Friday by the Fire | Issue 1
Drew Himel
CEO of Fireside︱Driving Growth and Profitability Through Digital Strategy and Transformation
Hey there!
It’s been a while.
Welcome to Fridays by the Fire…
A weekly roundup where I’ll give updates on what’s happening in my life, the business, and the digital marketing space as a whole.
…With a few fun inclusions.
Each edition will feature 5 parts:
If you’re interested in some feel-good takeaways, industry insights, and philosophical nuggets, you’ve come to the right place.
With that said, let’s jump right into what’s been happening.
Kindling
In this week’s spotlight: Hubspot CRM.
This isn’t new by any stretch of the imagination. Even as a Platinum Hubspot partner, Fireside still has tons of room for growth in terms of our utilization of the tool. But we are finally starting to organize our contacts more effectively.
We’ve sorted them into types of personas (agencies, tech vendors, clients, prospects, former clients, brands, event venues) along with location as we’ve been organizing more events and ramping up our marketing. This has helped me keep track of my contacts and allowed me to do quick searches when I’m travelling and want to organize networking dinners.
A great unlock for order and efficiency. Our use of Hubspot is definitely something I’m excited to keep on optimizing.
Spark
I love the podcast episode from the Tim Ferriss Show feat James Clear — the author of Atomic Habits.
In the episode, James posed the question to always ask yourself before tackling a project or growing more: “What Am I Optimizing For?”
Personally, it’s not a question I’ve been asking myself daily. But I’ve been trying to fill that gap.
Recommended by LinkedIn
It’s so easy to get caught up in the grind and growth mindset, but James has only 1 employee and has one of the top-selling books out right now with a 2m+ email audience. Before he tackles anything new, he poses his own question to himself first.
It’s so simple but so helpful. For me, getting that clarity has been really important. I’ve built Fireside with a small and lean team so that we can be more selective with the projects we choose and a lot of times that comes at the sacrifice of added revenue or added staff.
But the value we’re creating is something I can’t ever compromise.
Flame
I’ve been stoked to attend conferences in person again.
I wrote a recent LinkedIn post about coming out of the pandemic and how it’s been revitalizing for me to connect with people at various events (I’ve attended 10 in the last 9 weeks).
It’s been the single greatest unlock for new business growth and as an extrovert, I’ve really enjoyed the added benefits - like connecting with fascinating people.
Like anything in life, you have to find something that is sustainable. With all the other initiatives we’ve tried — from webinars to cold outreach — we’ve found that these strategies were more checklist items that are easier to execute when the commitment to travel and expense for in-person events isn’t scalable.
But it’s a more natural fit for my motivations and talent. So we’ve started to organize dinners and activations which have further separated us from most other companies attending.
Fireside
Speaking of events, I was in Miami last week attending Summit at Sea after spending a weekend at Palm Heights in the Cayman Islands - where I celebrated a good friend’s birthday.
I also recently moved back to NYC after being away for 5 years and I’m absolutely loving it. There’s something so special about being in the city with its unique pace and tempo. Not to mention, I’ve been able to reconnect with so many old friends.
S’More
If you haven’t checked out the new show from Apple called Silo, I highly recommend it. It’s a post-apocalyptic series based on the book Wool by Hugh Howey which follows the journey of Houlston as she explores the secrets of the subterranean lair called the Silo - where humanity clings on for survival.
I’ve watched the first two episodes and I haven’t been as excited about a show since Andor came out last year.
Until next time,
Drew