Writing
Sorry, no blog post last week. I’ve been focused on prepping for NYU midterms (and will have started grading them by the time you read this), finalizing the first draft for my keynote at the Wine Marketing & Tourism Conference in Austin next month and some evolutions (to be announced — all good) of my role at The Times. That all has me plenty busy, but since we’ve made it to 10 bi-weekly newsletters (five months worth!), there’s no way I’d skip.
I did finish reading “Think Like a Freak” last week. It was the second “Freakanomics” book I read. This one dove into the methodology behind their madness. “How to Rob a Bank” is on my nightstand, but first I want to tackle “Chaos Monkeys,” which newsletter sub and Times Crossword marketing manager Fred had recommended.
Lastly, I spoke to Wine Industry Advisor about the role mobile is playing in the wine industry. This is a preview to the great panel I’ll be moderating at the North Coast Wine Expo in December.
Reading
The New York Times’ history of how MailChimp grew their business without any investor capital was a fun read.
Bottled water is big business.
900 numbers used to be big business.
I love Tony Robbins’ enthusiasm and passion. This Inc.com profile on him featured some new facts about his life.
Netflix crushed it with subscriber growth in Q2.
Not all publishers are sold on Facebook Instant articles. Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and others are still sitting on the sideline.
Walmart has a stigma about it as a workplace environment. The NYTimes found they’ve improved employee pay and store cleanliness, which is resulting in higher revenue. (Note: As Simon Sinek writes in his great book “Leaders Eat Last,” cutting salaries/costs doesn’t always improve revenue.)
Your Amazon Prime subscription now comes with magazines and a discounted Apple Music/Spotify competitive product.
It’s a bird. It’s a plane. Nope, it’s just a drone marketing campaign for Uber.
WSJ did the best job of defining what Twitter is: a media company.
I love Chipotle. This FastCompany profile is an in-depth look at how the company has been trying to rebound after their health concerns.
We’re a few weeks shy of election day. The NYTimes offered a behind-the-scenes look at the Clinton campaign.
Who doesn’t love a good oral history? My favorite: Dazed & Confused.
Finally, I always make it a point to ask my son how his day was. This PopSugar.com story showed me how to mix up the question, which I’ll admit, does become stale.
Rock and Roll.
My last newsletter had an open rate of 35.7% (-0.6%).
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