#121: Pure As New York Snow
All the boys think she's a spy...
Welcome to Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins. You’re reading a newsletter that has been curated for busy people looking for the best marketing tips, culture analysis, and music every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
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An eternal bop.
CULTURE THING:
How to Read 12 Books at Once (Superorganizers)
I wouldn’t suggest you do this with fiction books, but if you got a pile of business or marketing books (or articles) that you’ve been parking on, here’s how to extract the good stuff so you can “read” multiple books at one time.
21 Proven Ways To Overcome Impostor Syndrome (Startupbros)
I recently applied for the Substack Fellowship for Independent Writers. Had no intention of applying originally, solely because I have imposter syndrome about my abilities as a writer and where I “fit in” to the larger ecosystem. Office Hours isn’t Sinocism or Hell World. I don’t do what Ann Friedman or Kimberly or Gary or The Toddfather or the Everything team do. Getting all the way vulnerable with it, I didn’t believe that my work is good enough yet to be “taken seriously” by a panel of people who have “serious” cred.
Then, I read this and a few other articles like it (like this one from Jazmine Hughes that is a real delight). They helped me realize that I really needed to stop being such a headass about “not belonging” and get on with getting on already. If you’re going through the same thing, I hope this helps you like it helped me.
MARKETING THING:
Content Creation Template (Neil Patel)
For the last few weeks, I’ve been working on a guide for paid subscribers where I compile all the relevant content marketing resources I use with my consulting clients. I’ll share a few in this section over the next few weeks for the free list. Here’s a template that I advise everyone who make content go over at least once.
ICYMI: Last week, I was on the Trapital podcast expanding on the challenger brands in hip-hop topics that Dan and I wrote about, both here and on Trapital.
MUSIC THING:
I update my major playlists every month. I’ll have more in Friday’s newsletter, but for now, one to get you to Friday.
Cool Men’s Boutique
Theme: If I owned a Cool Men's Boutique, this would be the store playlist.
Spotify:
HOW TO HELP BLACK LIVES IN 30 MINS OR LESS:
When it comes to taking the steps needed to create a racially equal America, I’ve heard from many well-intentioned non-Black people over the last two months that one of the most daunting things for them is trying to figure out what they can personally do make things better.
Some folks see these massive issues as a significant problem that cannot be defeated, so they struggle to figure out what one person can do, which leads to them not doing much other than posting to IG. Some of that is not wanting to seem like you’re doing too much, some of that is fear your intentions will be misunderstood.
What if I told you that for only 30 minutes a week, you can help black lives no matter where you are or how much money you make? Here’s how:
Carve out 30 minutes in your calendar this week. Call it “Being A Better Person Time” or “Set a Good Example for my Kid” Time, whatever works.
Click a link and make a call or donate or sign a petition. Just do one thing in that 30 min window.
This weekend, share the above link with your three closest friends and say, “Hey, I’m (calling/donating/signing a petition). I’m worried about how things will be for future generations, so I’m doing something about it. If you’re interested, here’s the link!” If you have a group chat, drop it into your group chat!
Repeat the following week for as long as you can. Do it while you online shop, do it while you’re on an annoying call, hell, you can do it while you poop, I genuinely don’t care! Whatever it takes! It is the absolute least that you can do, but you’ll get a sense of accomplishment and the knowledge that you at least did SOMETHING to help. You have a vision of who you want to be, right? That ideal version of yourself that does the right thing when given a chance and leads by example? This is that chance. You can do it!
BONUS: You won’t have to lie to your kids or grandkids about being on the right side of history! You can be all like, “Children/Grandchildren, we don’t tolerate that racist shit in this house. If anyone says otherwise, send them to me.” and you’ll sound all tough and cool, and your kids or grandkids will respect and love you and not want to be racists…guess what? That means less racist people in the future!!!
Look at that. It turns out you had a bigger impact than you thought the whole time!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
I’ve been consulting on programming for the good folks at Chicago Ideas for a few months now and I’m really excited about what the team has been working on.
Last week, we hosted a conversation between Jia Tolentino and Shea Serrano that you can watch here.
Next week, we’re doing a virtual chat with Bashir Salahuddin and Diallo Riddle, of Comedy Central’s South Side and IFC’s Sherman’s Showcase for Free.99.
Save your spot here. Don’t miss it!
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Office Hours is written and created by Ernest Wilkins.
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