[BTF #7] Access

Welcome to Below the Fold! The weekend update for Premium subscribers. Is this written real-time or prepared on Friday nights? No one knows…

What a week!

Perks Recap

None this week but I’m on a roadshow in all of my conversations to make sure I can get you the value you deserve 💪

What’s going on with TPan

Professional

Access: It’s fascinating what a rich and consistent portfolio of work can do. I’ve been fortunate that my writing is halfway decent and also covers a range of topics that makes conversations easier to facilitate.

When I attended Consensus in June, I learned about Media Passes. These passes provide reporters access to conferences or events themselves, and sometimes special behind the scenes access to speakers or more exclusive events in the hopes of more media coverage. A buddy of mine shared this tip as how he was able to attend events free of charge.

I put this nugget of wisdom in my back pocket and now I’m taking it out to see what happens.

As a result, I’ve been able to obtain media passes to NFT SF and ETH SF. The ETH SF media pass is notable because the Marketing Lead told me I was the first ‘independent reporter’ to receive such a pass. ETH SF is a Hackathon, and hackathons try to be more lowkey because of the type of event they are. Definitely a mix of luck, perseverance, and realizing there is an unserved niche in the Web3 space. Also grateful for ETH Global for giving me a shot at seeing how this works out.

As I’ve had more conversations with companies in the space that are interested in working with me, it seems that there is a lack of writing that combines journalistic integrity, genuine interest and knowledge of the space, and written content that people actually want to read. The impact of traditional PR is declining. As a result, that might be helping people like me.

Maybe?

Maybe it’s a fluke, maybe it’s a signal. Either way, I’ll try to make the most of this.

Not taking it personally: At this point, I’ve received numerous verbal yes’ to work with me on content partnerships, but none have crossed the finish line that is signing an agreement.

6 weeks ago, I was deflated when I was ghosted by potential leads. I still feel similarly today, but my skin has grown thicker and I remind myself of all the times I’ve ghosted vendors on a verbal yes.

It’s not personal, and I’m grateful that the inbound interest is still healthy.

Partnering with TPan costs significantly more than a standard 3 sentence generic blurb in a newsletter. Is it significantly more effective? I think so, as hard as it might be for an advertiser to understand that. It’ll happen sooner than later, so I’m not too worried 😉

Other opportunities: I have been approached by other notable parties to work with them in a content/research or learning partner capacity. It’ll likely be weeks or months for next steps, but I’m better prepared with low expectations and the continued validation is nice. I’ll take it!

Personal:

Mentoring others: I’ve had the pleasure of mentoring an individual who sent me a cold LinkedIn message a few months ago based on sole fact that we have the same alma mater.

I took a flier on this kid (he just graduated college), and he forgot to dial into our first meeting. I should’ve cut ties at that point, but I wanted to see what would happen. Fortunately, it’s been a rewarding experience to spend an hour every other week to hear about his wins and challenges and he begins his career in Web3.

People management in a company setting is oftentimes equally rewarding, but it comes with the baggage of HR admin, performance reviews, and direct reports that you don’t connect with.

Mentoring gives both sides the best of people management without all the boring stuff. That’s what I believe people managers, including myself, enjoy the most.

I’ve seen so much growth in my mentee and I’m scared (in the best way possible) to see what he accomplishes.

A couple is comprised of two individuals:

I am grateful that my fiancée A and I are both independent. She was in Vegas earlier this week (she realllllllly wanted to see Usher and had a blast) while I stayed home working. We texted intermittently while she was gone for 3 days, enjoying the Vegas spectacles while I was hunched over wearing the same hoodie during that span of time (don’t worry it’s in the hamper now 🤮. To be fair, I didn’t leave the house so it was basically clean!).

Some couples do everything together. Some couples do some things together. Some couple do few things together. I’m grateful to be with someone that appreciates independence for themself and also for the other individual.

What I'm thinking about for my writing

NFT SF with the media pass
Yesterday night I stumbled across a Twitter account that tweets updates about trademark applications. There are a LOT more companies than you think registering their company’s trademarks for NFTs and metaverse assets. Like 🤯 levels. IMO all arguments about NFTs and metaverse failing are moot. It’s not if, it’s when.
Gonna put out another one of these next week