Tag: mash-up

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Monday Mash-Up

Monday Mashup #13 – 2018.04.23

Hello: Here’s the latest edition of MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-up. We’ll kick off every week with this quick collection of tips, recommendations, observations and other interesting, valuable stuff.

– Tom 


Monday, April 23, 2018
MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-Up

Recommended Reading

I’m devouring Tribe of Mentors – Short Life Advice from the Best in the World by Tim Ferriss. 

Ferriss reached out to more than 130 world-class performers to learn what makes them tick — favorite books, lessons learned from failures, advice they give to others and more. 

The answers are fascinating and instructive. 

Recommended Resource

Canva is a fantastic tool for creating great-looking graphics — even if you have little or no graphic design skills. It’s also a great time-saver for those with design skills. We use Canva to create graphics for emails, websites, social media posts and all other digital media. The basic plan is free. 

Recommended Listening

If you like classical music (or Radiohead) give the soundtrack from Phantom Thread a listen. I have mixed feelings about the movie, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Daniel Day-Lewis who plays a dress-maker in England. But I loved the music. What’s it have to do with Radiohead? The composer is Jonny Greenwood, the band’s lead guitarist and keyboardist. He has composed scores for several films, including There Will Be Blood (which also starred Day-Lewis and was directed by Anderson). 

My favorite track: “House of Woodcock.” 

Recommended Watching

Saddleback Leather sells beautifully-made briefcases wallets, belts and other handcrafted stuff. 

But their expensive. 

In this brilliant, hilarious video, CEO Dave Munson reveals why Saddleback is worth the cost — by offering step-by-step instructions on how to create a cheap knock-off. 

Notable Quote

“The disease of our times is that we live on the surface. We’re like the Platte River, a mile wide and an inch deep.”

– Steven Pressfield, quoted in Tribe of Mentors.” ***

Any reading, listening, quoting, resourcing that you think we should share? Send us a tip.

Until next time, enjoy the rest of this week and the weekend.

Tom
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Monday Mash-Up

Monday Mashup #13 – 2018.04.16

Hello: Here’s the latest edition of MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-up. We’ll kick off every week with this quick collection of tips, recommendations, observations and other interesting, valuable stuff.

– Tom 


Monday, April 16, 2018
MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-Up

Business Cards Collecting Dust? Here Are Some Solutions

If I had a nickel for every business card I collected but never entered in my contact management software…

But that’s old news for me. I now use an app called CamCard. Open the app and snap a photo of the card. The app scans the text in the photo and converts it into editable text that it saves as a contact record. Phone number in the phone number field. Email in the email field. And so forth…

You can then save the record to your contact list on your phone (which, in my case, syncs with the contact list on my other computers). The scanning is not flawless. Sometimes you have to edit the new contact record. But it’s close enough to be a huge time saver. 

CamCard is a great solution for the occasional card. But if you need to enter more than a small handful of cards, we recommend a service called ALLinEntry. Send that pile of cards to the service, and they’ll return to you a spreadsheet with the contacts — ready for you to import into your database. This is a huge time-saver, well worth the investment. 

List-Building Tips

We just updated “9 Proven List Building Techniques” — one of the free resources on our website. You can grab a copy here. 

Recommended Word Delivery Device

What’s a “word delivery device” you ask? That’s just doublespeak for “book.”

I’m reading one called “Spinglish: The Definitive Dictionary of Deliberately Deceptive Language.” Here’s an online excerpt you can browse.

A sales guy sparked my interest in doublespeak offered to publish an article about my company on his website. He said there would be “a symbolic fee” for the article. 

Here’s a great article about how marketers, politicians, military leaders and corporations use misleading language to disguise meaning.  

Cover Song Controversy

Taylor Swift is one of those love-her-or-hate-her figures. Not much in between. Last week, she released on Spotify her cover of the Earth Wind and Fire hit “September.” 

Allee Wilson, who co-wrote the song, gave Taylor’s version the thumbs-up. “Taylor Swift is the absolute cherry on top of a very soulful and happy sundae,” she said.

But there was also widespread criticism. 

PLEASE REPLY…I’m interested in two things here:

1) What do you think of Taylor’s version? Cherry on top? Terrible? Something in between? 

2) What are some of your favorite cover versions of well-known songs. I have a long list that I’ll share soon. Please share some of your favorites by replying here. 

Meaningful Quote 

“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink.”
― George Orwell, from Politics and the English Language***

Any reading, listening, quoting, resourcing that you think we should share? Send us a tip.

Until next time, enjoy the rest of this week and the weekend.

Tom
Categories
Monday Mash-Up

Monday Mashup #12 – 2018.04.09

Hello: Here’s the latest edition of MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-up. We’ll kick off every week with this quick collection of tips, recommendations, observations and other interesting, valuable stuff.

– Tom 


Monday, April 9, 2018
MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-Up

Brilliant Marketing Videos

I never thought I’d say this: I recommend these videos about supply chain software. Yeah, I said supply chain software. Trust me.  

The company: Kinaxis. 

The videos: A six-episode series (each < 2 minutes) called “NewKinexions.”

In the first video, a man runs into his annoying ex (his former supply chain software) at a restaurant. Soon after, the man’s new girlfriend, Kinaxis, appears. Hijinx ensue, and we discover why Kinaxis is the right choice. The other five videos follow the same formula. 

Funny and smart marketing. 

I’ll be diving deeper into these great videos (among the best B2B marketing pieces I’ve ever seen) in the near future, including…

On Tuesday — Live in St. Louis or Via Facebook

I’ll be the featured kick-off speaker at the St. Louis Business Expo. 

When: 10 a.m. CDT, Tuesday, April 10 

Where: St. Louis Business Expo at the St. Charles Convention Center. The event is free. 

If You Can’t Attend In Person: Watch on Facebook Live at
Facebook.com/MarketVolt 

The Topic:Three Great Ads & Nine Priceless Marketing Lessons
Ever wonder how to create marketing messages that capture prospects’ attention and drive action? Discover three of the greatest ads ever and how they reveal nine marketing lessons that you can apply to grow your business.I’ll discuss Kinaxis “NewKinextions” and two other ads I love. 
 
Recommended Resource  

My buddy Adam Kreitman is a brilliant marketer and a great writer. His “daily(ish)” emails are on my must-read list. 

People ask me all the time, “How much is too much with email?” 

My reply: If you’re sending emails that are not entertaining, interesting or pertinent, one email is too much. 

Adam’s emails prove the other side of the equation: If you send emails that are consistently entertaining, educational and pertinent, people will welcome them in their inboxes, no matter how many you send. 

If you’re interested in good storytelling and in marketing, I suggest you subscribe to Adam’s email list here.  
 
My Favorite Time-Keeping App (And Reasons to Track Time)

Here’s a great article about the benefits of time-tracking. 

And here’s the time-tracking tool I recommend: Toggl.  Simple to use. And affordable (free version is enough for many; paid versions start at <$10/month).

Quote We’re Pondering “Either you’re going to tell stories that spread, or you will become irrelevant.”

– Seth Godin 
***

Any reading, listening, quoting, resourcing that you think we should share? Send us a tip.

Until next time, enjoy the rest of this week and the weekend.

Tom
Categories
Monday Mash-Up

Monday Mashup #11 – 2018.04.02

Hello: Here’s the latet edition of MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-up. We’ll kick off every week with this quick collection of tips, recommendations, observations and other interesting, valuable stuff.

– Tom 


Monday, April 2, 2018
MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-Up

Favorite Fool’d-yas

Happy April! Once a year, I welcome fake news. National Public Radio (NPR) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) have long histories of April fooling their audiences. 

My favorite: The 1957 BBC report about the “Spaghetti Harvest” in Switzerland. 

Here’s the full video and here’s a recent BBC look back with the producer describing how they pulled off the hoax. 

My favorite from NPR: In 1996, they reported that Starbucks was building a transcontinental pipeline to transport coffee beans from Seattle to the east coast. 

At the time, Starbucks was already big enough to make such a hoax believable. It had nearly 2,000 stores across America. Today, Starbucks has more than 26,000 stores across the globe! Yet still no pipeline. 

Our Most Popular Free Resource  

We offer a ton of free marketing resources on our website. The most popular:

10 Secrets to Write Subject Lines that Sell.

If you don’t have a copy, click here to grab one now. 

How to Discourage Negative Behavior

I saw a news report this morning about minors and e-cigarettes. It’s a disturbing trend. MarketVolt works with lots of schools. I feel for the educators who are trying to combat this problem. The news story didn’t help. It featured several young people suggesting that “everyone is doing it.” Reports like this make the problem worse by normalizing bad behavior. 

Here’s a great article that discusses how human beings follow the crowd. You encourage negative behavior when you normalize it. Important lessons for educators, parents and marketers.  
 
Go-Giver Sneak Peek

I’m a big fan of the Go-Giver books by Bob Burg and John David Mann. Next week, they will release the fourth book in the series: The Go-Giver Influencer. If you haven’t read the first three, I recommend you start with those (links to order from various sources here). They’re quick reads that could change your approach to business and life. 

And if you can’t wait for the new book to arrive on April 10, you can read ther first two chapters now by clicking here. 

Quote We’re Pondering
From the Go-Giver (A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea): “The Law of Value: Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.” (The Law of Value, the first of “The Five Laws of Stratospheric Success.” 
***

Any reading, listening, quoting, resourcing that you think we should share? Send us a tip.

Until next time, enjoy the rest of this week and the weekend.

Tom
Categories
Monday Mash-Up

Monday Mashup #10 – 2018.03.19

Hello: Sorry I didn’t send a Mash-Up last week while I was on vacation. Here’s the 10th edition of MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-up. We’ll kick off every week with this quick collection of tips, recommendations, observations and other interesting, valuable stuff.

– Tom 


Monday, March 19, 2018
MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-Up


I’m Reading About My Fair City

I admit it. I’m a homer. I was born and raised in St. Louis, and I continue to live and work here. So I’m always happy to see positive coverage from national media. Last week, the New York Times published a great travel piece that says, “The city has all you could want — museums, green spaces, good music and exciting new restaurants — plus that distinct Midwestern friendliness.” Those of you who reside here, too, already knew it. Those of you who live and work elsewhere, please come for a visit. If you swing by the MarketVolt office, I’ll take you to lunch across the street at Vicia, one of the city’s great restaurants mentioned in the article. 

I’m Watching (and Listening To)…Paul Simon – 18 years ago today, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A few weeks ago, he announced this will be his last year touring. In 1987, he performed in support of his “Graceland” album in Zimbabwe, Africa. He could not perform in South Africa, because some of the artists with whom he was touring were exiled by the Apartheid government that still ruled the country. 

The concert in Zimbabwe was released on DVD as “Graceland: The African Concert.” The DVD is hard to find, but clips from the concert are available on YouTube. Here are three of my favorites: Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes (Simon with Ladysmith Black Mambazo).
  Under African Skies.  Linda Ronstadt sang harmonies on the album. In this stunning live version, Simon sings with the exiled South African jazz singer Miriam Makeba.
  Bring Him Back Home (Nelson Mandela). From the same concert, this song was written and performed by the South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela, who passed away in January. It would take another three years after this concert before the South African government released Nelson Mandela from prison (in 1990 after 27 years). This performance still gives me chills.

Resources for Travelers

I just returned from vacation so I thought I’d share some of the apps I’ve found valuable during this and previous journeys…Detour offers collections of audio-guided walking tours in selected cities, including San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Savannah, Boston, Washington D.C., Portland, Charleston, New Orleans and several overseas destinations.
 RunGo Looking for a good, safe route to run or walk in an unfamiliar city? RunGo offers more than 100,000 routes around the globe, with turn-by-turn voice navigation.
 
Sit or Squat Find a clean, safe public bathroom near you, brought to you by the folks at Charmin bath tissue. Smart marketing move by Charmin and useful app when you’re nowhere near your hotel room bathroom. 
                  Quotes We’re Pondering (RIP, Stephen Hawking)Stephen Hawking passed away last week. We know he was a scientific genius. Until I read about him last week, I didn’t realize how witty and wise he was:

“Unfortunately, Eddie [Redmayne] did not inherit my good looks.” (referring to the actor who portrayed him in “The Theory of Everything.”)

“It would not be much of a universe if it wasn’t home to the people you love.”

Asked in 2017 if he was the smartest person on earth, he replied: “I would never claim this. People who boast about their IQ are losers.”
 
Reasons I’m Grateful

We have a great team here at MarketVolt. I’m so grateful to go on vacation knowing that the company I “run” will run smoothly without me.  And I’m grateful to end a vacation, eager to return to work at a place I love. 

***

Any reading, listening, quoting, resourcing that you think we should share? Send us a tip.

Until next time, enjoy the rest of this week and the weekend.

Tom
Categories
Monday Mash-Up

Monday Mashup #9 – 2018.03.05

Hello: Here’s the ninth edition of MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-up. We’ll kick off every week with this quick collection of tips, recommendations, observations and other interesting, valuable stuff.

– Tom 


Monday, March 5, 2018
MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-Up


I’m Reading: How The #MeToo Movement Is Affecting Your Leadership (And You Might Not Even Notice)

You may not work with anyone who has said, “#MeToo,” but odds are you know someone who could. In this great article published by Forbes online, my friend Dixie Gillaspie argues that we  “cannot afford to ignore these statistics or the impact of the #MeToo movement. Right now, you have people who are reliving some of the most traumatic experiences of their lives. Whether they’re joining the movement, telling their stories or keeping their silence, you have both survivors and abusers who are being reminded of past traumas on an almost daily basis.”

If we want our workplaces to work, we must recognize this and be “a constructive voice in that conversation.” 

Amen, Dixie.

I’m Listening To…Aaron Lee Tasjan – “Little Movies.” He’s a Nashville guy, labeled an “Americana” artist. But this tune from his “Silver Tears” album feels more Beatles than Johnny Cash. Great track from a great album. 

Peter Martin – “Another Day in the Sun” (from La La Land). Don’t bother if you don’t like jazz. But if you like jazz, this is a treat. A great interpretation of the movie’s opening number, from one of the planet’s great pianists. I’m Watching Movies that Should Have Won Oscars

Last month, I shared an article from the Washington Post that listed the past 38 years of Grammy Album of the Year nominees and winners —  and the list of those albums that, according to the critics, should have won. 

Last week, the Post repeated the drill with Best Picture nominees from the Oscars for the past 42 years. This is a great read — and a great guide for your DVD or streaming media sessions for weeks to come: The Oscars always get it wrong. Here are the real best pictures of the past 42 years.

Quotes We’re Pondering“Marketing for the sake of generating a transaction will become increasingly difficult. Today and for the future, marketing is about relationships. Sales transactions become easy when an existing relationship is there. Remember: The future of business is marketing with people, not at them.”

— John Michael Morgan from his book “Brand Against the Machine”
 
Recommended Tool to Speed Up Your Computer

Check out OneTab — a free extension for Chrome or Firefox — that can turn a sluggish web browser into a speed demon. Tabbed browsing is great, but the more tabs you open, the slower your computer. With one tab, you can close all open tabs with one click. Links to the previously open pages are compiled in a single page in OneTab. You can re-open each page one at a time or all at once. Every time my computer gets sluggish, I click the OneTab button and performance improves. 

***

Any reading, listening, quoting, resourcing that you think we should share? Send us a tip.

Until next time, enjoy the rest of this week and the weekend.

Tom
Categories
Monday Mash-Up

Monday Mashup #10 – 2018.03.26

Hello: Here’s the latet edition of MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-up. We’ll kick off every week with this quick collection of tips, recommendations, observations and other interesting, valuable stuff.

– Tom 


Monday, March 26, 2018
MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-Up


Great How-To… Resource

I love wikiHOW. Their mission: “…give everyone (yes everyone) a free, practical education on how to do anything.” It’s simple to use. Type in what you want to do — change a tire, tie a half-hitch knot, get red wine stains out of a carpet, create an MS Excel macro, etc — and wikiHOW delivers step-by-step instructions with diagrams. Available in 17 languages, wikiHOW has partnered with telecommunications companies in 42 countries to deliver its service without data charges. 

I visited wikiHOW last week when I wanted to know…

How to Protect Your Private Information on Facebook  

Timely topic, huh!? I’ve seen countless articles on this topic over the last few days. None made it as simple as wikiHOW (instructions here). If you’re on Facebook and you haven’t canceled your account, you may want to check out this helpful how-to…

Also helpful and timely: Request a Copy of Your Archived Facebook Information File (you may surprised to see the info they have). 

How Smart People Built Great BusinessesI’m listening to How I Built This, an NPR podcast in which Guy Raz interviews founders of well-known companies and delves into the stories of how the companies were created.  Atari & Chuck E. Cheese’s (Yep, the same guy…Nolan Bushnell). Southwest Airlines (Herb Kelleher). Teach For America (Wendy Kopp). Instagram (Kevin Systrom & Mike Krieger). Kate Spade (Kate & Andy Spade). Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams (Jeni Britton Bauer). And more…

You don’t have to be an entrepreneur to love this stuff. Great stories. Fascinating lessons for business and life. 

How to Build a List When People are Weary of Sharing Their InfoHere’s an oldie-but-goody from the MarketVolt Blog: Don’t Put Greedy Signup Forms on Your Website. People are rightly on guard when websites ask for their personal information. So the less you request, the better. We published this post in 2013. It’s more pertinent than ever today.

Quote We’re Pondering (and Still Trying to Process)
From the full-page advertisement that Facebook ran in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and six UK newspapers on Sunday: “We have a responsibility to protect your information. If we can’t, we don’t deserve it. You may have heard about a quiz app built by a university researcher that leaked Facebook data of millions of people in 2014. This was a breach of trust, and I’m sorry we didn’t do more at the time. We’re now taking steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again. We’ve already stopped apps like this from getting so much information. Now we’re limiting the data apps get when you sign in using Facebook.” That last line is the kicker. Seems to me the apology implies that a rogue app is more to blame than Facebook. But the more I look into this, the more I discover that we’re exposing vast amounts of data merely by signing into Facebook — even if we don’t interact with some rogue quiz app. 

We’re still pondering and still researching. More to come on this topic. 

Reasons I’m Grateful

Spring. (For our readers in the southern hemisphere, Fall ain’t bad, either.).  

***

Any reading, listening, quoting, resourcing that you think we should share? Send us a tip.

Until next time, enjoy the rest of this week and the weekend.

Tom
Categories
Monday Mash-Up

Monday Mashup #7 – 2018.02.26

Hello: Here’s the eighth edition of MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-up. We’ll kick off every week with this quick collection of tips, recommendations, observations and other interesting, valuable stuff.

– Tom 


Monday, February 26, 2018
MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-Up


I’m Reading

Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive 
(by Robert Cialdini and others)

This is another one of those books that I re-read regularly. In several short, easy-to-consume chapters, Yes! presents scientific, counter-intuitive discoveries that help you become a more effective persuader. Applicable for marketers, fundraisers, teachers, parents etc., this is a fun and valuable read. 

I’m Listening To “Fats”

Before there was Elvis, before there was Chuck Berry, before “rock” had a name, there was Antoine “Fats” Domino. Born on this day (2/26) in 1928, he recorded the early-rocker “The Fat Man” in 1949 – two years before disc jockey Alan Freed coined the term rock-and-roll. 

By the early 1950’s, “The Fat Man” had sold more than 1 million copies. Today we call that a “platinum” record. “The Fat Man” was the first rock record to achieve the feat. 

In 1956, he recorded his version of Blueberry Hill (he didn’t write it) which became his biggest hit and a rock standard. 

(btw, it’s also Johnny Cash’s birthday today). 

I’m Watching The Coolest Nature Video I’ve Ever Seen

I’m not even going to bother setting this up. Please just trust me. This video is under four minutes long. It’s safe (on YouTube), and it’s really cool — about a species in my home state of Missouri. 

Quotes We’re Pondering(Thanks to Tim Ferriss for sharing this one in one of his emails)…

“Most misunderstandings in the world could be avoided if people would simply take the time to ask, ‘What else could this mean?’”

— Shannon L. Alder
 
50 Reasons to Be Grateful

I enjoyed this blog post that asks, “Can you sit down and in ten minutes write down 50 different things that make you happy or grateful?” She lists 52 she came up with in 10 minutes. And she challenges the rest of us to do the same. 

Are you up to the challenge? Focusing on gratitude can make you happier and more productive.  

p.s. I’m grateful you’ve read this far. 

***

Any reading, listening, quoting, resourcing that you think we should share? Send us a tip.

Until next time, enjoy the rest of this week and the weekend.

Tom
Categories
Monday Mash-Up

Monday Mashup #7 – 2018.02.19

Hello: Here’s the seventh edition of MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-up. We’ll kick off every week with this quick collection of tips, recommendations, observations and other interesting, valuable stuff.

– Tom 


Monday, February 19, 2018
MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-Up

What I’m Watching: Blockchain 101 

My ears have been ringing for months with all the buzz about cryptocurrencies (i.e. Bitcoin) and their underlying “blockchain” technology. What’s all the buzz about? I realized I didn’t have a clue. So I looked for some resources to help me figure it out. Here are three videos that helped: Wired Magazine Video: The Blockchain Explained (2+ minutes)

TED Talks Video: The Blockchain Explained Simply (15+ minutes) 

c|net Article and Video: Blockchain Explained

Interesting Presidential Reading

Happy President’s Day. The federal government established this holiday in 1885 to recognize George Washington’s birthday (2/22). We now celebrate “Presidents,” in general, on the third Monday in February. But the federal government still officially refers to the holiday as “Washington’s Birthday.” 

Here are more weird and fun facts about our chief executives. 

I’m Listening To The Big Chill

Today (2/19) is Smokey Robinson’s 78th birthday. So I’m listening to the soundtrack from the 1983 film The Big Chill, which features hits from the ’60s, including Smokey’s The Tracks of My Tears and I Second That Emotion. It’s my favorite movie soundtrack, and it helped change advertising. 

Prior to 1983, companies rarely used original rock music in advertisements, but the movie changed this:

“(Before the Big Chill), rock musicians sang company jingles, or advertisers used copied versions of their songs, performed by imitators and studio groups. But after The Big Chill, there was a decided turn by Madison Avenue to use original rock ‘n roll songs, or portions of them, in all kinds of advertising,” according to this article. 

Better Than a Mattress Commercial

Why do mattress sales occur around President’s Day? Forbes offers this answer.

Not into presidential mattress ads? (Me neither). But I love this Geico ad about Washington Crossing the Delaware Turnpike. 

Quotes We’re PonderingGeorge Washington said many wise things. Here are a few:  

We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience.

True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity, before it is entitled to the appellation.

It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company.
 
Reason we’re grateful…

All of us who work at MarketVolt (and most of you reading this) work and live in the USA. On President’s Day, it seems appropriate to express gratitude for the freedoms and liberties we cherish. We face many challenges, and there is much to fix and change. Despite that, we can still be grateful for the liberties that George Washington helped to establish and that Abraham Lincoln helped to expand and preserve. 

***

Any reading, listening, quoting, resourcing that you think we should share? Send us a tip.

Until next time, enjoy the rest of this week and the weekend.

Tom
Categories
Monday Mash-Up

Monday Mashup #6 – 2018.02.12

Hello: Here’s the sixth edition of MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-up. We’ll kick off every week with this quick collection of tips, recommendations, observations and other interesting, valuable stuff.

– Tom 


Monday, February 12, 2018
MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-Up

Great Time-Saving Resource for Readers (and Non-Readers)

I’m an avid reader, but I don’t have enough time to plow through every book on my wish list. Enter Blinkist and ReadItForMe — services that provide written and audio summaries of non-fiction books. Both services cost less than $10/month.

Blinkist has thousands of titles, including non-business books. ReadItForMe has fewer books (around 150), but the service goes deeper than Blinkist, offering video summaries and workshop outlines for many titles. This is useful if you plan to share the book with co-workers or friends.

I subscribe to both services, and I recommend you try them both. They both offer free (limited) service levels that will give you an idea of how they work. 

What I’m Watching (This Made My Day)

Watching CBS Sunday Morning is a weekly ritual in my house. Yesterday, CBS told the story of companies that actively hire autistic people. Microsoft and SAP are among those that recognize their unique talents — high IQ, creative problem-solving ability, etc. But many autistic people struggle with interpersonal skills, and this struggle has damaged their job prospects.

Some companies have developed unique ways to evaluate autistic candidates (i.e. don’t rely on an interview). SAP, Microsoft and others assign mentors to autistic employees to help them adjust and flourish in the workplace.

Great lessons in this story — even if you don’t have autistic job candidates or co-workers. How do we truly recognize and leverage the unique talents of those around us? How do we accommodate those who struggle with interpersonal skills but want to be positive contributors to a team? These are questions that apply to every workplace — and many households. 

I’m Listening To…

Jackson Browne’s Running on Empty. If I had to whittle my album collection down to 25, this album would make the list. I’ve wanted to see Jackson Browne since I first heard this live album 40(!) years ago (“Rosie” is my favorite track). I learned this morning that he’s touring in June and visiting my town (St. Louis). I’ll be at the Peabody Opera House on June 25!

What albums are on your Top-25 list? Reply to this email and lemme know…

Survey Says…

Last week, I shared a collection of the “best” Super Bowl ads, compiled by Time Magazine and asked you to vote on your favorite in a quick survey. The results are in:First Place: Tide laundry detergent.
Second and Third Place (a tie): Amazon Alexa and NFL Touchdown Celebrations. 

Thanks for the feedback. 
Sage Social Media Advice from Abe Lincoln

Our 16th president was born 209 years ago today (February 12, 1809). That’s about 195 years before Facebook was born. 

But Honest Abe offered some deep wisdom that rings true in our social media world today. He said…

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.
 
Reason we’re grateful…

Thousands of healthcare workers, pharmacists and others are on the front lines of the worst flu pandemic in decades. We’re grateful that they put themselves at risk to help us prevent or recover from illness.

***

Any reading, listening, quoting, resourcing that you think we should share? Send us a tip.

Until next time, enjoy the rest of this week and the weekend.

Tom