#CoolShit 12.17.18
RE: A BREAK
The time has come...
With the holidays rapidly approaching, and my wife literally about to pop a baby out ANY DAY NOW, it's time that I take my annual break from #CoolShit.
If you have any interest in keeping up with our new baby updates, you're more than welcome to follow along on Insta.
@shelbyerickson
But before I leave you until next year, I wanted to share some highlights with you from this year.
As for ACF...
The agency game is F'ING CRAZY. It's crazy stressful, crazy competitive, but most of all it's crazy fun.
We created a super quick video highlighting some of our work from the year. Anytime we create recap videos like this, they trip me out. For me personally, when I have my head down, grinding on these projects, I never take the time to step back and look at the finished product. I might be drinking my own kool-aid a bit here but we had a pretty good year and this video doesn't even cover it all (:
If we worked with you this year, THANK YOU!
If we did not work with you this year, email me (:
That being said, ACF is entering it's 10th year in the game.
10. F'ing. Years.
I can't tell you what we have in store for this upcoming year - cause it's an agency, I never know what we're going to be working on (: - but I can tell you that since it'a big year for us, we do plan on making this a big year for every client, project, and partner that we work with!
As for #CoolShit...
I wanted to have a transparent recap but also share some insight as into why I take the time to send you this email every morning.
Guess how many people are now subscribed to this email now? 1,000? 5,000? 10,000?!?!?!?
Nope, 128.
128 very important people.
128 people with "decision-making" power. Some at HUGE brands. Some rolling solo.
One might ask, "Uh, is this worth all your time", and without hesitating I'd answer "Fuck yes!", a thousand times over.
A good friend told me a parable that really affected me. I'll tell it as I remember it.
Thousands of starfish wash onto shore. A boy sees the starfish are in trouble and starts placing the starfish back into the ocean. An older man walks by and says, "Why are you doing this, you're never going to be able to help them all?" The boy, slightly confused, looks at the one in his hand and says, "Nope, but I can help this one". He places it in the ocean and carries on, one by one, returning the starfish to the ocean.
There's definitely parallels to that story and why I do this email. I share a ton of shit in the hopes that ONE THING might affect ONE PERSON, ONE DAY. Maybe a photo makes you laugh, or you find a new favorite song, or you use an article to help you do your job better, or you discover a new artist.
A couple more numbers that stand out to me.
97%+
Thats the percent of subscribers that open #CoolShit every week. I'm no email campaign expert, but I'm pretty sure that's a good open rate.
559
That's how many songs were added to the #CoolShit playlist this year. That playlist is easily one of my favorite resources for cool music. There are about 20 of us that are constantly sharing new/old/weird music that we come across. If you're not already, you should for sure follow along.
#CoolShit on Spotify
Sorry Apple music users. Apple has a nice library, but they don't have ANY tools for collaboration or sharing *winks at the people that work at Apple*
Next year...
No matter how this past year was for you, I know for a FACT that this next year is going to be BIGGER & MORE IMPACTFUL for you than any year in the past.
BIGGER projects. MORE important decisions. HUGE opportunities. It's going to be FUCKING BIG.
Know how I know this? 'Cause as someone who endlessly searches for "cool" on the internet, you're one of the coolest things I've ever come across (:
I hope that your holidays are filled with food & family.
Here's to 2019! *raises glass*
-Shelby
My Personal Favorite Songs of 2018
Spotify does a pretty good job of wrapping up your year in music, but I went through and got rid of all the music that wasn't "new" - so much GOOD GOOD GOOD music came out this year.
Aquarium Drunkard, 2018 Year In Review
AD is another really good source for really weird(but incredibly good) music.
Vox's, The Best Of Everything
"So many products today claim to be the best. Why — and why can’t we stop buying them?​"
Spotify's, 2018 Wrapped
I REALLY dig the deep data Spotify comes up with like... I spent 43,742 minutes listening to music and listen to "non-mainstream artists" 63% more than the average listener.
GORILLA VS. BEAR’S, Songs of 2018
I always enjoy Gorilla vs Bear cause their lists are normally full of good music that I've never heard - even in their "best of" list.
Dezeen's, Top 10 hotels of 2018
Every single hotel on this list is straight out of your dreams.
NPR's, Best Music of 2018
SPOILER ALERT: There was a TON of good music this year
Bloomberg's, The Bloomberg 50
"our look at the people in business, entertainment, finance, politics, and technology, and science whose 2018 accomplishments were particularly noteworthy."
Glassdoors, The Best Places To Work In 2019
As picked by employees
Morning Consults, The Brands That Defined 2018
This one is full of really good insights.
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