Happy Thursday! Welcome to December. Only one month left in 2022!
Mentioned in todayâs edition: Twitter, Google, iHeart Media, the FTC, and Apple. Plus what to do with leads you canât help, 4 reasons not to become a digital nomad, and marketing funnel show and tell.
Read time: 4 minutes and 3 seconds
Making the Rounds
- Twitter ad revenue down 50% in certain markets. The companyâs weekly bookings in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) are down 49%, according to internal screenshots seen by Platformer. Sounds like someone needs to sell a lot of Twitter Blue subscriptions.
- FTC and 7 states sue Google and iHeartMedia over fake Pixel 4 ads. The two companies agreed to pay a $9 million settlement to the 7 states that sued, and reached a separate settlement with the FTC, after airing a series of testimonial ads recorded by iHeartMedia personalities whoâd never actually used the Pixel 4.
- Governor of Florida suggests Congress should act if Apple bans Twitter from the App Store. Does Apple actually intend to withhold Twitter from the App Store? Who knows. But itâs clear Elon will have some political firepower on his side, as Governor of Florida (and presidential hopeful) Ron DeSantis said Congress should be ready to act if Apple gives Twitter the boot.
Working With Clients
When in Doubt, Refer Out
Got a lead you canât help?
Donât just send them awayâŚ
Refer them to someone else in your network.
Becoming a âconnectorâ helps you build goodwill and social capital with both parties â the lead and the person you refer them to.
Something that often comes back around to youâŚ
Whether itâs a referral fee, a client being referred to you, or something else altogether.
And if you donât have a network of other service providers you can refer to, itâs time to start building one.
Aim to have at least one person you can refer to for all the services adjacent to yours.
– If youâre a copywriter, get to know someone who runs paid ads
– If you run paid ads, get to know someone who does graphic design or video editing
– If youâre a graphic designer, get to know someone who builds funnels
A bigger network always means more opportunities.
Working For Yourself
4 Reasons Not to Become a Digital Nomad
The laptop lifestyle is what attracts a lot of people to freelancing and digital marketing.
But itâs not everything itâs cracked up to be.
Here are a few ugly truths about digital nomadism weâve learned the hard way:
#1: Everyone else is in vacation mode
Working from exotic locations is tough.
Spending 8 hours a day glued to your laptop while everyone else is partying, sightseeing, and having fun isnât exactly what most people have in mind when they board a plane overseas.
Temptations are everywhere.
Staying focused when youâre surrounded by distractions is less fun than it looks.
#2: You have to work odd hours
Having clients in the West means you might have to stay up until 12-1 AM to take calls and attend meetings.
This can be brutal.
If youâre an early to bed, early to rise kind of person, this will really jam up your normal rhythm.
Which leads us toâŚ
#3: Routines are hard to maintain
As Jocko Willink says, discipline equals freedom.
But when youâre living overseas and often on the move, itâs hard to maintain structure.
Youâre always on the lookout for good coffee shops, gyms, grocery stores, etc. near your new place.
Which sucks up more brainpower than you might think.
#4: Relationships are transient
You can meet lots of cool people while youâre traveling.
But itâs unlikely any of those new relationships will compare to the ones you have back home.
You canât recreate that kind of depth in a week or a month.
Everyoneâs headed in different directions, so nothing lasts.
Now this isnât to say that it canât work for someâŚ
In fact, your humble newsletter writer spent a life-changing 8 months in Southeast Asia.
But the digital nomad lifestyle isnât for everyone.
And since itâs always glamorized so much on social mediaâŚ
We think itâs important to shine a spotlight on the not-so-sexy parts of it.
Tools We Love
Marketing Funnel âShow and Tellâ
Even if youâre not a graphic designer or funnel builderâŚ
If you work in marketing, chances are youâll need to map out funnels for clients from time to time.
And unless your clientâs a seasoned direct response marketerâŚ
Itâs easy to get bogged down trying to explain it to them.
Good news is, there are lots of tools out there to help you do that.
Bad news is, most of them suck.
Theyâre clunky, laggy, and not intuitive at all.
Thatâs why we love Whimsical. Itâs fast, free, and easy to use.
So whether youâre using it as a part of a proposal for a prospectâŚ
On a kickoff call with a new clientâŚ
Or to collaborate with a contractor to make sure they build the next funnel properlyâŚ
Whimsical can help you get it done.
Gig Alerts
Looking for clients? These freelance jobs were posted on Upwork in the last 24 hours:
- Graphic designer needed for one page infographic/product overview
- Graphic designer to create a monogram logo
- Brochure Copywriter
- Give my landing page some pizazz
- Instagram/Facebook Ads, Pixels, Shopify Integration
- Facebook ad specialist
Featured Newsletter
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Quote of the Day
“You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated.”
â Maya Angelou
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