Now that it’s summer in Chicago, I’ve been trying to work outside more.

A few times a week, I’ll grab my laptop, walk to a coffee shop, and sit outside for a few hours.

On this morning’s walk to the coffee shop, I got into deep thought about signals vs. noise.

The concept originally comes from radio and telecommunications.

• The “signal” is the message you’re trying to receive.
• The “noise” is everything interfering with that message.

Steve Jobs was known for applying this kind of thinking to business.

Focus on the signal.

Cut the noise. And say no to almost everything that doesn’t move the mission forward.

That’s a useful way to think about growing a membership business.

Because every day, you’re in a battle between signal and noise.

Noise usually looks productive.

It might be:

• Checking email before doing anything important
• Spending 45 minutes in Slack
• Refreshing Stripe or your analytics dashboard
• Researching another software tool
• Watching competitors
• Reading marketing advice instead of publishing something
• Tweaking a color on your website
• Overthinking your logo
• Jumping into a new AI tool because everyone is talking about it
• Spending all morning planning instead of doing

None of these things are always bad.

That’s what makes noise tricky.

Some of it feels useful.

Some of it feels urgent.

Some of it may even need to get done eventually.

But if your goal is to grow your membership business, the signal is the work most directly connected to more revenue, more signups, or better retention.

If your goal is more revenue, the signal might be:

• Creating a new landing page
• Testing new pricing
• Creating a new course
• Creating and promoting a new digital download
• Promoting an old digital download
• Creating an upsell
• Bundling your best products
• Following up with people who started checkout but didn’t buy

If your goal is less churn, the signal might be:

• Talking to canceled members
• Improving your onboarding emails
• Creating a clearer “start here” experience
• Helping members get their first win faster
• Looking at where people stop engaging
• Sending a check-in email to inactive members

The signal is usually measurable.

You can point to it and say: “If this works, the business grows.”

The noise is harder to spot because it often feels like work.

But six months later, you realize it didn’t really move anything forward.

A simple way to fix this is to start every day by identifying your 2-3 signals.

Before email.
Before Slack.
Before social media.
Before checking what everyone else is doing.

Ask yourself:
What are the 2-3 things I can do today that are most likely to grow the business?

Then do those first.
You don’t need to make your whole day perfect.

Start small.

If your day is currently 20% signal and 80% noise, try to get to 30% signal. Then 40%.

Eventually, aim for 50-60% of your day being focused on signal-based work.

That would be a huge improvement for most business owners.

The noise will always be there.

There will always be emails to answer, tools to research, dashboards to check, and small things to clean up.

But the most important step is learning the difference.

Because once you understand what’s signal and what’s noise, it becomes much easier to choose what deserves your best energy.

Focus on the signal first.

Let the noise wait.