Read online here Hey Reader, Happy vacation, if you’re taking a 5 day Memorial Day weekend! Otherwise I wish you the best of luck being productive between now and the long weekend 😜 Messy Musings Do you steal like an artist? This week we did. In 2012 Austin Kleon published a book called Steal Like An Artist, that had a pretty big impact on a lot of the thought leaders I look up to. While I haven't read it myself, I feel like I've seen/heard enough people talk about it to get the gist of it....
13 days ago • 3 min read
Read online here Hey Reader, What if we made the email shorter? Here's 3/5s of the email you got last week. Messy Musings One of my favorite decision making frameworks comes from amazon and it's about 2 types of doors: One way doors (decisions) lock after you go through and there's no way to go back Two way doors (decisions) are just as easy to go back through if you don't like what's on the other side once you go through them Most people view the majority of decisions as "one way doors"...
20 days ago • 3 min read
Read online here It's almost biking... Hey Reader, Do people actually read the intros of sectional emails? Let's get into it. The Messy Middle "We have no financial arrangement, we just think they're the best." A couple weeks ago I was visiting a friend who's training for a centurion bike ride (100 miles) this summer (I did the lazy thing and declined), and we went into a bike shop to ask about getting professionally fitted on his bike. While they didn't do fittings, they had a stack of...
27 days ago • 4 min read
Read online here Yup, I just have a photo of "construction lyndon" laying around... Hey Reader, 🚨 nerd alert: I think I've reached a new level of nerdy rabbit holes - as of writing I'm 2 hours into a 4 hour podcast about how the electric grid was built. What's shocking is I think is it's such a cool blend of history, science, and how business decisions shaped something we take for granted literally every second of every day. Did you know Thomas Edison waged a PR war against AC current calling...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Hey Reader, Are you interested in meeting more people in person? Last year Jo went to Kit's conference Craft + Commerce (this link has the details, not the discount), and we're so excited to be going again this year! But we want to go with you - so we asked them if we could give you a discount code. And they said YES. If you want a hefty discount (we're talking multiple hundreds $) hit reply and we'll give you the link. (They're almost sold out, so don't wait too long) The Messy Middle When...
about 1 month ago • 6 min read
Hey Reader, If you're tired of paying Adobe rates to edit photos... DaVinci Resolve added photo editing to their video editor this week. And it's free. I've been watching early reaction/review videos trying to figure out if it's good enough for professional photographers to actually switch 🤔. What do you think? This Week's Needle Mover Idea 5: Send Voice & Video DMs: Use personalized voice memos or face-to-camera videos via direct message to check in with warm leads. It immediately humanizes...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
Hey Reader, We were interviewed for 2 podcasts this week. And it was such a fun experience being on the other side of the "table", since we're putting a lot of thought into being a good podcast interviewer right now. When was the last time you put yourself in the "customer" side of your offer? This Week's Needle Mover Idea 31: Use the "Airline Analogy": When leads ask to piecemeal a service to save money, explain why they need the full package to reach their destination (e.g., "You can't buy...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
Yup, it's a new logo 👀 This photo makes a lot more sense once you read the Messy Middle... Hey Reader, What's your go-to Spotify playlist? I basically have 3 states during a work day: on a call, talking to jo, or wearing headphones listening to music... and I've realized I listen to the same 4 playlists a lot. If I get some good recs (hit reply), I'll report back next week for everyone on what people think you should be listening to. This Week's Needle Mover Idea 46: Build Together: Build...
2 months ago • 5 min read
Hey Reader, This week OpenAI announced they're shutting down Sora, their AI video generation app. And honestly, I feel like that says a lot about what people actually want. While it caused a bunch of viral content, I feel like if they're shutting it down they're seeing that people aren't actually using it (or willing to pay for it)... and I believe that people still want to see content made by real people that tells real stories, not just bunnies jumping on a trampoline. This Week's Needle...
2 months ago • 5 min read