You could totally write a book around this concept," I told him.

No Naked Meetings has become the centerpiece of Jed’s messaging. His clients love the phrase and repeat it constantly. It’s become a kind of meme in his community.

The book is now in progress, and the concept has transformed how he talks about his work.

Looking back through the Five Lightbulbs lens, this worked because we found a way to make his Lightbulb 3 (his approach) instantly memorable and shareable.

Most relationship coaches talk about "healthy boundaries" or "work-life balance." Those concepts are true but forgettable.

No Naked Meetings captures the same idea but makes it impossible to forget. It's specific, visual, and slightly provocative.

More importantly, it gives couples a simple rule they can actually follow. Instead of vague advice about boundaries, they have a clear line: business stays out of the bedroom.

What struck me about this project was how a single phrase could say so much. Jed went from struggling to explain what made his approach different to having clients repeat his core message for him.

The phrase came from listening to what his clients were already experiencing, and then finding the words that made their problem crystal clear.

When you dial in your Lightbulb 3, people remember it, repeat it, and adopt it as their way of thinking about the problem.

We're almost at the end. Ready to close this out?

Next week, you'll get the final two case studies in Behind the Message. One business is on the softer side, and one is more technical.

Both highlight the importance of Lightbulb 3, no matter your industry.

Rooting for you,

Billy