Welcome to the first edition of Hump 🐪 Days! Thanks for being part of the new newsletter.
Essential Thoughts from a Non-Essential Worker
Hello friends, I thought this would be a funny section header title.
To be honest I had written a longer paragraph about how we all probably felt about 2020 but I’m pretty sure it would just be an echo of all the usual sentiments that are out there already.
Everyone’s trying to deal with it. Some are having a better time than others, some aren’t doing well at all.
Sometimes the day-to-day can be exhausting if all you’re hearing is negative news or feeling like you aren’t getting anywhere. In times like these I personally like to give myself some perspective. I look at this time in my life, and try to think 5-10 years ahead. I think about how this will only be a small percentage of my life. This gives me a lot of optimism about the future and can change my view toward the current period of time.
In the News
Dr. Fauci warns that Coronavirus cases could reach up to “100,000 per day”. If you asked me back in March, I would have said he was a “set your expectations low”
Lululemon acquires a Fitness Mirror. This is Lululemon signaling that they’re looking to get into anything and everything active, not just apparel.
Kanye West and Gap Strike a 10-Year Deal to introduce the Yeezy Gap Apparel Line, Gap Stock This Week: $12.62 a share, up from $10.16 last week. Although trading has remained somewhat flat since the announcement last Friday.
Pro-choice activists get a W from the Supreme Court - striking down a law that would have limited access to abortions in Louisiana.
US Travelers will still be barred from European travel reopens slowly in the EU.
Favorite Video From The Internet
Re-creating the Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” from household objects. The transition at the end is what makes the video for me.
Personal Finance Tip(s) Of The Day
Today is July 1st, one of the best things you can do is to take a look at your recurring expenses for the month and cancel anything you haven’t used in the past 45-60 days.
Another step to owning your personal finances can be to track your expenses. Start today! Challenge yourself to track your expenses for 7 days. If you can make it to 7, try for 14…then 30. I would love to hear if you’re able to do it. Post/share a comment on this post within Substack (this email platform also indexes my posts as blog posts) if you want an accountability partner (such as me), let me know on the post & I’ll check in with you personally over the course of the month.
Tik Tok Thoughts
Since a lot of our subscriber base is from Tik Tok - here are some interesting notes that I personally want to share about Tik Tok:
India banned Tik Tok yesterday after increased tensions over the China-India Himalayan border.
Tik Tok’s algorithm is slowly funneling in views to videos over a longer period of time than in the past. In the past, you would post a video and within a few hours, if it was deemed “good”, it would hit 6 figure views. These days, that same video might take 24-48 hours to reach the same amount of views.
Another interesting stat, from my own analytics (because I obsess over analytics): The difference in 2 seconds of average watch time can result in a difference of exposure of 50k views. 28 Seconds Avg Watch Time netted me 52,000 views, versus 30 Second Avg Watch Time netted me 105,000 Views.
Most of the “viral” Tik Tok’s I’ve posted have had 38-40s Avg Watch Times. If you’re looking to explode on Tik Tok, get your watch time up, which means, your video should have a specific purpose and keep the user engaged throughout the entire video, even a 3 second lull can hurt your chances.
WFH Station of the Week
Reddit user Naniwack shared their setup in Battlestations Subreddit. Good lighting, nice looking desk + greenery makes for a cozy vibe where you can be productive as hell. My workspace does not look anything like this... What does yours look like? Does it compare?
Thanks for reading, see you next Hump Day, I appreciate you being here!
- Humphrey