Howdy. Welcome the Life, Learnings, and Earnings of Ryan Sneddon vol. 5

P.S. I completely forgot to write this until 10 PM so it’s a bit rushed.

P.P.S. I just got an epic new video camera for Scoop social media content and it makes me want to do a daily vlog Casey Neistat-style. Would you watch a 5-minute video about my life? Reply and let me know.

Life

I’ve been journaling for years. I don’t have a formula. I don’t set a timer. And it hasn’t changed my life.

But it is awesome. It helps me organize my thoughts, remember stuff, and look smart. But recently, I’ve started thinking about it differently.

My journals are also letters to those I’ll leave behind when I die.

We’re all gonna die by the way. Don’t be afraid of it. I’m only 26 and I already think about it. I probably stole this from someone because I steal most of my good ideas, but here’s how I think about it.

If life’s a race, I want to barely stumble across the finish line while saying, “Wow . . . what an unbelievable run. I have nothing left in the tank. I gave that everything I had.”

My friend, Ralph, has spent the last 7 years decoding his best friend’s journals after an early death. Last week, he finally got a publisher to accept a collection of his friend’s poems.

He said it was like having 7 more years with his friend.

So pick your friend who will read your journals and start writing.

I like the idea of leaving behind a huge stack or a bookshelf full of the exact same notebook so I use the same black Moleskine notebook every time.

Learnings

I listen to and read 2 books simultaneously. Currently I’m working through a list of classics I’ve never read. 83 books to go.

• Listening: Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

  • I honestly can’t wait to be done with this. 9.5 hours left.

• Reading: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig

  • 15% done. Like probably everyone who reads this, I now want to buy a motorcycle even more than I already did.

Just finished: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Gotta be honest . . . how did this become a classic? In chronological order, it’s 80% meh, then 10% interesting, then the final 10% is such a disappointing ending I think Aldous Huxley got bored. 1984 is a far better Dystopian novel.

Earnings

Scoop 🍦 

Scoop is a local news digital publishing company. Our first market is Annapolis, MD where we have 14.5k newsletters subscribers with a 65% open rate and 15.6k Instagram followers. Learn more about Naptown Scoop.

Short-term goals

• Hire a newsletter writer. I write 90% of each newsletter. My goal is 10% within 6 months.

  • After a final push on social media. We ended up with 61 applicants. Time to review. I hope to hire one within 3 weeks.

• Migrate from Mailchimp to Beehiiv 🐝 

  • 99% done. Just a few final annoyances to sort out.

• Implement Newspaper Manager

  • I cannot believe we’ve operated without this for the last 2.5 years. Sales is about to become so much better. Ad production is about to be revolutionized. My sales reps will be on a training call for the first time tomorrow and I’m stoked.

Long-term goals

• Repeat Naptown Scoop concept in 100 cities across the U.S. Here’s how we’re working towards that.

  • Creating a style guide. We write with a very specific tone. The ability to train that is critical. Version 1.5 is ready for our new writer!

  • Subscription-enabled website with digital advertising. 90% of the website’s purpose right now is gaining newsletter subscribers. We should be using this to host lots of original content and sell ads.

Financials

March P&L coming next week.

That’s it

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