Creating “zero click” content
Creating “zero click” content As I mentioned a few weeks ago, a growing problem with Google is the number of “zero click” searches on there — searches that don’t lead to another click, because Google answered the question for you. It’s generally a good thing for users, but it’s a bad thing for companies wanting to get more website traffic. In the case of Google, there’s not much you can do. In other cases, though, it might be best to just lean into this trend. Most social media sites quietly ...
Grateful in the macro and the micro
Grateful in the macro and the micro When you ask someone what they’re grateful for, you often get the same kinds of things – health, family, friends, etc. Those are all wonderful things, and we should all be grateful for them, but being grateful for smaller things can sometimes have a bigger impact. In a recent episode of “My First Million”, the hosts (Sam Parr and Shaan Puri) interviewed Gary Vaynerchuk and it was a fascinating conversation. I encourage you to listen/watch the entire thing w...
Shortform for long books
Shortform for long books I’ve been using Blinkist for some book summaries for a few years now, and it’s great! However, I’m noticing a growing problem in the gap between long books and Blinkist, in that the “Blinks” just aren’t long enough to really share the heart of the book. Blinkist and most related platforms are proud of the fact that they give you “15 minute summaries”. Those are a fantastic way to get an overview of a book, but then they leave a bit gap between that 15 minute summary a...
Creating “zero click” content
Creating “zero click” content As I mentioned a few weeks ago, a growing problem with Google is the number of “zero click” searches on there — searches that don’t lead to another click, because Google answered the question for you. It’s generally a good thing for users, but it’s a bad thing for companies wanting to get more website traffic. In the case of Google, there’s not much you can do. In other cases, though, it might be best to just lean into this trend. Most social media sites quietly ...
Grateful in the macro and the micro
Grateful in the macro and the micro When you ask someone what they’re grateful for, you often get the same kinds of things – health, family, friends, etc. Those are all wonderful things, and we should all be grateful for them, but being grateful for smaller things can sometimes have a bigger impact. In a recent episode of “My First Million”, the hosts (Sam Parr and Shaan Puri) interviewed Gary Vaynerchuk and it was a fascinating conversation. I encourage you to listen/watch the entire thing w...
Shortform for long books
Shortform for long books I’ve been using Blinkist for some book summaries for a few years now, and it’s great! However, I’m noticing a growing problem in the gap between long books and Blinkist, in that the “Blinks” just aren’t long enough to really share the heart of the book. Blinkist and most related platforms are proud of the fact that they give you “15 minute summaries”. Those are a fantastic way to get an overview of a book, but then they leave a bit gap between that 15 minute summary a...
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I do a lot of things to try to remember the things that I read and watch. Using a book as an example, I might write some blog posts about it, maybe share it on a podcast, and see quotes in my Readwise reviews. Even then, if I reread the book a few years later, tons of it will feel like brand new information.
This idea was brought up to me again (because I forgot that I forgot about it) in a recent episode of the Founders podcast. The episode was focused on Steve Jobs (and it was excellent; listen here), where the host David Senra shared this thought:
“Go back and reread the books that you’ve read before years ago and it’s amazing.”
This is even more astounding coming from someone like David, who studies books far deeper than I do. The fact that someone with his study process can go back and learn more from books in the future means that all of us can.
The problem is in the first “forget” in the statement he shared. When I think of a book, I feel like I remember it pretty well! I have my quotes, I’ve talked to folks, and I get it. The problem is that I don’t know what I’m forgetting, because I forgot about those sections.
It’s like I talked about a few weeks ago with “Repeat versus fresh content” and my constant tweaking to find the right balance. I always want to consume new content, but there is a lot of gold in the stuff that I’ve read in the past — even if I’ve forgotten about it.
I do a lot of things to try to remember the things that I read and watch. Using a book as an example, I might write some blog posts about it, maybe share it on a podcast, and see quotes in my Readwise reviews. Even then, if I reread the book a few years later, tons of it will feel like brand new information.
This idea was brought up to me again (because I forgot that I forgot about it) in a recent episode of the Founders podcast. The episode was focused on Steve Jobs (and it was excellent; listen here), where the host David Senra shared this thought:
“Go back and reread the books that you’ve read before years ago and it’s amazing.”
This is even more astounding coming from someone like David, who studies books far deeper than I do. The fact that someone with his study process can go back and learn more from books in the future means that all of us can.
The problem is in the first “forget” in the statement he shared. When I think of a book, I feel like I remember it pretty well! I have my quotes, I’ve talked to folks, and I get it. The problem is that I don’t know what I’m forgetting, because I forgot about those sections.
It’s like I talked about a few weeks ago with “Repeat versus fresh content” and my constant tweaking to find the right balance. I always want to consume new content, but there is a lot of gold in the stuff that I’ve read in the past — even if I’ve forgotten about it.
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