Happy New Year, friends! There's a good chance you're here because of my recent "how to transform your career" thread or my "manage your personal brand" thread. In this 2x monthly newsletter, I write about what I'm working on. It's usually marketing related, and I always include a recipe because I'm a trained chef.

Some housekeeping: I'm grateful to everyone who has signed up, but if this newsletter is not serving your needs, feel free to unsubscribe. You'll be doing me a favor anyway as this will help me keep open rates up.

🎙 The Little-Known Problem with Podcasts

Host and showrunner Jay Acunzo has the single-best advice for starting a podcast. Step 1: Write a positioning statement:

It's a simple, elegant framework for homing in on what sets your podcast apart.

In my opinion, here's Step 2: Design an incentive for guests to join.

The vast majority of podcasts have tiny followings. Yet there's an unspoken understanding that if someone is a well-known person, they're lending their name in exchange for promoting themselves.

But they're not effectively promoting themselves if no one is listening. After all, if a tree falls and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

A harsh truth: There's no incentive for a well-known person to join the average podcast.

I've thought about this a lot over the past year as I reflected on having hosted the Growth Machine Marketing podcast.

Now, I'll tell you a secret. I hated sourcing guests.

I felt like I was being a nuisance by sliding into a stranger's DMs, and then doubly so for asking them to spend an hour or more of their time with me. It's because I hate bothering people.

I'd counteract the guilt by preparing excessively — I'd listen to at least 3 of their previous interviews, read as many of their published articles as possible, study the brands they worked for, write an episode outline, and craft only questions I thought would surprise and delight them.

Then I'd over-extend myself with promoting the episode — through Twitter threads, audiograms, dedicated emails, and multiple blog posts derived from the insights of a single episode. All of this was exhausting.

💡 So as I sought to launch my new show, I started with the question: How can I create a show that's so good, that when I casually extend the invitation, it's an immediate "Hell yes," from the guest?

I think I'm getting close. I'm going to tap into novelty and excitement by creating a live talk show on YouTube, which I'll then repurpose into a podcast. Guests and I will pick a topic in advance, and interact with a (hopefully) lively chat. The Menu show premieres January 14. Check out the teaser trailer:

My guest for the series premiere will be the queen of Marketing Twitter herself, Christina Garnett!

🎥 You can set a reminder for January 14, 11am PT on my YouTube channel. And don't forget to smash the subscribe button. 🙃

😳 Screenshot DM Interview: um... me.

I forgot to interview someone this week. So I decided I would seize the opportunity to promote the Menu show and interview myself. Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel!

🍰 Petits Fours

Four bite-sized blurbs to content worth consuming... and today it is exclusively about Betty White. Btw, definitely watch her episode of SNL from 2010. It is truly hilarious and holds up even better than anyone could have dreamed. Her monologue is *chef's kiss.*

😂Betty White improvising on Golden Girls: Apparently, most of the story White is telling was improvised. Her costars, Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan, crack. A million percent, worth watching.

🥼Betty White's Golden Girls character on psychology: Another classic clip.

🌭Seth Meyers on the time Betty White hosted SNL: RIP Betty White, the only SNL host I ever saw get a standing ovation at the after party. A party at which she ordered a vodka and a hotdog and stayed til the bitter end.

❤️This really uplifting tweet about our collective fandom for Betty White: You know what's really great? We told Betty White that we loved her while she was still alive.

🔥 Roasted Brussels Sprouts

• 1 lb Brussels sprouts
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper

Roast 400 degrees, 40 min, tossing in between.

Optional: Toss the cooked sprouts in a mix of:

• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon each sugar + water
• 1 teaspoon sriracha

🎉 Happy 2022!

It's gonna be a great year, right? Goodness, we all deserve it.

If you have a sec, I'd love to hear from you. Tell me: What are you most looking forward to about the new year?

See ya in 2 weeks!