- The Friday Fix
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- #58: Money, money, money
#58: Money, money, money
Shem Opolot
February 09, 2024
Hi! Welcome to The Friday Fix! You’re reading this because you probably stumbled upon this post somewhere on the internet instead of where it should be—in your inbox. But no worries; we can fix that.
Who am I? I’m Shem Opolot, a health professional turned content creator, passionate about helping people be their best selves in life and work.
Why should you subscribe?
I have over ten years of work experience in healthcare, program management, and data analytics on two continents. So, I know a little about helping you work smarter
I comb through tonnes of self-improvement content so you don’t have to, and I distill the content into bite-sized wisdom for you
I’ll occasionally make you laugh
If this sounds good, click the subscribe button below, add your email, read my welcome email (check your spam folder or Promotion tabs), and follow ALL the instructions. This is important so you don’t miss future posts.
Happy Friday 🎉 Shhhh! Quiet! We don’t have much time; there’s a lot to cover, so I have three announcements: 1) Haircuts in D.C. cost upwards of $20, so I’ve officially gone “full Shaolin” to save money. If you ask me, I’m in my Morris Chestnut era, but I looked outside, and there were no women lining up to throw their undergarments at me. I’ll check back tomorrow.
2) I have a friend you have to meet. She has been a video vixen, worked with the same photographer as WizKid and Idris Elba, was the muse for an art piece Swizz Beats almost purchased, and recently, hosts a podcast called Kutimba.
On this week’s Season 2 Premiere, Siima sat down with the indefatigable Winnie Byanyima to talk about, for the very first time…her art collection. It’s the kind of episode you’ll reference for a while, and I’m honored to share it here.
3) If you want to become more confident and competent at work, the next CareerLab sessions happen this month on Thursday 22nd, from 2 PM—6 PM or Saturday 24th, from 9 AM—1 PM. Slots are filling up quickly, so secure your seat here. Backed by popular demand, the sessions are online.
LIFE.
Money, money, money.
This is history!
Success comes from putting the things that you do exceptionally well adjacent to the people who overvalue those things.
As the iPhone notification banners from the payment app flickered at the top of my phone screen like window louvers, this customer stole my heart.
I had to save my other newsletter’s life last week.
But I saved its life at the expense of thousands of people by putting up a paywall and making it virtually inaccessible for non-paying subscribers.
I felt bad about going paid because I knew I’d lose many subscribers. I knew I’d lose real people who, not so long ago, messaged me to tell me how much a specific issue cracked them up. Or how much better their life was with TLDR Weekly in it.
But something happened while I wrestled with my feelings.
After I sent out the email instructing subscribers to upgrade to the premium version of the newsletter, I was glued to my phone, watching to see who paid.
For the most part, like a freshly single person, all the notifications vanish when you test the market.
But…as the iPhone notification banners from the payment app started to flicker at the top of my phone screen like window louvers, this one customer stole my heart. They tried to pay the first time—the transaction failed. They got another card and tried again, but the transaction failed again. They got another card, and finally—“Transaction successful!” For them, they’re probably still on the phone with their bank right now, but the newsletter was worth it.
If you’ve built a product before, any product, and one unbiased person paid for it, you have a business case.
Instead of convincing “randoms” to buy your product, focus on understanding why that one buyer paid for your product. Understand them as intimately as you can. Legally stalk them if you can.
Once you know them well, figure out how to reach that persona again and again and again.
You see, I always hated sales and marketing because it all sounded too beggy-beggy for me, but here I am pitching things to you week in, week out.
But my philosophy is to show you the value and let you decide if your problem is serious enough for you to pay me to solve it. I don’t want you to feel like you spent money; I want you to feel like you cheated me.
So…if you have something that someone has paid you for before, there’s a market for that thing. And yes, you might think thousands of people out there can offer that thing, and you’re right. But only one person can do that thing like you do.
So find that person who overvalues what you have to offer, and they’ll beg you to take their money.
PS: If I’ve tugged at your heartstrings, the best time to subscribe to TLDR Weekly was last Sunday. The next best time is right now.
THINGS.
A quote
This famous intro statement from a physics textbook tells you everything you need to know about what studying physics was like for me.
Ludwig Boltzmann, who spent much of his life studying statistical mechanics, died in 1906, by his own hand. Paul Ehrenfest, carrying on the work, died similarly in 1933. Now it is our turn to study statistical mechanics.
A picture
A friend of mine visited my college and sent me this. Check the bottom right corner (2013) 🤩. I’d never seen this before, and it made me smile after such a tough week.
WORK.
Be centered 💫
I see this one a lot, and it’s a no-no.
You want to center a title for a table, so you merge and center, or worse—press the space bar until the title is [sort of] centered:
Don’t do this.
But merging cells is tricky because you often forget you merged those cells and then wonder why Excel refuses to bend to your will.
Do this instead:
1. Select the range you want your title to be centered in
2. While the range is selected, press Ctrl + 1 on a PC or ⌘ + 1 on a Mac to open the Format Cells menu box, and select “Alignment.”
The menu might look slightly different on your end, but find “Alignment.”
3. In the “Alignment” tab, select “Center Across Selection” in the “Horizontal alignment” dropdown, and click “OK.”
With this method, your title is centered without merging cells. Trust me, it’s better.
If you want to learn how to use Excel, this is a good place to start.
FUN.
The Friday Fix Playlist
Brain teaser
From Braingle.
Five boys had to cook breakfast for each other. Nobody cooked for the same person. Using the clues below, can you determine who cooked breakfast for whom?
1. Mark does not have to make Steve breakfast.
2. Bob's breakfast is not cooked by Tom.
3. Tom doesn't have to cook breakfast for Mark.
4. Steve doesn't have to cook for anyone with an O in their name.
5. Bob is allergic to what Tom ordered.
6. Joe can't cook anything hot. Tom's food is hot.
7. Steve will never eat anything cooked by Bob.
Answer below
Shem’s picks
✔️ Here’s a fun word game to play
✔️ You can make almost anything in this game by combining elements
✔️ Why Pinocchio is a story about art and God
Brain teaser answer
Answer:
Mark cooked breakfast for Tom.
Joe cooked breakfast for Bob.
Steve cooked breakfast for Mark.
Bob cooked breakfast for Joe.
Tom cooked breakfast for Steve.
Have a great weekend,
— Shem
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