The Hustle - 🤗 The Joyconomy Takes Off

Happy Trends Tuesday!

Today we’ve got:

1 trend alert
1 piece of operator wisdom
1 article you should read
4 tabs we have open

Let's get to it.

🚨 TREND ALERT

Let’s face it, we could all do with a little lighthearted fun.

Last June we wrote about how people want to bring more play into their lives. It turns out the party was just getting started:

''How to have more fun in life'' searches

Here’s an update on three trends in the “joyconomy” space.

Brands boost playfulness. Businesses are tweaking their offerings to encourage optimism and childlike abandon (e.g. McDonald’s introducing Happy Meals for adults). Entrepreneurs could rebrand offerings traditionally focused on children, or introduce playfulness through product experiences — like Seth Rogan’s cannabis brand Houseplant, which unveiled Lego-like packaging.
Social platforms prioritize positivity and intimacy. Gas, which allows users to anonymously compliment each other, launched late last August. In less than six months it reached 10m downloads, $6m in sales, and was acquired by Discord. Entrepreneurs could compete directly with niche social platforms for specific markets like seniors or the LGBTQ+ community.
Jump for joy (literally). Boring exercise is out — and fun is in. The dance fitness niche is making a roaring post-pandemic comeback. Entrepreneurs could incorporate joyful movement and dance into their exercise offerings, or focus on ancillary niches like:
- “Zumba” — 513k global Google searches/mo., per Ahrefs
- “Jazzercise” — 52k
- “Aerobics classes near me” — 16k

🤓 10 GLORIOUS GOOGLE SHEETS

Spreadsheets run the world for good reason. Use 10 proven templates to organize your marketing, sales, and customer service operations.

🧠 OPERATOR WISDOM

We’re continuing last week’s copy breakdown of a sales email for Perennial Pastures Ranch.

It comes from Trendster Chris Orzechowski, who has personally written 10k+ sales emails, and trains thousands of email marketers.

Previously we covered using a curiosity-based subject line, getting readers hooked with a personal intro, and why you need to lead with a story.

Here are the next 3 elements:

Throw rocks at a common enemy. Every market/tribe has a common enemy. And uniting against that common enemy is part of being human. It’s in our DNA. It’s also a strong copy technique. Every market has a boogeyman. Attack, attack, attack!
Build a “Belief Bridge”. Your prospects carry certain beliefs. They might be false beliefs or limiting beliefs, but until you build a “belief bridge,” they’re not going to buy. In our email example, it’s important readers develop the new belief that buying “grocery store meat” is like playing Russian roulette with your health.
Include dramatic demonstration. Showing, not telling, is the name of the game. In this case, Chris invites people down to the ranch to see how they do things. Many “Big Beef” producers would have you arrested if you tried stepping foot on their facilities.

We’ll close out this copy breakdown in next week’s newsletter. See you then!

🔥 ARTICLE YOU SHOULD READ

Have you noticed TikTok is looking a lot like a virtual candy shop these days?

That’s because it is: Small candy businesses are flocking to the platform to peddle their sour, freeze-dried, and gooey products with mouthwatering video clips.

And they’re raking in some serious profits doing it.