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Welcome to the 69th edition of The Random Newsletter.
 
First of all, get your mind out of the gutter ;)

I'm proud to announce that, as of last week, our foundation, The Orange Effect Foundation, has delivered 69 speech devices to children in need since 2014. We also support, through grants, over 200 children in 34 states with speech therapy services. If you'd like to support our cause, our new fundraiser, Silence 4 Speech is launching soon (this is where fundraisers commit to not speaking for 12 hours to support OEF kids).

If you'd like to join the effort, sign up or reply to this email with questions.


This newsletter is sent every other Thursday by Joe Pulizzi (me!). I focus on media, content marketing and life success. I also like to comment on interesting human behavior. THANK YOU for being here.

P.S. If this email was forwarded to you,
get your own subscription. :)
 
 


From Last Week

For those who asked, I did finish last week's half marathon in one piece, with a time of 1 hour and 56 minutes. Need proof? See below for the finish-line shot. And yes, it felt as bad as it looks.




New Email Metrics?

I received the above note (see intro image) from Mailchimp as I was producing this issue. I’ve talked with a number of email newsletter creators about this as well. It seems that the new email metric will no longer be open rate, but click-through rate (thanks Apple!). We will see where this goes.


Money for Audience

If you’re a listener of my
Content Inc. podcast (five minutes every Monday), you know that I’ve been struggling with a new concept.

I’ve been going down the rabbit hole with
DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations), Social Tokens, Crypto and more. I’ve learned a lot. I’m also struggling with a number of issues.

In Web 2.0, the content creator could leverage multiple platforms, build an audience and monetize that audience. We did that fairly well at Content Marketing Institute and had a successful exit in 2016. Now, I’m starting to believe that this is a dated model.

I believe that first, it doesn’t have to be just the one creator, one founder, one CEO model. More and more I’m starting to believe that a collective approach to content may work better. I’m watching some of these DAOs, like the
Bankless DAO, that aligns under the mission of, well, pretty much the end of banks. They tokenize and then people are compensated initially on their stake, like equity, and then ongoing through their work. So if someone takes on a certain role in the DAO, they can ultimately be an owner.

From the one to the collective. It’s possible to do this now with crypto.

And that leads to the second point, almost one in the same. But when a content entrepreneur builds an audience, the goal is to generate revenue, right? Build a business? Of course. But can that be done while at the same time helping your audience drive revenue? I think so.

I know it doesn’t seem like much, but this is a huge concept. Think of a media company like The New York Times creating and distributing content, while at the same time the readers of that publication generate money or retain some kind of ownership in the New York Times for being part of that community.

When I look at the
Content Inc. model and the 10 different ways to drive revenue, I’m thinking…hmm…conferences and events, could the attendees own the event? Training…could the trainees own the training program? Products, could I buy a product and win some long-term value over and above what the product does?

The answer is probably yes and no…all I want to communicate today is that there is something here. This is actually a thing…and it’s moving fast.

If I had to choose right now, I think the best model would be for a creator or multiple creators to start the mission, and then slowly start to give that back to the community (the audience) over time. Seems to be the best of both worlds.

The next time you think about your audience and the value you are delivering, think about if you can help them financially as well as through the information you deliver. And then, let me know what you decided.
 

A Go-To-Market Framework

I’ve been a fan of Sangram Vajre ever since Robert Rose and I did a case study on his company, Terminus, for the book Killing Marketing. Sangram is one of those people that see the better way. He was doing content marketing before most and built an amazingly successful business.

His new book, called
Move: The 4-Question Go-To-Market Framework, is an excellent one for understanding your audience (customer) and how to scale your business for growth. You can get it on Amazon now. And FYI, this is not a paid link. 😊
 

The Importance of Body Language

My oldest is taking a class on communications and talked to me about the importance of non-verbal communication (and shared a video with me).

When I was in college, I was told that 97 percent of meaning is derived not from verbal words, but non-verbal communication. Could it also be that your body language can shape who you are as a person?

If you get a chance,
watch this 20-minute TED talk from Amy Cuddy. It’s a powerful video, and I believe, one filled with truth.

 
Building Principles

I’m a big fan of Jack Butcher, founder of Visualize Value and a case study in the latest version of Content Inc. He put together an
amazing Tweet string I felt compelled to share.

Building Principles:

Value = doing things that other people don’t do, won’t do or can’t do.
Service is a high-touch result generation (building experience), product is low-touch result generation (scaling experience).
In a world of infinite distraction, focus on the only path to freedom.
Sell time to buy experience, sell experience to buy time.
Use free time to build systems that free up time.
You can’t get good unless you get going.
Make media work for you. Write, record, design, edit once, publish twice.
Build once, sell twice.

And finally, in listening to the
latest Prof G podcast (always a good listen) he talked incessantly about the importance of time. How we should be doing everything possible to free up time that gives us a chance to make an impact on ourselves or others.
 


Random Idea - Watch Come From Away

The musical, Come From Away, was one of those amazing experiences I didn't see coming.

When my family and I went to downtown Cleveland, Ohio to see Come From Away a few years ago, we didn't know a thing about it. Two hours later, our lives were changed.

The quick overview: It's set the week following the September 11th attacks. With planes in the air needing to land immediately, the small town of Gander, in the province of Newfoundland, becomes the temporary home for hundreds of confused and scared passengers.

You'll cry. You'll laugh. You'll love it.

The Broadway production is now available for free on Apple TV+ (well, not free, but included with a subscription...but if you don't have one you can get one and then watch Ted Lasso as well).

Thank You!

Please share this with someone else. Have them sign up here.

Order my new book, Content Inc.: Start a Content-First Business, Build a Massive Audience and Become Radically Successful (with little to no money) today.

Contact me @JoePulizzi on Twitter or JoePulizzi.com. And check out my podcast with Robert Rose -  This Old Marketing (covers news of the week) and my solo podcast Content Inc. (five minutes of content motivation once a week).

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