11 January 2021
This week's additions focus on marketing, mindset, and operations, with new digests from Noah Kagan, Joanna Wiebe, and Deep Questions with Cal Newport. Highlights include Make content your customers want — YouTube finds more like them. Run a full launch while on vacation with no live events
Showing 12 digests for 11 January 2021.
Content marketing
YouTube
How to use YouTube to grow your business
Noah Kagan
January 15, 2021
Content marketing
9
Social media
7
Make content your customers want — YouTube finds more like them.
Driving people off-site early kills your video's algorithmic performance.
Track leads and sales converted, not views or subscriber count.
How to run a hands-off launch campaign using a simple email map
Joanna Wiebe
January 15, 2021
Email marketing
9
Funnels
7
Closing techniques
6
Run a full launch while on vacation with no live events
Offer strength and timing outweigh launch complexity every time
Stage-of-awareness email sequencing is the engine behind conversions
Deep work & focus
Podcast
Managing inbox overload: email, time blocking, and digital minimalism
Deep Questions with Cal Newport
January 14, 2021
Deep work & focus
9
Processes & SOPs
8
Productivity & habits
6
Your inbox is a broken knowledge system — redesign the workflows instead
10-minute productivity chunks ignore psychology and cause burnout
Digital declutter: one month off, then rebuild from the bottom up
Automation & tools
YouTube
Winning on Amazon: Brand Protection, Channel Control, and E-Commerce Strategy
Bill Gallagher
January 13, 2021
Automation & tools
9
Branding
8
Business models
6
Brand protection before optimisation: evict unauthorised sellers first.
Amazon's digital shelf rewards catalogue consistency and social proof.
Late-adopter surge and on-demand delivery will permanently shrink brick-and-mortar.
How Peter McKinnon earns $2M a year from YouTube
Noah Kagan
January 13, 2021
Business models
9
Unit economics
7
Influencer & partnerships
5
Brand deals outperform ad revenue by 4x for top creators
Long-term sponsor partnerships remove the monthly sponsorship hunt
No email list leaves a $2M business one algorithm change from collapse
Deep work & focus
Podcast
Cal Newport on deep work, digital minimalism, and workflow design
How I Work
January 13, 2021
Deep work & focus
9
Productivity & habits
7
Processes & SOPs
5
Busyness is not productivity — deep work is what actually creates value
Habit tweaks can't fix a workflow built on constant unstructured communication
Solitude deprivation from endless screen use quietly destroys cognition and wellbeing
Cash flow management
YouTube
Weekly cash flow projection as a crisis prevention tool
Bill Gallagher
January 12, 2021
Most cash crises are preventable with a weekly rolling forecast
Start with 13 weeks, expand to a full 52-week model
Feed new contracts into the model to see cash impact immediately
How a non-technical founder grew Alitu to $45k MRR
Startups For the Rest of Us
January 12, 2021
Case studies
9
Pivoting
7
Product-market fit
6
Non-technical founder took 27 months to bootstrap Alitu without going unprofitable.
Initial audience was too technical—had to pivot content to reach non-technical creators.
Built through stair-steps: hosting, content, productized services, then SaaS product.
Identity & self-belief
YouTube
Lessons from YC top founders: authenticity, focus, and culture
Y Combinator
January 12, 2021
Identity & self-belief
8
Deep work & focus
7
Culture building
6
Build on a problem you personally feel — or you'll quit
Focus on one metric weekly; ignore everything else
Define culture and values before you think you need to
Conversion rate optimisation
YouTube
What Tesla's checkout process teaches about conversion design
Noah Kagan
January 11, 2021
Conversion rate optimisation
9
Pricing psychology
7
Copywriting
5
A $60,000 car purchase completed in under a minute — here's how
Remove nav links and colour only your CTA button to focus buyers
Fewer product options and payment flexibility directly reduce drop-off
Productivity & habits
Podcast
Cal Newport's three-scale planning system for big projects
Deep Questions with Cal Newport
January 11, 2021
Productivity & habits
9
Deep work & focus
8
Goal setting
7
Reactive scheduling is why long-term projects never get done.
Quarterly, weekly, and daily plans must cascade into each other.
Default to not starting a project until the idea keeps haunting you.
Resilience & grit
Podcast
Chuck Yeager: lessons from a life of obsession, courage, and craft
Founders
January 11, 2021
Resilience & grit
9
Deep work & focus
7
Identity & self-belief
6
Flying more than anyone else compounds into mastery — reps are everything.
Stubborn refusal to quit put Yeager in position to break the sound barrier.
Fear is a tool: Yeager used it to learn everything, not to stop.