Swipe File #14: "What can I give?"

Hey All,

What would you do if you could only work for one hour a day? Next time you're feeling overwhelmed with work, ask yourself this question. It's a great way to hone your focus on what really matters.

Enjoy this week's articles. And if you're feeling inspired, pass it on.

Marketing Isn't For You via @tommyismyname

This article from Shopify's Tommy Walker is a great reminder that real marketing is about giving.

Now I realize true marketing is never about you. It’s about the market - their wants, their needs, their hopes, and their dreams. Ego demands, “What’s in it for me?”, while real marketing asks, “What can I give?”

The Value of Content via @drcongo

Andy Beaumont tells the story of his viral Tumblr blog Tab Closed; Didn’t Read. He took screenshots of websites that covered their content with pop-ups and, pretty quickly, his site took off. This post caused quite a stir when he published it in November 2013. Take a look and see what you think. Many of us use pop-ups but is that really the message we want to send our readers?

What we’re witnessing here is the first wave of the second world pop-up war. Those of us who lived through the first one can only describe the horrors to our disbelieving children. This time though, the pop-ups are winning because we don’t yet have the tools to fight back. The web has seemingly evolved into something that actively antagonises people — why would anyone in their right mind hide the content that visitors are there to see?

Don't Start From Scratch via @nathanbarry

I love posts like this ... simple lessons learned from real life.

Nathan Barry

How Product Hunt Helped Me Grow A List Of 12,989,483,288+ Valuable Subscribers via @mattsydeworks

Must. Read. #satire

What can I do in the next 20 minutes that’ll bring me exponential ROI and bring those around me exponential value without having to worry about KPIs or APIs or PHPs or getting a real job.

Three Twitter accounts you should be following

On the topic of satire, here are three amusing Twitter users that marketers should be following:

@BoredElonMusk

@fakeproducthunt

@StartupLJackson

Have a great week!

Jimmy

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