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9 Success Strategies for 2021

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For obvious reasons, I’ve been thinking a lot about 2021. My expectation is that 2021 will be my best year on earth, but I generally feel that way about every upcoming year.

On Monday I watched the Beastie Boys documentary on Apple TV+. I was 13 years old when “Fight for Your Right…” was released. MTV literally played that video every hour on the hour for a year. They were everywhere, but I didn’t start following the band until 1994 and their album Ill Communication, with songs like Sabotage and Sure Shot. I regret never seeing them in concert.

The documentary went into great detail about Adam Yauch (MCA), the most creative member of the Beastie Boys, and his death from cancer in 2012 at the age of 47. Adam accomplished so much in his young life, from music to film making to being a key proponent of the Tibetan independence movement.

As I type this, I’m 47.

It’s funny how sometimes you feel like you’ve accomplished so much in your life or positively changed the lives of others, and then you look at someone like Adam Yauch and know you’ve underachieved. Maybe underachieved is the wrong word…I don’t know.

If you’re reading this, don’t you just feel like you could be doing more?

That’s what this newsletter issue is about. Preparing for 2021 so that we can change the world for the better.

Here are a number of things that I’m thinking about to make the world a better place in 2021. Of course, some involve others, but most of this is for YOU getting your life in order so you have the time and the focus to make a difference.

1. Decide On Your Goals

I talked about this 25/5 goal-setting strategy from Warren Buffett last year. It works. It also gets your priorities straight and helps you FOCUS.

2. Review Your Goals Every Morning

Part of my personal success formula is writing down and then reviewing what I want to accomplish every morning of every day. Seriously…just take five minutes out of every day and it will change your stars.

3. Donate Something Every Day

We all have too much stuff. Let’s change that in 2021. Let’s start de-cluttering now and then, every day, donate one thing to charity (some place like Goodwill). We know a couple of senior citizens who are doing that right now. I am amazed how purging old things can free up the mind and the spirit. It’s like a weight has been lifted.

4. Track Your Habits

If you completed your goals, you’ll start to identify habits. Do you have a health goal in 2021? Then you probably have an exercise, running or eating habit you are determined to learn. Use an app like HabitBull to keep track of your habits, and it will remind you when you need a kick in the pants.

5. Set a Book Goal

The most curious and interesting people I know read A LOT of books. I have a prejudice against people that do not read on a regular basis (sorry). Goodreads is a fantastic place to set your reading goal for 2021 (and be sure to mix up a little fiction with nonfiction). If you need a Goodreads friend just follow me here.

6. Recurring Expenses Cut

A few years ago, my wife and I went through our recurring expenses (like Netflix and news subscriptions) and we were shocked by the results. At the end of the process, we ended up cancelling quite a few services we really didn’t need. This ended up saving us well over $200 (so we could buy more beer 😉).

7. Password Maintenance

I have believed for quite some time that the biggest threat to our personal financial existence is someone hacking our accounts. The threat is real (did you see the U.S. government hacking by Russian Intelligence reported this week?). Protect yourself by using a service such as Dashlane to create super strong passwords (and ones that you don’t have to remember).

8. Update Your Will or Trust

Every two years my wife and I update our will. You’d be surprised how things change in just a short time. Who should get the kids if we pass? If we pass, when do the kids get our money (maybe when they are 60 😉)?

If you have a will or trust, get it updated. If you don’t, get one pronto. You’ll sleep better at night.

9. Time to Update Your Financials

2020 has been a crazy year for investing. After dropping 34 percent, the stock market soared again this year. Gold was up double digits and bitcoin was up 150 percent.

All this means that your financial allocations are probably out of whack and you need to re-diversify. You may want to do this before the end of the year depending on your tax situation.

Using an application like Personal Capital helps to immediately show your holding and allocation percentages.

When you do this, pick allocations that help you sleep at night. Don’t do anything that will make you want to check your stocks every day.

The following was an excerpt from Joe’s newsletter. Only subscribers receive the full version.

Bitcoin Bonanza

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Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, just hit its all-time high price on Monday.

My wife and I have owned Bitcoin since early 2017 and have added to our position over time.

For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, here are a few key notes about Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is a digital currency. Think of it like digital gold. A few years back it was almost impossible to use Bitcoin to pay for anything, but that is changing rapidly.

It was created in 2009 following the housing crash as an alternative to the excess in money printing from the United States and most other large countries. Bitcoin is limited (programmed) to 21 million and there will never be any more.

Bitcoin is non-sovereign, which means no country has control over it. The currency is maintained by a network of millions around the world.

Here’s a very simple overview from Coindesk that, they say, even a five-year-old can understand.

Why is Bitcoin all the rage right now?

Well, a couple reasons.

First, Bitcoin is a hedge against massive money printing and inflation. Just about every major country is going into debt, printing money at will to get us out of the pandemic recession. That leads to inflation where the money you have (say dollars) won’t buy as much as it used to. Thus, right now, Bitcoin is the soup-du-jour.

Second, the big institutions are starting to invest in Bitcoin. When Bitcoin made its first major run (at least that the public was aware of) in 2017, most of the run up came from smaller, retail investors. This time, major companies like PayPal, Square and Microstrategy are investing heavily in Bitcoin.

For example, Microstrategy, a mid-sized tech company, invested its cash reserves into Bitcoin a few months ago when Bitcoin was at $10,000 (currently it’s about $19,000 USD). That was $425 million dollars into Bitcoin. CEO Michael Saylor calls holding cash like  “melting ice” where the value continues to deteriorate. Not only is Microstrategy’s $425 million about $800 million now, but their stock price went from $100 per share to almost $350 per share, adding about $2 billion dollars to their market cap. Amazing.

In addition, big traditional investors like John Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller have started to push Bitcoin.

Long-story short, I believe Bitcoin is here to stay and that all investors should have at least two percent of their assets in Bitcoin (I am not a licensed financial professional and if you invest in Bitcoin you do it at your own risk).

I believe in the next few years, Bitcoin will be a similar size to the market capitalization of gold, which is about $9 trillion USD. The Winklevoss twins (remember them from the movie The Social Network?) believe the same thing. For that to happen to Bitcoin, each Bitcoin will be worth about $500,000 each.

Now, if you really want to go down the rabbit hole, here is an amazing article from Lyn Alden on three reasons to invest in Bitcoin. At the end of that article, there is a follow up piece about seven Bitcoin misconceptions.

One of my favorite Bitcoin podcasts is The Breakdown with NLW (a case study in the upcoming version of Content Inc.).

Is Print Making a Comeback?

According to Media Voices, “Hearst UK recently announced that women’s lifestyle magazine Prima would increase its print edition from 12 to 13 issues a year, following a 68% surge in subscriptions this year.”

One of the behavior changes resulting from the pandemic is that people want (or need) time off their devices and, in some cases, are turning to print.

Personally, I think there is a huge opportunity here. Many people still love to engage in print, yet too many publications ceased printing their content because of financial constraints. Those who can figure out a proper revenue model here will prosper.

All-in Email?

As we’ve discussed, Business Insider purchased one of my favorite email newsletters, The Morning Brew, for $75 million dollars. Self-contained email newsletters are here to stay.

I think it will be here for a long, long time. Need proof? I just finished reading Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline, the sequel to the amazing Ready Player One.

You know what they still do in the year 2046 (at least according to Ernest)? Use email. The way media, from videos to articles to texts to email, is used in the book astounds me…and seems plausible.

So don’t be afraid email will go away anytime soon.

Local News Needs a Business Model

According to Poynter at least 60 local newsrooms disbanded since March.

While large national newspapers like the New York Times, Washington Post and Financial Times are thriving, local seemingly can’t make it. This has left a rather large content gap that needs to be filled.

The New York Times thinks that local news can be supported through giving and philanthropy, like we generally support the arts.

Speaking of #GivingTuesday, The Land is a local news organization that covers Northeast Ohio. My friends there are doing a fantastic job. If you’d like to support local news, click here and give them a few bucks.

 

The following was an excerpt from Joe’s newsletter. Only subscribers receive the full version.

Two Creative Strategies from John Cleese

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I first met actor, writer and comedian John Cleese when he keynoted Content Marketing World 2015 (see image above).

First off, the man is tall. I mean extremely tall. I felt like a small child standing next to him.

Second, he’s brilliant.

Last week my friend JK gave me John Cleese’s new book Creativity: a short and cheerful guide. Yes, this is a book…but it reads like an essay. It cannot be more than ten thousand words. That said, the content is gold and I highly recommend it.

Toward the middle Cleese talks about the greatest creativity killer.

Can you guess what it is?

It’s interruption.

He says research has shown that after an interruption it can take eight minutes for you to return to your previous state of consciousness. And up to 20 minutes to get back into a state of deep focus.

Let’s think about the content you’re creating. You start on that article or post or image or storyboard and then someone walks outside your door. You stop. It distracted you.

You were in the groove and now it will take you 10 minutes or more to get it back.

How about checking Twitter or Facebook? I know a few people that keep their social media notifications on all day. Probably five minutes do not go by that they don’t receive some kind of news or social update. It’s a problem.

Cleese recommends two different strategies to remove these types of interruptions.

First, create boundaries of space to stop others from interrupting you. Shut the door, put “do not disturb” on the outside or hide where people can’t bother you. Second, you create boundaries of time by arranging for a specific period to preserve your boundaries of space.

For content creators this means effectively using your calendar. To finish my novel, The Will to Die, I blocked out calendar time every morning for my writing. It was just my computer and me locked away in my office. I left my phone outside the room.

At first this was extremely difficult. I’d interrupt myself all the time. I’d think about who I needed to call or email or sometimes just crazy random thoughts popped inside my brain.

But your mind learns and after a few days, I found the groove. Those two hour periods seemed to last just a few minutes and then…poof…I wrote 2,000 words.

Do you want to be more creative? Give yourself the time and the space to do so.

As Cleese says, creativity doesn’t just happen. You have to set up the proper circumstances for creativity to appear.

It’s Time to Be Bold
(Not to Hold)

I had a conversation with a friend of mine that works for a large event-media company. Like all other event companies, their in-person events were replaced with virtual events this year. And, for the first six months into 2021, their in-person events will be virtual. The company is hopeful that they can start having in-person events after July of next year, but they honestly don’t know what’s possible at this point.

I asked my friend how innovative their plans were going to be for 2021. I was curious if they were adjusting the business model or experimenting with any “home run” ideas.

He said [and I’m paraphrasing] – “We are cutting costs and holding on. We have no new plans for anything. No new investments. No new strategies.”

Now, on the surface, this makes complete sense. Their business model had been decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Cutting costs to the bone and waiting for their moment to reinvest is prudent.

Or is it?

Now, my friend knows my background, but I was compelled to reshare what happened with Content Marketing Institute in 2008. I believe the only reason CMI was able to become a 10-million dollar property in such a short time was while we were investing heavily in building our audience during the financial crisis, everyone else in our industry was cut, cut, cut.

At that time, the big kuhuna in our industry was B2B magazine. I was a fan of B2B. I loved the content…and they had the largest audience in the B2B marketing arena. But in 2008, they let go of some very smart people and stopped their new product launches. They also cut back the magazine and, to be honest, their current products suffered. It seemed the brand was just “waiting” for things to come back to normal.

If anyone could have offered what CMI did, it was B2B magazine. A few years later, B2B magazine was shuttered. It no longer exists. A lot of media companies no longer exist.

I certainly hope this doesn’t happen, but I’m afraid my friend’s company won’t be around in a couple years. They will go from leader to also ran to out of business in the next three to seven years. I firmly believe that. When he told me they were cutting costs and holding on, that’s all I needed to know. It sealed their fate.

I know times are tough, but now is the time to build. To invest in your audience. To shape your content experiences so they truly are the best in your industry. Don’t have the cash? Borrow. Money is cheap right now. Invest during these next two years when things are crazy, and when we come out of this thing, you’re growth will skyrocket. It did for us at CMI and it did for dozens of my friend entrepreneurs as well.

Fight the temptation to hold on. Now is the time to go big…or you will definitely go home.

 

The following was an excerpt from Joe’s newsletter. Only subscribers receive the full version.

Netflix and the Best Failed Exit Strategy Ever

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As you know, I’m big on exit strategies. I found an excellent example of one in the Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer book, No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention.

Except this time, it was a failed exit strategy that made Netflix successful.

In the year 2000, Netflix was a tiny two-year-old startup that delivered movie DVDs to subscribers via the mail. That year, they had 100 employees, 300,000 subscribers and lost $57 million dollars.

They were desperate to sell.

The Netflix founders approached the CEO of Blockbuster, a $6 billion dollar movie-rental chain with 9,000 locations, about a possible acquisition. Netflix asked for $50 million dollars from Blockbuster in exchange for the company.

Blockbuster said no, so Netflix decided to take the company public.

Today Netflix is valued at approximately $250 billion dollars. In Bend, Oregon stands the last remaining Blockbuster store.

I actually don’t think it was a failed exit strategy. The Netflix founders wanted to sell because they ran out of patience and were scared they’d have nothing left if they continued. So they tried to cut their original exit short (going big) by selling out to Blockbuster. I bet the CEO of Blockbuster wishes he said yes.

The Art of Website Investing

While researching for Content Inc. the book (new edition), I’ve been studying the art of website investing (acquiring websites as assets). Why? Because I added a new step to the Content Inc. model that involves valuing a content property for sale. I know a few things about traditional media site acquisitions, but not a lot about website investing. It’s fascinating…and it plays to my passion for real estate.

Think of it like buying a home. One option is to purchase an existing home and fix it up. Another option is to buy land and build on the land. Another option would be to go to an auction and find a fixer upper.

The exact same goes for website investing. You can buy a website that’s in pretty good shape and touch it up. Or you could buy a brand new domain and build something new. Or you can check out the auctions and take a flyer.

An example from 10 years ago is makeup brand L’Oreal buying Makeup.com for one million dollars. They gave that site a face lift and today it generates millions in product sales for L’Oreal.

A few years back, marketing automation company Hubspot purchased an agency blog called Agency Post and integrated it in with their other blogs.

Sure, I know of examples, but I had no idea how big this industry is.

Here’s some things I’ve found.

First, if you want to get educated on website investing, subscribe to Juliet Lyall’s newsletter, appropriately called Website Investing. I get something out of every issue.

Second, check out auction sites like Flippa or Quiet Light Brokerage. Prices range from a few thousand to a few million, but depending on your goal, you might find something interesting.

Third, evaluate sites at ahrefs.com. I fell in love with this resource. You can do deep dive checks on web properties, find competitive domains and uncover authority rankings. Specifically, if you find one site you like, and want to discover more like it, clicking on competing domains is eye opening.

Why is this so important and why right now?

Folks, the global economy is going to get worse before it gets better. More and more media companies are going belly up. That means there are more web properties and content initiatives that need cash and are willing to sell.

It’s a buyer’s market now. Just wait nine to 12 months…it’s going to get crazy. While I feel horrible for these businesses, it presents a golden opportunity for those companies (and marketers) with budget to acquire.

Please Don’t Stop

According to the Q4 2020 Morningstar Investment newsletter, 27% of United States adults have lowered or stopped their retirement contributions (survey taken on July 11, 2020).

Look, I get it. If you stop your contributions, that means things are really bad. But from my experience, once people stop, they don’t restart.

A Follow Up on Exit Strategy

In responding to Why You Need An Exit Strategy, Juliet Lyall emailed me these wise words:

Is it not logical to consider how you will extract yourself from a venture before you invest time, energy and money into it?

Recently, I wrote about Ramon Van Meer and his approach to exits.

This was his sage advice:

“I like to have an exit strategy when I start something, because then it’s for me easier to reverse engineer.

I’m already talking even though I don’t have an exit date in mind. I start talking with bankers and private equity. I reach out to people that work at my kill list companies and just try to pick their brains. So you can basically steer the universe to that outcome.”

Juliet and I are both entrepreneurs, so we are baffled that some people don’t start things with some kind of exit strategy in mind. As Stephen Covey preaches, begin with the end in mind.

My friend Brian Stehle (a RANDOM reader and author of a great holiday book One Day Off) has a more “holistic” view of an exit strategy. He says:

“All of us will have exactly one exit from this world and have no say in when, where, why, or how it happens.  I do, however, have 100% say in my actions while I’m here.  My ‘here’ is the holistic life I have, not the current job or endeavor I take.  I prefer to think of it as the journey, the way of life, or even the ikigai.”

Brian’s words remind me of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, the Fred Rogers movie portrayed by actor Tom Hanks. Everyday Mr. Rogers woke up with the goal of making life better for other people (excellent movie by the way).

So, who’s right? I believe both perspectives. Because they both revolve around purpose. Why are you here? Why did you take that job?

If you know the answers to those questions, then you know what the next step will be (part of the exit strategy).

Thanks to Juliet and Brian for sending in your thoughts.

 

The following was an excerpt from Joe’s newsletter. Only subscribers receive the full version.

Content Marketing: How Long to Get to Five-Million-Dollars?

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Content Inc. Model

Last week I turned in the final manuscript for Content Inc. (version two). I’m really excited about it, mostly because the interviews were amazing and I feel the model is correct now (I thought the last one was correct as well…this one is just better).

Also, The Wall Street Journal found that there are more people launching new businesses now that at any time since 2007. And since I believe Content Inc. is the greatest business model since…well…ever, there you go. 😊

This time, after interviewing more than 100 businesses that launched an audience-first/content-first business model, we put together the timing image included in this enewsletter (see above).

Note: there is no definitive timetable for Content Inc. model success. I wish there was. But, we are getting closer to figuring this out.

I started my Content Inc. journey in April of 2007, almost quit in September of 2009 because I did not have the patience. Luckily, I stayed with it, promising my wife I would give it a few more months. By May of 2010, the audience numbers started to flourish, and we were able to secure sponsorships to keep the company going. In 2011 we hit a million dollars in revenue. The next three years we hit the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing private companies. In 2016, we sold for mucho dinero.

From a start to milestone standpoint, we hit the five-million-dollar valuation mark in the year 2012, five years after we started. It’s not rocket science, but that seems to be a good benchmark. Most of the Content Inc. cases interviewed for the book are valued between two and ten million after five years.

Here are the timing parameters.

The Sweet Spot/The Content Tilt: Two Months

It takes a few months to find your sweet spot (intersection of your knowledge/skill area and your audience’s desire) and then start testing your content tilt (your area of differentiation, or hook). For Content Marketing Institute, the tilt of content marketing (as a term) was immediate. It took an adjustment a few years later, the focus on enterprise marketing professionals, that pushed the model into high gear.

The Base: 12 Months

It is acceptable to test out platforms in your first couple months. By at least the six-month mark, you should decide on your core platform and content type (audio, visual or text/image). Another six months and you should have your content plan, your frequency, and your subscription options set for maximum audience building.

Audience Building: Four Months

Once the base is working, everything should be focused on building an opt-in subscriber base. If possible, be sure you have an email offering (in case your base is built on a social media platform). Most likely, even though the base may be working, you probably do not have a large enough or focused enough audience to drive revenue (just yet).

Revenue: Six Months

Although you will want to drive revenue as soon as possible, revenue options seem to present themselves at about the 18-month mark.  Take these months to identify the best revenue option and stick with it for a few months before seeking out other revenue options. Focus is key here.

Diversify: 12 Months

Now that you have one critical platform working, we need to “de-risk” the model by creating additional extensions. These can be organic launches or content asset acquisitions. Prime diversification time occurs at about the two-to-three-year mark.

Sell or Go Big: 24 Months

The timetable here depends on your overall goals and your ultimate exit strategy (see the previous issue of this newsletter). At minimum, if you have not already done so, you need to develop a written exit strategy once you are deep into the diversification stage. If you’ve gone this far, you most likely have a truly valuable business and one that will either be precious to someone else, or, will print money for you as a lifestyle business for years to come.

About half the new version is brand-spanking new. The book is set to release May 25, 2021.  More to come.

The following was an excerpt from Joe’s newsletter. Only subscribers receive the full version.