What You Need to Know Today: November 17
Good afternoon, Early Risers!
Here’s what you need to know
TECH
“The need to understand your top fans is acute,” says Mark Williams, head of Spotify’s Artist Services division. Spotify rolls out a new feature for artists today that offers data on fans. “A custom ‘dashboard’ will show demographic and geographic information for each artist’s casual and passionate fans. It will also lay out those fans’ listening habits, potentially helping artists route tours and sell tickets and merchandise,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
Ford launches new smartphone app. With all the attention on self-driving cars, it’s easy to forget traditional cars are still improving. Ford Motor Co. announced today a new smartphone app (first ever remote access app for cars) that will allow drivers to open and lock car doors, remotely start the engine and more. Full story.
Google app is growing up. Ask Google can now comprehend superlatives, like “tallest,” and “biggest;” answer questions about specific points in time, like “What was the population in Singapore in 1965;” and understand complex combinations, like “What was the U.S. population when Bernie Sanders was born?”
CAREER
How to build a profitable side-business while working a full-time job (step-by-step guide). A few weeks ago I had a call with one of our Daily Brief readers, Sayan Sarkar. Sayan is a 26-year-old New Yorker who works 10-12 hour days on Wall Street, and runs a profitable health-supplement company on the side. I asked Sayan if he could share some of his best tips on starting a side-business, and he agreed. A few weeks later, Sayan emailed me back with this step-by-step plan for you. Notice Sayan’s story reflects a lot of the principles we teach at ETR. He carves out time in the morning (2.5hrs) to work on his business before going to work each day. He wrote his first e-book on a train, commuting to work (see: Craig Ballantyne writing emails on the subway commuting to the gym)… These principles work if you put in the effort. This is a must-read for today.
+ If you’re a millennial who has a story to share, I want to hear from you. Drop me a line at daily@earlytorise.com.
The best way to reach millennials (even when they’re pooping). Email reigns king. Millennials check email more than any other age group, and nearly half can’t even use the bathroom without checking it, says a recent Adobe study. “Email is not only relevant for Millennials, it also happens to remain the channel where direct marketers get the highest ROI ($39 for every dollar spent, according to the Direct Marketing Association). But that doesn’t mean the same old email marketing will work on Millennials.” Harvard Business Review.
+ RIP millennials: marketing will be ‘age agnostic’ next year (AdAge).
LIFESTYLE
The cult of everything. “Productivity isn’t a goal, but rather a tool for better achieving our goals.” — The Cult of Productivity. While “productivity” is the buzzword in this article, I’d argue “cult” comes a close second. The cult of anything seems to be a hot topic these days. Cult’s a word that holds a lot of strong emotions. Use it in your essays and social media posts, and I bet you see more clicks and engagement.
Wish lists are not just for kids. “A Future Foundation survey found that 26% of consumers think of wish listing as a valuable activity in its own right — a figure that rises to 56% in China and 59% in Indonesia,” says AdAge. Wish listing for recreation sounds like a slippery slope, which is why access to wish lists are big business.
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#NOWYOUKNOW
F.lux to shut down.
Apple told screen dimming software F.lux to shut down its iOS version. Full details.
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