Mindful email, Wall Street bro talk, and being composed through chaos.
Guys, this gif is all I'll say about Pokemon Go:
Welcome to another edition of the World's Best Newsletter. In this edition:
“I’ve walked a red carpet with $80 in my bank account.”
Youtube: 1 billion users a month = no profit
Mindful email, kinder meetings
“Composed through chaos” my interview with Nudge
Wall Street bro talk — WTF, bruh.
Real talk: Ad Girl, Interrupted
Stop trying to hire ‘Digital Marketers’
Replace “very” with any of these 128 modifiers
Quote of the week
1. “I’ve walked a red carpet with $80 in my bank account.”
In our constant search for “what does fame really mean in 2016,” I offer this article from Fusion about the economics of internet fame.
Spoiler alert: a bajillion followers, subscribers on Youtube, even screaming tearful fans don’t pay the bills for many of these young internet celebs. Will someone give them a business course, stat? Because, as this Forbes article shows, there are a handful of Youtube Millionaires, and this whole “lifestyle brand” thing really only works if you’ve got underlying wealth to support you.
Social networks are addictive for the appeal to our egos, and many in this generation are falling for the appeal of a job being an “independent content creator,” producing video after video that earns them very meager ad dollars but an endless stream of comments, likes, and other meaningless vanity metrics.
It’s akin to having a product without a business in the world of startups.
2. Youtube: 1 billion users a month = no profit
Just as a reminder, Youtube is still trying to figure out what to do with all this traffic. In Feb 2015 the WSJ reported 1 billion users a month and, ouch, not yet a profitable business.
3. Mindful email, kinder meetings
Later this summer, my fiancé and I (and my new in-laws, who are wonderful) are traveling to Tuscany for a retreat filled with yoga, meditation and painting led by my friend (the next Oprah) Nataly Kogan. Months ago I thought this would be a great opportunity to break the frantic cycle of wedding planning a few weeks leading up to the big day, and refocus us on what matters - wine. Just kidding.
Nataly is the founder of Happier, and also an author whose upcoming book I can’t wait to read. She’s a writer, a painter, a former VC, McKinsey analyst, entrepreneur, and all around force to be reckoned with. I’m lucky to call her a friend whose perspective I trust — take, for example, this week’s post, “3 tiny practices that will make you a happier working human.”
In the post, Nataly introduces a concept from Mirabai Bush — mindful email and kinder meetings.
Read it - and try to practice some of these today.
BONUS — I love this guy. How to quiet your money brain and meditate, anywhere, anytime.
4. “Composed through chaos” my interview with Nudge
Nudge is a relationship-management tool founded by Eloqua smartypants Paul Teshima and Steve Woods (try them out, it’s cool!) They’re running a great series (great because mine is the only interview so far) on Women in Tech.
In my interview, I talk about my journey into marketing, being discounted as a young professional, and what to do when you’re completely unsure of the next step. (Hint: stay calm. Figure it out.)
5. Wall Street bro talk — WTF, bruh.
Unbelievably, there are plenty who simply do not BELIEVE women have a different working experience than men. They are the same who make this position known in the comments of my blogs and while casually discounting the women’s rights movements happening around them.
(PS: It’s not the Easter Bunny, your belief is really not necessary. Your empathy is, however, required.)
I chalk this up to a blissful lack of awareness about the pervasive, overt, sexist bullshit we actually do see. I present the first of two articles that provide a first-person narrative to this point: A NYT post about Bro Talk on Wall Street.
“When you create a culture where women are casually torn apart in conversation, how can you ever stomach promoting them, or working for them?“
6. Real talk: Ad Girl, Interrupted
And the second of these two articles, on Medium, “Ad Girl, Interrupted” from Lisa Leone, detailing example after example of real-life sexist nonsense during her career to-date in the world of advertising. Bravo to her for telling these stories.
Read this article knowing there are COUNTLESS others exactly like hers whose stories are NOT told for fear of seeming as though they are making excuses. How can we change this culture? The first step, like any problem, is admitting and recognizing the issue for exactly what it is - a pervasive culture of “harmless” bullshit.
7. Stop trying to hire ‘Digital Marketers’
The very smart duo that founded CabinetM (a marketing technology discovery platform) are Sheryl Schultz and Anita Brearton. They’ve recently launched SkillStacks, a way to share your detailed marketing technology skills within the thousands of tools available. You can see my stack here, as an example of some of the tools I’ve used to create brands.
Anita wrote a great piece for CMSWire on how this has affected the way the marketing role is perceived: “The digital marketer job title has become irrelevant. The explosion of new tools and digital channels make it impossible for one person to be one expert in everything.”
We’re talking about it in their new LinkedIn group: The Marketing Technology Cooperative. Join us?
8. Replace “very” with any of these 128 modifiers
Ah, the content and writing nerd in me is coming out. But, let’s face it, we’re all writers now. Welcome to the club. Since you’re a writer, you’ve got no more excuse to be calling things “very difficult” when you could be calling them “arduous.” Instead of “very exciting,” try “exhilarating.”
Or, like my newsletter, instead of “very interesting” definitely use “captivating.”
Lots more in this infographic on Mental Floss. You’re so welcome.
9. Quote of the week
This one bears repeating.
“When you create a culture where women are casually torn apart in conversation, how can you ever stomach promoting them, or working for them?“
Happy Friday!
Best,
Katie