Welcome to Fresh van Root newsletter #79.
Meta what? This newsletter issue will help determine if you should build a presence on the Metaverse. And if you work in a team with an accountability problem, check out the app that could help your team solve that. Also cool: The report on the creator economy. Stay fresh!
Hello to 27 new subscribers. Hello! 👋 I’m Rolf, 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
Report: The Creator Economy Is Just Getting Started (PDF, 50 pages)
If you call yourself a creator or want to work with creators to push your brand – this report is for you. ConverKit surveyed 2500 creators to answer everything about running a content production business. Bits from the report: The creator’s average email list size is 645. Most creators have multiple income streams and run several channels. And the “creator middle class” is growing. More
Content Marketing: Temporal vs. Evergreen Content (Blog post, 3 min)
When implementing a content strategy, it is essential to have selected the right niche and be patient. Content marketing drives results only after a month. If you are after quick results, that’s what paid traffic is for. You can distinguish two types of content pieces: Content written to rank high for specific keywords or authority-building (or temporal) content. The latter helps to comment on trends, events, and current issues. The first one is for answering specific how-to questions. Based on a fictional example, this blog post explains the compounding effect that evergreen content can have on your content marketing strategy. More
B2B Marketing: Up-level Your Skills (25 videos)
Metadata is a platform for automating B2B marketing tasks. Recently, the company held an online conference with a great speaker lineup. All videos of this event are online for free to watch. Talks range from copywriting tips to paid media to AI writing. More
Metaverse: Hold Back Your Marketing Budget (Blog post, 10 min)
Two weeks ago, tech blogs concluded that the Metaverse, as Mark Zuckerberg imagines it, is everything but a great experience. At least what we get to use today after putting on the new $1500 VR headset is junk. The future Mark Zuckerberg envisions might come true but in a far future. It’s more like a research project today. Inside Meta, teams were requested to hold meetings inside the Metaverse Horizon Workrooms app, which allows users to gather in virtual conference rooms. And if you have to force your staff to use your product – That’s always a bad sign. Meta also teamed up with Microsoft to bring Microsoft Teams into the Metaverse – I doubt that this is the next killer app you look forward to using in Metaverse. One great use case remains, and that is gaming. NY Times Article | Techdirt Blog
Work Culture: Instead Of Doing Extra Work, Nap (Blog post, 5min)
Have you been able to finish a task early? Refrain from pushing your body to take on extra work. Instead, take a nap—this is a relatable reminder in the busy season. More
Motivation: When To Stop Working On A Project (Blog, 2min)
If you have difficulty finding a positive effect of something you are working on, it might be time to stop working on it. More
🛠️ Tools & Apps & Services
New Browser: A New Take On What A Browser Can Be
This browser breaks with the traditional interface you know from Chrome and others. And it wants to be much more than a browser. In Arc, you switch between tabs in a left-hand menu. Sites load fast. You can take notes (and share them with a link), draw, and tech-savvy people can use its dev-like features to change the design and content of a site. Tabs can be grouped in spaces, and much more. It’s for sure an exciting feature set, but a bit overwhelming. And if you are not unhappy with the browser you got already working for you, I do not see how the masses will switch to Arc. Currently, Arc is invite-only. I got a few invites left. If you’d like to try it, just hit reply. Screenshot | More
Goals & Accountability Tool
I got a demo of Tability at SaaStock Dublin and immediately liked it. The app allows you to define and track your OKRs as a team. Once set up, you add weekly check-ins, and a presentation mode allows you to discuss progress in meetings. Tability is perfect for teams looking for a solution that gives enough structure to get going quickly but does not suffer from feature bloat. Tability is a fully remote startup developed by ex-Atlassian employees. Screenshot | More
New Virtual Events Platform
If you are unhappy with your current online events solution, you can check out Airmeet. It got all the features to run your online event, like speaker management, uploading pre-recorded videos, replays, custom registration forms, and much more. Plus: The free plan is excellent for exploring the platform. More
Learning App: Non-Fiction Book In 15 Minutes
Consume the essence of a non-fiction book in 15 to 20 minutes; that is the promise of Blinkist. The app has been around for some time, and I took it for a test again recently. It is way more polished, now also offering audio versions of the summaries, and of course, the collection grew bigger. If you often think, “this book could have been a long blog post,” or often don’t finish non-fiction books, check it out. More
Online Image Editor
You can choose a template, customize, save the file, and finish it. That’s how easy TinyKiwi online image editor works. More
📣 Fresh van Root
Blog: What Is A Headless CMS? (Blog post, 10min)
I tried to answer that question myself by trying a headless CMS out, which led to a project to explore how I could get a website built without writing code. If you want to understand how a headless CMS differs from a traditional CMS, read the first few paragraphs. Supposing you are also into No-code tools, you should check out the crash course tutorial on building a complete website. More
🏞️ Your Next Wallpaper?
🔗 One More Link
Music Industry: 1994 News Report On Aerosmith
“…a song that isn’t available in stores, that fans can get only by programming their computers to grab the music through phone lines.” In 1994 Aerosmith released a digital-only version of a song. This news report is a reminder of how complicated and innovative this was back then. More