It’s easy to be negative about things. Since March, our world has been turned upside down (to say the least).
Let’s change it up a bit. I present to you, the 100% positive issue of The Random Newsletter.
I’ve been in the marketing/publishing world for over 20 years now. Over that time, it’s always been a challenge to get new ideas approved. Chief Marketing Officers are generally skeptical. Chief Financial Officers want to know the exact cost or return.
But right now, things are different. Senior executives are on their knees begging for new ideas.
Now is your chance!
It’s hard to remember another time in my life where I have seen so much creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.
Twinsthenewtrend
If you’ve been on social media, you know the biggest hit of the last two weeks has been Twinsthenewtrend. Just about every day, two twin brothers sit and listen to a song they’ve never heard before, and we get to watch their reaction.
On July 27th, the song was “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins. I implore you to watch it, especially seeing their reaction at the 4:56 mark.
The song has gone completely viral, with more than 4 million views and over 12,000 comments.
But, as you know, viral happens after delivering valuable content for a long period of time. The twins have been producing videos for over a year. Many of their videos have just a few hundred views. And now, they’ve gone internet famous, and have amassed almost 400 thousand subscribers on YouTube.
Deliver consistently. Be different. Don’t stop.
Oh, and by the way, “In the Air Tonight” is back on the charts, thanks to the twins.
Meet the 19th
The majority of news media companies are run by men.
Emily Ramshaw, former Editor-in-Chief of The Texas Tribune, believed that there was a gap in the market for news stories by women and for women. So, she and her team launched The 19th.
“Our editorial mission and vision is to elevate the voices of underserved, underrepresented women,” Ramshaw said. “It’s inclusive. It’s gender inclusive.”
The 19th is not-for-profit and launched last week. It has already reached agreement with The USA Today to republish The 19th stories in 250 markets.
Well done! Ramshaw saw a large content gap, had the passion, and made it happen.
NOTE: Ramshaw hired most of her 22 employees over Zoom due to the coronavirus.
And did you know? Less than one in four members of Congress are female.
No More Comedy Clubs? Try a Drive-In
Bert Kreischer, better known as The Machine, is a comedian my friend Joe Kalinowski turned me onto a few years ago. We saw him in person and he was fantastic.
When COVID-19 reared its ugly head, comedy clubs around the US closed. Many are still not open and the ones that are have limited capacity.
So what did Bert do? He started a tour at drive-in theaters.
The idea began with just four dates. It was a huge success, selling out at all the venues.
And to say hi to the fans, Bert gets in a golf cart and does drive-by social-distanced hi-fives with his fans.
As of this writing, Bert has dates through August (most locations have two showings since the first showing sells out).
Note: his story of how he became “The Machine” is pretty incredible (and true). Probably NSFW.
Reserve Your Own Book Store
On March 10th of this year we held the launch party for The Will to Die, my first novel, at Visible Voice bookstore in Cleveland. It was pretty much the last time I was in public indoors.
Like many bookstores, Visible Voice has struggled to get shoppers to come into the store.
Then they had an idea.
For 90 minutes, a group of eight people can reserve the entire bookstore for private browsing. It even includes pizza.
Time slots are already reserved through August.
Now Is Your Time
Examples like these give you permission (and hopefully motivation) to start getting creative.
Start the business you always wanted to. Now is the best time in the history of starting businesses to get one launched.
Partner with a non-competitive company to try something new. I’ve seen a number of companies partner on educational webinars and events.
Do a content audit. Kill the things that aren’t working and put all that energy into one channel where you can absolutely be the best!
There are no more excuses.
The following was an excerpt from Joe’s newsletter. Only subscribers receive the full version.