Hey Everyone,
Hope you're having a great week. Here are a few things I've been reading, writing and pondering lately. Enjoy!
1. The Science Behind 100,000-View Blog Posts
This post is written by my colleague Andrew Tate. He heads up data analysis at Animalz and we're planning more posts like this one
This post, like others that are this successful, goes through five distinct phases:
- A spike phase when the post is first published.
- A trough phase where it looks like growth is stagnant.
- A growth phase as pageviews increase over a few months.
- A plateau phase as growth levels out.
- A decay phase as traffic to the post starts to drop off.
2. Pinterest Is a Unicorn. It Just Doesn’t Act Like One.
This is a really interesting post on what makes Pinterest so different than the rest of Silicon Valley.
Its peers, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, have been drowning in toxic harassment, fake news and Russian disinformation campaigns. Critics have denounced social media-induced anxiety and addiction.
Pinterest, by Mr. Silbermann’s design, is the opposite: the web’s last bastion of quaint innocence. Having de-emphasized its social media elements years ago, Pinterest aims to be a safe and happy place for inspiration, self-improvement and salted caramel cookie recipes. It also rejects Silicon Valley’s typical unicorn formula of moving fast, breaking things, chasing growth at all costs and bragging about every victory.
3. The Difference Between Professionals and Amateurs
I've shared this post before, but it's a concept worth reviewing every now and then.
Being a pro is about having the discipline to commit to what is important to you instead of merely saying something is important to you. It's about starting when you feel like stopping, not because you want to work more, but because your goal is important enough to you that you don't simply work on it when it's convenient. Becoming a pro is about making your priorities a reality.
4. Tweet of the Week
The secret to success of the best companies is often "just work"-ness.
— Anshu Śharma (@anshublog) September 6, 2018
We love to attribute success to flashy features but...
- Dropbox in 2012: just works
- Salesforce in 2002: just works
- iPhone in 2009: just works
- Amazon in 2003: just works
- Netflix in 2009: just works https://t.co/bSoAhxv71y
5. Random Links
- Intercom is hiring an SEO manager and a podcast producer. (Check out other content-related jobs here.)
- We made a second Animalz podcast and have submitted it to iTunes. 😀
- A very interesting Reddit discussion: What's Your Biggest Financial Regret/Mistake?
- Also super interesting: 5 Scientific Reasons Why Instagram Stories Are So Engaging
- My coworker Jan-Erik Asplund is killing it on Twitter lately.
Have a great weekend!
Jimmy
PS - I’m looking to partner with a few great businesses to sponsor this newsletter. It reaches a bunch of smart folks from places like Google, Apple, Spotify, New York Times, Marriott and Harvard. Shoot me an email if you're interested in working together.
