Friday Fuel - September 11th, 2020
Good morning. Before we get into it, I’d like to take a moment to remember all of the victims and heroes who passed away on this tragic day nineteen years ago. Their lives will never be forgotten.
Welcome to all of the new members of the Crashing Up family who’ve joined since last Friday.
If you’re reading this, but haven’t subscribed, make sure to do so here.
Hi friends,
Here’s your weekly shot of Friday Fuel, a collection of things that I’ve been learning from or enjoying recently.
📕What I’ve Been Reading - Since the beginning of the internet, blogs have been one of the most popular ways for people to share their thoughts and ideas with a worldwide audience. Many people have been able to put food on the table by writing on the internet, but how many people have turned their blogs into billion dollar businesses?
One…? Two….? Ten…?
The correct answer: More than you think.
In a recent blog post, ConvertKit founder Nathan Barry takes a deep dive into some of the most profitable blogs on the internet. He shares the stories of their inception and how they were able to scale, opening the door to a world of wildly lucrative opportunities. If you’ve ever wanted to make a living writing on the internet or just love hearing inspiring business stories, I’d highly recommend you check out the article here.
📺What I’ve Been Watching - The only thing I love more than listening to music is watching it be made. For years, I’ve been fascinated by the creative processes of the world-famous artists responsible for all of the music we know and love. This video gives a behind-the-scenes look at the members of Swedish House Mafia in the studio creating their hit song, “One”, which has racked up nearly 150 million streams on Spotify alone.
If you enjoyed this video and also like seeing how songs are made, I highly recommend you check out The New York Times video series, “Diary of a Song.” The “How Taylor Swift Writes a Love Song” is my personal favorite.
🤯What’s Blown My Mind - You always hear that some of the world’s biggest businesses were started during a recession. Well what about the year before a recession? I don’t know what was in the water in 2007, but hopefully someone stashed some away in their backyard time capsule. Those are still a thing…right?
I mean, this is just crazy.
Source: Thank You For Being Late, Thomas L. Friedman, 2016
🧵A Tool I’m Excited About - The best businesses are ones that make normally painstaking situations as convenient and cost-effective as possible. That’s exactly what Andrew Mason has done with his company, Descript. Descript offers a suite of productivity tools, helping you save time and money on a handful of traditionally laborious audio and voice related tasks. You can seamlessly create, edit and mix a podcast, transcribe notes and Zoom calls, and even remove “ums” and other filler words from recordings.
The clip below shares a preview of their new “Overdub: Voiceover” product. No more back and forth on Fiverr trying to find the right person for the job or cringing at the sound of your own voice blaring through your computer speakers. The voices still sound *a little* robotic, but for the time and money you can save, using Descript is a no-brainer.
No pun intended.
🎤A Quote That I Enjoyed -
So you found something you enjoy. That’s great. But how do you know if it’s able to be turned into a business? Here’s how:
That’s it for this week. If you’re new here and want to catch up on some old editions, here are a couple of my favorites: No Ads, No Problem and Snap’s “Big” Announcement.
If you like what you’ve been reading recently, it would mean the world to me if you gave it a like and shared it with someone else you think would enjoy.
You can also follow me on Twitter or check out randymginsburg.com for more content. I recently gave my website a face-lift. I’d love to hear what you think about the new look.
Thanks for reading and see you on Monday,
Randy