Mr. Rogers built a legacy around kindness, caring, and compassion. For 30 minutes he made every viewer feel as if they were his neighbor. Right there alongside him on every adventure, learning valuable lessons along the way. He engaged with his audience, never talking at them, but instead talking to them.

Businesses would serve well to take on a little Mr. Rogers style attitude when they are marketing themselves to current and potential subscribers. Make them feel like part of your family. Let them know you care and that they can trust you.

1. Listen

“Listening is where love begins: listening to…

As a journalism student in college, I dreamed of interviewing high-status individuals, breaking important stories, and drafting my next masterpiece of an article over late-night drinks.

That romantic view of the profession was quickly squashed by a seemingly endless job search, which included driving ten hours in one day to interview for a job in a region I previously didn’t even know existed.

When I eventually did land some paid work, it was often thankless. …

A picture is worth a thousand words.

About five years ago, I was tasked with organizing a photoshoot for work. The photos needed to reflect the diversity of our student population, as well as the profession our students would soon be entering… a profession in a city that is predominately white, and a student population that is the same.

Let the awkward emails begin.

“Good morning! We are organizing a photoshoot for a new recruiting brochure, and we are hoping you would like to take part…”

​Our students are not dumb. They knew why they received that email. Some of…

Hey y’all,

I met with a writer to chat recently about an article idea, which meant the obligatory “how should we meet” conversation. I suggested Zoom or Google Hangouts, “or we can meet on Clubhouse lol”. And she said yes great, Clubhouse would be easiest! I said I was joking, and she sent me an invite to a Clubhouse room.

I am admittedly not much of a “social media person”, but Clubhouse is delightful. A 1:1 chat was easy and fun (although yes okay, maybe we’ve just re-invented a phone call here), and that’s the most basic use of it…

Over the last 15 years, text, photo, and video-based platforms have defined the social media landscape and how we communicate over the internet.

This decade, we will see the explosion of drop-in audio platforms, this new feature changes the way we communicate and connect with people all over the world.

Before we get into the juicy details, let's talk about the concept of drop-in audio — I know it still sounds foreign to some people.

What is Drop-in Audio?

Drop-in audio is the new sensation on the internet. It is a temporary audio chat room that users can drop in and out of.

It…

NEWS IN BRIEF

Another week, more marketing news — as well as a big Instagram faux pas (which happened earlier this week).

A lot of new features for a variety of platforms, including Whatsapp, which recently released video call options for its desktop app after numerous requests from users, as announced on Twitter.

Cannot bear joining another Zoom meeting? Need to spice up your Friday scrums? Don’t you worry, Microsoft mesh is coming to bring you a new AR/VR experience to bring your co-workers right in your living room.

Let’s dive in today’s roundup.

🤰 Emotional marketing inspiration: Frida Mom

Emotional ad showing breastfeeding struggles airs during Golden Globes…

“In a plain T-shirt with a bag over his head, [Gary] Gilmore was strapped into a chair, waiting for a firing squad to execute him at Utah State Prison. It was the morning of Jan. 17, 1977, and Gilmore, convicted of murdering a gas station employee and motel manager in Utah the year before, was to become the first person in the United States to be executed in nearly a decade.” — Washington Post

Gilmore was asked if he had any last words. …

There’s an effective way to get people to do what you want, and all it involves is a few extra words. Those words don’t even need to say anything of use. Nothing whatsoever.

Take this viral meme doing the rounds on social media that’s getting some wild interaction. It reads like this:

“What happens in your head when you do 27 + 48? PLEASE respond I’m tryna see something.”

People are responding in droves. The first half of this, the math question, had a small viral impact a few months ago. …