Friends of Dave: True Hollywood Stories Issue

Apr 15, 2017

Game...Blouses...

For the unfamiliar, you are going to need to scroll through this week's selections to get to The Last Word for the payoff to the subject line and lede to this week's newsletter. For those that are familiar, here is another classic story about a "habitual line-stepper" I think you may know. Beware though, both have uncensored, non-Easter Sunday friendly language, so ear muffs for the kids are suggested.

Along these lines, people opined that 2016 was a cursed year during which we lost so many of our most beloved icons. It seemed as if every week we were bombarded with stories about the loss of someone we all fondly recalled, respected, or revered during some point in our lives. I bring this up because it strikes me as interesting that just over the past few weeks, without planning it, I have shared commentary referring to the passing of a famous person over the corresponding past week in a newsletter (including this one). Why do we seem to care so much?

I guess celebrity deaths, shark attacks, and winter snowstorms are like pebbles, rocks or boulders being tossed into a lake. They have always happened. In the past, we only noticed if they occurred when we happened to be watching or were in close proximity us. But now, living in a 24/7 plugged in world, it's like we are attuned to EVERY pebble, rock or boulder being tossed into EVERY lake. We don't miss anything because we love to be the first to share what we have experienced and hate to be the last one we know to see it. And so now, what was once a ripple can now be transformed into a huge wave due to the speed in which we share what we see. Need proof? Go way back to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. As you can tell, I find this evolution in how we interact and communicate to be fascinating....

On a lighter note, I am pleased to report that last week's issue yielded the most interest and feedback (email and texts) of all that I have sent. I can't tell if it was due to the mind blowing content, the Mai Tai's some of you may have been enjoying on the beach during your vacations or the free meditation session that many of you seemed to find relaxing. No matter what the reason -- thank you for the kind words. I think you are awesome too....

I found some good sales and marketing stuff for this 16th issue, so be sure to dig in and take a look. Enjoy your weekend.

XOXO

Dave

Back by popular demand.....click the pic for your honest meditation....

Think on This...

Common Core? Try The Lesson Store. — bigstory.ap.org

Despite worries from some educators, online marketplaces for lesson plans are booming, driven by rising standards, the gig economy and the willingness of teachers to pay out of their own pockets for classroom-tested materials. So if you can get term papers online why not lesson plans?

More Shareholder Letter Insights: Jeff Bezos — www.businessinsider.com

Next up in this week's rockstar CEO shareholder letter series, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos explains why centering a business on "obsessive customer focus" is the best way to succeed. Another interesting read in case you missed it.

Why the Printing Press and the Telegraph Were as Impactful as the Internet — www.farnamstreetblog.com

We rightfully consider technologies like the Internet as revolutionary. Yet in full historical context, there have been many equally important revolutions in communication before.

Going It Alone (long read) — www.outsideonline.com

What happens when an African American woman decides to solo-hike the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine during a summer of bitter political upheaval? Some ignorance, some insight and a lot of unexpected, fascinating interactions.

For Your Day Job...

United, And The “Unfair” New Reality of Business — thinkgrowth.org

If your business model requires you to use the minutiae of legalese to protect you from your customers — your business model is broken.

As United found out the hard way this week, welcome to the Age of the Empowered Customer. Time to rethink how your company's business model embraces customer experience instead of ignoring it.

Goldman Sachs wants to become the Google of Wall Street — www.businessinsider.com

Providing further indication that every business is a data business, Goldman Sachs has sketched out a radical future for itself that is centered on one of my favor topics: data.

“You don’t get it. You aren’t the point.” — medium.com

The point of an awareness strategy is not to capture dollars by selling a thing. The point of an awareness strategy is to capture attention by selling an idea adjacent to that thing.

Some great insights here for the sales guys/gals, marketers and entrepreneurs about how to effectively structure a story that compels someone to buy.

Why The Rising Popularity of Professional Gaming Should Matter to Brands — adage.com

To be successful, marketers need to be ready for nontraditional ways and nontraditional platforms to meet their consumers where they are. Esports, aka organized competitive video gaming, has grown to offer a huge marketing platform.

Forget 2 Chainz. It's Time For the Music Business to Start Embracing the Blockchain — www.billboard.com

Blockchain? Bitcoin? Cryptocurrency? See how these technologies can transform how the music industry monetizes digital content.