TaskHusky Curated Newsletter #016

Mark Zuckerberg is Satan but Richer, Google Screams, Amazon Bends, Shopify is NOT and more.

April 16, 2019

Hello there -

Do you watch golf? Me, not so much. But Tiger Woods won The Masters over the weekend and we love a good redemption story. He was on top of the world, got full of himself and screwed everything up, and it’s taken him a decade to get back. So, good for him.

There's a lesson in there somewhere for all of us incredibly talented, handsome winners.

Here are this week’s stories.

1. Seriously … This Is Important: Instagram Checkout

I just did a Google search for “What is Mark Zuckerberg’s Net Worth” and the result was $66.6 billion. Seriously. My head exploded in the irony of “666” next to his name and the thought that Google was revealing that Facebook’s CEO is Satan (I took a screen capture if you want to see it). But it turns out that the Zucker-demon needs more money – presumably to install a death ray and frozen yogurt machine at his private island lair.

A few weeks ago he announced “Instagram Checkout.” Not only are we following this for additional signs of the coming apocalypse, but also because it’s going to shake-up the eCommerce order of things in a BIG way. Customers will see pictures of things and click buy – never leaving Instagram. The details are still sketchy, but you KNOW that they are going to get a piece of the action and control the data. You need to keep up with this stuff.

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2. GoDaddy Screams “Don’t Forget Us!” and Nobody Really Listens

Just a few years ago everyone thought that the eCommerce Wars were over and that the Sith Lords at Amazon had won the Clone Wars. Then Shopify came along to shake-up the eCommerce landscape and everyone’s taking notice – Adobe purchased Magento, Facebook/Insta-poop is entering the game (see above), Wix/Weebly/Squarespace jumped into the shallow end of the pool, and all the old-school players are scrambling to refurbish the segment. Two years late, GoDaddy has launched their new “Marketplaces” in a purely defensive display of corporate fear.

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3. Amazon Bends

All this competition and consolidation in the sector is bugging all the big billion-dollar-babies of eCommerce. Under the cover of “helping small businesses,” Amazon is adding support features and lowering fulfillment costs in certain situations. We think it’s because the platform play is getting more competitive. If you sell on Amazon, give this article a quick read.

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4. Shopify Is NOT Immune

This email blast is accidentally focused on the big boys of eCommerce. In a way, all the fuss is good for the little guys like us… at least for now. The big platforms like Amazon, Google, GoDaddy, Shopify, and all the rest are going to be competing for your business and your products to sell on their platforms. Believe it or not – as big as Shopify is – they are still small compared to the other tech monsters out there. In the name recognition game, they are still the underdog and they know it. Well, they’re trying to fix that by launching their first brand campaign.

A brand campaign is where you are simply trying to get your name out there with a positive association toward what you are trying to do. First blush … whoever Shopify is using to create the campaign is missing the target a bit – specifically in colors, persuasion, and semiotics. And those signs are darned hard to read. But, you look for yourself.

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5. Psych! There Is No Number 5!

Sure, we normally have five articles. But this week’s top four are so powerful that you probably just couldn’t handle any more intoxicating excitement and scintillating analysis. I will only add the word “pineapple” here and see if any of you get my reference to a great TV show.

That’s it. You are now brighter, better educated, and – quite frankly – much better looking now that you’ve read this week’s newsletter. And just think … you can help your friends and loved ones be brighter, better educated, and better looking by sharing this email with them.

You’re just a sweet person that way.

Happy Selling,

Zachary