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 Animalz Content Strategy Podcast
We are three episodes into this adventure and it's now available on iTunes, Overcast, Spotify and SoundCloud. It's about real content marketing strategy, no tip, tricks or hacks. In this episode, Animalz data lead Andrew Tate explains what he learned by doing an analysis of high-performing blog posts.
If you enjoy it, I'd really appreciate a review in iTunes. 🤗
2. An Interview with Expedia, Zillow and Glassdoor Co-founder Rich Barton
Speaking of podcasts, I've been binging on the Masters in Business podcast hosted by Barry Ritholz. He's an excellent interviewer and this episode stood out. Rich Barton helped start three wildly successful companies and, as you might expect, has all kinds of business lessons to share. Here's the link to this episode in iTunes and Overcast.
3. The Practical Benefits of Outrageous Optimism
Here's an old (but fantastic) post from the Mr. Money Mustache archives.
Optimism tricks you into trying more things: If you believe success is almost guaranteed, you’re going to try some pretty fun ventures. In reality, sure, you fail at some things, but what do they always tell us is the best teacher? That’s right, it’s failure. So you end up racking up much more hard-earned experience and knowledge than the non-optimist.
Then what do you do with all that extra knowledge? You succeed. Meanwhile, everyone else is still hesitating to try the first thing.
4. Eliud Kipchoge Is the Greatest Marathoner, Ever
Eliud Kipchoge set a new world record in the marathon last weekend, clocking 2:01:39 for 26.2. (That's a 4:39 per mile average!)
It's an incredible feat. And as you might imagine, the marathon is an event that requires world-class mental fortitude in addition to world-class fitness. The New York Times recently profiled him and I was really inspired by a few of his quotes. I can't do it justice here, so check out the full article.
5. Random Links
- Our latest on the Animalz blog: How to Take Your Content Upmarket When You Take Your SaaS Business Upmarket
- My friend Adam Rogers interviewed me about my career in content marketing. You can check it out here.
- I've come across the term robotics process automation a few times recently and it piqued my attention. This is a good explainer.
- If you're hiring (like we are), here are some proven interview questions.
- This tweet: "Since Q1 2017, the top 20,000 brands on Facebook are posting 24% more, but engagement has dropped by a staggering 50%."
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.
