What You Need to Know Today: October 19

Good afternoon, Early Risers!

Here’s what you need to know

TECH

Emoji Dick (not what you think). The NFL is all about Emojis right now, and smart businesses are cashing in. Sports Mania just released a new Fantasy Football Emoji keyboard you can download, that’s supposed to up your trash-talk game. While this is great, I think what we’d all like to know is why Emojis are popular in the first place? Who better to ask then a guy who wrote the book on Emojis. Here’sPopular Science’s QnA with Fred Benenson, author of Emoji Dick, an Emoji translation of Herman Melville’s classic magnum opus Moby Dick. 

10 web metrics you need to track. Every good marketer knows they need to track metrics. But, what are the bare minimum metrics you should be tracking? Inbound Marketing makes it easy for you with this list of 10.  

Is rating people the future? While the thought of this makes me sick, it’s a topic I think we can’t ignore. It’s only been a few weeks since the Internet freaked out about Peeple —  the ‘Yelp for people’ app — however, contrary to what you’d expect, a popular dating app has just launched a new feature where users can rate their matches. While this idea still sounds terrible, the value of rating people — especially in online-dating — is maybe not as black-and-white as we want to believe. What do you think? Send us an email at Daily@earlytorise.com  

+ Jswipe ties the knot with Jdate. Who’s creating the millennial Christian Mingle (Cswipe)?  

++ Online movie ratings have become serious business. Watch out for this.

CAREER

You’ve heard of minimum viable product (MVP). “Like any set of ideas that has a significant following, Lean Startup also has its detractors. Some say the philosophy simply espouses listening to exactly what the customer wants, when, for example, part of Steve Jobs’ success lay in having foresight and telling the customer what they wanted,” says Todd Stone. Eric Ries, author of Lean Startup spoke out recently about the Lean Startup movement to clarify the book’s meaning and purpose. Read more.    

Why do entrepreneurs sell their startups? There are 3 main reasons why most entrepreneurs sell their startups. It’s not always for the money. The Observer explains. 

LIFESTYLE

This should fire you up. If you read the Huffington Post a lot, then you’ve probably come across one of Alyssa Ramos’ articles. She’s a travel blogger, who has made it her job to tell the world she values travel over everything else — and she’s doing it in the most annoying way possible. Her most recent article is called, “The Difference Between ‘Dating’ Material and ‘Travel the World With’ Material.” The most liked comment for this post reads, “This is the most self-absorbed piece I have read in a very long time.” I agree — and almost all of Ramos’ articles read this way and get this kind of reaction. So why does she keep getting published?  

Two things are going on: 1) her writing is extremely polarizing (good for clicks and engagement). 2) because Alyssa’s writing is so extreme, it’s compelling to read — in a bad way. You find yourself not wanting to stop reading, out of sheer frustration and anger, ‘What will she say next?’ ‘How can anyone date this girl?’ Maybe she’s intentionally taking this approach? Probably. But, if she decides to start selling on her blog, it’ll be an uphill climb. People know her, but don’t like her. The ones who know her and don’t like her, will not trust her enough to buy. The good news is there’s a simple fix. Alyssa’s articles have great ideas. They’re compelling and engaging without additional self-absorbed writing needed. All she has to do is follow ETR editor Craig Ballantyne’s advice here.

Can you guess who millennials are competing with for condos? Answer.

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#NOWYOUKNOW

Why do [most] sports memoirs get better with age?

By The Atlantic

The co-author of any sports autobiography has two main responsibilities. He or she must render the athlete’s interview responses into legible prose and also provide context and insight when the athlete cannot. Rarely are world-class athletes, particularly those in their prime, able to explain to people who are not world-class athletes what it’s like to have supernatural ability. They’ve never been without it, after all. This is a reason sports memoirs written later in life tend to be more rewarding, or more human — the athletes, having faded into mediocrity, can finally appreciate the outlandishness of their talent. Read more in The Risky Appeal of Free Climbing.  

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