Hello 👋
I wrote about the power of niche and how the internet is reshaping retail for The Good Business Journal. The piece explores how traditional retailers are following the lead of digital makers and influencers by leveraging "the obscurity effect".
TLDR: Smart businesses are targeting niche audiences and building a community around what they do. Support the story with a like or retweet.
-Lauren
🏠 Europe’s Startups Battle Airbnb for Digital Nomad Market (Sifted)
The global travel industry is still in epic fucking free fall, and experts say demand won't return until 2024. So, agile and adventurous brands are pivoting their strategies and redefining long-held status quos. This story looks at the companies, including Airbnb, switching from a focus on short-term accommodation to medium-term rentals (i.e. from serving traditional tourists to serving digital nomads).
🚚 For Some, New WFH Policies Mean a Chance to Explore America (The Bold Italic)
This essay is the latest in a series of shorts about the sudden exodus of talent from California. Flora Tsapovsky speaks to Americans who have hit the road as digital nomads in response to the pandemic and the freedom of remote work. Interesting to see slow and closer-to-home travel taking off so fast across both North America and Europe.
🥊 Roman Gladiators Were Like Early Social Media Influencers (Reddit)
Ancient Roman gladiators and 21st-century internet celebrities have something in common: both make money through product endorsements. When Hollywood execs read about gladiators promoting brands in the movie script for Gladiator (2000), they told the writers to axe it. They thought the idea was too far-fetched for audiences, even though it's historically accurate. Fact is often stranger than fiction, hey?
📝 Writing Is Thinking: Learning to Write With Confidence (Steph Smith)
The rise of remote work makes writing a more relevant and valuable skill than ever, so this piece from prolific internet scribe Steph Smith is worth revisiting. She picks apart her learning habits and writing process to reveal how she went from amateur to pro in just five years, largely by self-teaching and refusing to focus on outcomes.
🖥️ Don't Read 100 Books Per Year: Reasons to Read Fewer Books (Nat Eliason)
The end of the year is approaching, and that means a never-ending stream of book lists is due imminently: the best books of the year, the Christmas must-read books, the most important books for next year. In this video, Nat Eliason argues that we should all aim to read fewer books, not more of them. I'm inclined to agree.
📓 Zelo Journal: A Diary Meets To-Do List Notebook (Amazon)
This is a weekly planner without the clutter and restrictions that come with a lot of physical stationery. I tend to swap between online and offline tools to keep organised, and I've found my Zelo useful for to-do lists, intention setting and habit tracking. High-quality paper, premium cover, simple to use. Thanks to Jess Shanahan for the tip.
☕ Do you enjoy this newsletter? Make a donation to help it continue.
👉 Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe to receive the next one.
💌 Feedback to share or want to say hello? Hit reply on any of my emails.