Hi Reader,
Hear me out...
When I started this project at the beginning of the year, I intended to devote this space to all things email marketing.
Ironically, what I ended up writing was closer to what I imagined another one of my projects to be: a little business, a little life, with some spiritual reflection mixed in—the OG The Ordinary Stuff.
It turned out that after spending all day thinking about email marketing at BDOW!, I was less-than-highly motivated to write about it. Plus, I kept getting tripped up thinking *that* content should go on BDOW!'s channels anyway.
WHY DO I OVERCOMPLICATE THINGS?! *cue the cognitive dissonance*
None of that mattered because, true to my overachiever-gone-rogue form, I applied to be the head coach of our local high school's varsity boys' lacrosse team. Because who wants free time, anyway?
And so this project went on ice.
Somewhat unexpectedly, the spring lacrosse season was clarifying. A lot of purpose was discovered in the midst of conversations with some great guys on bus rides to and from games, in the locker room, and over team dinners.
I'll share more about that at some point.
The TL;DR here is that I've decided to simplify things by just doing what I want.
A novel idea.
—what you can expect moving forward—
01. This newsletter will still primarily be marketing-focused. You can get a sense for the typical format below. It will include...
- A quick reflection from me on business stuff I've found interesting that week.
- Links to marketing (and marketing-adjacent) news.
- Links to anything helpful from other things I'm building such as BDOW! or The Ordinary Stuff or 'Davey & Krista.'
- A little music or a book recommendation to help you get through the week.
The format might vary a bit as I get going again because I AM SIMPLIFYING (I've just been constantly yelling that at myself lately).
02. But if you were into some of my more personal reflections that I had been sharing, check out The Ordinary Stuff 2.0.
That content will be almost exclusively letters to my kids.
You'll see links to The Ordinary Stuff here, so there's no need to subscribe in both places. But if that's exclusively what you're into, then you might consider unsubscribing here and resubscribing over there.
Here we go... again.
—marketing news—
IT'S ALL (MARKETING) VIBES: AI gave us 'vibe-coding' and now we're seeing 'vibe-marketing.' Despite all the dangers of AI, it does give smaller businesses and creators an opportunity to execute on creative ideas that might otherwise have exorbitant costs. I believe there are lots of opportunities here for small businesses.
SYDNEY SWEENEY vs. CRACKER BARREL: Take notes on the Sydney Sweeney - American Eagle marketing campaign. Ethical arguments aside: It generated buzz and definitely resonated with a particular kind of buyer (Travis Kelce is helping, too). Plus, all signs point towards it 'working.' Contrast this with Cracker Barrel's ill-fated rebrand. It's important to understand your base (and be able to shut out the negative noise from those not part of it). Cracker Barrel didn't. AE did... which is why some people loved it, and others not so much.
SEO MIGHT ACTUALLY BE DEAD: The generative AI search experience feels qualitatively different from traditional search. I can't believe I'm saying this, but this is the beginning of the end of search as we know it. Fortunately, there's a lot of overlap between what you were doing for SEO and what needs to be done for GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). This article on HubSpot's AI approach captures what I think is probably the way forward: Build trust; don't chase clicks.
The topic I'm diving into next week is AI agentic shopping.
—a BDOW! update—
The tech debt battle over the course of the last year or so was a bit of bloodbath, but this summer we've been able to consistently release some new features. When we took over BDOW! (formerly Sumome), it wasn't in great shape after years of being in "maintenance mode." H/t to our CTO Collin who has been on the front lines.
You can see our recent product updates here, but the one I'm most excited about is our new evergreen countdown timer functionality.
I think this summer will mark a real turning point for us, as the next set of features we have planned is on a different level.
—what I'm reading—
Day Trading Attention is the best book on social media, and I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a classic marketing book (maybe it has already?).
Highly recommend picking it up. Made me excited about social media again (or for the first time ever?).
—your weekend listen—
AJR was kind enough to release new music on my birthday. This is currently my favorite track from their new EP What No One's Thinking.
... but 'Betty' is a close second.
Here's to starting again! Wish me luck.
Peace,
Jonesy
P.S. If you're into The Chronicles of Narnia, check out my latest post on The Ordinary Stuff, 'Notes on The Horse and His Boy: 9 Lessons for my kids.'
