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Dear <<First Name>>,
Happy Memorial Day! Hope you had a relaxing holiday weekend.
I spent most of my weekend catching up on some reading, finishing Ramping Your Brand: How to Ride the Killer CPG Growth Curve by James Richardson and making good progress on Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, a novel about the world before and after a pandemic leads to the collapse of civilization.
I also listened to a good amount of The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle Book 1) by Patrick Rothfuss on Audible. Very entertaining fantasy story that will probably turn into a streaming series in the next few years.
Last week's newsletter got a 58.3% open rate and the most-clicked link was to the Zen Work Pod that I contemplated as my new work space.
Consumed
The Three Sides of Risk by Morgan Housel
Beautifully written post about Housel's tragic and painful experience that taught him about risk. Highly recommend this one.
Sales Tips from Hacker News
Saw this in a tweet by Brent Beshore and found some of these to be great reminders / ways of talking about sales. A few selects:
- Sales is about people and it's about problem solving. It is not about solutions or technology or chemicals or lines of code or artichokes. It's about people and it's about solving problems
- People buy 4 things and 4 things only. Ever. Those 4 things are time, money, sex, and approval/peace of mind. If you try selling something other than those 4 things you will fail.
- Being valuable and useful is all you ever need to do to sell things. Help people out. Send interesting posts. Write birthday cards. Record videos sharing your ideas for growing their business. Introduce people who would benefit from knowing each other then get out of the way, expecting nothing in return. Do this consistently and authentically and people will find ways to give you money. I promise.
Bon Appétit’s Recipe for Success in a Digital Media World by Jerry Lu
I enjoyed this analysis of Bon Appétit’s transition and success in digital at a time when many publishers have struggled. Their focus on video and use of relatable content creators and subsequent cultivation of followers into ardent advocates is a great case study in embracing cultural and technological trends and discarding the old ways of doing things.
Bon Appétit’s videos feature a variety of hosts who are appealing and highly relatable, and have quickly become celebrities in their own right. Unlike the hosts of conventional cooking shows, these hosts are neither actors nor professional chefs: rather, they are home cooks, editors, and writers who are naturals in front of the camera. Similar to other online food channels, Bon Appetit’s videos consist of traditional cooking how-to’s, but unlike those channels, they were quick to double down on their unique strategy: having their hosts launch their own respective shows (i.e., individual web series within the broader channel).... In contrast to the slick branding of the magazine and the rigid over-production of the typical cooking channel, these unpredictable, raw, extemporaneous shows add a welcome new dimension to round out the brand’s appeal.
Building the Perfect Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder (YouTube)
Delightful video of how an engineer constructed an elaborate obstacle course to confound squirrels who were stealing from his bird feeder.
Created
Customer Journey No. 3: How I Became a Spindrift Addict
Re-sharing this blog post I wrote in December. I recently re-stocked with a 120-can order to supplement my two 20-can subscriptions. Working at home has meant more frequent consumption.
Spindrift released its Pineapple flavor in April. It was initially only available on its website so I ordered it immediately, the first time I went directly through their owned ecomm channel. A few weeks later Pineapple was available on Amazon so I went right back to ordering all my Spindrift through Amazon.
I'm pretty sure if Spindrift offered a 96-pack where I got to choose 4 different 24-pack flavors and got a slight discount or rewards points, there might be a sizable audience for it and it could even be a subscription.
Cheers,
Peter
P.S. You can check out my list of books read right here. My hope is to get a good mix of challenging reads with some that are entertaining, inspiring, and instructive.
If you like what you've read, please share with your friends. They can sign up for the list here. Also, I always welcome recommendations of any kind–books, podcasts, movies, etc.
About me: Peter Kang is co-founder of Barrel, a digital agency in New York City. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, son, and dog.
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