Learn From Kanye (8/9/20)
Hey Friends!
Welcome back to another week of Sunday School! If you’re reading this and somehow are not subscribed, click this button right now:
I’ve spent the week in rural Illinois reading, writing, and visiting friends. It’s been amazing to step away from work for a week and pretend like it’s summer vacation again.
If you’re here because Kanye is in the subject line, just skip down a couple of sections. I won’t hold it against you for ignoring the other good stuff.
This week I have some exciting news about my online community startup and some solid reading for your Sunday morning. Let’s get to it!
Homeroom
At the moment I’m out of essays to share with you, but I’m working on another as we speak. This week I have some different news to share!
I mentioned a few weeks ago that I’ve started a writing community called Writer’s Bloc with two co-founders. Earlier this week we transitioned and launched as a paid community. We’ve put a lot of work into the product and community engagement, but haven’t spent much time marketing and spreading the word.
The good news is that word has spread organically. Over 80 people are either already in the group as beta members (lifetime free access) or on a one-month free trial, and 11 others are already paying members.
I’ve never had paying customers for any product or service of my own, so it’s a cool feeling. Most of all, I’m completely excited about what we’re building and the network of like-minded people it’s created.
You can check out more about Writer’s Bloc here on our landing page, or follow us here on Twitter.
On that note….
Intro to Paid Communities
Article: Come for the Network, Pay for the Tool - Toby Shorin
I am 100% all-in on paid communities.
My thesis: These are going to be so popular in the next few years that it’s going to be weird if you’re not in one.
We’ll see if that happens, but they’re already starting to pop up everywhere. Writer’s Bloc went from 0 to 1 insanely quickly (much faster than I’m used to as an event planner) and because of that, we’re at the front edge of this trend.
If you are on social media and have any niche interests, the odds of those factions migrating into a paid community are extremely high (ex. I just heard about a community for knitting that is doing VERY well). Paid communities sit at the intersection of social, content, and commerce. If you want to connect with others who are going to help you get better in your niche, a paid community is an easy way to do it.
One interesting aspect of paid communities is that there isn’t a platform that reigns as the obvious home of online communities. This is a huge business opportunity for someone if they can create something that surpasses the acceptable, but underwhelming standard of Slack, Circle, or Mighty Network.
Marketing Lessons via Kanye
Story: The Kanye Story
If you’ve never clicked a single link before, this is the one that you have to check out. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately for some) it doesn’t have anything to do with Kanye West directly.
This is the story of one of my favorite people in marketing, a British kid named Harry Dry. Harry now runs a business called Marketing Examples, which is a fantastic place to visit on its own, but this story details one of his first products, a website called Yeezy Dating.
That’s right, it’s a dating website for Kanye West fans. No Taylor Swift fans allowed.
I don’t want to write too much about it because I so badly want you to read it for yourself, but here is why it’s great, as well as a few key highlights:
This is honestly the best case study I’ve read about launching a product. It’s also an A+ example of how sometimes the speed of which you start a project/business is more important than having the most well-thought-out plans.
Harry is a grinder. He hustles and gets creative in using different channels online to spread the word about his site.
Harry bought billboards in London, NYC, and Wyoming that said “Hire me, Mr. West, I’ve got ideas” with his phone number. This generated all the buzz.
The product launch landed Harry on radio stations and generated news in almost every pop-culture outlet.
The end of the story includes Harry chatting with Kanye’s business manager.
This is a fantastic read regardless of whether or not you have an interest in marketing or launching a product. It’s a perfect example of what we’re all capable of with a little bit of intuition and grit.
Shoe Giants
Something interesting I learned this week about the history of two popular shoe companies that we all know. You can click this tweet link for the full story.
The two companies are Adidas and Puma. In 1924 two brothers, Adolph and Rudolph Dassler started what become Adidas. After a strange rift in their relationship in the early 1940’s Rudolph left to set up his own shoe company. Adolph, who went by “Adi” renamed the existing company Adidas and Rudolph set up Puma. Today these are both multi-billion dollar companies.
Pretty cool story.
White-Collar Criminology
Article: Why Are There So Many Art Thefts, And What Can Be Done About Them?
Here’s an interesting fact that flies wayyyyy below the radar. Every year, around the whole world, there are more than 50,000 pieces of art that are stolen.
Every single year there is a $6 billion black market for stolen art.
WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THIS!?
This is insane. The truth is that art crime isn’t like you might picture in the movies (yes, I know the Oceans Eleven crew robbed a bank, no art…), it’s not suave, debonair thieves. The actual reason is that museum security is often under-funded and poor, leading to several thefts of opportunity.
One passing thought on this topic is that it’s so odd we don’t hear about this. I know it doesn’t add up to the market for drug crime, but $6 billion a year on the black market is not insignificant. I can’t help but think these art crimes are sliding by under the “no-harm, no-foul” rule. They’re not really hurting anybody, so why spend the significant time and resources to slow down this movement?
Quote of the Week
“Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.” -Jim Rohn
Photo of the Week
I visited my parents this week and when I come home these are usually my wheels. It’s my dad’s 1965 Chevy Corvair. Whatever that shade of blue is is my favorite color. A fun fact about this car, the engine is actually in the back, where the trunk would be located.
That’s all for this week, thanks for attending!
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See you all next week!
-Ryan