“The key to great marketing is remembering that even though you’re all about your brand, your customer is not.

The words of the notorious Gary Vaynerchuk — author of the book in the subject of this email. He says that before you ask for something from your audience (the right hook), you first need to be generous, informative, funny — you need to provide something of value (jabs).

I hope that these weekly emails are informative. I’m trying to generously share the best resources I find. I admit I’m not necessarily funny (at least on purpose).

So I’m taking the opportunity to ask — while still being generous. I want to celebrate 15 years of blogging with you all. And so I started a giveaway for my newsletter subscribers.

There are prizes (first is up with 4 more to come). We start with a ticket to the Innovation Explorer conference, valued at 75 euro. But there are rules, too. You improve your chances of winning by sharing the newsletter with others.

And I ask you this: if you feel like this newsletter is worth it, join the giveaway and share this newsletter with your network. In return, I promise that I will be as informative as I’ve been so far. And as generous as possible.

Be social,

From the blog

Here’s Why You Need a Bullet Journal
I was reminded about this post recently and I do beleive it’s very valuable at the start of the year when we’re still planning our most productive year ever (spoilers: it probably won’t be). The bullet journal is probably my favorite element of the productivity stack. In this post I tried to explain the benefits and common misconceptions about the system. No, it doesn’t need to be pretty.

Hand-selected pieces for you

How to Create Instagram Guides: Step-by-Step Setup
Instagram guides are the newest opportunity for brands – and this guide will show you how to create one that shines and how to promote it for full impact.

10 Funny Out of Office Messages You Will Want to Copy
It's still January and we may be a long way away from vacation season but you'd still want to check these Out of Office messages out. The smile-inducing effect is guaranteed.

How to Create Effective LinkedIn Ads Retargeting Campaigns
Here's a quick and to the point overview of building retargeting campaigns – from adding tracking and creating matched audiences to creating your ads.

6 Classic Growth Hacking Examples That Defined Growth Hacking
Popular growth hacking case studies are popular for a reason - here's a list of a few of them and the tactics ranging from leveraging word of mouth and scarcity to building the right technical growth loops.

15 Great Content Curation Examples You Can Learn From in 2021
Content curation is the easiest way to provide valuable content to your audience. You'll be able to create interesting content – without creating all of it on your own. This post includes some great examples best practices like adding an original take on content.

Things I'm enjoying right now

• My new logo — sorry for being so self-centered this week but this is the highlight for me. It's a great representation of my brand.
• Abstract on Netflix — I'm hooked on this series. There are some full-length episodes on YouTube but the new season is awesome, as well. Think typography and toy design.

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