Hey Everyone,
Hope you're having a great week. Here are a few things I've been reading and pondering lately. Enjoy!
1. Advice For Aspiring Writers
This all applies equally to aspiring and current writers. Thanks Michael Batnick for sharing, especially this gem: “Nobody wants to read your sh*t.”
It’s important for writers to understand their strengths and weaknesses. For example, it took me a while to appreciate that the reader wasn’t inside my brain. My posts made perfect sense to me, but over time, I’ve become much more aware of the fact that even though you might be writing for yourself, you’re wasting your time if the reader doesn’t understand.
2. Essays on Behavioral Economics (PDF)
I was doing some research for an upcoming post this week and came across this book by George Katona, the guy who created the Consumer Sentiment Index. If you have any interest in behavioral economics, you’ll enjoy this.
3. The State of Messaging 2018
This is a really interesting post, but also an intriguing way to present the content. Well done, Smooch.
4. Tweet of the Week
“The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.” — William Pollard
— Shane Parrish (@farnamstreet) January 2, 2018
5. Random Links
- This article has an overly dramatic headline, but I did like this line: “Most modern employees are productive for about four hours a day: the rest is padding and huge amounts of worry.”
- Yes: 6 Manipulative Email Tactics that Marketers Should Stop Using in 2018
- Very interesting: Noah Kagan interviews Brian Dean about SEO.
- This thread on Instagram’s (alleged) practice of withholding likes to increase engagement is really, really interested.
- Anyone out there use Blinkist? Curious to hear if you like/dislike and why.
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.
PPS - I created an email course called 5 Days to Better Content Marketing. More than 300 people have already taken it. You should check it out too.