Friends of Dave #215: most annoying sound
In a meme driven world, you need to be thinking unconventionally.
First, I guess last week's intro where I talked about my brush with death in a teen driven misaligned vehicle must have struck a chord -- I got more emails, texts, and DMs about it than any other issue in the past 6 months.
I received more reaction than Sassy Justice and it rivaled the reaction I received to my other near death experience a few years ago in the middle aged mosh pit.....
Really glad my terror is your entertainment, Friends.....
And, because some of you asked, I am proud/scared to report that my son passed his driver's test this past week -- in a legit snowstorm no less....pretty safe bet that the poor woman who administered the test has not left Mickey Malone's Tavern in Brockton, MA since Tuesday....
Tina the Car and I are so there with you, girl....good food, good friends and GOOD TIMES....such good times...
Anyway...where were we?
Ah yes, couple conversations this week revolved around the value of unconventional thinking. I thought I would quickly address here.
The quick take: in 2021 quirky will continue to rule, and buttoned up and conventional will continue to suck.
What does that mean? It means Steak-umm's Twitter account can continue serving up snarky comments instead of meat sheet cooking tips. Panera can talk about selling bread bowl mittens (see below) instead of actual bread bowls. Bernie Sanders sitting in the cold will be a hilarious meme.
What's out in an almost post-COVID world? Suits (actually, pants for that matter). Email. Webinars. Resumes. PDFs. Network TV. Apparently hot coffee...and, sadly, most likely your LinkedIn profile or company's website...
Look around, Friends. Taking a conventional approach to just about anything will most likely relegate you to the "As If" pile.
That means you need to get uncomfortable and take some risks if you want to stand out. You need to put some thought and effort into any story you are looking to tell to get attention.
Your same old crappy marketing, resume, website or LinkedIn profile stands no chance in a world where a random picture of a grouchy, bundled up 79 year old senator at the inauguration will get bigger, lasting traction than the event itself.
Think unconventionally and peripherally. It's not that conventional thinking isn't sound or good. It just doesn't sell right now. It captures only a limited amount of people's attention.
You know which FoD newsletters get opened the most? The ones with the quirky subject lines. If I can figure out a way to get the word "florida" in the subject line, it probably adds 1% to the open rates. Without fail.
And the articles that get clicked on the most in this newsletter? Not the first two sections. It's the random stories and the Last Word. Every week. And there is some great stuff in those first sections that can help you in your day-to-day. But they are usually conventional.
We scroll, swipe and flip through tons of information thrown at us every day. The unconventional stuff is what catches our eye and makes us stop the scrolling.
So as we kick off the year, take some time to get out of your comfort zone, think about how you can shed some conventional thinking and take a risk or two. Guarantee it will payoff for you.
With that, serving up some good links below -- hope you will have some time to check each out.
Stay warm Friends!
XOXO
Dave
Think on This...
13 Human Qualities You Must Have to Succeed in Work and Life
So much of success derives from mindset rather than skillsets…. … Mindset is who you really are at your core. It’s your habitual way of thinking.
Fairly quick read -- some things here you would expect, but good to scan.
For Your Day Job...
State of the API Report | The Rise of API-first
Read this State of the API report and discover some interesting insights on the rise of the API-first philosophy.
Why Your Business Should Use Predictive Trend Spotting Predicting the future is impossible. But predicting trends that will affect your business is becoming a reality.
25% of B2B SaaS Sales Are Headed to Cloud Marketplaces Cloud marketplaces are still a new sales channel, but this $250B (and growing) market can’t be ignored. Here are key insights for 2021 and beyond.
Your Weekly Dose of Randomness...
Chart: A Global Look at How People Spend Their Time — www.visualcapitalist.com
We all have the same 24 hours in the day. This chart is a global look at how people spend their time in 33 countries around the world.
Which Sounds Are the Most Annoying to Humans?
Now that little whiny cartoon jerk Caillou is gone, for me it has to be the sound of a teenage boy chewing on Sour Patch kids while laughing at TikTok videos on his phone..... but that's just me....
Panera unveils bread bowl glove for people who enjoy iced coffee in the winter
To use a phrase from the presumed demographic for this: W.T. Literal. F..........
Study Confirms 'Slow Blinks' Really Do Work to Communicate With Your Cat — www.sciencealert.com
I tried this on a co-worker's cat on Google Meet this week, and I can provide confirmation that this is true....
And The Last Word....
Read This if You Want to Know WTF Is Up With GameStop Stock — www.vice.com
Now that the media is bored with politics it is turning to the next best source of contrived drama: the stock market.
You might have heard this week how a horde of Redditors were destroying various hedge funds and becoming rich by trading GameStop stock. This article does a phenomenal job of breaking down in real talk how it all went down. If you are interested in this at all, highly recommend reading.
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