Hello friends!
Welcome to the first edition of This Better Work from my new blog / newsletter platform, Substack!
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I switched platforms again. More on that below.
I managed to switch platforms while also spending a super fun two days back on set with Greg Rogers and Joe Serkoch. This time, the goal was to capture some awesome, high-quality video and product shots for our upcoming launch.
If you ever need help with video, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Joe Serkoch / Orionvega. I’ve been working with him since back in the ShowClix days — and I’ve never been disappointed. Dude rolls with a solid crew 🎥 📸💄👗
A bit of advice to founders.
Budget to get this part of your business right. Invest in good assets early. They go a really long way.
Happy Friday, friends.
Go make something.
New! Shiny! Exciting!
Yep. I'm launching another newsletter. This one completely dedicated to all things startup marketing.
Meet Microdose Marketing.
Marketing recommendations and resources for startup founders, delivered in a micro-newsletter twice a week.
Three links and 100 words of commentary. That’s it.
With the introduction of a second newsletter, I’ll be switching up delivery.
Moving forward, you can expect This Better Work to hit your inbox on Monday (likely every other week). Microdose Marketing will be delivered on Wednesday and Friday.
Wild Wild Tech
Things have WILD in the tech world.
Over the last few weeks we’ve seen massive layoffs at super established tech giants, the epic collapse of ftx at the hands of Binance, and a mass exodus of staff, users, and advertisers at Twitter. Let’s get into it.
Layoffs
Almost 20,000 tech workers have been laid off over the last 10 DAYS. Here’s a quick list of a few of the most notable companies that handed out pink slips:
Meta: 11,000 (CNBC: 11/09/22)
Redfin: 862 (Business Insider: 11/09/22)
Cameo: 80 (Crain’s Chicago Business: 11/09/22)
Zendesk: 350 (SFGATE: 11/07/22)
Salesforce: 1,000 (CNBC: 11/07/22)
Twitter: 3,700 (New York Times: 11/04/22)
Stripe: 1,000 (Bloomberg: 11/03/22)
Lyft: 700 (Wall Street Journal: 11/03/22)
Shippo: 60 (LinkedIn: 11/03/22)
Opendoor: 550 (Bloomberg: 11/02/22)
Chime: 156 (The Information Scoop: 11/02/22)
My hometown of Pittsburgh hasn’t escaped this trend. Two of the most well-known Robotics companies in the city closed their doors in the last month.
Fifth Season: 500: Complete Shutdown (PGH Business Times: 10/29/22)
Argo: 2,000: Complete Shutdown (TechCrunch: 10/26/22)
According to layoffs.fyi, this is what 2022 has looked like for tech layoffs.
When will we be on the other side of this? Who knows. In the meantime, here’s what to expect if your tech company is downsizing (from Axios).
Is This Crypto’s Lehman Moment? (New York Times)
This story, featuring Binance and ftx, has been interesting to follow over the last few days, to say the least.
If you’re not familiar with Binance or ftx, they’re the two largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world (businesses that allows customers to trade cryptocurrencies or digital currencies for other assets, such as conventional fiat money or other digital currencies).
FTX collapsed super suddenly on Tuesday, an apparent victim of its founder's hubris and Binance’s absolute ruthlessness.
I can’t even begin to explain the complexity and insanity of this story.
Check out this New York Times article that gives an excellent play-by-play on how this hostile takedown took place.
The Elon Musk Clown Show
Not only has Twitter lost half of its team, according to MIT, The platform has also lost over 1 million users since Elon’s takeover.
I’m one of them. And I’m sad about it.
Twitter has been my social platform of choice since 2007. I’ve met SO MANY amazing people there. Honestly, I’m gonna miss it.
Average users aren’t the only people sick of Musk’s shenanigans.
Celebrities are fleeing Twitter at a clip. As are some of the company’s biggest advertisers, including General Motors, Pfizer, and United Airlines.
Going out in the biggest and most hilarious way possible was Kathy Griffin.
Kathy didn’t leave willingly. Her account was suspended after she changed her user name to Elon Musk and encouraged everyone to vote democrat.
So, where are people going? A few platforms have seen a sharp increase in users since the exodus began.
Mastodon: A German-based, free, open-source decentralized social media platform.
Farcaster: A sufficiently decentralized social network, currently in beta.
Discord: A VoIP and instant messaging social platform where users have the ability to communicate with voice calls, video calls, text messaging, media and files in private chats or as part of communities.
I landed in the beta for Farcaster (thanks Dan Romero and Chris Stanchak).
So far, I really like it.
That said, there’s a major barrier to entry for the average Twitter user: You have to register for an account with an Ethereum wallet.
If we were buds on Twitter, you can now find me on LinkedIn and Instagram. If we’re not connected, let’s be friends!
Connecting with Customers
With Twitter tanking, maybe it’s time to lean into a few other platforms to fill the void.
Pssst — this is a little sample of what you’ll get twice a week when you subscribe to Microdose Marketing.
How to Grow Your Instagram Engagement (Hubspot)
This is the definitive guide. TL;DR:
Tap into influencers.
Use hashtags, tags, captions, and @mentions to expand reach.
Expand your content type.
Schedule your posts for nights and weekends.
Measure and adapt.
Substack is swooping in as Twitter chaos continues (Mashable)
Substack has placed its sights on Twitter users with the launch of Substack Chat (announced yesterday). Chat doesn't mirror Twitter as much as it replicates a fundamental Twitter function: to have an ongoing conversation with others online.
How to Write an Email Newsletter That Builds Lasting Relationships with Your Audience (Copyblogger)
And there’s always email! Which is underrated, in my opinion.
How to Migrate From Ghost to Substack
Switching software is never easy. Especially after using that software for YEARS.
That’s where I was with Ghost. I’ve been writing and publishing my newsletter / blog there for two years.
Since I’m starting fresh with a new newsletter, I figured I’d revisit my choice to use Ghost as my blogging / newsletter platform.
And after revisiting, I decided to migrate to Substack.
Read more about my decision to make the switch (hint: awesome new features), get details on why I chose Substack, and learn about the hack I used to make it an easy process here:
If you’re in the market for a newsletter platform, there are lots of great options out there, including:
ConvertKit (I’ve also used this one)
Mailchimp (obviously)
Want more details, check out 10 best newsletter platforms that are free to use in 2023 (MarketerMilk).
Until next time,
✌️Lynsie
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