#58: Tom Brady, TEDx talk lessons, Superbowl ad nonsense, and more.
HAPPY TOM BRADY WEEKEND!
Nuff said.
In this edition #58 of the World's Best Newsletter:
1. LedBetter - Your favorite brands, ranked by leadership equality
2. The Follower Factory
3. My INBOUND talk is live! Find an Enemy
4. Lessons from giving a TEDx talk
5. Millennials believe the stereotypes, (even when false)
6. The best nonsense of Superbowl commercials
7. 99 Sites That Every Professional Should Know About and Use
8. Quote(s) of the week: Opportunity
Let's go!
1. LedBetter - Your favorite brands, ranked by leadership equality.
Ann, THANK YOU for sharing this with me. How had I not heard of it before!? Browse LedBetter's Gender Equality Index to see brands scored and ranked by the number of women in leadership at the world's top consumer brands and companies.
The 3 lowest ranked brands in terms of leadership equality:
Three highest:
Excellent initiative from this journalist / marketing duo.
2. The Follower Factory (NYTimes)
The NYTimes published an expose last week about social media's black market for followers. It's a well-researched, insightful, explosive reveal on the practices, technology, prices, identity theft, and players involved. Definitely take a look.
3. My INBOUND talk is live! Find an Enemy. (Hubspot)
What do Robin Hood, Apple, and the South Beach Diet have in common? They motivate others to action against an enemy - and it isn't the competition. While your buyers are certainly motivated by benefits, they are more likely to be truly galvanized when called to rally against a common foe.
This is what creates movements that build momentum for brands. The right enemy can also be a powerful way to focus our marketing team and improve our campaigns. Watch this session, and find your antagonist.
4. Lessons from giving a TEDx talk: (Liz Kislik, Catie Hogan)
I did one in 2015, it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life so far.
This week I read two great posts that eloquently describe the lessons learned from the process.
Liz Kislik (workplace wisdom guru) shares "Unexpected Things I Learned from Surviving a TEDx Talk" and my friend Catie Hogan (hilarious financial planning speaker and trainer, book her like right now) shared "What I Learned From My First TEDx Talk."
The strongest piece I empathized with was the support from my friends who helped me tighten the message, my sister who helped me rehearse it live in front of her a million times, and my gf/wife who had to put up with a ton of late-night writing, and rehearsing, sessions.
Liz says
"It was dreadfully uncomfortable to ask people to disrupt their busy schedules to come hear something that quite honestly wasn’t very good yet — but I knew it was necessary if I was going to deliver a decent product to an audience that had every right to expect it."
and Catie shares the advice I gave her:
"She told me to be honest and real. If you want to make an impact, you have to be yourself. You have to be genuine and authentic, it's as simple as that. Always speak from the heart, and remember that who you are is enough. You don't have to try to be anyone else."
^^ That's good advice, yall!
5. Buying the lie - Millennials believe the stereotypes, (even when false) (Quartz)
Catie is also the author of the Millennials Guide to Getting Your Sh*t Together, and so I found this article especially relevant this week.
As this Quartz article reveals, Bank of America did a survey that found millennials' financial competency isn't actually as bad as we think - on similar footing with older generations like Gen-Xers.
"Yet despite their thriftiness, millennials still buy the negative stereotypes about themselves. Sixty-four percent think their generation isn’t good at managing money, 73% think they spend on unnecessary indulgences, and 75% think they spend more than other generations."
6. The best nonsense of Superbowl commercials, courtesy of AdWeak (GO FOLLOW THEM):
7. 99 Sites That Every Professional Should Know About and Use (Muse)
My content crush on The Muse continues with this handy list of tools and sites, many of which I rely on. Highlights: Trello, IFTTT, Duolingo for our European honeymoon, FaxZero, HemingwayApp, Evernote - check out the list. I guarantee you'll discover something new.
8. Quote(s) of the week: Opportunity.
The hustle of entrepreneurship, like the drive of marketing, is rooted in this idea of creating our own opportunities. "Create your own luck" is very much a call to change your mindset. I'm a big advocate of taking control over one's life narrative (and of course, doing so in business.)
This week I've had a few insightful thoughts about opportunity cross my path:
First, an English lesson from Cambridge University Press.
Many learning English confuse "opportunity" with "possibility."
We use opportunity to describe a situation in which we can do something that we want to do. We use possibility to talk about something that may happen.
So:
We never "have the possibility." It's not correct grammar.
We have an opportunity, even in the most dire of circumstances.
We create our own possibilities. Nothing becomes real until we make it happen.
---
"Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity, and are able to turn both to their advantage"
- Victor Kiam (the guy behind 'I liked the shaver so much I bought the company!' a complete misogynist who bungled sexual harassment charges from a Boston Herald female sportswriter, and an embarrassment to the franchise, bringing the Pats to 1-15 in 1990.)
---
"Dear Optimist, Pessimist, and Realist,
While you were busy arguing about the glass of water, I drank it.
Sincerely, the Opportunist"
Mmmhhmm.
ONE MORE THING!
The February 22nd Boston Content copywriting event was moved to a LARGER VENUE to hold all you raving copy fans. No tickets will be sold at the door (security and all that) so please pre-register.
Go Pats!
-Katie
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Thank you!
www.katie-martell.com