Fridays by the Fire: Issue 3

Welcome back to Fridays by the Fire…

My weekly roundup of updates on what I’m up to, the pulse of the business, and new trends in the digital marketing world.

If you’re new, here’s what to expect…

1. Kindling - a tool or technology worth putting into the spotlight.
2. Spark - a big-picture question I’ve been asking myself.
3. Flame - a share on something I’ve been excited about throughout the week.
4. Fireside - an update on the business and related events I’ll be attending.
5. S’More - something fun and whimsical to end the week off on.

Sit back and relax…

Let me share what’s been happening.

Kindling

In this week’s spotlight: WHOOP

This is definitely not a new app or technology but I’ve been consistently utilizing my Whoop for a few years now. They’ve recently launched a great new update with their strength trainer. Most of my training is through weights and Whoop would always categorize it as a low strain activity (never felt that way to me!). With the new update you can track your workouts with either a custom workout or pre-programmed workouts ready to go. What’s great is it tracks all my lifts, my heart rate, and the intensity of the lifts. What you don’t measure you can’t improve, right? Between tracking my sleep, recovery and now strain I always have a pulse on how I’m feeling which is table stakes for me and running my business. Definitely check it out, highly recommend. 

Spark

What short-term choices am I making that are sacrificing my goals for the long-term? This is something I am always asking myself, and I’m reminded of the quote: “Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.” It can be so easy to skip that workout, eat that ice cream, and have that extra glass of wine, but I truly believe your daily habits and discipline are the best way to ensure you’re growing and creating success in the life you want to see. This doesn't mean it’s easy, but building a long-term vision of what you want to accomplish makes the discipline and the habit easier to manage.

Flame

I recently met the team over at We're Not Really Strangers at Shoptalk in Vegas and have stayed in touch over the last few months. What started as a cult-like following on Instagram has turned into a bunch of great card games to better connect with people. My girlfriend and I use the couples edition and love it. It’s turned into a fun way to stay connected over a glass of wine or two. If you’re looking for something fun to do with your partner, check out their website. 

Fireside

I recently did a live stream with our Head of Strategy, Erin verDorn , for eComm Stream where we broke down 5 different websites and provided recommendations to help each increase conversion. Check it out here and if you have a site you want a quick audit with some recommendations send them my way and I’m happy to take a look. 

Also, I’m speaking on a panel for Yotpo ’s roadshow. If you happen to be in NYC on June 13th feel free to register here and meet in person. 

S’More

Last week I watched Air,  which was incredible! It's the story of how Sonny Vaccaro (played by Matt Damon) went all-in to pitch rookie, Michael Jordan, on a shoe deal. At the time, Nike was in third place behind Converse and Adidas in regards to market share for basketball shoes. Obviously, it turned out quite well for Nike and Michael Jordan with Air Jordans doing $5 billion a year in annual revenue. Ben Affleck did an incredible job playing Phil Knight, the founder of Nike. Even if you’re not a basketball fan, I think you’d still enjoy the film.

On a fun personal note,  I actually got to meet Sonny when I attended the 5-star basketball camp at Princeton when I was a junior in high school. 

Until next time,

Drew