“The most confident critics are generally those who know the least about the matter criticized.” – Ulysses S. Grant
As I write this, I hear the sounds of helicopters and sirens racing around Los Angeles to cope with what’s been an awful day for this city in an awful week for this country.
Lots of things are broken right now, but that doesn’t mean they can’t ever be fixed.
Here’s to the fixers — we need you now more than ever.
Now, on to this week’s ideas…
1. 40 One-Sentence Social Media Tips
“When you post an image, don’t use the caption to tell your audience what it is — use it to explain why it should matter to THEM.”
My goal is to provide you with as much value as possible in as little time as possible and that led me to create this post.
In it, I share 40 one-sentence social media tips to help you figure out what to post, how to post it, and why.
Related: 100 things to publish in the next 100 days to grow your audience.
2. How To Do A Quick Weekly Review To Increase Your Productivity
“Your productivity is just like your finances: it doesn’t work if it changes too often.”
Most people don’t do a weekly review because it sounds time-consuming and complicated, but it doesn’t have to be.
Tiago Forte breaks down how to do a quick weekly review to increase your productivity and offers a step-by-step process to review your email, calendar, desktop, notes, and tasks in 30 minutes or less.
Btw, I found this link in Khe Hy’s newsletter.
Related: My most productive days are a result of these five choices.
3. How To Create Better YouTube Videos In Six Steps
“The small quick wins that people get is going to get them to come back.”
As with most creative work, there’s both an art and science to producing successful YouTube videos.
In this 17-minute video, Pat Flynn explains how to create better YouTube videos in six steps including to create the title first, start creating with the end in mind, and insert pattern interrupts.
Btw, I got this link from Alex Wieckowski.
Related: How to grow your YouTube channel.
4. Start Your Business Once You Find Five People Who Would Purchase Your Product
“A lukewarm ‘maybe’ doesn’t count. You need an emphatic ‘YES.’”
It can be tricky to figure out what to sell to your audience and an inherently risky proposition.
David Perell’s suggestion that you start your business once you find five people who would purchase your product is a smart one.
He breaks down the thinking behind what he calls the five-finger trigger and explains how it influenced the product he created.
Related: How to monetize your audience.
5. The 10 Most-Used Newsletter Formats
“The beauty of email is that you are not attached to anything. If you decide to change course after a few editions, you can do so.”
If you don’t yet have your own newsletter, this will help you get one started and if you do have a newsletter it will help you clarify what you’re doing with it.
Frank Meeuwsen analyzes the 10 most-used newsletter formats and shares examples of each including curated links, promotional, experimental, and pop-up newsletters.
Related: How to write a newsletter.
My Final Words Of The Week
I’m watching the new History Channel docu-series about the life of Ulysses S. Grant.
It’s particularly fascinating to watch a Civil War story in the midst of what’s currently going on in this country at the moment.
But Grant’s story is relevant beyond its socio-political impact.
He was a kid who showed no promise, only to land in the military where he wound up getting kicked out and sent home, where he struggled to make ends meet and failed at one venture after another.
He was depressed, maybe an alcoholic, and the last person you’d expect to achieve anything historic.
Then the Civil War broke out.
He was recruited back into the military, worked his way up the ranks, found his calling, and the rest is history.
It’s a reminder the degree to which circumstances can change and of the ability you have to change them when the slightest of opportunities appear.
And new opportunities will always appear.
You don’t have to be defined by what you did yesterday.
Today’s a new day.
Make the most of it.
Have a great week.
Josh
PS — If you dig this newsletter, I’d love for you to share it with others who might enjoy it.
Thanks!