Newsletter

Newsletter #75

Podcast with Design Legend David Kelley | BeReal Keeps Trending | Newsletter Marketplace | Pair Working Remotely | Podcast Recording | and more

Welcome to Fresh van Root newsletter #75.
Sending this from our vacation home, I keep this intro short: This newsletter is 770 words or a 4-minute read. And you can click 28 links. Stay fresh! Rolf

Hello to 19 new subscribers. Here’s what this newsletter is about: We are exploring content and apps at the intersection of marketing, productivity, tech, content creation, and social media – for curious minds. This bi-weekly newsletter is a summary of that exploration.

🧠 Hand-Picked Content

Why & How Brands Connect With Newsletter Creators

Advertising budgets are shifting from classic online ads to supporting content creators directly. Why? Content Creators often cover a specific niche and reach the target audience in their inboxes. New marketplaces emerged in recent years that connect brands with newsletter creators. This short blog post explains how it works. More about one specific marketplace in the tool section below. More

Interview: How He Built This (Podcast, 40min)

David Kelley is most famous for the design of the first Apple mouse. He worked with Apple on several products, but his company IDEO is known for creating many outstanding product designs across industries. In this podcast interview, you can hear what it was like to work with Steve Jobs, how a typical design project is tackled, and what it takes to get into a design job. More

  • Bonus: Take a tour of David Kelley’s office. More

Social Media: BeReal Keeps Trending

BeReal, the app that gives you a two-minute window at a random time daily to post an unedited camera photo, is still growing. Right now, the app is #1 in Apple’s app store. Now brands and celebs have started using the app. In this blog post, you can see how they get creative about it. It’s still early, and you might find the whole concept silly, but I recommend trying it out, at least. More

  • If you have never heard of the app, check issue 69 of this newsletter. More 
  • Let us connect on BeReal and try it together (User: rolfvanroot). More

🛠️ Tools & Apps & Services

Newsletter Marketplace Connecting Brands & Creators

Swapstack is a newsletter advertising marketplace. Brands can create a profile on the platform and browse publications to advertise in. And Newsletter Creators can pitch to brands. Swapstack makes it easier to advertise in several newsletters by having a central dashboard to manage it all – from providing the creative brief to payment. I gained hands-on experience using the service for a client project. If you have questions about it, reach out. More

Pair Working Remotely

Pop is an online meeting software with a specific case in mind: working together on a specific task. Initially developed with pair programming in mind, it can be used for any work. You can have video or audio calls and draw them together on the screen. The key feature is its low latency screen-sharing. No feature bloat. More

Online Recording Podcasts And Videos

Riverside is a powerful online recording studio for video and audio podcasts. You can record a session and edit it afterwards in your browser. You can separate audio from video, pick highlights from your content to share on social media, and join sessions from your mobile – and many more cool features. What I also like is that it has a free plan for casual podcasters. More

Riverside is a similar service to Squadcast, which was featured in issue 61 of this newsletter. More

Poll Your Audience With A Few Clicks

If you are looking for a website to poll your audience check out StrawPoll. Create a poll in minutes, apply a design, and share it to any platform. On the poll page, users can leave comments. Example | More

Another service in that category is Survicate, featured in issue 68. More

Mobile App: Edit Videos On The Go

Trim a video, add or remove the sound, make a video faster, combine videos, and much more. InShot is an app that makes all that possible. More

📣 Fresh van Root

Recharging Batteries

The team is taking some time off during August. Lena went to Bavaria to spend time with friends and family, and Lukas went for a hike in the Austrian alps. I am spending time with my family in the countryside near Vienna. What are you up to in August?

BTW this was the most clicked story in the last newsletter. More

🏞️ Your Next Wallpaper?

London street art | Unsplash

Winamp – Iconic Music Player Software

An iconic piece of software back in the day was Winamp. It was the first music player many used to play their first (pirated) MP3s. The player was great for managing large music libraries, customizable with thousands of skins (themes). After many years, the news of a new Winamp version caught my attention. Sadly, I can’t try it out as a Mac User. Skins Archive | More

  • Bonus: A 3-minute interview with the creator of Winamp. More

“This is Fine” Meme

A product idea that re-creates this classic meme is taking off within the Lego community. Original Meme | More

The best AI creator content & tools. Twice a month.

Stay ahead of the curve with curated insights and hands-on advice.

Join 2,000+ AI-curious creators.