Summary: Search is following the print trajectory and will soon be replaced by AI agents. This has big implications for content creators. I love tea. I love the bitterness and the astringency. I love the aroma. I love that it has no calories. And yes, I love the caffeine, although caffeine doesn’t love me. I’ve…
Summary: People are sick of doing business with rapacious companies that put profits above people. This presents an opportunity for honest businesses. I don’t mean human vs. AI (also worth considering). I mean human vs. monster. Here are some depressing statistics about humans. Somewhere between 1-6% of us are narcissists. Machiavellianism is similar, but a…
Summary: In what cases should you seek advice about your business, and from whom should you seek such advice? You want “informed advice,” and you need to be cautious about following it. It’s smart to ask for advice, but sometimes dumb to take it. The 21 Hats Podcast had an episode called “Who’s Advice are…
Summary: It’s important to know your customer. Know their needs, their wants, their values, their habits, and their preferences. But don’t call into the branding trap of believing they need to be your buddy. Bo Sacks distributed an article by James Evelegh with a rather long title that starts “An even closer union. How close…
Summary: Anchoring bias is a cognitive bias that makes us latch on to the first bit of data we hear. This post discusses eight ways to combat this bias. Daniel Kahneman might be best known for his book “Thinking Fast and Slow,” which I haven’t read, but I’ve read and heard a lot about Kahneman’s…
Summary: When an audience member’s engagement lags you need to take action. Here’s another quote from Amanda Landsaw’s talk at MACMA Industry Day. “Stay on top of inactivity in the database. If a known audience member has not visited in a certain number of days, send an email.” I’ve seen a surprising indifference to this…
Summary: Tricks and tools can help break through to new ideas. This article focuses on ways to get outside the ordinary and re-think and re-imagine your business, product, or project. The connection between writing and design is one of the issues raised in “Lessons on Branding from the World’s Most Iconic Cold,” distributed last night…
Summary: The article discusses how reading on paper often leads to better comprehension and retention than digital reading, citing fewer distractions and engagement of more senses as key factors. It suggests enhancing digital reading by reducing distractions, such as intrusive ads, and incorporating features like text-to-speech, note-taking, and providing contextual elements like unique typefaces and…
Summary: The article discusses the challenges facing the publishing industry, emphasizing the need for long-term, strategic thinking. It references Dominic Young’s ideas on revitalizing publishing through casual sales, akin to buying a newspaper without the hassle of subscriptions or giving personal information. The concept is compared to micro-payments, which haven’t been widely successful due to…
Summary: The article discusses the challenge that artificial intelligence (AI) poses to publishers, as AI can provide answers and content similar to what traditional publishers offer. The author suggests steps for publishers to respond, including denying AI access, protecting their content, and characterizing AI answers as unreliable. It also addresses the issue of users uploading…
Summary: Axios co-founder Jim VandeHie offers advice on “smart brevity” in writing, emphasizing the importance of considering the audience, starting with the key point, simplicity, visual aids, conversational tone, and delivering essential information. This approach aligns with the inverted pyramid model. VandeHie focuses on attracting the average reader’s limited attention span. Krehbiel wonders if this…
When you’re dealing with vendor negotiations and tech evaluations, miscommunication is a big problem. It can lead to an incorrect evaluation of possible solution, and it can cost you money. In today’s podcast I will explain five scenarios where a vendor might initially decline a client’s request, and how both parties can turn this into…
Bo Sacks recently posted this article: The creator economy is failing to spread the wealth (If you’re not following Bo Sacks, you should.) From the article linked above … The creator economy was supposed to democratize media, but it turns out that a small portion of creators still reap the most revenue for their work…
There’s a hidden opportunity in vendor negotiations you might be missing, making your tech evaluations longer and more costly than they need to be. Below I’ll explore five reasons a vendor might say no to a client, and how both the client and the vendor can turn that to an advantage. The trick is both…
I was speaking recently with a publishing colleague who sends his paid newsletter content to his subscribers as a PDF attached to an email. He has a big problem with some subscribers forwarding this subscriber-only content to non-subscribers. I’ve heard experienced publishers react to this sort of story very differently. Some will say, “Yay! Free…