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# danoshinsky.com

I’m Dan Oshinsky, and I run Inbox Collective, an email consultancy. I'm here to share what I've learned about doing great work and building amazing teams.

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://danoshinsky.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Things Always Change.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/06/17/things-always-change/) - Sometimes, change happens slowly. You start to feel the changes coming, but they’re not coming all that quickly. You can see the transition period happening. You can prepare for the change. And sometimes, it just happens. You’re looking around and notice that everything’s suddenly changed. No warning, no advance notice — it’s all different. But
- [Hope For The Best. Expect The Worst.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/02/20/hope-for-the-best-expect-the-worst/) - A photo posted by Real Time with Bill Maher (@realtimers) on Jan 30, 2015 at 6:54pm PST I sat down today to write a thing about Mel Brooks. Now, up front you should know: 1. I love Mel Brooks. 2. There isn't a week that goes by where I don't quote one of his movies.
- [Ring That Bell.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/09/05/ring-that-bell/) - Last Monday, my wife emails me an interview with Mel Brooks. The interview has a bit of news: He’s going to do a showing of “Blazing Saddles” at Radio City Music Hall later in the week, and then a Q&A after the movie. We both love Mel and his movies, so I go looking for tickets. They’re a
- [Now Yourself More.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/06/10/now-yourself-more/) - I was reading this interview that Judd Apatow did with Mel Brooks for The Atlantic. If you know me, or if you’ve been a longtime reader of this blog, you know I love Mel. (I have written fondly about him many, many times.) The man’s lived an amazing life, so I always make time for
- [Get It Out Into the World.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/08/03/get-it-out-into-the-world/) - In 1990, a Canadian TV channel called Citytv launched an unusual little experiment: They created a video booth in which anyone from the public could enter and record a message. The best of the recorded messages would air on a weekly TV show, called “Speakers Corner.” A year later, a band called the Barenaked Ladies
- [No Need to Rush.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/07/30/no-need-to-rush/) - I went to see Alabama Shakes last night in Salt Lake City, and just after the gates were supposed to open, a massive thunderstorm came through town. We all had to shelter in place. The opener didn’t come on until 9, Alabama Shakes went on at 9:45, and most concerts at this venue are over
- [What’s That Thing? And Why?](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/07/22/whats-that-thing-and-why/) - We’ve hit the age where Ben asks a million questions. Where’s the moon right now, dada? Is it going to come up later? Is it night yet? Why is the moon bigger than yesterday? Can we visit the moon? (Sometimes, Ben even asks questions about things other than the moon.) There are days, I’ll admit,
- [Stay Curious.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/07/15/stay-curious/) - Chris Miquel had me on his podcast the other day, and he asked me: There’s so much that the newsletter community is excited (and nervous!) about when it comes to AI — but is there one thing you think we shouldn’t hand over to AI? And I thought for a moment. Probably seemed like longer
- [Predicting the Future is Hard.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/07/09/predicting-the-future-is-hard/) - Here’s a little reminder that humans are really, really bad at predicting the medium- to long-term future. A friend sent me a list of soccer players who might play for the US men's national team in the 2030 World Cup. It was exciting — look at all these future stars who’ll sure guide the USA
- [Know What’s Around You.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/06/22/know-whats-around-you/) - I’m watching the World Cup today, and there’s a moment in the Argentina-Austria match. Argentina crosses the ball into the box. Thiago Almada is there, inside the box, with a clear chance to shoot on goal, but instead lets the ball pass through to Lionel Messi, who neatly finishes into the back of the net.
- [Have You Considered the Obvious?](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/06/07/have-you-considered-the-obvious/) - I was playing golf over the weekend, and every shot was going straight and to the right. I was so frustrated. I’ve gotten pretty good at figuring out how to diagnose my mistakes and correct them during a round of golf, but I’d never seen this one before. A slice, a hook, hitting the ball
- [Figure Out Your Level of Risk.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/06/01/figure-out-your-level-of-risk/) - I had a conversation a few weeks ago with a friend who’s thinking about leaving her job to start her own thing. She asked for my advice, so I gave her something I wish I’d thought more about at the start: When you start a business, you need to figure out your level of risk.
- [There Is No Scoreboard.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/05/25/there-is-no-scoreboard/) - If you’re an athlete, results are measured in wins and losses. But for the rest of us, there is no scoreboard — no way to clearly measure yourself against others. Which is a good thing, I’d say. Your success shouldn’t be based on whether you’re doing better or worse compared to someone else. There’s a
- [You'll Figure It Out.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/05/21/youll-figure-it-out-2/) - There’s a great story Stephen Colbert told this week about his early days in comedy. Here, I'll let him take this part: "I understudied Steve Carell one week at Second City. He was about a year ahead of me at Second City and I had to understudy him, but to do so they said, 'Well,
- [Adapt As You Go.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/05/14/adapt-as-you-go/) - A little win: It’s May 14th, and today’s my first work trip of the entire year. When I started my business, I traveled a ton for work. In 2019, I gave talks on four continents. It felt like I lived at JFK. All those talks were really important as I was building the business —
- [Opening Up.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/05/11/opening-up/) - I’m giving the keynote at The Newsletter Conference this Friday — just me, in front of a room of 400 of my peers in New York City. I love doing these sorts of talks, and I’ve been lucky to have done a lot of them over the years. One thing I’ve learned, though, is that
- [Try On Lots of Hats.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/05/01/try-on-lots-of-hats/) - I can’t tell you why, but when I was 18, I decided I wanted to be the kind of guy who wore a Kangol hat. I wore it for a few months, very much as an experiment. I was a kid trying to figure who I was and how to build a sense of style
- [Be Willing to Prove It.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/04/22/be-willing-to-prove-it/) - A few months ago, I started noticing billboards around town with a photo of a guy who looked kind of like Davy Crockett and a message: “Jim Bridger discovered the Great Salt Lake.“ I didn’t think much of it. But I kept seeing them — you can’t drive five minutes in town without seeing a
- [Little Stuff Matters, Too.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/04/16/little-stuff-matters-too/) - My son loves going to Costco, and for a funny reason: He loves the checkout process. At Costco, you get your receipt from the cashier and then hand it to an employee at the exit. They look at the items on the receipt and then cross-reference it with what’s in your cart. But when you’ve
- [Give Yourself Time to Think.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/04/06/give-yourself-time-to-think/) - I played my first round of golf of the season today, and I did the thing I always like to do early in the season: Instead of taking a golf cart, I walked. There's the exercise component of it — walking the course, particularly up here in the mountains, requires real effort. (Today's round: 5.5
- [Are You Still Curious?](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/04/02/are-you-still-curious/) - I’ve been running Inbox Collective for almost eight years. Before that, I spent seven years in email roles at the New Yorker and BuzzFeed. Spending 15 combined years in a single space — certainly one as niche as email — is an awfully long time. A friend asked me the other day: Do I think
- [Get a New Game Plan.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/03/27/get-a-new-game-plan/) - The kiddo’s been going through some sleep issues lately. It’s been tough — for him, of course, but also for us. We usually put him down around 7 or 7:30, and then we get some time at the end of the day for ourselves: To read, to watch something on TV, to clean up, to
- [You Still Have to Put in the Work.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/03/18/you-still-have-to-put-in-the-work/) - I have been doing the consulting thing since 2019. I have done more calls, more audits, more interviews, than I ever could have imagined. Sometimes, I think that I’ve done so much of this work that I’ve seen it all — that there’s nothing left to learn. Every time I start to think that, I
- [Perspective is Everything.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/03/09/perspective-is-everything/) - A week ago, something pretty remarkable happened in the golf world that, if you’re not a die-hard golf fan, you almost certainly missed. Shane Lowry, a former major winner, led the Cognizant Classic by three strokes with three holes to play on Sunday. And then, on back-to-back holes, he hit shots into the water. He
- [Make It As Hard As You Want To.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/03/04/make-it-as-hard-as-you-want-to/) - I was driving home last weekend, through Emigration Canyon. On a weekend, there are tons of cyclists and runners on that road — people literally biking and running up a mountain. It’s impressive to see. But then I saw something I’d never seen before: Two men, on unicycles, riding up the mountain. Going up that
- [Embrace the Imperfection.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/02/26/embrace-the-imperfection/) - There are days when I’m really excited about the future of AI, and days when I get a little scared about the possibility that AI’s going to take over everything. But on Tuesday, I went into Salt Lake to see Brandi Carlile play. She did this thing in the middle of the show where she
- [Figure Out Your Vacation Work Strategy.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/02/17/figure-out-your-vacation-work-strategy/) - When I first started Inbox Collective, I tried taking vacation the way I had when I had a traditional 9-to-5. I turned on the out-of-office reply, closed the laptop, and ignored emails until I got back. I returned from vacation to a pile of unread emails and tasks. I spent days trying to catch up.
- [You Can Make Time For It — If You Want To.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/02/07/you-can-make-time-for-it-if-you-want-to/) - A funny thing I’ve noticed lately: I’ll be chatting with a friend and mention something that I was able to make time for — going skiing, spending time with the kiddo, reading books. And they’ll say, “Oh, I wish I had time for something like that!” But when you probe a little deeper, you find
- [Great Ideas Come From Weird Places.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/02/03/great-ideas-come-from-weird-places/) - I’m reading Susan Morrison’s wonderful biography of Lorne Michaels, called “Lorne,” and this little story about Michaels and Paul Simon immediately caught my eye: Michaels's few off-hours that summer were spent in the studio where Simon was recording Still Crazy After All These Years, and he added, to his growing trove of showbiz stories, the
- [A New Rule for 2026.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/01/24/a-new-rule-for-2026/) - Here’s something I’m trying to stick to this year: I’ll get these pitches in my inbox for something that seems interesting. Not incredible, but interesting, and I'll say yes. Maybe it's a potential client that I'm vaguely interested in working with or a brand that wants me to demo their product. I’m not totally sold,
- [Do You Need to Pivot?](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/01/20/do-you-need-to-pivot/) - Knowing if it’s time to make a change really comes back to one big question: What’s your goal for this work? Take this blog. I’ve been writing here, pretty much weekly, for more than a dozen years. I don’t have analytics on the website, which means I have no idea how many people read danoshinsky.com.
- [Quieting Things Down.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/01/12/quieting-things-down/) - There are nights when I wake up at odd hours, and I’m suddenly thinking about work. I’ve got projects to take care of, emails to send, things I haven’t even started that I know are due soon. The stress of it all somehow hits in the middle of the night. And I have to remind
- [Showing Your Work.](https://danoshinsky.com/2026/01/05/showing-your-work/) - We took a visit to St. George, Utah, last weekend. And up on the hills above the city, there’s this little desert oasis called Red Hills Desert Garden. Inside, there are walking paths and a little stream. You can cross over the stream on these beautiful red rocks, and walk along red clay paths to
- [A Wish for the New Year.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/12/30/a-wish-for-the-new-year/) - There’s something I’ve noticed about my son: He always shows up with love. He loves running over to family and friends to give hugs. (“Big hugs,” especially.) He’s always excited when he sees someone he knows. If he’s a little shy around a new person, it only takes a few minutes before they’re his new
- [You Don’t Have to Climb Every Mountain.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/12/21/you-dont-have-to-climb-every-mountain/) - I have a big list of ideas I’d love to do one day. My “someday” list is long and getting longer. But finding the balance between work and family and fun is a weekly challenge. I’d love to do more — but what am I going to subtract in order to make it work? What
- [Running on Empty.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/12/14/running-on-empty/) - This was one of those weeks where it felt like everything happened. I launched a new product. I held a webinar. I talked with 15 different clients. I sent a thousand emails (give or take). I helped a ton of clients with end-of-the-year projects. And then Ben got sick, and so did I. There was
- [The Moments Before Launch.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/12/07/the-moments-before-launch/) - I’m launching a new paid product for my readers this week, and I don’t know how it’ll go. We might sell a lot of the product, and we might not sell much. (We’ll sell something, I hope!) All I can really control is the process. I’m proud of the work that’s gone into building this
- [Did You Ask the Right Question?](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/12/01/did-you-ask-the-right-question/) - We just finished watching the second season of “Nobody Wants This.” The first season was great, and I didn’t think the second season quite lived up to the first. I love the cast, and there were a lot of great moments. So what was missing from season two? To me, the first season worked because
- [I Am 38 Years Old. This Is What I Believe.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/11/22/i-am-38-years-old-this-is-what-i-believe/) - “Everyone needs to do something; whatever you can do is enough.”
- [How Do You Plan For the Year Ahead?](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/11/15/how-do-you-plan-for-the-year-ahead/) - A friend asked me the other day how, as a solo operator, I plan for the year ahead. The truth is: I have to keep things simple. I love to overthink stuff — and if I give myself the chance to overthink things, I will! So instead, right around this time of year, I like
- [It’s a Joy. You Just Have to Be There for It.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/11/10/its-a-joy-you-just-have-to-be-there-for-it/) - My son and I were driving to school the other day, and he started to say his goodbyes as we pulled out of the driveway. He said goodbye to the house, goodbye to our neighbor’s dog. And then, spotting something by our front door: “Goodbye, pumpkins! I love you! Have a good day!” He is
- [You Don’t Have to Listen.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/11/01/you-dont-have-to-listen/) - I just finished the book, “Surely You Can't Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane!” — it’s an oral history of the movie “Airplane!” I didn’t know much about the three guys behind the movie: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker. They were friends who grew up in Wisconsin together. They started a sketch
- [Where Do You Invest?](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/10/24/where-do-you-invest/) - I put these sticky notes by my desk earlier this year. It's cheesy, but they say: "Where do you invest your…", and there are three things listed: • Time• Money• Love And anytime I start to get sucked a little too far into my work, I think about where I'm making those investments. Maybe I
- [Take More Swings.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/10/18/take-more-swings/) - About a decade ago, I made a commitment to start writing more on danoshinsky.com. It was a small thing — the goal, at first, was just to have a place to write. I was in a job at the time that involved a lot of technical writing (subject lines, captions, stuff for SEO), but I
- [It’s One Day.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/10/11/its-one-day/) - One of my favorite things to do after one of my teams loses is to check the message boards or comments where fans of that team post. After a win, fans are always in a good mood. Their team won, the team’s players are heroes. It’s just one win — but hey, this probably means
- [Find Your One Liner.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/10/05/find-your-one-liner/) - There was a wonderful story the other day from Ben Malcolmson, right-hand man for NFL head coach Pete Carroll, in which he wrote about finding your true identity. He told a story about a talk that Pete once gave: During his talk that day, Pete asked the room: “How many people here have a philosophy
- [Finding the Right Signals.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/09/21/finding-the-right-signals/) - I’ve done a few AMAs on Zoom this year. These are private calls where teams can join and ask me, well, anything. They don’t tell me what they’re asking in advance. They show up, surprise me with questions, and give me the chance to share a few ideas back. They’re a lot of fun to
- [Keep Betting on Yourself.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/09/14/keep-betting-on-yourself/) - 15 years ago, I quit my job at a TV station, moved to Biloxi, Mississippi, set up a basic website, and started publishing stories about the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I was my own reporter, editor, photographer, publicist, IT team — I did it all. The end result was a fellowship, which led to
- [You Can Do More Now.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/09/08/you-can-do-more-now/) - We went on a hike this weekend. It was only four miles, but it took four hours — we started at about 8,000 feet, then went more than 1,000 feet up a mountain, all while I carried a two-year-old in a carrier on my back. And as we went up, I kept thinking: There’s no
- [Make Time For It.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/08/30/make-time-for-it/) - Last summer, I set a weird business goal for the year ahead: I wanted to try to play golf or go skiing at least 50 times over the course of the calendar year, starting September 1st. And you might be thinking, “Dan, that's not a business goal! That sounds like a personal thing!” But for
- [Embrace the Limitations.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/08/27/embrace-the-limitations/) - I often wish the hours for our day care were a little better. Drop off is at 8:45 a.m., pick-up is at 3:45 p.m. There are days when I’m cramming five or six calls into that window, then driving right back to pick up Ben. (Lunch sometimes happens in the five minutes between calls. )
- [The Dream is Whatever You Want It to Be.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/08/23/the-dream-is-whatever-you-want-it-to-be/) - I was sitting on a hill yesterday in town, at a free concert in the park, with my son. He was eating a corndog — his very first. (He loved it.) The sky was blue, the air was cool. We’d biked up to the show together on the path behind our house. And I was thinking
- [It Won’t Be This Way Forever.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/08/17/it-wont-be-this-way-forever/) - Ben got sick last week and ended up in the hospital for two nights. Then we came home, and just as we thought things were getting better, he realized that he could climb out of the crib, which turned bedtime into a game of, ”Please, it’s time for sleep!” (We kept losing.) And I had
- [I Don’t Always Have the Answer.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/07/25/i-dont-always-have-the-answer/) - At least once a week, a reader asks me a question, and my reply is: “To be honest: This is one of those questions that's so far outside my wheelhouse that I'm not sure my advice is worth listening to!” People are sometimes surprised to hear me say that. I do run an entire business around giving
- [Never Better Than Now.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/07/15/never-better-than-now/) - I remember when my dad turned 40. They threw a big birthday party, and friends gifted him this giant inflatable cane. Everyone at the party signed it. It sat in his office for a long time, and I every time I visited dad at work, I remember reading the inscriptions and names on the cane.
- [It Never Stops Changing.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/07/05/it-never-stops-changing/) - When my son was a few months old, he went through a stretch where his sleep started to change. He’d been pretty consistently up to that point, sleeping more and more through the night, but then suddenly, he was sleeping less and getting a lot more fussy than usual. We mentioned it to a friend,
- [Little Wins for the Business.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/06/26/little-wins-for-the-business/) - Building a consulting business is a little weird, because it’s easy to end up in a situation where all your revenue comes from one place, and if something happens to that one revenue stream, you’re in trouble. It’s why, every year, one of my goals is to have at least five different five-figure revenue streams
- [Kick Over Rocks.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/06/20/kick-over-rocks/) - I stumbled upon this story the other day about the CEO of Pittsburgh's airport, Christina Cassotis. I've got a soft spot for Pittsburgh — my wife’s from there, we got married there, and about once a year, we fly through there to visit my mother-in-law. The Pittsburgh airport’s a bit dated. It was built to
- [Three Tips for Networking at Conferences.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/06/09/three-tips-for-networking-at-conferences/) - It’s funny to imagine now, since I’m often the guy who’s on stage, but it wasn’t all that long ago that I hated going to conferences. Meeting lots of new people? Lots of small talk? Breakfast in a hotel conference room? No, thanks!But I have learned a few things about conferences along the way. Here
- [Small, Baby Goals.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/06/05/small-baby-goals/) - I published this interview today with Alisha Ramos. She founded a newsletter called Girls' Night In that grew to 180,000 subscribers and $2 million per year in revenue — and then she decided to downsize and start over as a one-person operation. I’ve been thinking a lot about her story — how she realized that
- [An Idea for Your Ideas.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/05/28/an-idea-for-your-ideas/) - A few years ago, I created a text doc where I drop in my ideas. Whenever I have an interesting conversation or come up with a big question, I add it to the doc. It might be a few words or a sentence — just enough for me to know what I was thinking about when
- [Roll With It.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/05/22/roll-with-it/) - It’s Wednesday morning, about 7:20 a.m. Central time. I’m in row 13 of a flight from Chicago back home to Salt Lake City. I don’t love flying that early in the morning, but I’ve got calls later that morning and then a kiddo to pick up in the afternoon. The early flight makes the most
- [A Trick for Prioritization.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/05/14/a-trick-for-prioritization/) - Here’s little trick I like to use when I’ve got way too many tasks on my to-do list and can’t figure out what to prioritize. Open up a spreadsheet and type out all the tasks you’ve got on your list. Then create three columns, and put these headers at the top: • What you NEED
- [Inches, Not Miles.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/05/10/inches-not-miles/) - Something I’ve been telling my teams a lot lately: Growth comes in inches, not miles. I’m seven years into running my business, and more than a dozen years into working my field, and it feels like I’m just starting to get to a place where I can do the work I’m most excited about. Everyone
- [Don’t Overthink This.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/04/29/dont-overthink-this/) - 90% of my advice to clients is boils down to three words: “Don’t overthink this.” People get into their heads when it comes to tweaking their strategy or tactics. They get caught up thinking that there are a series of three-dimensional chess moves that will fix what’s wrong. But usually, the fixes are simpler than
- [Stay Right Here.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/04/21/stay-right-here/) - I keep thinking about this line from poet Andrea Gibson in their book, “You Better Be Lightning”: Regret is a time machine to the pastWorry is a time machine to the future I’m as guilty as any of having my head somewhere else. Sometimes that means thinking about mistakes I’ve made or things I could
- [Enjoy Where You Are.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/04/07/enjoy-where-you-are/) - We went skiing at Alta today. Alta is a special place. You’re up in the mountains, a 20-minute drive away from anywhere. From the top, you won’t see homes or hotels or any sort of city — just snow and trees and mountains — and the skiing is fantastic. We rode up one chair with
- [It’s OK to Ask the Question.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/04/03/its-ok-to-ask-the-question/) - Something I tell at least one client every week: There are no dumb questions.I’ve been helping clients since 2019, and working in my field since 2012. It feels like I’ve heard it all — and yet, every week, someone on a Zoom call starts off with “I know this is a dumb question…” and then
- [Start Writing. Keep Writing.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/03/24/start-writing-keep-writing/) - I launched my consulting business in 2019, and in the years since, I’ve never sent out a cold email request to a potential client. My website mentions my consulting practice, but honestly, it’s a little bit hidden. Yes, I’ve got a newsletter and a welcome series, but I barely promote my consulting work at all.
- [Anything Can Happen.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/03/19/anything-can-happen/) - This first week of March Madness is always one of my favorite weeks of the year. I haven’t watched a minute of most of the teams in tournament — truthfully, I had to Google where High Point University was before picking them to upset Purdue in the first round — but I’m excited to watch the
- [You Ain’t Hamlet.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/03/14/you-aint-hamlet/) - View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tom Papa (@tompapa) This interview with Jason Alexander, of “Seinfeld” fame, popped up in my feed the other day, and I think it’s worth watching in full. In it, he says: I went to Boston University as a theater major, and because William Shatner was my
- [It’s OK to Do Nothing.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/03/04/its-ok-to-do-nothing/) - 2025’s been a lot. There’s been travel (Denmark, New York, Florida), multiple visitors staying with us, and a lot of new projects. I’ve been saying no to just about every new opportunity that comes across my desk — but that’s because I’m already fully booked. And this past weekend, I hit the point where I
- [Be Excellent, Not Perfect.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/02/23/be-excellent-not-perfect/) - My Missouri Tigers had a huge win this past week in men’s basketball, and I went back to watch the highlight package that the basketball team put together. Mizzou’s coach, Dennis Gates, has a bunch of different sayings he uses. (For instance, his eight core values for success: "Friendship, love, accountability, trust, discipline, unselfishness, enthusiasm,
- [It Might Not Happen Today.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/02/17/it-might-not-happen-today/) - A funny thing about being a parent, especially a parent of a young child in daycare, is that your entire schedule can change in a moment. One phone call from daycare — “Hey, your son has a runny nose and a weird cough, so I think you need to pick him up” — and suddenly,
- [Find Your Rubber Duck.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/02/09/find-your-rubber-duck/) - A few days ago, I saw Sandie Taulo Essemann do one of the smartest things I’ve ever seen a speaker do on stage. So we’re in Odense, Denmark, for Email Summit. When I give talks in America, there’s usually a line of people coming up to ask follow-up questions or say hi. But in Denmark,
- [It’s The Little Things.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/02/06/its-the-little-things/) - I ate at NOMA last week — a restaurant that’s widely considered to be one of the best, if not the best, in the world — and what I can’t stop thinking about is the napkins. Yes, everything we ate was extraordinary, and the service was exceptional. But what sets NOMA apart are the little
- [Be Grateful For the Opportunity.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/01/31/be-grateful-for-the-opportunity/) - Back in 2021, I got the chance to speak at Email Summit DK, Denmark’s largest email conference. (It’s also one of the biggest email conferences in all of Europe.) I loved the event — the warmth of the attendees, the incredible venue, the little touches. And this week, I got to go back and stand
- [No Skips. No Fast-Forwarding. Be Here Now.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/01/22/no-skips-no-fast-forwarding-be-here-now/) - I had this moment yesterday where I wanted to skip ahead. I sometimes get jealous of the parents who have a few kids who are already in elementary school. They've gotten through the toddler years where kids get sick every 20 minutes. (My son has RSV right now; so does everyone in his class.) They've
- [Take Care of It Now.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/01/15/take-care-of-it-now/) - A fun thing that’s happened twice in the last week: I’ve been on a call and suggested a small tweak that a client make to their website — and right there, on the call, they go into their site and make the tweak. No adding stuff to the roadmap, no meetings to discuss the changes. They
- [A Goal for 2025.](https://danoshinsky.com/2025/01/06/a-goal-for-2025/) - I set a big goal for 2025 — something I’ve never set in the six years I’ve run my business. My big goal isn’t around revenue. It isn’t about growth. It isn’t about launching new products. My goal? I want to be able to ski or play golf 50 times in 2025. To me, success
- [A Mantra for the Year Ahead.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/12/31/a-mantra-for-the-year-ahead/) - As I look forward to 2025, I’m thinking about this mantra: I want to offer uncommon and unexpected value with everything I do. Uncommon value, as in: Doing things that no one else is doing. Unexpected value, as in: Going above and beyond with my work. Let’s do uncommon and unexpected things in the year
- [Habits, Not Routines.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/12/25/habits-not-routines/) - I’ve found that it’s easier to do just about anything if you’ve got a little momentum behind you. It’s easier to get yourself to work out if you’ve done it the day before. It’s easier to make time to write if you’ve written the day before. I could go on, but you get the idea.
- [Not All At Once.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/12/18/not-all-at-once/) - We’ve been rewatching “Friday Night Lights,” and I’ve been thinking about this line from Jason Street: “Yeah, you can have it all, but you can’t have it all at once.” He's right, of course. There is so much I want to do, and so much I believe I can can do. But I can’t do
- [Declaring Parenting Bankruptcy.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/12/15/declaring-parenting-bankruptcy/) - I declared Parenting Bankruptcy last week. What is Parenting Bankruptcy, you might ask? Well, last week was one of those weeks where everything seemed to go wrong. My wife got strep. My son got hand, foot, and mouth disease and had to be held out of daycare. The heat broke in our house. And the
- [Get a Head Start.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/11/30/get-a-head-start/) - One little thing that’s worked for me when it comes to New Year’s Resolutions: Starting just a little bit early. I used to do the thing that everyone does: I picked a resolution or two at the end of the year, started in January, and completely quit on it by the end of the month.
- [I Am 37 Years Old. This Is What I Believe.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/11/23/i-am-37-years-old-this-is-what-i-believe/) - I'm 37 years old, and I know that it's okay to say goodbye to something you love. We made a big move this spring, moving from New York to Park City, Utah. Those last few months in New York were bittersweet — we were marking an end to a wonderful era in our life. I’d
- [Make the Most Of This.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/11/20/make-the-most-of-this/) - During the pandemic, when we were living on the coast in North Carolina, I started going to the beach every single day. The weather wasn’t always great, but every day that it was safe to go in the ocean, even when the water was cold, I went in. Sometimes, it was just for a minute
- [Do a Little Extra.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/11/13/do-a-little-extra/) - I tried a little experiment in my newsletter today. At the top of the email, I wrote: I’ve found LinkedIn to be a useful channel for meeting new folks and discovering interesting newsletter content, and I’d love if you connected with me there. But if you do, will you also attach a note to your
- [I Don’t Know Yet.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/11/07/i-dont-know-yet/) - Election Day was Tuesday, and the results are still rolling in. We know who the President will be, and we know who will control the Senate. The House is still up for grabs, and two toss-up Senate seats are not yet called, as well as many other local races around the country. And yet, 48
- [Look for the Big Tree.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/10/31/look-for-the-big-tree/) - Twenty years ago or so, my family took a vacation to Costa Rica. We rented a car to drive to this park that we were going to visit. We didn’t have iPhones or Google Maps or GPS. We’d never been to Costa Rica before. What we did have, from the travel agent who helped us
- [Do Your Prep Every Single Time.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/10/27/do-your-prep-every-single-time/) - I did a stupid thing today. I was driving down with my son to pick up my wife at the airport. It’s an easy drive — 35 minutes, especially on a low-traffic day like a Sunday. There was no one on the road when we left home. We left two hours early so I could
- [Always Be Moving Forward.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/10/15/always-be-moving-forward/) - Sometimes, when I'm on a road trip with the family, Google Maps will say that we’ve got two choices: We can stay on the highway and get to our destination in, say, 20 minutes, but things will be super slow due to an accident ahead; or we can get off the highway, driving at 25
- [Start Anywhere.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/10/10/start-anywhere/) - I ask myself this a few times a quarter when projects start to pile up: I’ve got a lots of things to tackle. Where should I start? And the truth is: You can start anywhere — as long as you start. I know I can find myself paralyzed by all those choices. Instead of getting
- [Don’t Miss An Opportunity to Miss an Opportunity.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/10/06/dont-miss-an-opportunity-to-miss-an-opportunity/) - I read this line in a New Yorker article, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since: “They never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” There have been so many times when I’ve showed up for something without knowing exactly what I might get out it. I didn’t want to miss out on something,
- [Just Fix This One Thing.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/10/01/just-fix-this-one-thing/) - It's been a busy week. We went to a wedding last weekend and are going to another in 48 hours. I've got some new clients starting this month, a few talks coming up, and generally just a lot of work happening. It’s a ton for a small business like mine — and of course, having
- [The Second Why.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/09/16/the-second-why/) - One funny thing about becoming a dad is watching how kids start to process the world. What I’ve noticed is that nobody — not even professional reporters — ask as many questions as little kids. It’s one thing for a parent to get the initial question: “Why’s the sky blue, dad?” The parent will give
- [A Year Ago Today.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/09/11/a-year-ago-today/) - I’ve been keeping a daily journal for well over a decade now. Every night, I write a little note to myself about what I did that day or what I learned. Often, I’ll go back and look through old entries to remind myself of the progress that I’ve made or the things I’ve done. But
- [Use Your Imagination.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/09/09/use-your-imagination/) - I played golf over the weekend at a par 3 course near me. Most par 3 courses are what’s known as a “pitch-and-putt” — you rarely have a shot longer than 100 yards, so each hole involves a fairly short shot and then a putt or two. This is not that kind of course. This
- [It Takes Longer Than You Think.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/09/01/it-takes-longer-than-you-think/) - Last night, we went down to Sundance to see a few singer-songwriters from Nashville — Trannie Anderson, Josh Jenkins, and Matt Jenkins — perform on stage as part of a series of concerts with Nashville's famed Bluebird Cafe. Together, the three of them have written songs played by some of the biggest artists in country
- [What Comes First.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/08/21/what-comes-first-2/) - I read this line today in a story about Costco founder Sol Price, and I keep thinking about it: “Everything was about trust. He would rather lose your business than your trust.” There are things that are more important than making a profit (though Costco certainly does that). I think about this a lot with
- [Talk It Out.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/08/13/talk-it-out/) - A few weeks ago, I published a thing on Inbox Collective — a conversation with Claire Zulkey about what she should do with her newsletter. We called it the first in a new series: “Ask a Newsletter Therapist.” It was a bit of a joke — I don’t do what therapists do, but sometimes, everyone
- [We All Have to Make Choices.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/08/08/we-all-have-to-make-choices/) - My son is a year old, and lately, I've been turning down a ton of work opportunities — stuff I would've jumped at just two years ago — because I don't want to miss a moment with him. There are all these projects and speaking gigs I would love to be able to do, but
- [Keep Coming Back to Your Lists.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/08/02/keep-coming-back-to-your-lists/) - I have all sorts of to-do lists. I’ve got a list of ideas — “somedays,” I call them — that I want to try. I’ve got notes written down on yellow legal pads and in various Google Docs. I know I won't act on many of these ideas. I never worry about running out of ideas,
- [Spinning in Circles.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/07/28/spinning-in-circles/) - My son has this funny habit. We’ll take him upstairs to the hallway in front of his room. There will be a few doors open: One to his room, one to the guest bathroom, and one to the guest bedroom. Ben will start to crawl towards one room — but then pause, and spin towards another,
- [What Are You Going to Do About That Mistake?](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/07/17/what-are-you-going-to-do-about-that-mistake/) - I screwed something up today. My son had an important doctor’s appointment today in Salt Lake City. It was an appointment with a specialist who’s tough to get time with. We booked the appointment a few months ago. And today, I showed up to the appointment — and found out I was two hours late.
- [Look Up.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/07/14/look-up-2/) - I bought this piece of art today at the Farmer’s Market downtown. It’s a big piece of wood, probably about five feet long, and on it is a carving of the mountains here in Utah. This week, I’ll hang it behind my desk. But the memorable thing for me wasn’t the purchase of the art
- [Let Yourself Admire.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/07/05/let-yourself-admire/) - My son is obsessed with ceiling fans. Anytime he sees a ceiling fan, and our new home has a few of them, he pauses to admire it. I keep thinking that he’ll grow tired of them — It’s just a ceiling fan, I want to tell him! They cost $127 at Home Depot! — but
- [That’s Probably Normal.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/06/25/thats-probably-normal/) - On a call today, a client asked me an interesting question. “A few people unsubscribe every time we send an email,” they said. “Is that normal, or is that something that happens just to us?” The good news, I told them, is that it happens to everyone. I used to write a newsletter called This
- [So What Are You Doing Here?](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/06/22/so-what-are-you-doing-here/) - We moved this month from New York City to Park City, Utah. It’s gorgeous here — I’m writing this as the sun sets, and I’m watching it set from my living room window. On a daily basis, I see people biking and running on the trail that runs near our backyard. I see people with
- [Make Time to Review.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/06/15/make-time-to-review/) - Jon Stewart did this great interview the other day with Matthew Belloni on “The Town” podcast, and this part really stuck with me: Jon Stewart: Post-mortem is the gift to the gods in terms of improving content and really anything. Matthew Belloni: So Tuesday morning, it’s, “What did we do right? What did we do
- [Just Ask The Question.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/05/25/just-ask-the-question/) - Before my son was born, I wondered how long it would take before I asked a truly stupid question. Other friends had told me their stories about asking that first dumb question. One friend confessed that they called the pediatrician’s emergency line the first night home from the hospital because their child was crying. “Yeah,
- [Thanks for Everything, New York.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/06/03/thanks-for-everything-new-york/) - I moved to New York at 24. My move-in day was the day of SantaCon. I was young enough to find it kind of charming. (It was not, it is not.) My first apartment had ceilings so low that I couldn’t lift my hands all the way above my head. I didn’t care. I was
- [You Can Handle It.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/05/14/you-can-handle-it/) - My son sometimes does this funny thing at night. He’ll be peacefully asleep when, suddenly, something jolts him awake. The pacifier’s long since fallen out, but he can’t find it to soothe himself back to sleep. So instead of searching for the pacifier or trying to suck his thumb, he does the funny thing: He
- [Shift, Pivot, or Sunset?](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/05/09/shift-pivot-or-sunset/) - We sometimes need to make a change with the work we do. The question is: How big a change do you need to make? Sometimes, you just need to make a shift. The change is small — you’re refocusing on something new, but it’s within the normal scope of what you’d do already. Sometimes, you
- [How We Measure Success On the BuzzFeed Newsletter Team.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/02/21/how-we-measure-success-on-the-buzzfeed-newsletter-team/) - A photo posted by BuzzFeedx (@buzzfeedx) on Jun 25, 2015 at 7:46am PDT Fast Company has a cover story on BuzzFeed this month. In it, Dao — our publisher, and my former boss — talks at length about how we interpret data at BuzzFeed. She even dives deep into how we do things on the
- [Keep Making It Better.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/05/01/keep-making-it-better/) - A few years ago, I was working on a project with the team at Poynter. They had a landing page for their newsletters, but it wasn’t very good. There weren’t any details about any of their newsletters — what they were, who wrote them, when they’d show up in your inbox. As a result, the
- [Ask For Advice. Be Willing to Listen to the Answers — Good or Bad.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/04/23/ask-for-advice-be-willing-to-listen-to-the-answers-good-or-bad/) - Every year, I spend a few days with friends who also have their own solo businesses. The offsite, as I’ve come to know it, started with just one friend. It’s grown to a group of four — each of us with our own unique perspective on how to build a great business. Last night, I
- [A Little Impact is Enough.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/04/20/a-little-impact-is-enough/) - We visited South Florida this week, and while we were there, we stopped by this place called Butterfly World. I was so pleasantly thrilled by what we found: A small series of gardens featuring thousands of butterflies and hundreds of birds. (One butterfly even landed on Sally’s hat and walked around with us for a
- [Give Yourself a Constraint.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/04/08/give-yourself-a-constraint/) - I’ve never played Talking Stick Golf Club, in Arizona, but I’m fascinated by one of the golf holes on their course. The hole, no. 2 on their O'odham Course, measures 500+ yards, and at first glance, the hole appears to be unusually straightforward. The hole is flat and straight, with just two bunkers near the
- [Try It. Then Figure Out What You Want to Keep.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/03/25/try-it-then-figure-out-what-you-want-to-keep/) - A few years ago, I saw Adam Sandler perform live. He was recording what would become his first comedy special in decades, and honestly, I wasn’t sure what I was in for. What I was in for, it turned out, was something both funny and unpolished. Sandler’s set, which he'd trim down to about 70
- [New Magic in Old Material.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/04/03/new-magic-in-old-material/) - I went to see Colin Hay, the former frontman for Men at Work, perform this week. He was great, as I’d hoped, but what really wowed me was watching him create new variations on old songs. Five decades of playing songs meant that he could improvise in the moment, taking one song and intertwining it
- [Be Something to Someone.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/03/19/be-something-to-someone/) - The team at Slate put together a great oral history of Pitchfork, the music site that ran from 1996 until 2024, and there was a line in there from Chris Kaskie, Pitchfork’s former president and co-owner, that really stuck with me. “We are not trying to be everything to everybody,” he said. “We’re trying to
- [Should You Work on That Idea?](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/03/13/should-you-work-on-that-idea/) - Here’s a little trick I use to decide if I actually want to work on a project: Let’s say I’ve got an idea, and I get really excited about it. I buy a domain for the website for the project, and start jotting down notes. I’m convinced that this is my next big idea! The
- [Learning How to Work Weekends With a Kid.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/03/07/learning-how-to-work-weekends-with-a-kid/) - Weekends are different now as a new dad. Before my son was born, I’d often spend a little time on the weekend doing some work. That might mean a little time on a Saturday morning doing some writing, and then time on Sunday evening prepping for the week ahead. If I had the time, I
- [Every New Experience Can Be a Learning Experience.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/02/27/every-new-experience-can-be-a-learning-experience/) - I’m lucky to have a job where I learn new things every day. Every new client brings me questions I haven’t had to answer before. Every new project introduces challenges I’ve never dealt with before. Every new year brings opportunities I’ve never had before. And that’s just what happens at work. When I come home,
- [Find What Works For You.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/02/21/find-what-works-for-you/) - I talked with a group of publishers a few weeks ago, and they told me they’d just come back from a conference where a speaker told them that the right number of links to include in email was 15. They wanted to know: Did I agree? And I told them what I know to be
- [Your Imperfect Next Step.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/02/10/your-imperfect-next-step/) - I was on a call with a client a few weeks ago, and they told me they wanted to build the best possible email strategy in 2024. “That’s great,” I told them. “But I don’t want you to be thinking about what’s best. I want you to be thinking about what’s next.” Thinking “best” can
- [Be Willing to Get Lost.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/02/04/be-willing-to-get-lost/) - I read Andrew Leland’s new book, “The Country of the Blind,” this week. It’s a memoir about a writer who has been slowly losing his sight over the previous decades, and he uses the book to better understand life as a blind person in the United States. It's a fascinating read, and a reminder of
- [I Am Not The Wolf.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/02/01/i-am-not-the-wolf/) - I was rewatching “Pulp Fiction” on a flight the other day. My favorite chapter of that movie is the scene with Winston Wolf, the fixer. Vincent Vega and Jules Winfield get themselves into hot water, and The Wolf gets them out of it. And I was struck by a thought, rewatching it, that a lot
- [We Ain’t What We Gonna Be.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/01/24/we-aint-what-we-gonna-be/) - I’ve just finished Jonathan Eig’s biography, “King: A Life.” It’s a remarkable portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr. I found myself jotting down lines and quotes as I read through the book, but one stuck with me. It comes at a rare quiet moment in what Eig describes as the non-stop travel schedule that was
- [If You’re Going to Take Time Off, Take Time Off.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/01/14/if-youre-going-to-take-time-off-take-time-off/) - We took the week off last week to go to Guadeloupe, a small island in the French part of the Caribbean. There are a lot of reasons I love Guadeloupe — this is my second trip there — but what I especially love is how disconnected I can be there. Most of the tourists in Guadeloupe
- [How I Knew.](https://danoshinsky.com/2024/01/06/how-i-knew/) - Here’s a story I’ve never told before. In the spring of 2019, I was starting to think about leaving the New Yorker to start Inbox Collective. But I was still nervous about it. Was it the right time to leave? Was I ready to take on the responsibility of building a new business? And that’s
- [The Work is Never Done.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/12/23/the-work-is-never-done/) - For the past decade, I’ve lived just a few blocks away from the United Nations. And yet, until this week, I’d never actually been inside. If you’re visiting New York, the UN is worth a visit. It’s tough to visit the UN and not feel a little bit optimistic about the future of the world.
- [Break Down the Results When It’s Over.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/12/30/break-down-the-results-when-its-over/) - It’s easy to jump to conclusions too quickly. Last night, I went to the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas, to see my Missouri Tigers play Ohio State. Through the first 40 minutes or so, there wasn’t a lot to get excited about. Ohio State led 3-0 at halftime. Missouri could barely move the ball on
- [Some Things Are Just Different.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/12/18/some-things-are-just-different/) - View this post on Instagram A post shared by Breads Bakery™ (@breadsbakery) If you’ve spent any time with me in New York, I’ve probably taken you to Breads Bakery. Breads opened a decade ago, and as you’d guess by the name, they make fantastic breads: Ornate challahs, delicious croissants, and amazing black and white cookies.
- [Pause, Reset, Focus.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/12/09/pause-reset-focus/) - It’s easy this time of the year to get caught up in everything. There’s so much to do before the end of the year — last-minute projects, those to-dos you promised you’d handle before Dec. 31 — and you and your colleagues are probably going on vacation soon. The clock seems to tick faster and
- [Good Advice Can Come From Anywhere.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/12/05/good-advice-can-come-from-anywhere/) - A few weeks after Ben was born, we hired a photographer to take photos of our newly-expanded family. Midway through the photo shoot, Ben got hungry and started to fuss. I grabbed a bottle to feed him, and the photographer followed along to take a few shots of us together. When it came time to
- [Try It For Yourself.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/11/27/try-it-for-yourself/) - There’s this great piece of research out from the teams at Trusting News and the News Revenue Hub. They worked with five non-profit newsrooms that serve communities in five different states — Connecticut, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin — to test messages around the work these newsrooms do and how they operate. All five tested
- [I Am 31 Years Old. This Is What I Believe.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/11/23/i-am-31-years-old-this-is-what-i-believe/) - I am 31 years old, but I know I'm not too old to try something new. It was a year ago, right around Thanksgiving, when Sally made an incredibly brave choice: After nearly a decade in social work, she decided she wanted to go back to school to pursue a new career in nursing. We
- [I Am 36 Years Old. This Is What I Believe.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/11/19/i-am-36-years-old-this-is-what-i-believe/) - I’m 36 years old, and I wish I could be more like my son. Ben is just a few months old, and I still can’t believe that he’s part of our lives. There was a long time when Sally and I wondered if we’d ever be parents. Maybe we were just waiting for a child
- [No Shortcuts.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/11/11/no-shortcuts/) - Everyone wants to go as fast as they can go. Everyone wants to find ways to move a little bit faster. Many are willing to cut corners. But resist the urge to chase shortcuts. The good stuff takes time: Building relationships, testing new ideas, talking to your audience. There are no shortcuts there — you’re
- [Just Keep Running.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/11/05/just-keep-running/) - There are a lot of great places to watch the New York City Marathon, but for my money, nothing beats the corner of 59th and 1st. Runners are coming off the quiet of the bridge and on to 1st Avenue, where crowds gather four or five deep to cheer family, friends, and total strangers on.
- [What More Do I Really Need?](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/11/01/what-more-do-i-really-need/) - There are days when I look at what I’m doing and wonder: Shouldn’t I be doing more? Sure, I’ve grown my email list from 0 to 10,000 subscribers — but couldn’t I have more subscribers? Sure, I’ve built a successful consulting business — but couldn’t I bringing in more revenue? Sure, I’ve created a profitable website
- [Maximize What You Have.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/10/23/maximize-what-you-have/) - I’ll often talk with newsletter operators who tell me they want to launch another new thing: Another course, another ebook, another product. But the question I always have to ask is: Have you gotten everything you can out of the stuff that’s already out there? I’ll see newsletters with great engagement that are missing obvious
- [Don’t Assume. Prove It.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/10/17/dont-assume-prove-it/) - There are things you know. These are things you’re certain of — you’ve got data, you’ve got proof. These are things that are absolutely true. And then there are things you think you know. Assumptions are dangerous. They start out as ideas that your team kicks around, maybe based on something you heard at a
- [10,000 Tiny Puzzle Pieces.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/10/07/10000-tiny-puzzle-pieces/) - I had a call with a client last week about their newsletter strategy. “I feel like we don’t have a complete picture of what our audience wants,” they told me. “What are we missing?” I’ll tell you what I told them: Building a strategy is like putting together a 10,000-piece puzzle. Every time you do
- [I Figured One Thing Out Today.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/10/04/i-figured-one-thing-out-today/) - I had a moment last night with my newsletter. I wasn’t sure what to do about the intro section — I knew there should be an intro, but I wasn’t sure what I should say. And I felt stupid for not knowing: People pay me every week to help them figure out stuff like this!
- [Apologize, and Move On.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/10/01/apologize-and-move-on/) - Shit happens when you’re doing the work. Work doesn’t get done, or doesn’t get done as well as you expect. Mistakes get made. Don’t dwell on those errors. Own up to your mistake, apologize directly to those that were affected — and then be willing to move on past it. It happened, and you admitted
- [Be Brave Enough to Ask For Help.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/09/17/be-brave-enough-to-ask-for-help/) - There’s a great story in the New York Times this week about Michele Lowe, a former advertising executive, who now coaches rabbis on their public speaking skills and helps them improve their sermons. I’ll quote this section directly: Some of Ms. Lowe’s clients are confidential, concerned to be seen as needing a crutch. At first,
- [People Remember The Little Things.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/09/09/people-remember-the-little-things/) - On a Delta flight today, the flight attendant stopped by my row. “Mr. Oshinsky,” she said. “We wanted to thank you for your loyalty.” And then she handed me the note above. “Aww, that’s nice,” I thought. A few minutes later, the flight attendant stopped at the row in front of me and handed another
- [It’s All About the Audience.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/08/06/its-all-about-the-audience/) - Sometime in 1999, I went to go see a sports documentary, “The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg,” in theaters with my parents. Sandy Koufax is probably the best-known Jewish baseball player of all time, but Hank Greenberg — a member of the baseball Hall of Fame who won two MVPs and hit 331 homers in
- [Only the Prepared Can Be Spontaneous.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/09/03/only-the-prepared-can-be-spontaneous/) - One funny lesson from parenthood: In order to be spontaneous with the baby, we’ve learned we first have to be prepared. Whenever we get home from being out with the baby, the first thing we do is prep the stroller to go out again. We’ll restock the diaper bag with new diapers and wipes. We’ll
- [It Goes So Fast.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/08/30/it-goes-so-fast/) - I’ve been listening to Mary Louise Kelly’s book, “It. Goes. So. Fast”, while taking my newborn son on walks around my neighborhood. It’s a book about a parent’s journey during her son’s senior year of high school, which makes for quite the contrast from my day-to-day. It’s tough to imagine my son graduating from high
- [What Do You Need When You Start?](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/08/23/what-do-you-need-when-you-start/) - Four years ago this week, I left The New Yorker to launch Inbox Collective. I kept things simple at the start. I launched Not a Newsletter as a Google Doc so I wouldn’t have to build a website. It was enough to start. I set up my email list with TinyLetter, not something more sophisticated,
- [Test, Don’t Copy.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/08/15/test-dont-copy/) - Every few years in the email space, someone will put out a big piece of research that says something like this: “After extensive testing across thousands of newsletters, we’ve discovered that purple call-to-action buttons drive nearly 2.3% more clicks than blue and red buttons, leading to significant improvements in long-term conversion rates.” And for months
- [You Can Make Time If You Want To.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/07/31/you-can-make-time-if-you-want-to/) - It’s hard to make time for everything you want to do. I know I’ve got a big list of things I’d love to do one day — new projects, new adventures. I don’t have time for it all. So it always comes back to this big question: What is it you really want to do?
- [A Letter to Our Son.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/07/25/a-letter-to-our-son/) - IVF meant intense monitoring and testing. It meant lots of waiting. And it meant that we had the incredible joy to finally watch you come into this world.
- [The Rules Haven’t Changed.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/07/19/the-rules-havent-changed/) - I found a notebook full of notes from my earliest BuzzFeed days — I started writing these notes back in 2012. On one page, I outlined a few rules for success for BuzzFeed’s newsletter strategy: • Be kind, show love, give lots• Personality resonates.• When they let you into their inboxes, they’re making you their
- [You’re Ready.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/07/11/youre-ready/) - So often, I hear the same excuse for why someone isn’t going to launch a new project: I’m not ready. And I’ll ask: Are you ready to ask lots of questions? Are you ready to try new things? Are you ready to make mistakes? Are you ready to put together your team? Are you ready
- [Make Time for a Self Review.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/07/01/make-time-for-a-self-review/) - This year, I started writing a quarterly review of my business. Every quarter, I take 20-30 minutes to go into a Google Doc and jot down a few thoughts on the quarter’s work. What worked well? What am I excited about? What needs work? What’s on the horizon? I write it all down. The more
- [It’s Probably Not a Crisis. You Just Haven’t Learned How to Handle It Yet.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/06/24/its-probably-not-a-crisis-you-just-havent-learned-how-to-handle-it-yet/) - Earlier today, I typed this very website into my browser — https://danoshinsky.com — and nothing came up. There was an error message on screen. So I typed in a different URL, and then a third. Those pages loaded correctly — it was just my website that wasn’t loading. A decade ago, this would’ve been a
- [Most of Your Ideas Are Bad Ideas.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/06/03/most-of-your-ideas-are-bad-ideas/) - Earlier this week, I found a notebook from my BuzzFeed days, and inside, a few pages in, found an idea for a newsletter that I never seriously considered launching. The idea was for a joke newsletter, one I called “the Apocalypse newsletter.” On the page, I drew the landing page for the newsletter, with a
- [It Never Gets Easier.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/05/29/it-never-gets-easier-2/) - There’s this lie I’ve been telling myself for the past decade: Once I get through this next stretch, things will get easier. But I know what’s going to happen. After this stretch of work, after this stretch of travel, after this stretch of busyness, things aren’t going to slow down. Things aren’t going to stop.
- [Invest in What’s Next.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/05/20/invest-in-whats-next/) - At age 30, in my annual Things I Believe post, I wrote: You don’t need to be able to predict the future — but it helps if you can see what’s coming around the corner. I certainly don’t know what the future holds. But I think I can see certain pieces that will matter in
- [Busy vs. Occupied.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/05/13/busy-vs-occupied/) - I was talking with a friend the other day, and he told me that something was annoying him. He’d been talking to his parents, who are both retired. He’d asked if they could help him with this big task, but they said they couldn’t — they were too busy. “I don’t get it,” he told
- [The More Things There Are, The More Things Will Go Wrong.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/07/20/the-more-things-there-are-the-more-things-will-go-wrong/) - I’m getting married in three weeks. And: I’m excited! I can’t wait to see so many people I care about in one place, and I cannot wait to finally say “I do” to the woman I love. Of course, there is this one thing that's been nagging at me for a little while, and I
- [Two Bets for 2023.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/05/07/two-bets-for-2023/) - At the start of the year, I made two small bets with Inbox Collective. The first was on Dine & Deliver, this dinner series I’m co-hosting with the team at Who Sponsors Stuff. The bet here was simple: Could we start to bring small communities together, in person, in cities all around the world, to
- [The One Thing I Really Hope People Learn from Not a Newsletter.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/08/09/the-one-thing-i-really-hope-people-learn-from-not-a-newsletter/) - Not a Newsletter will turn four in January. It started as a weird little side project; now it’s the single most important driver of business for Inbox Collective. Over the years, I’ve written more than 175,000 words for the Google Doc, built an audience of 8,000+ monthly readers, and stretched the Google-Doc-as-publishing format about as
- [The Hardest Questions to Answer.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/05/02/the-hardest-questions-to-answer/) - Sometimes, the simplest questions are the hardest to answer. What does success look like? What do I want to do next? Is now the right time to try something big? Do I know enough to start? Am I ready for whatever’s next? These are questions that are going to take time to answer. But they’re
- [Get the First Win.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/04/24/get-the-first-win/) - I went to the driving range once and found myself next to a couple that was playing golf for the first time. They had an instructor with them, and within the first minutes of the lesson, he was walking them through the complex biomechanics of the swing. He was telling them that there were more
- [Ask Something To Learn Something.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/08/03/ask-something-to-learn-something/) - About a decade ago, a friend of mine was asked an unusual question on a job interview: What’s your favorite Bruce Springsteen song? Now, there are certain scenarios where that question might make sense. Among them: If she was applying for a job in the music industry (she wasn’t), if she was from New Jersey
- [Let Everyone In.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/04/16/let-everyone-in/) - We saw Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band last week, and there’s a cool moment in the encore that Bruce and the band do at every show. Throughout the concert, the house lights are down, with just the spotlights on the band. But right as they break into “Born to Run,” the house lights
- [Change Can Be the Right Thing.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/04/08/change-can-be-the-right-thing/) - When I first started Inbox Collective, I thought most of my job would involve projects and travel. I’d do an audit for a newsroom, then travel to their office to lead a workshop. I’d take the lead on a big project, where I’d get into a client’s email platform to build something for them. I’d
- [It’s OK.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/04/02/its-ok/) - It’s OK if you don’t know what’s next. It’s OK if you don’t have all the answers. It’s OK if you don’t get everything done today that you wanted to do today. It’s OK if you’re stuck. It’s OK if everything needs to change. It’s OK if you have to wait to do the thing
- [I Am 24 Years Old. This Is What I Believe.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/11/22/i-am-24-years-old-this-is-what-i-believe/) - I am 24 years old, and I'm going through a period of transition in my life. It's that time of the year when I start getting all thoughtful about where I am and where I'm going, and at this very moment, I'm stuck in Kansas City Int'l, waiting for a flight home. So I wanted
- [Document Your Journey.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/03/25/document-your-journey/) - I’m lucky to be in a place where I’ve got a career I love and a business that’s growing. But to anyone thinking that this all happened overnight: It most certainly did not. That’s why I’m so grateful that I’ve been documenting my journey over the years. And every time I look back upon certain
- [What’s Not To Like?](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/03/18/whats-not-to-like/) - There was a guy I knew growing up who used to like everything on Facebook. That photo of your big vacation. A random status update. A comment you left on someone’s post. He left a “like” on all of it. It was a strange thing, seeing his name show up at the bottom of every
- [Enjoy It While It Lasts.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/03/11/enjoy-it-while-it-lasts/) - Sally and I went to a Mizzou basketball game earlier this year. At the time, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this team. They had a new coach and nine new players on the roster. I was hoping they’d be competitive; I wasn’t sure if they’d be any good. And that day, we
- [Even If You’re Working Solo, You Still Need a Team.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/03/04/even-if-youre-working-solo-you-still-need-a-team/) - I had a few candidates take editing tests this week for a part-time editor role with Inbox Collective. (I paid them for their work — it’s only fair that they should be compensated for their time and talent.) And reading through their notes, I kept thinking: These edits are going to make these stories so
- [It's Hard to Have a Big Ego When You're Sleeping on the Floor.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/04/27/its-hard-to-have-a-big-ego-when-youre-sleeping-on-the-floor/) - I was at the Stry.us HQ/apartment on Monday night, sitting on the floor, when I looked up and announced to my editor, Jordan: This is the furthest along this project has ever been. Stry.us -- or versions of it, at least -- had been on my mind since 2007 or so. But it really came
- [But Why Would I Want To?](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/02/25/but-why-would-i-want-to/) - I was talking recently with a friend about red-eye flights. When I was younger, a red-eye didn’t really bother me. I’d fly back from the West Coast at midnight, land at 6 a.m., and go to work at 9. Not a big deal! But I’m in my mid-30s now. My body doesn’t handle red-eye flights
- [Learn From Others — But Find Your Own Way, Too.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/02/20/learn-from-others-but-find-your-own-way-too/) - We live in an age of copycats. When someone has success in a particular way, there’s a rush for others to copy that model. There’s nothing wrong with learning from others. There’s no reason to make the same mistakes that others have already made. Ask good questions, listen, and learn from others. Use existing examples
- [It’s Not About the Name. It’s About What You Do With It.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/02/11/its-not-about-the-name-its-about-what-you-do-with-it/) - In the 1990s and early 2000s, the most trusted name in dining in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was someone named... Munch. Munch was the food critic for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Munch’s true identify was unknown — they appeared in the paper as a photo of someone with a paper bag over their head. They wrote in third
- [Thanks, Dad.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/02/04/thanks-dad/) - I was talking with my dad this week. I’ve got Inbox Collective — four years in and going strong — and my sister has a little side business of her own that she’s thinking about expanding. My dad wanted to know one thing: “This is my fault, isn’t it?” In the best way, dad, it
- [You’re Allowed to Delegate.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/01/28/youre-allowed-to-delegate/) - Sally and I are on vacation this week, but I’m thinking back to the days before we left. I had a busy week last week: A big presentation, a dozen calls, work on a few new articles for the site, and a lot of emails to deal with. I’m often busy, but this was more
- [I’ve Been So Lucky.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/01/21/ive-been-so-lucky/) - I’ve been exceptionally lucky in my life in so many ways. I was thinking about this yesterday after hearing the news that David Crosby had died, at age 81. I spent the morning listening to some of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s biggest hits: “Carry On,” “Woodstock,” “Teach Your Children,” “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,” “Ohio.”
- [You’ll Figure It Out.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/01/15/youll-figure-it-out/) - I went to see my Washington Capitals play last night. The team is in an interesting place this season: They’ve got a ton of veteran players who were part of the Stanley Cup run from 2018, several young players who’ve been impressive this year, and a few players who are coming back from injuries. The
- [Stop Stomping Around. Go Do The Work.](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/01/07/stop-stomping-around-go-do-the-work/) - There’s this story Mel Brooks tells about writing the title song for his movie, “The Twelve Chairs”: “I was gonna get somebody to do the title of ‘The Twelve Chairs,’ and Anne [Bancroft, Brooks’s wife] said, ‘No, you're a songwriter. Go up to the attic and don't come down until you have a version of
- [What Are You In Such a Rush For?](https://danoshinsky.com/2023/01/01/what-are-you-in-such-a-rush-for/) - When I talk with a prospective new client, they almost always tell me: We want to grow as much as possible, as quickly as possible. And that’s natural — but my follow-up question is usually: Why? If you’ve got the team in place, and the strategy in place, I understand the need to grow, and
- [A Wish for the Year Ahead.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/12/25/a-wish-for-the-year-ahead-5/) - As we wrap up 2022 and look towards the new year, I wanted to say a few words: As we shift out of a “We’re actively living through a pandemic” mindset and into whatever’s next (more of an “I guess I might get COVID but it’s not my no. 1 fear” mindset), I’ve noticed something:
- [You Know More Than You Might Admit.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/12/21/you-know-more-than-you-might-admit/) - I’ve been helping one of my writers out recently, and they asked a question: Dan, any chance you know how to fix this little WordPress issue that’s been bothering us? I’ve got this very site on WordPress, and Inbox Collective runs on WordPress, so I know a bit. I told them I couldn’t promise anything,
- [Find a Way to Give Back.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/04/25/find-a-way-to-give-back/) - When you make a donation to a nonprofit, you’ll probably get this message afterward: Does your company match donations? Check and see if you can double your impact today! Inbox Collective, sadly, is probably a long way away from being able to do that. Still, it always feels good to find ways to give back.
- [Know Who’s In Your Corner](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/05/03/know-whos-in-your-corner/) - Every year, I meet up with my buddy Aaron for what we call our corporate retreat. We both started indie consulting businesses in 2019 — Aaron works in PR and communications, and I work in email. We’ve both been figuring it out as we go. This trip is our opportunity to catch up, play a
- [You Can.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/05/19/you-can/) - You can make a choice to do something different. You can go back to school, even when everyone around you wonders, “Why leave a good job?” You can commit to learning something new, even when it’s hard. (Especially when it’s hard.) You can build an amazing support system of family, friends, and teachers to help
- [We’re Going to Make It Better.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/06/22/were-going-to-make-it-better/) - The new inboxcollective.com will be launching soon. I’ll be the first to tell you: It’s not perfect. There’s a lot it doesn’t do that I want it to do. There’s a lot we still need to figure out around photography, art, and site navigation. But it’s going to be enough to start. It’ll have interesting
- [Little Coincidences Are Everywhere.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/06/28/little-coincidences-are-everywhere/) - Two of the first people I told about Inbox Collective were my friends Dan and Ryan. I’ve known them since college — we lived on the same floor of the same dorm. We met our very first night at Mizzou. We’ve been close ever since, and they’ve been huge supporters of mine through work ups
- [You Can’t Do It All.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/09/17/you-cant-do-it-all/) - Right now, I’ve got a lot on my plate. I’ve got a consulting business, some upcoming workshops, and I’m building out a publication at inboxcollective.com. Any one of these could be its own full-time job — I’m trying to find the right balance to do all three! And still, I find myself getting excited about
- [Make It Work For You.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/12/11/make-it-work-for-you/) - I’ve been working with a few newsletter writers who are in a period of transition. For nearly two years, they’d been writing multiple newsletters per week. Now, they’re all trying to figure out what to do next. Should they write more, or less? Should they change the way they monetize? And my advice, over and
- [Heads Up.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/12/03/heads-up/) - I keep thinking about this thing I saw a few weeks ago in New York. I was walking down the sidewalk, and as I looked ahead, I saw something I’d never seen before: A young woman was reading a book while she walked. And this wasn’t some act of passive reading — her face was
- [Be Thankful For the Little Things.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/11/26/be-thankful-for-the-little-things/) - I was driving back to New York a few weeks ago. It was one of those days where a 90-minute drive was somehow taking close to three hours. And on the way out of town at the start of the trip, I’d gotten stuck in traffic getting through the tunnel — the same 90-minute drive
- [I Am 35 Years Old. This Is What I Believe.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/11/20/i-am-35-years-old-this-is-what-i-believe/) - I don’t know if I’ll ever have all the answers, but I know this: If this is all there is, this is more than enough.
- [Be Proud of the Work You’ve Done.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/11/14/be-proud-of-the-work-youve-done/) - A client had a question recently about something I’d worked on at BuzzFeed, so I went back into my email archives to try to find an answer. And what I found, unexpectedly, was this email: It’s from the end of year 1 of my work at BuzzFeed. It said: Monday marks 1 year since we
- [Don't Overtinker.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/11/06/dont-overtinker/) - Find things you want to try, and commit to them for a certain length of time. Often, it’s not the tactics that are wrong — it’s just that you didn’t wait long enough to see the results.
- [What’s Your One Unique Thing?](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/11/01/whats-your-one-unique-thing/) - I flew through Chicago a few weeks ago. I flew Delta, like I usually do, even though Chicago O'Hare is a hub for American and United. There aren’t that many flights on Delta out of O’Hare every day, and Delta’s flights have always operated out of some of the oldest gates at the airport. But
- [Be Yourself. (Aggressively So, If Necessary.)](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/10/23/be-yourself-aggressively-so-if-necessary/) - I’ve lived in New York City for a decade, so I’ve gotten the chance to see some celebrities on the street. (Apologies to Matthew Broderick for the time I saw you on 21st Street and stared so much that you pretended to check your phone until I walked away. My bad.) But one of my
- [Even The Experts Make Mistakes.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/10/15/even-the-experts-make-mistakes/) - A few weeks ago, I did something stupid. There are three big things that any email sender needs to set up to properly authenticate their emails: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These are the three things that an email client like Gmail looks for to make sure that the person or company sending that email really
- [Are You Ready For the Work?](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/10/10/are-you-ready-for-the-work/) - Bob Uecker’s a former baseball player, and longtime radio broadcaster for the Milwaukee Brewers. (You might also remember him as the announcer from the movie “Major League.”) Last week, on the final day of the season, with the Brewers eliminated from postseason contention, Uecker spent the final broadcast of the season telling baseball stories. Here’s
- [Three Years Ago, He Replied to My Welcome Email. Here's What Happened Next.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/10/02/three-years-ago-he-replied-to-my-welcome-email-heres-what-happened-next/) - So here’s how a response to a welcome email led to one of the best things I’ve done in my three years of running Inbox Collective. In October 2019, I get an email from Jan Birkemose, who runs the Danish media website Medietrends. He got my welcome email and wrote back, telling me a little
- [You Don’t Know How Good You’ve Got It.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/09/25/you-dont-know-how-good-youve-got-it/) - Two decades ago, I flew British Airways for the first time. I was 13 years old, and it was the greatest flight I’d ever been on. What made it so great? Two words: Personal TVs. Every seat had its own television, and each TV had a dozen channels. You could flip through and watch any
- [You’re Going to Make Your Own Choices.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/09/11/youre-going-to-make-your-own-choices/) - When a reader signs up for Not a Newsletter, they immediately get a welcome email from me, in which I ask two things: Do you have a newsletter, and what’s the biggest challenge you’re facing with it? Sometimes, the replies will be small and easy to reply to. Struggling with growth? Here are a few
- [There’s Always More Work to Do.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/09/05/theres-always-more-work-to-do/) - So we're at the US Open last week. We’ve seen some great tennis already, but there’s one star we really want to see: Serena Williams. She’s playing in the night match at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the venue’s biggest court, but we don’t have tickets for the night session. So we do the next best thing:
- [It'll Be OK.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/08/28/itll-be-ok/) - I just spent a week up in New England in a cabin, on a lake, in the woods. We didn’t have electricity or internet or cell service. My clients were excited about it: “You deserve a full week off,” they told me. My wife was excited about it: “You’ve earned this!” she said. I was
- [The Things You Have to Do to Get There.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/08/15/the-things-you-have-to-do-to-get-there/) - There are a few different ways to become a PGA Tour member, but the most direct is by being one of the top players on the Korn Ferry Tour, which is the top minor league circuit for men’s professional golfers. Just making it to the Korn Ferry Tour itself is hard enough — it requires
- [Go Big.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/08/06/go-big/) - One more story from Newport Folk: We’d been told that at Newport, special guests sometimes show up. And then on Saturday night, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats came out and played two Paul Simon songs in a row, and we realized: Paul Simon might be tonight’s surprise guest! An hour later, after a half-dozen
- [Everything Changes, and That’s OK. (Part II)](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/07/25/everything-changes-and-thats-ok-part-ii/) - 57 years ago today, Bob Dylan went electric at the Newport Folk Festival. Reports say the crowd shouted and booed at Dylan — “Like a Rolling Stone” had been released only days earlier, and the crowd at Newport Folk wasn’t prepared for an artist suddenly heading in a new direction. Yesterday, I went to Newport
- [Everything Changes, and That’s OK.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/07/19/everything-changes-and-thats-ok/) - College athletics are in flux right now. Teams are changing conferences (Rutgers vs. UCLA and Oklahoma vs. Kentucky will soon be in-conference matchups), and Name, Image, and Likeness rules mean that some athletes are now (legally) collecting checks from sponsors. Greg Sankey, commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, addressed all these changes this week at the
- [Introducing... Inbox Collective’s New Website.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/07/13/introducing-inbox-collectives-new-website/) - One of the great lessons from BuzzFeed was to launch stuff quickly. Put it out there in the world, try to build an audience, and then decide what to do next. The simpler and faster, the better! It's why when I launched a website for Inbox Collective in 2019, it wasn't a website — it
- [A Story About the Time I Interviewed for a Job at The New Yorker.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/07/08/a-story-about-the-time-i-interviewed-for-a-job-at-the-new-yorker/) - In the summer of 2017, I interviewed for a job at The New Yorker. As part of the interview, I was asked to come in and interview with David Remnick, the editor of the magazine. And I’ll confess: I was nervous. Not because I was meeting with David. (He was lovely, kind, and incredibly supportive.)
- [Everything Will Go Wrong.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/03/07/everything-will-go-wrong/) - Watch this video of Stevie Ray Vaughan, the legendary guitarist, on “Austin City Limits” back in 1989. You’re about to see something extraordinary: About 30 seconds in, one of Stevie Ray’s guitar strings is going to break. He’s playing live, in the middle of a guitar solo. He’s recording for TV. And he doesn't miss a
- [When Will You Get To Do This Again? (Part II)](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/06/14/when-will-you-get-to-do-this-again-part-ii/) - A few months ago, I wrote about living in the moment. "Sometimes,” I wrote, “you’ve got to try something because, honestly, when are you going to get to do it again?" Sunday was one of those days. A few months ago, Paul McCartney announced that he was going on tour. One of the dates on
- [The People Who Help You Along the Way.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/06/06/the-people-who-help-you-along-the-way/) - A few weeks ago, I had what might seem like the flight experience from hell. We were flying to San Francisco for a wedding. The flight was at 7 a.m., which meant getting up well before 5 to get to the airport. Even if the flight had gone perfectly, the early wake up meant that
- [Don’t Overthink The Name.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/06/01/dont-overthink-the-name/) - When I have conversations with writers in advance of the launch of their newsletter, they often worry about the name of the product. They’ll worry that it’s not clever enough, or that it might be too simple, or that they need to spend more time coming up with the perfect name. (I’m guilty of doing
- [Lessons From 1,000 Blog Posts.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/05/27/lessons-from-1000-blog-posts/) - This is the 1,000th blog post I’ve published on danoshinsky.com. How’d I get here? In 2008, I started publishing on this blog, but I got serious about it in spring 2015. I was doing less writing at work, and wanted to make sure I always made time to write. So every week since, I've found
- [You’re Never Going to Be Perfect.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/05/08/youre-never-going-to-be-perfect/) - There’s a lot that’s frustrating about being human, but here’s one thing that’s annoyed me a lot lately: You’re not always at your best. There are days you show up to do the work, and things feel a little off. It doesn’t matter what the work is — it could be a project, or a
- [Be Careful About the Data You Cite.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/04/18/be-careful-about-the-data-you-cite/) - I was scrolling through LinkedIn last weekend, and in a span of two minutes, saw the same story — same copy, same three images — pop into my feed twice. The story was about Joshua Bell, one of the most acclaimed violinists of our era. He’ll soon be playing live with orchestras in Portland, Oregon,
- [Potential Is Pure F****** Joy.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/05/20/potential-is-pure-f-joy/) - I just finished Taylor Jenkins Reid’s new book, “Daisy Jones & The Six.” I suppose the word “finished” isn’t quite right — I cancelled plans and stayed in so I could keep reading it. If you liked “Almost Famous,” or if you’ve watched “History of the Eagles,” or if you have strong feelings about Fleetwood
- [This Is Enough.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/04/12/this-is-enough/) - Passover starts later this week, and there’s a song we’ll sing during the Passover service, which is known as a seder. The song is called “Dayenu,” which translates to, “It would have been enough.” We sing that if God had merely found a way for the Israelites to exit Egypt, it would have been enough.
- [There's One Little Problem With That Famous Wayne Gretzky Quote About Pucks.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/06/26/theres-one-little-problem-with-that-famous-wayne-gretzky-quote-about-pucks/) - There's a Wayne Gretzky quote that's been repeated in a thousand PowerPoint presentations, and I'll repeat it here: "Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been." It's a wonderful thought: Instead of chasing what's already happened, try to get a step ahead! And hey: Wayne Gretzky once scored 92 goals in
- [Timing Isn’t Everything — But It’s A Lot.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/03/15/timing-isnt-everything-but-its-a-lot/) - When I was 16 years old, I had a news story published in The Boston Globe. I wish I could tell you it was because of hard work or talent, but it wasn’t. I was interning at a news service in Washington, D.C., and one day, thousands of protestors in yellow shirts marched past our
- [When Will You Get To Do This Again?](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/04/02/when-will-you-get-to-do-this-again/) - So we’re at Punta Cana International Airport, waiting to fly home, when we see a sign for the airport lounge, and it mentions an unusual feature: It has a pool. A pool? At the airport? So we go upstairs to the lounge. If you have a particular credit card, you can get in for free, and
- [Everyone’s Success Expands Opportunity.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/03/26/everyones-success-expands-opportunity/) - There’s a clip going around with Jon Stewart, who recently sat in on Howard Stern’s show. Stewart’s success in show business is incredible — he won, roughly, a billion Emmys as host of “The Daily Show,” and gave dozens of comedians and writers a huge boost in their careers. Just look at the page of
- [Try Something New Every Time.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/03/22/try-something-new-every-time/) - Every year, we travel to South Florida to visit family. The trips are always a good time, but sometimes, they can feel a little repetitive. We go to the same restaurants, the same beach, the same hotel. We realized a few years ago that we needed to shake things up a little — otherwise, making
- [Keep It Simple For As Long As You Can.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/03/12/keep-it-simple-for-as-long-as-you-can/) - There’s a famous quote from golfer Arnold Palmer about the sport: “Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated.” Arnie’s absolutely right about golf: It doesn’t seem all that complicated until you really start to get into the sport. There are how many different ways to swing a club? To chip? Even to grip a club?
- [Put Your Team In Position to Do The Right Work.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/03/02/put-your-team-in-position-to-do-the-right-work/) - There’s a bagel place on my corner here in New York, and I’ve been going there for years. It’s a great spot with really good bagels, but there’s something that’s always bugged me about it. On a weekday, this bagel place has about five employees behind the counter taking orders. On weekends, they might have
- [Making Something Good With People You Like.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/02/24/making-something-good-with-people-you-like/) - I’m a big fan of the show “Parks and Recreation.” It’s one of those shows that I loved when it first aired, and have kept watching over the years. It’s fun and silly and always leaves me in a good mood. I’ve also been listening to the podcast “Parks and Recollection,” where Rob Lowe, an
- [Try Something Unexpected.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/02/19/try-something-unexpected/) - I spent a few days last week up in Burlington, Vermont, and one day, with temperatures a bit warmer than usual, took a walk down to Burlington’s waterfront park. (It’s called, accurately enough, Waterfront Park.) It’s a beautiful park, with a bike path and a science museum and gorgeous views of Lake Champlain. But the
- [Overdeliver Without Overwhelming.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/02/11/overdeliver-without-overwhelming/) - Newsrooms sometimes hire me to produce an audit of their email strategy. They’ll give me logins to their email system and their analytics, and I’ll interview key staffers to understand what they’re doing and where there are opportunities to improve. Then I’ll turn my findings into a slide deck. When I first produced these audits,
- [It’s OK to Fail. Just Don’t Fail to Pivot Away from Failures.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/02/03/its-ok-to-fail-just-dont-fail-to-pivot-away-from-failures/) - If you launch lots of new products or features, several aren’t going to work. You’ll be excited about a big new newsletter launch, and you put it out into the world, and the audience just doesn’t like it. It happens! The truth is: If you’re not failing, it means you’re probably not trying enough new
- [How I Keep Notes With Clients.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/01/27/how-i-keep-notes-with-clients/) - I have a few dozen Inbox Collective clients that I’m working with right now. Some I talk to daily or weekly. Some I talk to once a month or once a quarter. And there are days when I’ll have five or six calls, often stacked back-to-back-to-back. When clients hop on that call, they expect me
- [Nobody Noticed.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/01/23/nobody-noticed/) - I’ve told this story before, but I’ll share it here again. Two days before my bar mitzvah, I did my final rehearsal at the synagogue. I’d spent months working on my Torah portion, practicing in a language I could read but didn’t fully understand. The day of the rehearsal, I screwed up a line —
- [Trust Your Turns.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/01/12/trust-your-turns/) - I’m a pretty good skier on a sunny day. When the light is good on the mountain and I can clearly see the next few turns, I ski with a lot of confidence. But it’s another thing to ski on a wintry day, when the clouds and the mountain seem to merge into one. When
- [Kill Your Darlings.](https://danoshinsky.com/2022/01/07/kill-your-darlings/) - I’m reading Mel Brooks’s autobiography, “All About Me!”, and loved this section about “Young Frankenstein” so much that I’m going to quote it in full. Here’s Mel: The first cut we put together for a test screening was two hours and twenty-two minutes long. That was pretty long for one of my films. “The Producers”
- [A Wish for the Year Ahead.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/12/25/a-wish-for-the-year-ahead-4/) - As we wrap up 2021, and look towards the new year, I wanted to say a few words: It’s been a strange year — another strange year, I suppose. There have been moments of joy, of celebration, and moments of true alarm. I have no idea what 2022 will bring, but at this point, I
- [Be Your Own Biggest Fan.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/12/19/be-your-own-biggest-fan/) - It’s not all going to go right. You’re going to make mistakes, and you’re going to do things that you wish you could undo. And when things go wrong, it’s easy to be your own biggest critic. It’s easy to get down on yourself. But give yourself permission to make mistakes. When things go wrong,
- [Thinking Add and Subtract.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/12/13/thinking-add-and-subtract/) - I just finished “Subtract,” a fascinating book by Leidy Klotz about what humans do when given the chance to improve a situation. He writes that our first impulse is almost always to add something — to take what’s already there and add more to it in order to improve whatever it is. But he suggests
- [You Never Know When You’ll Get the Chance Again.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/12/09/you-never-know-when-youll-get-the-chance-again/) - On Tuesday, I stood on stage in Odense, Denmark, at the 2021 Email Summit, to give a talk in front of a few hundred people. It was the first time I’d been on stage, in front of other people, in 22 months. There was a moment in time where giving a talk like this didn’t
- [Beware the Loudest Voice in the Room.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/11/28/beware-the-loudest-voice-in-the-room/) - I’ve noticed an interesting trend over the past few years of working with newsrooms. Often, I’ll meet with a team, and we’ll start talking about their daily newsletter product. They’ll tell me they’re determined to launch a daily newsletter that goes out at 6 a.m. I’ll ask why. Is this something their audience has been
- [I Am 34 Years Old. This Is What I Believe.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/11/21/i-am-34-years-old-this-is-what-i-believe/) - Over the past year, there are certain things I’ve come to believe hold true. I know that my beliefs will continue to change. I know that I will change. But here, at 34, is what I believe.
- [Inspiration Sometimes Comes From Dumb Places, and That’s OK.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/11/15/inspiration-sometimes-comes-from-dumb-places-and-thats-ok/) - I’m working on my annual “Things I Believe” blog post, and showed Sally the outline the other day. She noticed one bullet point, in which I wrote: The hardest part about personal growth isn’t the setbacks — it’s the plateaus. Think back to when you first started. You're a beginner, so improvement is rapid. Every
- [You Always Have More in the Tank.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/11/07/you-always-have-more-in-the-tank/) - My favorite place to watch the New York City Marathon is on 59th Street and 1st Avenue, right at the moment the runners are coming off the bridge from Queens and turning into Manhattan. When runners turn left on 1st Avenue to head north through the Upper East Side, they’re passing mile 16. They’ve already
- [Taking An Hour (or Two) to Plan the Week Ahead.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/11/03/taking-an-hour-or-two-to-plan-the-week-ahead/) - Every Sunday, a recurring to-do pops up on my calendar: "Prep for this week's meetings." It’s the single most important thing I do all week. Some weeks — and this is one of them — my week is packed with meetings. I always leave a little gap between calls, but sometimes it’s as short as
- [Optimize for Curiosity.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/10/27/optimize-for-curiosity/) - When you’re building a new strategy, you’ve got choices on what to optimize for: Growth, engagement, or revenue. Or you can make another choice: To optimize solely for curiosity. What might that mean? Recognizing that a good test starts with a great question — so you need to ask as many questions as you can.
- [10 Rules for Traveling.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/10/19/10-rules-for-traveling/) - It’s our first night in Lisbon, and we’re hungry. Earlier in the day, we’d passed by a restaurant that looked great — and was busy at lunch, which is usually a good sign — and they’d recommended that if we wanted to come back for dinner, we should either come super early (5:30 p.m.) or
- [Make Time to Unstructure.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/10/13/make-time-to-unstructure/) - Things are busy these days on the work front: Lots of projects, lots of calls, lots of events. My schedule is always busy, and there’s always more work on the horizon, it seems. So it’s been incredible this week to travel with Sally to Portugal. This was a trip we booked, on a whim, a
- [Who Are You Giving Your Power To?](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/10/05/who-are-you-giving-your-power-to/) - So, yesterday morning, I got up early (as I often do) to write for this Bulletin column. I took a break to make Raif some breakfast and take my morning meditative walk. When I was ready to return to my writing, I couldn’t seem to access the Facebook-owned site where I create my posts. "Strange",
- [Ask Your Dumb Questions.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/10/03/ask-your-dumb-questions/) - Sports writer Joe Posnanski went on the “Two Writers Slinging Yang” podcast with Jeff Pearlman last week, and he told an amazing story. It’s a story about the time Posnanski, then a young sportswriter covering minor league baseball, had the courage to ask a dumb question of Billy Williams, a Hall of Fame outfielder who
- [The Power of Small, Weekly Habits.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/09/24/the-power-of-small-weekly-habits/) - I realized that clients were asking me, over and over again, for examples of certain things. So I built a project to help — and then built a weekly habit around it.
- [When It’s Time to Practice, and When It’s Time to Perform.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/09/28/when-its-time-to-practice-and-when-its-time-to-perform/) - In the year or so since I’ve started playing golf again, there have been good rounds (I shot in the mid-80s last week — a fantastic round for me!) and lousy rounds. Sometimes, I’ll feel super confident with a particular part of my game (hitting shots from inside 100 yards, for instance), and then play
- [Still Not Dead.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/09/15/still-not-dead/) - I saw Willie Nelson perform on Sunday, and here’s something I didn’t realize about Willie until he walked out on stage: He’s 88 years old. 88! And still performing live, currently on a 14-stop tour over two months in 10 states! Now, at that age, nobody’s expecting Willie Nelson to go out and play a
- [What Was In Might Now Be Out.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/09/06/whats-in-might-now-be-out/) - A story from the U.S. Open: It’s the first round of the tournament, and I’m watching Reilly Opelka, a 6’11’’ American with a massive serve. (The fastest I saw him serve: 141 mph.) On one point, he serves just a little wide, and there’s that familiar call from the umpire: “Out!” He hits his second
- [Finding the Energy (On the Days When You Just Don’t Have It).](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/09/01/finding-the-energy-on-the-days-when-you-just-dont-have-it/) - To be at the top of your game, you have to find ways to maintain your focus throughout the day — especially when the energy isn’t naturally there.
- [What Should You Ask During a Reference Check?](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/07/12/what-should-you-ask-during-a-reference-check/) - So you’re hiring for a new role on your team. (Congrats!) Ask these five questions to help you get the answers you need to make the final decision about a job candidate.
- [Saying “No” Isn’t Easy.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/08/24/saying-no-isnt-easy/) - I’ve written before about the importance of saying “no,” about how you have to be careful what you choose to work on, and why turning down work is often the right move. But the truth is: I’m still not very good at saying “no.” It’s hard to turn down work — especially when it involves
- [I Don’t Have a Bag of Magic Beans.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/08/17/i-dont-have-a-bag-of-magic-beans/) - A former BuzzFeed colleague of mine just left a job there for a new role, and we had lunch the other day. She asked me if she should know anything about working at a new job — a real job, where there isn’t a test kitchen and where staff writers don’t wear JNCO jeans as
- [Here’s an Out Of Office Template to Copy.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/08/13/heres-an-ooo-template-to-copy/) - Figuring out how to handle emails while you’re on vacation isn't easy. I’ve tried a few different strategies over the years — mostly, they haven’t worked. But this past week, I tried something new: Transparency with a personal touch. I told people when I’d be back and when they might expect a reply — the
- [Be Unusually Transparent.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/08/08/be-unusually-transparent/) - Just because I have expertise in the email space doesn’t mean I have all the answers. Clients are constantly challenging me with ideas or strategies that I haven’t tried, and I don’t always know how they’ll work when we roll out these concepts in the real world. These clients are paying me to give them
- [You Know More Than You Know.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/03/31/you-know-more-than-you-know/) - A few years ago, I came to a strange point with Stry.us. I had been working on the project for a while, and the initial giddiness of working on something new had worn off. Suddenly, I felt overwhelmed with it all. There was so much I didn't know, and it felt to me like I
- [Celebrate the Wins.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/08/02/celebrate-the-wins/) - I watched an Olympic sport this morning that I didn’t understand: Freestyle wrestling. The broadcast had suckered me in. They’d done one of those big feature stories on an athlete, Adeline Gray, who wrestles in the 76 kg category, and I was inspired by her story. She’d won five world championships, but at the last
- [The Things You Don’t Spot.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/07/26/the-things-you-dont-spot/) - This weekend, one of my dearest friends, Allison, was in town to visit, and we spent a good chunk of the weekend watching the Olympics. She’s a former swimmer herself — she swam at our alma mater, and was fast enough to swim at the Olympic trials in her home country of Canada. (She finished
- [An Olympics Lesson: Keep Your Eyes On The Road — And On Your Work.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/07/30/an-olympics-lesson-keep-your-eyes-on-the-road-and-on-your-work/) - It's a massive mental error by Uran. After six hours of biking, with the finish line in sight, he started driving using the rearview mirrow. He kept his eyes on his competitors, not on his goal. That's no way to do work — or to win an Olympic gold medal. There's only one way to
- [Understanding How to Take Time Off.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/07/13/understanding-how-to-take-time-off/) - I’m on vacation this week, out west visiting my family. I’m doing the stuff you do out here: Spending time at the pool, reading, taking afternoon naps, firing up the grill. But I’m also working, pretty much every weekday morning, for a few hours. This isn’t supposed to be some sort of treatise on the
- [Be Quick, But Don't Hurry.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/07/06/be-quick-but-dont-hurry/) - There's a great quote from John Wooden, the UCLA men's basketball coach who won more than 600 games and 10 national championships: "Be quick, but don't hurry." I was thinking about that yesterday. I was playing golf — my pandemic hobby’s continued into 2021 — and on a par 5, hit one of the best shots
- [It Never Gets Easier.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/07/02/it-never-gets-easier/) - There’s this lie that we tell ourselves when things are complicated and hard: “Once I get through this stretch, things are going to get easier.” I’ve told myself this more times than I can count. Dan, if you can just finish this task... if you can just get through this month... if you can just
- [Share As Much As You Can.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/06/25/share-as-much-as-you-can/) - When I was getting started with Inbox Collective, I made a conscious decision: I wanted to help as many people as I could, which meant I needed to share a lot. Not a Newsletter remained free — even as others built large, paying-subscriber-only lists — because I knew that keeping it free and open would allow
- [The Job I Didn’t Get In New York.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/04/14/the-job-i-didnt-get-in-new-york/) - Four years ago, I took a job at BuzzFeed. I didn’t know BuzzFeed would grow into the company it is today. I didn’t know I’d get to do the work I’ve done, or get to work with the team I have. I took a risk in taking the job, and it paid off. This isn’t
- [Don’t Waste Your Time on Worry.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/06/19/dont-waste-your-time-on-worry/) - A few weeks ago, I noticed that I was spending a lot of time worrying. I’d look at my calendar at the start of the week and think: Wow, I’ve got a lot to do! Lots of calls, lots of presentations, lots of little tasks. It felt overwhelming, and instead of trying to take on
- [Be the First One on the Dancefloor.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/04/15/be-the-first-one-on-the-dancefloor/) - If it’s alright, I’d love to tell you about one of my favorite random things on the internet. It’s a video of Eric Clapton playing his hit, “Cocaine,” at the Royal Albert Hall, in 2015. It starts with that legendary riff, in E, and you can see the crowd recognize it immediately. But here’s the
- [One Day Chicken, Next Day Feathers.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/06/13/one-day-chicken-next-day-feathers/) - A few weeks at the PGA Championship, I watched as Garrick Higgo — a 22-year-old South African — teed off on Sunday at 7:40 a.m. That’s what happens when you’re eleven shots over par, as Higgo was after three rounds. (For the non-golfers out there: The pros typically shoot several shots under par.) He’d had
- [I Am 25 Years Old. This Is What I Believe.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/11/22/i-am-25-years-old-this-is-what-i-believe/) - I am 25 years old, and I'm going through a period of transition in my life. I know, I know: I wrote the same thing last year. And when I sit down to write this post next year, there's a good chance I'll say the same thing. Yes, I know: The mid-20s are an unstable
- [I Am 27 Years Old. This Is What I Believe.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/11/24/i-am-27-years-old-this-is-what-i-believe/) - I am 27 years old, and I think I'm on the cusp of something very big. This year, I see amazing things on on the horizon. This can be the year my team at BuzzFeed turns our little newsletter project into something huge. The groundwork has been laid. Now it's about putting in the work
- [Thirteen Years In, and Still Writing, Just For Me.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/06/12/thirteen-years-in-and-still-writing-just-for-me/) - The very first blog post on danoshinsky.com went live this month, 13 years ago. I did some occasional posting over those early years, but the blog didn’t really get going, in its current form, until 2011, when I started writing more regularly. With the exception of 2014, I’ve written something for danoshinsky.com pretty much every
- [Be Patient.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/06/06/be-patient/) - I’m writing this from an airport, waiting to fly home to New York. I'll admit: It’s been strange to take flights again. Airlines, hotels, and restaurants are understaffed, and under all sorts of new rules and restrictions. Travelers are often a little tense about flying. I’ve seen a few freak-outs at the check-in counter already.
- [Lefts and Rights.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/05/27/lefts-and-rights/) - I just finished “The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11,” by Garrett M. Graff. It’s a remarkable book — a book that had me gasping, in tears, and often at a loss for words. In it are hundreds of stories of the day — stories, of course, told by the survivors
- [Five Rules for Getting a Job in Journalism in 2021.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/05/20/five-rules-for-getting-a-job-in-journalism-in-2021/) - So you’ve just graduated — congrats! — and you’re trying to get that first job in journalism. Or you’ve been working in the industry for a while, and you’re hoping to get that next job. I’ve worked at startups (BuzzFeed), established newsrooms (The New Yorker), and launched two journalism businesses (Stry.us, Inbox Collective). I’ve been
- [A Thought on My 34th Birthday.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/05/16/a-thought-on-my-34th-birthday/) - Two small milestones happened this week: I turned 34 today, and yesterday, Inbox Collective reached $250,000 in revenue. I didn’t start this business to make a lot of money — I’ve tried to make decisions based on the impact of the work, not the revenue it brings in, and I hope that I always maintain
- [Create an Imperfect World. Then Improve It.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/05/13/create-an-imperfect-world-then-improve-it/) - The New Yorker did an interview with John Swartzwelder, one of the most prolific writers in the history of “The Simpsons,” and a man who is legendary for his privacy. (The New Yorker described him as “reclusive, mysterious, almost mythical.”) The interview’s fascinating and funny, but I particularly enjoyed this part: How much time and
- [Write It Down to Remember.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/05/03/write-it-down-to-remember/) - It’s 11 p.m. on a Monday night, and there’s this one last work thing I have to do. When I’m on calls with clients, I’m always taking notes. Through two years of Inbox Collective, I’ve filled up a few notebooks with bullet points and to-dos for clients. When I first started, I didn’t do much
- [Todd Snider, The Struggling Entrepreneur's Kind of Songwriter.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/10/03/todd-snider-the-struggling-entrepreneurs-kind-of-songwriter/) - I cannot get Todd Snider out my head. This isn't a new experience for me. I'm not sure I believe that certain generations are defined by certain songwriters -- Do my parents belong to Dylan? To John and Paul and George and Ringo? To Jimi? To Janis? To the Stones? -- but I know that
- [Enjoy This Moment.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/04/22/enjoy-this-moment/) - Sally and I had a moment a few weeks ago. We were out on a weekend night with some friends for a birthday dinner. Our friends wanted to go out for karaoke, and who were we to say no to off-key renditions of Alanis Morissette and Journey? Around 1 a.m., we both started to fade.
- [Are You Optimizing For Just One Thing?](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/04/24/are-you-optimizing-for-just-one-thing/) - There was a fascinating story in The Washington Post this week about men’s gymnastics, and how the University of Minnesota — which has had a men’s gymnastics team for 118 years — has decided to cut that sport at year’s end. The move will save the university $750,000 per year. Wrote Liz Clarke: Minnesota’s decision
- [The Four Types of Haters You'll Meet. (or: Beware The Wrath of The Rainmakers!)](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/04/25/the-four-types-of-haters-youll-meet-or-beware-the-wrath-of-the-rainmakers/) - I'm a member of a local Toastmasters club, and one of our members gave a talk last week that was so good, I begged him to let me republish the key themes here on the blog. The talk was by Kenny Freeman, a Columbia, Mo.,-based communications specialist. The talk was titled, "The Wrath of the
- [How to Make An Introduction.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/03/31/how-to-make-an-introduction/) - One of my absolute favorite things is getting the chance to connect two people who don’t know each other — but who I know are immediately going to hit it off. In a typical week, I’ll make a handful of these intros, so I’ve had quite a bit of practice in getting it right. Here’s
- [“I Made It to Here.”](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/04/10/i-made-it-to-here/) - I’ve been watching The Masters this week, and there’s a golfer I’ve never heard of who’s really impressed me. His name’s Will Zalatoris, and he’s currently tied for second, heading into the final round. He’s 24, and he’s not yet on the PGA Tour — he’s in the field thanks to an exemption. He has
- [Lucky + Good.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/03/25/lucky-good/) - "Crush it where you're at." — Skip Prosser On Friday, Florida Gulf Coast — a school that did not exist when I was born — beat Georgetown in an NCAA Tournament basketball game. It was one of the biggest upsets in the history of March Madness. There were a lot of moments in the game where
- [I Don't Have All The Answers. But I Do Have A Few Questions.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/03/24/i-dont-have-all-the-answers-but-i-do-have-a-few-questions/) - Last week, a friend was giving a presentation for work, and asked if she could include a slide with a few email tips she’d learned from me. At the top of the slide was an explanation of who I was. "Here's some advice from Dan Oshinsky,” she’d written, ”newsletter guru.” I cringed. The truth is,
- [See If It Works. Then Build It Yourself.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/03/20/see-if-it-works-then-build-it-yourself/) - When I’m working with a team on a project, one of the first questions I’ll ask is: How do we start as quickly as possible? Let’s say we’re working on a new design for an email. Instead of hiring someone to do coding — on a concept that may or may not work! — I’ll
- [The First Step To Greatness Is Defining It.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/08/06/define-your-greatness/) - "Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now." — William Hutchinson Murray There's a moment you've probably never seen at a stadium. It's about 30 minutes after the game ends. The fans are already on their way home. The ushers are
- [Slowing Things Down.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/03/10/slowing-things-down/) - Time’s moved in a strange way during the pandemic. In the early days, the weeks seemed to draw out for ages. But an odd thing’s been happening lately: Time’s seemed to be moving much more quickly. It’s like I’ve accidentally sped up a podcast — from 1x speed to 1.2x speed, a change small enough
- [Planting the Seeds for Whatever’s Next.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/03/28/planting-the-seeds-for-whatevers-next/) - In the past 24 hours, I stumbled upon two very similar quotes from two very different people. The first: I was reading a New York Times essay by Christoph Niemann about a trip to Eastern Europe, and he quoted former Estonian President Lennart Meri, who in 1992, just a year after his country was granted
- [Do We Have to Do It That Way?](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/03/05/do-we-have-to-do-it-that-way/) - We went on a road trip this week up into New England, just to get away from work for a few days. On the road, we stayed in a few different hotels. At pretty much every hotel room I’ve stayed in over the past decade, there’s been a tiny coffee machine in the room —
- [Brand = Trust + Time.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/02/19/brand-trust-time/) - How do you build a great brand? It’s simple, at least in theory: By establishing trust over time. Trust is about relationships. It’s about setting expectations for your reader, your user, or your customer, and then exceeding them. It’s about being there when they need help. It’s about doing good work that serves them well.
- [Ask Simpler Questions.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/02/27/ask-simpler-questions/) - When I sit down with a potential client, the first thing I do is start asking a few questions. Often, I’ll be excited to interject a few suggestions or ideas. (“Oh, I love that you’ve tried that! You know, I’ve got a client who tried something like that last year…”) I know that if I
- [You’re Building a Rubber Band Ball.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/01/25/youre-building-a-rubber-band-ball-2/) - I still enjoy reading The New York Times in print, so five days a week, a copy of the paper shows up on my doorstep, wrapped in a rubber band. A few years ago, I wasn’t sure what to do with all those rubber bands, so I decided to try to build a rubber band
- [Do The Stuff That Doesn’t Scale.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/02/08/do-the-stuff-that-doesnt-scale/) - So here's a story: It's September 2019, and I'm flying to New Orleans for the annual Online News Association conference. It's my first one representing my own business. I'm not Dan from BuzzFeed or Dan from The New Yorker anymore. I'm Dan from Inbox Collective. I want to do something to make as many connections
- [Don’t Worry About That First Step. It’s Often a Doozy.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/02/02/dont-worry-about-that-first-step-its-often-a-doozy/) - When you take the first step on any big project, you might step in it. You might start off on the wrong path, or make the wrong hire, or ask the wrong questions. It happens. It happens to all of us. One misstep doesn’t doom a project to failure. It might shake your confidence, but
- [Things That Comfort Me When Every Fucking Thing Goes Wrong: Townes.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/11/10/the-things-that-comfort-me-when-every-fucking-thing-goes-wrong-townes/) - Things tend to go wrong. This is a series of blog posts about the things I think about during those moments when the wrong things happen. So it's January 2008. My alma mater, in their infinite wisdom, has decided to allow me to attend a semester of classes in Alicante, Spain, a little town on
- [The Time MLK Day Changed My Life.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/01/16/the-time-mlk-day-changed-my-life/) - So this is the story about how back in 2004, something happened on Martin Luther King Day that changed my life. Actually, it wasn't exactly MLK Day. It was the Friday before. Every year, my synagogue in D.C. holds a big interfaith service. Religious leaders from across the city come, and choirs sing, and there's
- [Why I Work So Well on Planes.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/01/18/why-i-work-so-well-on-planes/) - I miss flying. I miss those hour-long flights to Boston to Pittsburgh — just enough time to pull out the laptop and work on a deck or a memo for 45 minutes. I miss those longer flights out west — 90 minutes of work, an hour of reading, and then a movie I’d never seen
- [You Have to Do the Work First.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/01/11/you-have-to-do-the-work-first/) - There’s a project I’m working on right now, and I’m pretty excited about it. Sometimes, I’ll spend a few minutes thinking about the positive outcomes: What might come of the work, how others might want to get involved with it, too. I’ll daydream a little about where it might lead a few months or a
- [Remembering Tiffany Shackelford.](https://danoshinsky.com/2021/01/01/remembering-tiffany-shackelford/) - In 2011, I got the chance to participate in a small startup competition in D.C. to talk about Stry.us. The next day, I got an email from a woman named Tiffany Shackelford, then the Executive Director of Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. She wanted to know if I'd be interested in speaking at the annual AAN
- [A Wish for the Year Ahead.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/12/28/a-wish-for-the-year-ahead-3/) - As we wrap up 2020, and look towards the new year, I wanted to say a few words: So many of us are hoping that when the calendar flips to January, we’ll slowly begin to move towards a more normal world. As I look through my Instagram feed, nearly every day, I see another photo
- [You May Have to Say No.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/12/24/you-may-have-to-say-no/) - An unusual thing has happened in the second half of 2020 for my consultancy: I’ve started turning away work. When I started this business, if a client approached me and I thought it was a good fit, I almost always said “yes” to the work. Even as I took on additional clients, I kept saying
- [Looking Back on 2020: The Year in Blog.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/12/18/looking-back-on-2020-the-year-in-blog/) - Every year, I set a goal: Write one thing per week here on the blog. This post is no. 50 — which means I’m right on track, despite everything that’s happened this year. The blog is always a bit of time capsule, and that’s especially true this year. Looking back, it’s easy to see the
- [It’s Not Worth the Fight.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/12/08/its-not-worth-the-fight/) - When I was younger, working as part of a larger newsroom, I had a bad habit: I always wanted to win. This wasn’t about getting big projects done on behalf of my team. These were moments when I got hung up on some petty issue, decided someone was in my way, and that I needed
- [Don't Let the Urgent Drown Out the Important.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/11/29/dont-let-the-urgent-drown-out-the-important/) - It’s easy to spend your week putting out fires. You wake up on a Monday morning, ready for a big week of work ahead. You’re going to take on some significant projects this week, and really get some stuff done. Then the requests start coming in: • Something’s wrong, and it needs to be fixed
- [I Am 33 Years Old. This Is What I Believe.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/11/22/i-am-33-years-old-this-is-what-i-believe/) - Over the past year, there are certain things I’ve come to believe hold true. I know that my beliefs will continue to change. I know that I will change. But here, at 33, is what I believe.
- [Setting Four Types of Goals: Audience, Financial, Learning, and Leadership.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/11/15/setting-four-types-of-goals-audience-financial-learning-and-leadership/) - As you're setting goals for the new year, think about setting a few different types of goals. It's not just about driving as much revenue as possible, or growing your audience as fast as possible. I want you to think about setting four types of goals for the new year: 1.) What is your audience
- [There’s More to Do.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/11/08/theres-more-to-do/) - There’s a tendency at a moment like this — whether you’ve just completed an election, like we did in America this week, or whether you’ve completed a big project at work — to have a sense that things are over. You put in the work, you did the work, and now you’re done. But the
- [The Four Obstacles: Time, Money, Stress, Failure](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/10/28/the-four-obstacles-time-money-stress-failure/) - Inbox Collective is my second attempt at starting a business — a decade ago, Stry.us was my first. I know more this time around, I’ve better organized a network of supporters around me, and this time, I’ve built an audience to support my work. I learned so much from Stry.us, and it’s put me in
- [The One Thing You Can Control Is The Way You Work.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/12/15/the-one-thing-you-can-control-is-the-way-you-work/) - Imagine for a second that you’re a kid again, and you’re fast. You’re really fast. You’re the fastest kid on your block. The fastest guy in your neighborhood. The fastest guy in your school. When you run, everyone else spends a lot of time looking at your backside as you pull away. You don’t run
- [Now's No Time to Stop.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/10/22/nows-no-time-to-stop/) - At the start of the year, I had a revenue goal in mind for Inbox Collective. Revenue isn’t the only metric that matters to me, but it’s certainly an important measuring stick for a consultancy like mine. This week, I broke my revenue goal for 2020 — with two months to go in the year.
- [So What Are You Going to Do About It?](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/10/14/so-what-are-you-going-to-do-about-it/) - I keep having this conversation over and over with friends. They’ll tell me: I’m frustrated with the way things are going at work. I’m frustrated with the state of the world. I’m frustrated with the way things are in my community. To which I’ll say: We all get frustrated, and that’s OK. But the real
- [Do It Now.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/10/08/do-it-now/) - We’re living through a moment that’s reminded all of us of the urgency of now. This year’s been a reminder that plans aren’t set in stone, and our lives can change quickly. So if you have the chance to do something — and can do it safely, of course — go for it. Check in
- [You’re More Than a Knuckleball Catcher.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/10/01/youre-more-than-a-knuckleball-catcher/) - Unless you’re a die-hard baseball fan — or deeply care about the Boston Red Sox — the name Doug Mirabelli probably doesn’t mean much to you. Mirabelli was best known as the personal catcher for Tim Wakefield, a Red Sox pitcher who threw a knuckleball. Most major league pitchers are capable of throwing multiple pitches
- [Saying It Again: You Can Always Make It Better.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/09/25/saying-it-again-you-can-always-make-it-better/) - This is the week between the Jewish High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, so I’ve spent much of the week thinking about the year just passed, and the year ahead of us. There’s lots I want to do in the year ahead, and lots that I know I could do better. So I
- [In the Moment.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/09/18/in-the-moment/) - The longer this pandemic goes on, the more I’m realizing that, maybe for the first time in my life, I’m truly living in the moment. Right now, I’m on a big road trip west. It’s the last road trip I expect I’ll take this year. There’s a lot of big work coming up, but nothing
- [Ask, Optimize, Improve.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/09/12/ask-optimize-improve/) - I’ve been playing a lot of golf lately. That’s not a sentence I expected to type in 2020. I played some as a kid, but stopped after college. Since I moved to New York, I think I’ve picked up a golf club twice in eight years. But earlier this summer, a friend — who also
- [Here’s to Another Year.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/08/21/heres-to-another-year/) - I left The New Yorker a year ago today. Leaving a place as special as that to start a consulting business is a true leap, and I’m lucky to have had so many amazing people supporting me on this journey. To everyone who offered words of encouragement, advice, introductions; to everyone who shared my Google
- [Do The Basics Well.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/08/31/do-the-basics-well/) - To succeed in business in 2020 takes a great team, a strong mission, and more than a little bit of luck. But it also takes a willingness to focus on the basics — and do them well. So let’s take news organizations for a moment, because it’s the business I know best. A few years
- [Stress vs. Frustration.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/08/26/stress-vs-frustration/) - Every job comes with pressure. When you’re working for a big corporation, that pressure often comes in the form of frustration. You’re frustrated that your company isn’t working on the things you want them to. You’re frustrated by the pace of work. You’re frustrated with the way the company is structured, by the pay, by
- [Be Curious.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/08/12/be-curious/) - When I left San Antonio to start Stry.us, I didn’t know what I’d find in Biloxi. When I went to Springfield and hired a staff, I didn’t know what we’d actually make. When I took a job at BuzzFeed, I didn’t know the kinds of work we’d do over the following years. When I started
- [Just Ask.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/08/05/just-ask/) - Back in July, I created a fundraiser for my Google Doc, Not a Newsletter, and asked my readers to donate to The Marshall Project. I wasn’t sure how much money we’d raise. In the first 24 hours, we raised $1,000. In a month, we raised more than $3,300. I’m thrilled, and so, so grateful. It’s
- [Don’t Write The Story Until It’s Over.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/07/30/dont-write-the-story-until-its-over/) - Nine years ago, I attended a baseball game I’ll never forget. It wasn’t a particularly important game: Nats-Phillies, in the middle of the 2011 season. The Nats finished that season 80-81 — out of the playoffs, again. It was a humid night in D.C. We sat through a two-hour rain delay before the game really
- [Beware the Ground Beneath Your Feet.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/07/21/beware-the-ground-below-your-feet/) - In 2010, while reporting in Biloxi, Mississippi, on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I stumbled upon this story: A century earlier in Biloxi, there was a man of some renown named Walter Hunt. He didn’t go by that name, though — in town, locals called him Skeet. Skeet was quite the figure in Biloxi. At
- [The Only Time Is Now.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/07/13/the-only-time-is-now/) - The truth is, I almost didn’t leave The New Yorker when I did. I knew that I wanted to start Inbox Collective. I knew there was a market for my services. I knew that I had an opportunity to help the journalism world. But I wasn’t sure if the timing was right. Sally was in
- [The Window Is Open.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/06/19/the-window-is-open/) - When I was about 3 years old, I used to walk around my house pretending to play guitar on this red plastic pan. By middle school, I'd walk around school breaking into the occasional air guitar. By high school, family friends would grab my mom and ask, "Why doesn't Dan actually take guitar lessons?" And
- [Be Willing to Let Things Go.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/07/06/be-willing-to-let-things-go/) - When I think back on my time at BuzzFeed, there was a lot that made us successful. We hired a talented, diverse group of creators. We invested in learning and development programs so staff could continue to grow in their roles. We built strong product and data teams to provide the resources so we could
- [What I Really Mean When I Say 'Fail.'](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/12/31/what-i-really-mean-when-i-say-fail/) - There is a phrase I use a lot. I overuse it. A lot of my friends do, too. The word is "fail." Fail can mean a lot of things. It can mean: -Go try hard things, and see what works! -Don't be afraid to mess up! -If it doesn't succeed, that's okay — it doesn't
- [Another Word About Failure.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/11/30/another-word-about-failure/) - Three years ago, I wrote a thing about failure. Much to my surprise, it still holds up pretty well! I wrote: There is a phrase I use a lot. I overuse it. A lot of my friends do, too. The word is “fail.” …. But sometimes, when we just wrap all that in into that
- [Be Silly.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/07/01/be-silly/) - Carl Reiner died this week. He was 98. When I think of Carl, I think of his friendship and partnership with Mel Brooks — in particular, their work on the “2000 Year Old Man.” I remember listening to those records as a kid and being amazed at how funny they were. It was just two comedians
- [Lessons Learned vs. Lessons Observed.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/04/11/lessons-learned-vs-lessons-observed/) - I was reading an interview with Gerald Parker, a leading pandemic expert who worked in the Bush administration on the nation’s pandemic strategy plan. It’s a fascinating interview in which Parker talks about the lengths that previous administrations went to prepare the country for a pandemic like this, and I found this exchange particularly striking:
- [Something To Look Forward To.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/06/25/something-to-look-forward-to/) - By the end of January, I had my calendar for the entire year pretty much set. I knew where I was going to give talks this year, and had the flights planned out. I knew which weddings I’d be going to. I had some vacation days penciled in. Then Covid-19 hit here in the U.S.,
- [I Hope You’ll Join Me in Supporting The Marshall Project.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/06/22/i-hope-youll-join-me-in-supporting-the-marshall-project/) - I’ve been thinking a lot about the platform I have, and how I can use it to help. Then I had an idea for a way to do just that — to help newsrooms and nonprofits send better emails, and to raise a bunch of money for an amazing cause. In the first 24 hours,
- [You Smug Assholes.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/06/13/you-smug-assholes/) - At The New Yorker, we had an inbox where readers could write to us with questions, comments, or concerns, and I made it my mission to check that inbox every weekday. Some days, it took me five minutes to go through and reply to all the emails. Sometimes, it took me an hour. But I
- [The One Thing I Truly Believe.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/06/08/the-one-thing-i-truly-believe/) - Every Thanksgiving, I write a blog post called “The Things I Believe.” And in it, I write the same thing: “Over the past year, there are certain things I’ve come to believe hold true. I know that my beliefs will continue to change. I know that I will change. But here, this year, is what
- [Keep Moving.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/06/01/keep-moving/) - There is so much we need to accomplish. It can feel overwhelming at times to look at the to-do list and see what still needs to be done. The tasks ahead can feel endless. But the work doesn’t happen all once. Change happens incrementally. You point yourself in the right direction and slowly start moving
- [Make the Right Choice for Right Now.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/05/23/make-the-right-choice-for-right-now/) - No one knows what happens next. We don’t know what things will look like in two weeks, two months, or two years. We don’t know if we’ll be working in offices again, traveling to conferences, or even sitting down at the table with loved ones. Sure, you can make a prediction about the future —
- [Beware The Silver Bullet Metric.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/11/28/beware-the-silver-bullet-metric/) - A few years ago, I wrote about one of the best pieces of advice I got from my old boss, Dao Nguyen: I’ve learned a lot from Dao over the years. But one sentence in there really drives home Dao’s biggest message: “Anyone who just optimizes to one metric is going to eventually have a
- [A Thought For The Graduating Class Of 2017.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/05/24/a-thought-for-the-graduating-class-of-2017/) - Ladies and gentlemen, faculty and staff, distinguished guests, graduating students from the class of 2017: I’d like to tell you a story about a simpler, more honest time in American history. The year was 2005. I remember it like it was… well, about 12 years ago. Was it really only 12 years ago? It feels
- [A Thought on My 33rd Birthday.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/05/16/a-thought-on-my-33rd-birthday/) - I turn 33 today. A year ago, I was just thinking about leaving The New Yorker. I didn't know that in the year ahead, I'd get to work with clients across the country and across the world. I didn't know how much this business would grow. (I'm not sure I even realized that I was
- [How I Named Inbox Collective.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/05/10/how-i-named-inbox-collective/) - When I was 23 years old, I decided to launch my first news organization. I decided to call it Stry.us. It was a news organization dedicated to telling untold stories in undercovered places — areas that folks in the news business now refer to as “news deserts.” I thought the name was clever. I’d pronounce
- [Do It Again. Make It a Little Better.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/05/02/do-it-again-make-it-a-little-better/) - A few weeks ago, we tried making pizza at home for the first time. It wasn’t even close to being from scratch — the pizza dough was purchased at the local market, and the tomato sauce was from the jar — but we broke out the pizza stone and a bunch of toppings and gave
- [One Week at a Time.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/04/26/one-week-at-a-time/) - Something I’ve noticed in my conversations this month: Lots of organizations are trying to craft a long-term plan. It’s how we’re used to thinking about the future. You’ll sit down with your team and say: Here’s what we’re going to achieve this quarter. Here are our goals for the year ahead. But no one knows
- [Finding Some Sort of Normal.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/04/19/finding-some-sort-of-normal/) - It isn't easy finding a sense of normal these days. Staying at home day after day, everything seems to blend together. I know we're not alone in this. Even Vox created an article titled, simply, “What day is it today?” All of us are having trouble making sense of time during this crisis. So Sally
- [We’re All Making This Up As We Go Along.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/04/04/were-all-making-this-up-as-we-go-along/) - One of the great not-so-secrets of life is this: All of us are making things up as we go along. Every time you meet an expert or a leader in a space, you have to remember: They don’t know what’s going to happen next. Maybe they’re unusually smart and can see what’s coming around the
- [Things That Comfort Me When Every Fucking Thing Goes Wrong: Carl Sagan's Blue Dot.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/11/28/things-that-comfort-me-when-every-fucking-thing-goes-wrong-carl-sagans-blue-dot/) - Things tend to go wrong. This is a series of blog posts about the things I think about during those moments when the wrong things happen. I had Mrs. Buckingham for 10th grade English. I don't remember that much about her anymore; I do seem to recall that she had white hair, and she was
- [It Happens When It Happens.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/03/22/it-happens-when-it-happens/) - My mother used to have this expression: “Hurry up and wait.” I remember when we used to go to the beach, and there was this one part of the trip that required us to get on a ferry. The ferry captain would announce that we’d be docking in 20 minutes, and people would rush to
- [Three Things I’ve Learned About Working From Home (So Far).](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/03/13/three-things-ive-learned-about-working-from-home-so-far/) - Back in August, I started working from home for Inbox Collective. And with much of the world joining me in remote work (at least for a little while), I wanted to share a few learnings about how to work well remotely: 1.) You have to wear pants — When I first started doing this, there
- [Introducing... Not a Newsletter: A Monthly Guide to Sending Better Emails.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/02/11/introducing-not-a-newsletter/) - I really believe in side projects. At BuzzFeed, everyone had something interesting they did on the side. I’ve written about some of these side project stories here on the site. I think a great side project can be a valuable tool for showcasing your skills, sharing what you've learned, and building communities. And now might
- [Be Prepared.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/03/03/be-prepared/) - When I interviewed a candidate at BuzzFeed for a role on the newsletter team, I always asked the same first question: Do you subscribe to any of our newsletters? These were candidates who’d applied specifically for a job on the newsletter team. They’d submitted resumes and cover letters for the role. We’d read through them,
- [Just Listen.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/02/29/just-listen/) - A friend is starting a brand new job on Monday, after more than a decade in his previous role. We were chatting the other day, and I was asking him: What’s it going to be like starting a new job like this? How are you going to approach it? His reply was incredibly smart: I’ve
- [When Voicemail Accidentally Serves as a Time Capsule.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/02/01/when-voice-mail-accidentally-serves-as-a-time-capsule/) - The first thing I heard was a weird scratching on the phone, like aluminum foil was being rubbed against the receiver. Then I heard my mother's voice, frantic. "I must have just missed your call," she said. This was last Thursday. But I didn't call, I told her. That didn't stop her. "No, Dan," she
- [Here, Read This: “Mourning Rootitoot, the Happiest Place on the Internet.”](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/02/23/here-read-this-mourning-rootitoot-the-happiest-place-on-the-internet/) - Here’s a piece from The Ringer’s Katie Baker about a Facebook group called “Rootitoot Instant Pot Recipes & Help,” started by a 63-year-old Canadian woman named Ruth McCusker, about the Instant Pot — a group that, in two years, grew to more than 92,000 members. As Baker explains: For as influential as Rootitoot is, though,
- [How To Pick a College.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/02/23/how-to-pick-a-college/) - I remember the first time I visited Mizzou. It was towards the end of the winter — maybe late February or early March. There weren’t flights to Columbia back then, so you had to fly to St. Louis, and then take the MoX shuttle to town. (Meet near the mural of astronauts at baggage claim,
- [You Can Quit When You Have A Good Day.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/02/13/you-can-quit-when-you-have-a-good-day/) - On Saturday, I was in midtown for a Cycle for Survival ride. (If you’ve got the chance to be a part of one, I can’t recommend it highly enough. It was SO inspiring.) I heard some incredible speeches that day — including one from Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Nastia Liukin. She told this great story.
- [Email Is For Action.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/02/11/email-is-for-action/) - Before you send an email to a colleague, ask yourself one question: What do you want them to do when they get this email? The best emails are the ones that have a clear next step. Email’s the perfect way to: Get a quick answer to a question Set up a meeting or call Review
- [Try Not To Be Stupid.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/02/26/try-not-to-be-stupid/) - I’ve written lovingly about Warren Buffett many times before. (See here, here, here and here.) I’m a fan. And any follower of Buffett's will tell you that they're also a fan of his right-hand man, Charlie Munger. Munger has been as important to the rise of Berkshire Hathaway as Buffett himself. And he might be
- [Be Good To Each Other. Enjoy Every Moment.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/02/06/be-good-to-each-other-enjoy-every-moment/) - My grandma passed away this week — she was 96 years old. The past few days, I’ve been thinking about something she told us a few years ago. My brother and I went to visit her, and at the end of our visit, Grandma made sure to mention something to the two of us. She
- [The First Thing Isn’t The Biggest Thing.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/01/31/the-first-thing-isnt-the-biggest-thing/) - When you’re just getting started with something new, you’re going to run into some roadblocks. You’ll start with some momentum, and suddenly, you'll hit a snag. Your project’s just begun, and already you’re at an impasse. The first time you get stuck like this, it’s easy to make a big deal of it — often,
- [One Door Opens Another.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/01/25/one-door-opens-another/) - Think about this for a moment: What’s something you’re working on right now that, a year or two ago, wasn't even on your radar? I remember at BuzzFeed when we launched our Royal Baby newsletter. There wasn’t a Royal Baby section at BuzzFeed, and we didn’t have many tools we could use to grow that
- [There's No Single Right Way.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/01/19/theres-no-single-right-way/) - It’s easy to get locked into a certain way of doing things. You get used to a certain way of working. You start thinking that there’s only one path forward. Doing the work is a little like writing a song. Here's one to consider: Neil Young’s “Helpless,” one of those songs from the 70s that’s
- [One Lesson From Remote Work: You Have To Find Time To Pause.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/01/10/one-lesson-from-remote-work-you-have-to-find-time-to-pause/) - I’m just a few months into working remotely as I grow Inbox Collective. There’s a lot I like about it. For one: I’m writing this from Utah, where I’ve been working for the past 10 days. It’s been fun getting to work in a new place (and then getting the chance to ski when I
- [It Takes A Lot To Know A Little.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/05/12/it-takes-a-lot-to-know-a-little/) - I’m obsessed with learning about the habits of people I respect. It's no surprise, but: Great people often have awesome habits. Take my favorite sports announcer, a guy named Bill Raftery. If you’re a college basketball fan, you know his catchphrases: “Onions!” “With a kiss!” “Send it in, big fella!” But he's also incredibly wise. When
- [Setting A Simple Goal For 2020.](https://danoshinsky.com/2020/01/01/setting-a-simple-goal-for-2020/) - In 2019, I decided to set a simple goal: I’d do 10 push-ups, every single day. I didn’t keep exact tabs on this — I added a recurring to-do to my to-do list, and tried to cross it off more often than not. I missed a few days along the way due to travel or
- [A Wish For The Year Ahead.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/12/27/a-wish-for-the-year-ahead/) - As we wrap up 2018, and look towards the new year, I wanted to say: In 2019, I wish you good luck, and good timing. (You won’t go very far with the right idea at the wrong time.) I wish you amazing co-workers and teammates, and the resources you need to do great work. But
- [A Wish For The Year Ahead.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/12/23/a-wish-for-the-year-ahead-2/) - As we wrap up 2019, and look towards the new year, I wanted to say: In 2020, I wish you the courage to take a risk — to try something new, something big that frightens you a little. I wish you the opportunity to build a community around something you love. I wish you the
- [The Show Goes On Because It’s 11:30.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/12/10/the-show-goes-on-because-its-1130/) - “The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready; it goes on because it’s eleven-thirty.” That's what Lorne Michaels, creator and producer of “Saturday Night Live,” said about "SNL." As Tina Fey explained a few years ago: This is something Lorne has said often about “Saturday Night Live,” but it’s a great lesson in not being too precious
- [Shit Happens. How Will You Move On?](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/12/17/shit-happens-how-will-you-move-on/) - What I’ve always known — and what this year reinforced for me — is that the road will be full of the unexpected. Things don’t just go wrong — things *will* go wrong. You’ll leave 60 minutes before that presentation, but the New York City subway system will turn a 20-minute trip into a 55-minute
- [How To Keep Going When Things Go Wrong: Lessons From a Dispatch Concert.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/10/17/how-to-keep-going-when-things-go-wrong-lessons-from-a-dispatch-concert/) - I went to see Dispatch last week in D.C. They're a band with a fascinating backstory. They're a New England-based jam band with a Dave Mathews meets Phish meets Paul Simon kind of vibe. In the late 90s, they got big despite releasing their music without a major label. Then, right as they were starting
- [Never Too High, Never Too Low.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/12/09/never-too-high-never-too-low/) - I wrote about this a few weeks ago on my annual Things I Believe post, about my work through Inbox Collective so far: I tend to oscillate between “This is going to work!!!” and “Holy shit, what am I doing???” on a weekly basis. I’m scared and excited, but never bored, and always thrilled to
- [Opportunities vs. Possibilities.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/12/30/opportunities-vs-possibilities/) - These are two words that people often use interchangeably: One is "opportunities." One is "possibilities." As you get older, you learn that there's a big difference between the two. Opportunities are the concrete choices you have to make. They come in the form of job offers or acceptance letters from a school. There's nothing theoretical about them.
- [No Regrets.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/12/05/no-regrets/) - Here’s a story I’ve seen a few times now: A friend takes a job at a great company. It's a huge, well-deserved role for them. Everyone agrees: They'll do big things there. And then a year or two later, that friend steps away from the role. From the outside, it seemed to be a good
- [I Am 32 Years Old. This Is What I Believe.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/11/24/i-am-32-years-old-this-is-what-i-believe/) - I am 32 years old, and I’ve taken the leap. Twelve months ago, I was at The New Yorker — a dream job at a dream organization — and focused on the work ahead of me. Nine months ago, I started giving regular talks about how news organizations could get more out of email, and
- [I Am 30 Years Old. This Is What I Believe.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/11/22/i-am-30-years-old-this-is-what-i-believe/) - I am 30 years old, and I have so much more to learn. I’ve gotten the chance to work with amazing people at BuzzFeed and The New Yorker. I’ve led teams, launched products, and given talks at conferences. I’ve even been introduced on stage as an “expert” in my field. But I am definitely not
- [I Am 29 Years Old. This Is What I Believe.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/11/25/i-am-29-years-old-this-is-what-i-believe/) - I am 29 years old, and I’m learning how to be grateful for the life I have. The truth is, I don’t know what happens next. I don’t know what I’ll be doing next year, or where I’ll be working. I don’t know if the big decisions that are just ahead for me and my wife
- [I Am 28 Years Old. This Is What I Believe.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/11/25/i-am-28-years-old-this-is-what-i-believe/) - I am 28 years old, and everything is about to change — again. That’s what happens when things start to seem settled in your life. You meet a girl, and she’s amazing. You move in together. You’re in a job you like, and you’ve been doing it well for a long time. (Well, “long” as
- [I Am 26 Years Old. This Is What I Believe.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/11/28/i-am-26-years-old-this-is-what-i-believe/) - I am writing this from a bus on the New Jersey Turnpike, headed south for Thanksgiving. I wrote this post for the first time two years ago. I was 24, and in a major period of transition in my life. I wrote it last year from D.C., in transition to my life in New York.
- [Give More Away.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/11/19/give-more-away/) - I’ve had conversations with friends in the consulting world who’ve told me: Don’t give too much away for free. If you do, your clients might not need you anymore. And I think exactly the opposite is true. I’ve made Not a Newsletter — 11 editions so far, totaling more than 36,000 words — free and
- [Try It Yourself.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/11/13/try-it-yourself/) - There are things I’ve learned over time, stuff that’s worked for me. When I’m giving a talk about email, I’ll mention some of these best practices. But it’s always followed with a caveat: Don’t take my word for it. Try it yourself. If you read a case study that says a green subscribe button converts
- [Find An Accountability Partner.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/11/07/find-an-accountability-partner/) - A little while back, I wrote about one of my proudest personal success stories: The year I lost 30 pounds. What was my secret that year? It was simple: I had people in my life who held me accountable: That was the year I started working out a few times a month with a personal
- [Don’t Get Stuck on Repeat.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/11/04/dont-get-stuck-on-repeat/) - I first heard of ghost repeaters through a songwriter I love, Jeffrey Foucault, who has a song — and an album — called “Ghost Repeater.” As Foucault explained in the liner notes: “Ghost Repeaters are empty radio stations scattered around the country to re-broadcast demographically tailored playlists, endless echoes of American market culture, from thousands of
- [The Montage Scene.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/10/12/the-montage-scene/) - I was having dinner recently with a few friends, all of whom have started new jobs in 2017. We were talking about the struggles with a new job: Building relationships with new co-workers, learning new workplace procedures and etiquette, and challenging yourself in a new role. And then, in the way that dinner conversations tend
- [Write It Down. Remember Who You Are — And Who You Were.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/10/28/write-it-down-remember-who-you-are-and-who-you-were/) - It’s been almost a decade since I started keeping a journal. I’d never thought of myself as a journal kind of guy, but there was this online journaling tool that came out of Y Combinator, called OhLife. It launched right around the time I moved to Biloxi to work on Stry.us, and it seemed like
- [Ignore The Wheel. Watch The Board.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/10/29/ignore-the-wheel-watch-the-board/) - The Oshinsky family has been watching a lot of “Wheel of Fortune” lately. The more I watch, the more I realize how much strategy goes into playing “Wheel.” In particular, I’ve noticed something that nearly all the best players do: They ignore what’s happening on the wheel. As soon as they spin, they turn right
- [Celebrate the Little Victories.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/10/21/celebrate-the-little-victories/) - My Washington Nationals are — and I can’t believe I’m typing this — heading to the World Series. They’re a remarkable story. On the morning of May 24, the Nationals were 19-31, with just a 22.2% chance of making the playoffs, according to FanGraphs. You can see what happened next, in the playoff probability chart
- [Be Flexible on the Details.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/10/14/be-flexible-on-the-details/) - There’s an excellent profile of Jeff Bezos and Amazon in this week’s New Yorker, by Charles Duhigg, and the whole thing is worth reading. One paragraph in particular stood out to me: Most firms have a mission statement that even the C.E.O. has trouble remembering. Amazon employees, Freed discovered, studied the Leadership Principles like Talmudic
- [Pay Your Debts.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/10/30/pay-your-debts/) - A few years ago at BuzzFeed, my co-workers on the Product side of the house — the folks that built our website and kept it running — started talking about this idea of “tech debt.” Here’s a simple way to think about it. (And I’m going to oversimplify things here — my former colleagues were
- [Here, Read This: “Draw the Owl.”](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/10/05/here-read-this-draw-the-owl/) - I love this post from Daniel Zarick, a former product manager at Twilio, about the strategy at his old company. The focus was always on starting quickly and figuring things out as you go. Or as they put it: "Draw the owl." Start figuring it out. Put some of the pieces together. When you truly
- [My Favorite Question To Ask Candidates In A Job Interview.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/10/14/my-favorite-question-to-ask-candidates-in-a-job-interview/) - If you're interviewing for a job on my team, be ready to answer this question: What tools or apps do you use to work? When I'm hiring, I'm looking for people who are going to be able to work well with my team. If a candidate has the right work habits already, I'm confident that
- [Shit Happens.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/10/21/shit-happens/) - The work never goes like you want it to. Oh, you had big plans? Shit happens. Oh, you had goals/ambitions/dreams? Shit happens. Oh, things were supposed to go a certain way? Yeah... shit happens. I'm not saying you shouldn't make plans — you should! It's good to anticipate problems, and to try to get ahead of the
- [Less is Enough.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/10/01/less-is-enough/) - You’ve heard the expression, “Less is more.” I don’t believe that to be true. I think less is enough. I believe that, yes, you should sketch out those big plans. You should think about the best-case scenario. You should lay out the roadmap — the work you want to do in six months, in twelve
- [Make Time for the Work.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/09/28/make-time-for-the-work/) - When you become a boss or a manager, you have to learn how to deal with meeting creep — that phenomenon when meetings take over your calendar, with barely enough time to take a breath between them. You’ve got check-ins and calls and workshops and presentations. Every hour between 9 and 5 is booked. And
- [A Good Test Starts With A Great Question.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/09/25/a-good-test-starts-with-a-great-question/) - Perhaps you’ve run an A/B test before. You wanted to see which would result in more clicks: Headline A vs. Headline B. A red “Click Here!” button vs. a blue “Click Here!” button. A photo of a cat vs. a photo of a dog. What you’ve done is an optimization test. It’s a simple form
- [Don’t Overthink It.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/09/16/dont-overthink-it/) - This morning, I had an idea for a friend, but I wasn’t sure how to tell them. I started thinking about how I’d present the idea to them. In my head, I started writing the email to them — how I’d say hi, maybe share a story or two from the weekend, then get into
- [The Power of a Warm Welcome.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/09/10/the-power-of-a-warm-welcome/) - Inbox Collective’s been going for a few weeks now, and I’m working with several different clients. But those clients are coming from an unusual source — not, as many suspect, from cold calling, networking, or even SEO. They’re coming because of my Google Doc — and more specifically, because of my welcome email. Back in
- [Here, Read This: “Gone in 3.9 seconds.”](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/08/30/here-read-this-gone-in-3-9-seconds/) - I got the question for the hundredth time the other day: Why would you leave The New Yorker now? And what I keep saying: Right now, I have an opportunity to help a larger community — news organizations, non-profits, brands — with email. The moment exists right now for me to help, and I don't
- [Give Yourself Time.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/08/21/give-yourself-time/) - Today is my last day at The New Yorker — and tomorrow, Sally and I will get on a plane, go to a beach, and do a whole lot of nothing for a few days. If you’re switching jobs, that time off between work is invaluable. Once you get into the new job, those first
- [I Worked for Two Years at The New Yorker. This Is What I Believe.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/08/13/i-worked-for-two-years-at-the-new-yorker-this-is-what-i-believe/) - Every year, around Thanksgiving, I write a blog post that I call The Things I Believe. It’s an inventory of the year that was, as I look back on what I’ve learned and the person I am at that moment. As as I approach my final day at The New Yorker — in September, I
- [Just Go.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/07/01/just-go/) - Colonel Sandurz: Driver, prepare to move out. Dark Helmet: What are you preparing? You’re always preparing! Just go. Colonel Sandurz: Just go. About a decade ago, I went to a Startup Weekend event for the first time. The idea was simple: Over the course of a weekend, some people with big ideas would attempt to
- [When Will Then Be Now?](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/08/05/when-will-then-be-now/) - This is the second in a semi-occasional series of Spaceballs-inspired blog posts. Lord Dark Helmet: What the hell am I looking at? When does this happen in the movie?Col. Sandurz: Now. You’re looking at now, sir. Everything that happens now is happening now.Lord Dark Helmet: What happened to then?Col. Sandurz: We passed it.Lord Dark Helmet:
- [The Bad Idea Notebook.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/07/29/the-bad-idea-notebook/) - I have a lot of ideas — and most of them, frankly, are bad. But having bad ideas is OK — as long as you develop a filter to decide which ideas are worth working on, and which ideas should move to the scrapheap. I know I’m not along in having bad ideas. I read
- [How To Write A Great Email.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/08/27/how-to-write-a-great-email/) - When someone asks me what I do, I usually tell them (with a wink, mind you): Oh, I’m the guy who’s been sending you all those emails lately! But in many cases, that’s actually true! My team at BuzzFeed now sends tens of millions of emails out a month. I’ve personally written about 1,500 newsletters
- [Here, Read This: “Decades after life took them down one path, these women are reinventing themselves.”](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/07/22/here-read-this-decades-after-life-took-them-down-one-path-these-women-are-reinventing-themselves/) - The Washington Post profiled eight women who’ve done amazing things in their careers after age 50, and it's a story absolutely worth reading: When women turn 50, the world starts to tune them out. Employers see them as less valuable and are more likely to discriminate against them, according to research. Hollywood disproportionately portrays them
- [Outwork and Outnetwork.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/07/15/outwork-and-outnetwork/) - A few weeks ago, The Athletic published a piece on Buzz Williams, the new head coach for the Texas A&M men’s basketball team. Buzz used to coach at Virginia Tech, and before that, Marquette. Everywhere he’s gone, his teams have had success — in 11 seasons of coaching at Marquette and Virginia Tech, he’s taken
- [Introducing Inbox Collective, a New Email Consultancy.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/07/08/introducing-inbox-collective-an-email-consultancy/) - In a few weeks, I’m leaving my job as the Director of Newsletters at The New Yorker. Why would I leave a dream job, you might be wondering? Well, I’m opening up a little consultancy to help brands with email. I’ve been working in this space since 2012, when I became the first Newsletter Editor
- [Before You Take A Leap, Find Your Anchor.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/06/29/before-you-take-a-leap-find-your-anchor/) - It can be scary when you make a big life change, like starting a new job or moving to a new city. When you change something so central to your life, sometimes you struggle to find stable ground to stand on. The changes can feel overwhelming. But I think there are ways to make a big life change
- [Enough.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/06/16/enough/) - You know enough to start. You don’t have to know everything — in fact, it’s probably a good thing that you don’t. If you knew everything that was coming your way, you might convince yourself that the obstacles ahead were too great. You might decide that what you’re doing is too big, too ambitious, too crazy.
- [Staying Ahead Of The Line.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/10/23/staying-ahead-of-the-line/) - Here's another hard truth about doing the work: It's largely about setting goals and accomplishing goals. And accomplishing goals is really freaking hard. The work usually goes like this: 1. You set your goals. 2. You start accomplishing some of your goals. 3. You feel great about how much you've accomplished already. 4. You feel
- [Keep on Learning.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/06/24/keep-on-learning/) - It’s been a decade since I graduated from college. I thought that when I graduated — after all those years in school — that the learning would stop there. Turns out, that was just the start. As you go through your career, you’re always going to be working to learn new things, and discovering new
- [One Secret To Doing Better Work: Finding the Right Tools.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/06/28/finding-the-right-tools-for-the-job/) - About two weeks ago, I started swimming again. There's a guy who's been at the pool each time I've been there. He's a big guy — not all that tall, and a little round in the middle. But every time I've looked up in the pool, he's been lapping me. He'd be a lane or
- [Here’s One Way to Put Your Customers First.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/06/17/heres-one-way-to-put-your-customers-first/) - View this post on Instagram A post shared by The New Yorker (@newyorkermag) on May 13, 2019 at 4:58am PDT At the bottom of every New Yorker email, there’s a message to readers: “We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please send your thoughts and suggestions to TNYinbox@newyorker.com.” Readers do write in — sometimes with
- [That One Time I Sent An Email To Ted Leonsis.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/06/08/that-one-time-i-sent-an-email-to-ted-leonsis/) - This is the story of how an email to the owner of the Washington Capitals ended up opening doors for me.
- [Here, Read This: “Our Top 6 Pieces of Career Wisdom for New Grads.”](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/06/13/here-read-this-our-top-6-pieces-of-career-wisdom-for-new-grads/) - I loved this post from First Round Review highlighting six pieces of career wisdom — aimed mostly at new grads, but useful for anyone in their career. Their six pieces of advice are: 1.) Picture your career as a painting, not a ladder. 2.) Nurture your rookie spirit. It will serve you for your entire
- [See It With Fresh Eyes.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/05/13/see-it-with-fresh-eyes/) - I started my first job in journalism 16 years ago this summer. I’ve been working in email for seven years. I’ve got some experience to fall back on, but sometimes, I fall back on that experience too quickly. Someone will pitch an idea, and I’ll dismiss it. No, I’ll say, I tried that five or
- [Make Time for You.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/06/10/make-time-for-you/) - If you’re the bride or groom at a wedding — or if you’re just the host of a big party — here’s something I’ve learned: You have to make time to eat. Sure, you spent a lot of money on the food at your party. You did a tasting. You thought carefully about what you
- [Write It Down.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/05/23/write-it-down/) - A year ago this week, my team at Stry.us launched our Springfield bureau. It was an amazing summer, and I can't believe it's been a year. I am thankful for my team, and for our friends and partners in Springfield, and for everyone who helped us make that project go. But I'm also incredibly thankful
- [Write Out Your Bullets.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/06/03/write-out-your-bullets/) - Here’s one way to decide what you should work on next: Think about the work you’ve been doing in your current role, and write out the bullet points you’d include if you were putting together your resume today. What projects have you completed? What work are you most proud of? Make sure you explain the
- [How To Network At Work.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/09/16/how-to-network-at-work/) - If you want to be successful at a new job, there are only two things you have to do well: Ask great questions, and know lots of people. Let’s talk about that second requirement for a moment. The people I’ve seen succeed at companies, both big and small, are the ones who can say: I
- [Here, Read This: “The Work You Do, the Person You Are.”](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/05/30/here-read-this-the-work-you-do-the-person-you-are/) - This essay by Toni Morrison is fantastic, and you should read the whole thing, but I'll quote one section here — Toni's four rules for work: 1. Whatever the work is, do it well—not for the boss but for yourself. 2. You make the job; it doesn’t make you. 3. Your real life is with
- [Launch Something to Learn Something.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/05/28/launch-something-to-learn-something/) - It was the summer of 2013, just before the royal baby was born, when I started to believe that what we were working on at BuzzFeed was actually going to work. Maybe I should back up and explain. I’d gotten hired to lead the newsletter program at BuzzFeed in 2012. Over the first few months
- [Stuff I Didn’t Know Was OK When I Started My First Job.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/07/07/stuff-i-didnt-know-was-ok-when-i-started-my-first-job/) - It’s okay to say, “No.” It’s okay to say, “I don’t know.” It’s okay to be wrong, too — sometimes your intuition points you one way, or the data points you one way, and you end up being wrong. Happens. It’s okay to ask for what you want. It’s okay to ask for help. It’s
- [A Brief Commentary on Why Today is Not Important, Even Though Everyone Keeps Telling Me It Is.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/05/16/a-brief-commentary-on-why-today-is-not-important-even-though-everyone-keeps-telling-me-it-is/) - Two things -- important things -- are happening to me today. I am a very passive observer in both events. 1. I turn 22 years old. 2. I graduate from college. I know that May 16, 2009, is supposed to be a monumentally important day in the life of Dan Oshinsky. A half dozen of
- [Invest In Your People.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/05/15/invest-in-your-people/) - When someone finds out that I used to work at BuzzFeed, they usually end up asking me: What made that place so special? I typically give them the short answer: BuzzFeed did an exceptional job of hiring people — people who were funny, smart, hard-working, and unusually curious. When you hire amazing people, and give
- [Here, Read This: "The Marlins Are Sending Everyone to Spanish Class. Even Derek Jeter."](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/05/11/here-read-this-the-marlins-are-sending-everyone-to-spanish-class-even-derek-jeter/) - I've written before about how important it to invest in your teams, and how one of the secrets of BuzzFeed's success was the company's learning and development team. Here's a great example of that from an unexpected source: The Miami Marlins baseball team: Teaching English to minor league players from Latin America has understandably become
- [The Value of Leaving Things Out.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/04/08/the-value-of-leaving-things-out/) - I wrote a few weeks ago about the importance of learning to say “no.” Sometimes, you have to say no to ideas — even ones you like — to make sure that you have the opportunity to focus on more important things. But there’s an key corollary to that concept: Part of learning how to say
- [Everyone Gets the Chance to Make Their Own Mistakes.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/05/05/everyone-gets-the-chance-to-make-their-own-mistakes/) - I’m on a bus on the New Jersey Turnpike, heading home. I’d say we’re driving north, but that’s not quite right — we’re not moving. There’s a huge crash on the road, and traffic’s stopped. What should be a four-hour drive from Washington to New York will take nearly six. It didn’t have to be
- [Here, Read This: “It’s Never Too Late to Start a Brilliant Career.”](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/05/03/here-read-this-its-never-too-late-to-start-a-brilliant-career/) - I've written before that no matter where you are in your career, you're not behind. Here's another perspective on that idea, from author and former Forbes publisher Rich Karlgaard: How we evaluate young people places needless emotional burdens on families and has helped to spur an epidemic of anxiety and depression among teens and young
- [Here, Read This: “Inside the secret team dinners that have built the Spurs' dynasty.”](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/04/19/here-read-this-inside-the-secret-team-dinners-that-have-built-the-spurs-dynasty/) - When I was in San Antonio, I covered a fair number of Spurs games. Occasionally, I’d wander into the post-game interviews, and try to sneak in a question to Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. Popovich is legendarily cranky with the media, but he’s also one of the most interesting voices in sports — if you can
- [How Do You Decide What to Prioritize?](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/04/29/how-do-you-decide-what-to-prioritize/) - A few weeks ago, I read an article in the MIT Sloan Management Review, by Jeanne Ross, titled, “Why Hypotheses Beat Goals.” It makes the argument that instead of setting goals, more companies should be willing to make educated guesses about what will happen next — and then try to proves those hypotheses out. As
- [This 2-Minute Video Has Some Of The Best Career Advice I’ve Ever Heard.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/05/25/this-2-minute-video-features-some-of-the-best-career-advice-ive-ever-heard/) - I stumbled across this quick video featuring career advice from Carla Harris, a vice chairman at Morgan Stanley, and I had to share it. If you're in your 20s or 30s, take two minutes and listen to her advice. Her three big points: 1) “You will have the opportunity to have four to five careers
- [Good Teamwork Starts With Bad Adventures That Go Slightly Wrong.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/06/08/good-teamwork-starts-with-bad-adventures-that-go-slightly-wrong/) - The full Stry.us team has been down in Springfield for about two weeks. And we've been getting along really nicely -- as well as I could've hoped, actually. I was worried about this, actually. We're putting six reporters into a confined space -- we're all living together -- and asking them to work together for
- [No One Knows What Happens Next.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/01/01/no-one-knows-what-happens-next/) - There’s a famous “Today” show clip, from 1994, about e-mail. You’ve probably seen it. Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric are sitting on a couch, trying to figure out how to correctly read an email address, but get tripped up by the @ sign. (“That little mark with the 'a' and the ring around it” is
- [Setting The Intention.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/01/08/setting-the-intention/) - I wake up at the same time every day. I eat the same handful of meals for breakfast. I take the same train to work, and walk the same route to the office. It’s easy for the days to feel repetitive, or even dull. That shouldn’t be the case — I have a great job
- [Be Careful What You Say Yes To.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/02/27/be-careful-what-you-say-yes-to/) - I talked to a fellow Mizzou grad, Delia, for her newsletter, about newsletters. She asked me a really good question: You were the first newsletter editor at BuzzFeed, and you are the first and only newsletter staffer at The New Yorker now. Can you talk about the challenges of working as a team of usually
- [How I Set a Simple Goal for 2019.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/03/04/how-i-set-a-simple-goal-for-2019/) - At the end of last year, I wrote about three types of goals to set in the new year: Learning goals, personal goals, and fitness goals. I wrote: This is the time of year when people commit to New Year’s Resolutions — which inevitably end up discarded by the time February rolls around. So instead
- [The Job You Want May Not Exist Yet.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/02/01/the-job-you-want-may-not-exist-yet/) - I was having a conversation the other night with a friend from college, and we were talking about how much has changed in the decade since we graduated. “Did you ever think you’d be doing the job you’re doing today?” she asked. I didn’t. Ten years ago, my current role — being the person in
- [The Opposite of Division Isn’t Unity. It’s Collaboration.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/04/15/the-opposite-of-division-isnt-unity-its-collaboration/) - A few months ago, Sally and I saw Dar Williams play in the city. Dar’s a wonderful musician (“One of America’s very best singer-songwriters,” The New Yorker once wrote, but what do they know?), and she’s had a fascinating career. She’s performed solo and in groups, championed environmental causes, and even wrote a book about
- [Working With The Best People Matters Most.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/05/05/working-with-the-best-people-matters-most/) - Here’s something I’ve noticed about people who read a lot of business books that promise big ideas about the future of our industries: Those people tend to put a lot of faith in systems. On a Sunday, they’ll finish a book about the latest trend coming out of Silicon Valley, and on Monday, it’ll be
- [Everyone Panic!](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/04/23/everyone-panic/) - About a year ago, Gmail rolled out something they called "grid view," and it caused a bit of noise within the email community. Briefly: -Gmail has a feature called the tabbed inbox. It's designed to filter certain types of emails — like promotions from companies, or newsletters — into specific folders, making it easier to
- [I Have a Dream. I'm Just Not Sure They'll Be Up To It.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/05/28/i-have-a-dream-im-just-not-sure-theyll-be-up-to-it/) - Above, a TED talk that's absolutely worthy of your time. But the real reason I'm linking to it is because I'd like to mention a few things that the TED.com site does that I love. Okay, so go open the site in a new window. On the right sidebar, next to "About this talk," click
- [Narcissim Aside, a Few Words About the Job Search.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/05/27/narcissim-aside-a-few-words-about-the-job-search/) - My Dad asked a pretty simple question yesterday, and I gave a pretty simple answer. The question: So, are there actually jobs out there for you? The answer: Yes. Simple stuff, right? What I didn't explain then -- and what I'd like to explain here -- is that while there are jobs out there, the
- [The Plan Can Be Complicated. The Metrics Can Be Complex. The Goals Can Be Ambitious. The Mission Should Be Simple.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/04/01/the-plan-can-be-complicated-the-metrics-can-be-complex-the-goal-should-be-simple/) - Go ahead and write that memo. Make that deck. Put together an ambitious plan, with lots of specific goals, and multiple ways to measure success. But don’t lose sight of the ultimate mission. So many big plans get derailed because teams don’t know what they’re actually trying to achieve. Your organization may exist to inform
- [You Are Not Behind.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/05/10/you-are-not-behind/) - A J-school student told me a few weeks ago that she’s worried she’s behind when it comes to her career. Her peers have more experience or have won more awards than she has. She sees college journalists at other schools who seem to be a few steps ahead of her professionally. “Am I behind?” she
- [Two Great Questions: Why Not? And What Else?](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/03/11/two-great-questions-why-not-and-what-else/) - There's a pizza place around the corner from me that's pretty good. They've got a good pepperoni and mushroom slice, and they've got this chicken caesar pie, too, if you're into something kinda different. But what I like most about this pizza place are the guys behind the counter. There are two guys I see
- [Do More of What You Do Uniquely Well.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/03/25/do-more-of-what-you-do-uniquely-well/) - What are you good at? Think about it for a moment. What skills do you bring to the table? What are your best qualities or habits? Then think about your team at work. What is your team best at? What are your collective strengths? Lastly, think about your entire workplace. What is your organization great
- [What Really Matters When You Pick a College.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/03/19/what-matters-when-you-pick-a-college/) - Fourteen years ago this spring, I decided that I wanted to go to journalism school at the University of Missouri. It was a fantastic decision for me. I loved Mizzou, and was lucky to make amazing friendships there. But if I were offering advice to high school me, I’d make sure to tell him this:
- [Wait, How Does Everyone Else Know What The Hell Is Going On?](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/03/23/wait-how-does-everyone-else-know-what-the-hell-is-going-on/) - I spent the first six months of 2008 studying abroad in a little seaside town in Spain called Alicante, "studying" being a very loose term for what was actually going on. The last few weeks, some Americans came out to visit, and I kept asking them the same question: What did we miss while we
- [What's Your Name Again?](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/03/28/whats-your-name-again/) - A few weeks ago, I read a Q&A with Walt Bettinger, the CEO of Charles Schwab, and I keep coming back to something he said: Q: What about lessons you learned in college? A: A business strategy course in my senior year stands out. I had maintained a 4.0 average all the way through, and
- [Here, Read This: “In Baseball’s Game of Numbers, Yankees Differ on Which Ones Count.”](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/03/12/here-read-this-in-baseballs-game-of-numbers-yankees-differ-on-which-ones-count/) - Ever since “Moneyball,” baseball’s gotten smarter about statistics. And I loved this story about how one pitcher on the New York Yankees is using stats to improve his performance: James Paxton is a starting pitcher for the Yankees, not a statistics innovator. But during the 2018 season with the Seattle Mariners, before his off-season trade
- [5 Tips For Anyone Graduating From College This Year.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/01/27/5-tips-for-anyone-graduating-from-college-this-year/) - So you’re graduating in May, and you’re not ready for it. I remember the feeling — I wasn’t ready when I graduated from Mizzou in 2009. I wasn’t even sure what I was looking for in a first job! But now I’m on the other side of the table. I’ve hired entry-level employees at both
- [Here, Read This: "A career secret weapon: Thank-you notes."](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/02/24/here-read-this-a-career-secret-weapon-thank-you-notes/) - I've written before about the power of thank you notes. Here's a survey that suggests that they really do have an impact: There is one old-time tradition that seems to be holding on: the thank-you note. To some it may seem laughably archaic to hand-write a note, drop it in snail mail and hope the
- [Seinfeld's Thoughts On Money.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/02/06/seinfelds-thoughts-on-money/) - I got to see Jerry Seinfeld get interviewed on Monday night. This quote from the interview really struck me: "If you really want to make money, never make a decision based on money. If you chase money, you're going to get less of it. If you chase a thing that you love that's interesting, only
- [Three Things to Know When You Negotiate Your Contract at a New Job.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/02/18/three-things-to-know-when-you-negotiate-your-contract-at-a-new-job/) - The job hunting process can be a grind. You wrote a great resume and cover letter. You interviewed. You followed up with thank you notes. You interviewed again. You got offered the job! But that’s not the end of the process. Don’t accept it just yet — you should still think about how you can
- [Talk To Your Friends.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/03/12/talk-to-your-friends/) - We’re interviewing candidates for a new member of my team right now — exciting, I know! And that’s gotten me thinking about what I wish I knew when I was on the other side of the table, trying to get that offer. I’ve written before about things recent grads should be doing to get an
- [6 Simple Tips For Writing A Great Resume.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/04/24/6-simple-tips-for-writing-a-great-resume/) - Why you should use a template from Google Docs to design your resume — and five other tips that will help your resume stand out when applying for a job.
- [I Started At BuzzFeed Three Years Ago Today, And This Is What Happened.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/12/17/i-started-at-buzzfeed-three-years-ago-today-and-this-is-what-happened/) - Today is my three-year anniversary at BuzzFeed. I remember my first day vividly. My then-boss, Dao Nguyen, was out sick. So Chris Johanesen, our head of product, welcomed me and showed me to my desk. "You know what you're supposed to do, right?" he asked. I most certainly did not. I had built out Stry.us and launched
- [The Cover Letter I've Always Wanted to Write](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/02/19/the-cover-letter-ive-always-wanted-to-write/) - Dear Prospective Employer, I am not particularly good at following directions. Or perhaps I should say: it’s not that I’m bad at following directions. It’s that I tend to follow them too seriously. I mention this because my professors seem to think that these introductory letters shouldn’t be about what I’ve done; they should be
- [Things That Comfort Me When Every Fucking Thing Goes Wrong: My Membership in The Lucky Sperm Club.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/11/16/things-that-comfort-me-when-every-fucking-thing-goes-wrong-my-membership-in-the-lucky-sperm-club/) - Things tend to go wrong. This is a series of blog posts about the things I think about during those moments when the wrong things happen. It's my senior year at school. I'm in a photography class that I need to pass for graduation. The prof hands us a final assignment: A portfolio of seven
- [Things That Comfort Me When Every Fucking Thing Goes Wrong: Donut-Related Wisdom.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/11/08/things-that-comfort-me-when-every-fucking-thing-goes-wrong-donut-related-wisdom/) - Things tend to go wrong. This is a series of blog posts about the things I think about during those moments when the wrong things happen. My sophomore year of college, I loaded up the Ford Explorer and headed to St. Louis to go watch a football game. I had a giant cooler filled with
- [Things That Comfort Me When Every Fucking Thing Goes Wrong: John Prine.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/11/04/things-that-comfort-me-when-every-fucking-thing-goes-wrong-john-prine/) - Things tend to go wrong. This is the first in a series of blog posts about the things that I think about during those moments when the wrong things happen. I remember the very first time that everything went wrong for me. I think I was in first or second grade. My family was up
- [Things That Comfort Me When Every Fucking Thing Goes Wrong: Heartbroken Iowa Fans.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/01/02/things-that-comfort-me-when-every-fucking-thing-goes-wrong-heartbroken-iowa-fans/) - Things tend to go wrong. This is a series of blog posts about the things I think about during those moments when the wrong things happen. Two years ago, I was pretty sure I'd just torn something in my knee. I'd gotten these new running shoes that were supposed to encourage me to run on the balls
- [Things That Comfort Me When Every Fucking Thing Goes Wrong: The Monastery That Kept Us Dry.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/01/25/things-that-comfort-me-when-every-fucking-thing-goes-wrong-the-monastery/) - Things tend to go wrong. This is a series of blog posts about the things I think about during those moments when the wrong things happen. In 2008, I studied abroad in Spain. It wasn't necessarily the most challenging academic experience of my life. The school where I took classes had palm trees on campus.
- [Things That Comfort Me When Every Fucking Thing Goes Wrong: Explosions in the Sky.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/02/18/things-that-comfort-me-when-every-fucking-thing-goes-wrong-explosions-in-the-sky/) - Things tend to go wrong. This is a series of blog posts about the things I think about during those moments when the wrong things happen. I went to the Super Bowl once. It was fourth grade, and Dad got tickets. The Chargers played the 49ers in Miami. The halftime show was a combination of
- [The Best Things In Life Are Free.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/02/06/the-best-things-in-life-are-free/) - Believing in yourself is free. It doesn’t cost a cent to be kind. You don’t have to write a check to go the extra mile. You don’t have to go to school to learn a new skill. Connecting with an old friend costs nothing, and might mean a lot to both of you. You can’t
- [Here, Read This: "Kindness Is a Skill."](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/01/29/here-read-this-kindness-is-a-skill/) - This week in The New York Times, David Brooks writes about tips for creating a kinder workplace. There are some fantastic ideas in here, including: The all-purpose question. “Tell me about the challenges you are facing?” Use it when there seems to be nothing else to say. Never threaten autonomy. People like to feel that their
- [The Shower Test.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/01/20/the-shower-test/) - I come up with lots of ideas — some good, most bad — and over the years, I’ve figured out a few different ways to determine if an idea is actually worth pursuing. One of my favorites is also one of the simplest: The Shower Test. Quite simply: If I come up with an idea
- [Side Project Stories: Build A Space For Your Passions.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/01/14/side-project-stories-build-a-space-for-your-passions/) - Brian Stelter’s the host of CNN’s “Reliable Sources.” Before that, he was a writer on the media beat for The New York Times. And before that: He was a college student who launched a widely-read blog about cable news. Here’s his story: I was a television news junkie, and I wanted to read more about
- [So It’s Come To This: I’m Launching The Dan Oshinsky Quarterly Newsletter.](https://danoshinsky.com/2019/01/05/so-its-come-to-this-im-launching-the-dan-oshinsky-quarterly-newsletter/) - It’s a funny thing to admit, at least for a guy who’s been working in email since 2012, but: I don’t have a newsletter. I spend all day thinking about email and building email — not to mention replying to email — and for a long time, the idea of having to send one more
- [The Magic Equation: Work = Passion + Hustle + Skills + Time + Tribe.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/08/03/the-magic-equation-work-passion-hustle-skills-time-tribe/) - Let it be known: I love doing the work. I love it. I love showing up each day to make things happen. I love the feeling at the end of the day when I know I've done good work. But when I talk about "the work," I'm not talking about the day-to-day tasks and duties.
- [Here’s a Limited-Time Opportunity, Just For Readers of the Blog.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/12/18/heres-a-limited-time-opportunity-just-for-readers-of-the-blog/) - I’m lucky to have had the opportunity to talk to some journalism classes this year. I’ll talk about my career and my experiences, and answer questions as best I can about how they can set themselves up for success after college. (Yes, you should take that extra class in creative writing or photography! No, your
- [Here, Read This: My Year Of 101 Rejections.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/12/15/here-read-this-my-year-of-101-rejections/) - Here's a fantastic story from Emily Winter about a reach goal she set in 2018: To apply for more opportunities, even if it meant getting rejected 100 times. She writes: In pursuit of 100 rejections, I put myself forward for opportunities I’d previously thought were for smarter, funnier, cooler people. And sometimes I wasn’t rejected.
- [Here, Read This: “The Friendship That Made Google Huge.”](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/12/05/here-read-this-the-friendship-that-made-google-huge/) - There’s a great story in The New Yorker this week about two Google engineers, Sanjay and Jeff, and their unusual work partnership. It’s a wonderful story — and a fantastic reminder of how working with the right people can lead to unexpected results. Do give it a read.
- [Set Simple Goals For 2019.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/12/07/set-simple-goals-for-2019/) - I wrote about this in my most recent Things I Believe post, and wanted to expand on it: Commit to making time for something simple in the year ahead. Make a goal to try the crossword every morning, or to invite friends over for a home-cooked dinner ever week, or to see live music once
- [Finish What You Start.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/08/13/finish-what-you-start/) - Back in May, I started looking for a race. I knew that with Stry.us happening, I had plenty of business goals for the summer. What I didn't have was an athletic goal to work toward. So I started looking for a race. The 5Ks all seemed to fall on weekends when I'd be traveling for
- [What Do You Want In A First Job?](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/02/02/what-do-you-want-in-a-first-job/) - My youngest brother graduated in December (congrats, Sam!), and he’s out searching for his first real job. We had a nice talk about it last weekend. He wanted to know: What should I be looking for in a first job? I think the list of things is pretty short: 1) A great boss 2) A
- [Write It In Reverse.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/02/28/write-it-in-reverse/) - The class of 2017 is going to graduate in a few weeks. They’re going to be ambitious, and they're going to be ready to go from 0 to 60 in their careers. (I know I expected to hit the ground running.) But careers don’t move quite that fast. When I talk to recent grads and
- [How Long Are You Willing To Suck?](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/08/20/how-long-are-you-willing-to-suck/) - Put yourself out there and give yourself permission to suck. That’s not to say you should try to suck, but you have to give yourself permission to allow for the possibility of sucking. Without sucking, you’re never going to find your boundaries, and you’ll never push through those boundaries. That’s all it is. — Michael
- [Good. Better. Done.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/04/02/good-better-done/) - There's a Bruce Springsteen anecdote I really love. By the mid-1970s, he had recorded and released two albums -- two really good albums -- already. But Springsteen felt the pressure to turn in a breakthrough hit with his third album. He feared that if the third album didn't go big, he might be finished in
- [How To Get Readers To Sign Up For Your Newsletter.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/03/22/how-to-get-people-to-sign-up-for-your-newsletter/) - A few weeks ago, ONA's New York chapter invited me to talk about different ways to sign readers up for your newsletter. A lot of folks have been asking about, so for those who weren't there: Here's the full list of 25 highly-effective ways to drive new sign-ups.
- [Try It Before You Realize How Hard It Is.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/11/14/try-it-before-you-realize-how-hard-it-is/) - When I was 17, I got an summer internship working at a paper on Nantucket. It didn’t pay much, but the paper was small — there were maybe eight of us, total, putting out a newspaper every Wednesday — and they gave me opportunities to write. For a high school junior, it was a great
- [Here, Read This.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/10/24/here-read-this-exclamation-points/) - Here's a fantastic read from Nikki Waller, a Wall Street Journal reporter, who spent a month avoiding exclamation points in her emails. (I'm know I'm guilty of using — and perhaps overusing — those !!!'s and :-)'s in my emails, but they do such a good job of communicating tone!) In the piece, Waller writes: "Not
- [You Can Learn Something From Everyone.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/10/22/you-can-learn-something-from-everyone/) - The next time you meet someone new, try this: Assume they have something they can teach you. It could be a coffee with a new acquaintance, a big meeting at the office with several co-workers, or a casual chat at a cocktail party. No matter who they are, or what they do, make that simple
- [Do The Damn Thing, Dan.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/10/16/do-the-damn-thing-dan/) - I’ve been using this to-do app, TeuxDeux, for seven or eight years now. I swear by it. Everything that I need to do during the day, from attending weekly meetings to running an errand, goes in TeuxDeux. If I’m on the go and I suddenly remember that I need to follow up with someone or
- [The Importance of Glue Work.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/08/23/the-importance-of-glue-work/) - A post shared by Elmer's (@elmersproducts) on Aug 1, 2018 at 10:39am PDT I wanted to pass along this wonderful talk from Tanya Reilly, an engineer at Squarespace, where she talks about a concept she calls “Glue Work.” What's Glue Work? These are the behind-the-scenes contributions that someone puts in to help their team. At
- [Be Wrong More Often.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/10/04/be-wrong-more-often/) - Most of my ideas are bad. Recently, I started a notebook that I’ve been filling exclusively with bad ideas: TV shows that should never get made, apps that should never be launched, products that should never be spoken of to another human being. It’s humbling to add another bad idea to the notebook. For every
- [Here, Read This.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/09/26/here-read-this-getting-feedback/) - Julia Evans posted this fantastic little guide to getting feedback from your boss. Her advice is excellent: The more specific you can get with your questions, the more likely you are to get specific, actionable feedback. ask for specific feedback pic.twitter.com/wu4uWS0Ftc— 🔎Julia Evans🔍 (@b0rk) September 21, 2018 (That guide comes from her new zine, which
- [How Do You Have The Awkward Conversation About Your Job Search?](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/09/13/how-do-you-have-the-awkward-conversation-about-your-job-search/) - A friend of mine is searching for a new job. She has a job right now, but she’s ready for something new. She’s doing the right things: She’s gotten her resume in order, and she’s reaching out to colleagues and contacts to start talking about opportunities elsewhere. But she’s still a little nervous about one
- [The Gym Radius, and What It Means For Your Work.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/08/29/the-gym-radius-and-what-it-means-for-your-work/) - A few months ago, I started going to a new gym. I’d been at the same one for a few years, and I generally liked it. It was a huge space, with lots of daily classes, tons of machines, and nice locker rooms. They had multiple locations across the city. But despite that, I’d pretty
- [Side Project Stories: Build The Internship You Really Want.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/08/12/side-project-stories-build-the-internship-you-really-want/) - A post shared by Chatham Anglers (@chathamanglers) on Jul 4, 2016 at 5:50pm PDT In the spring of 2006, I was finishing up my freshman year at Mizzou, and trying to find an internship for the spring. I was too young for jobs at a big paper — they were looking for a junior or
- [How to Get a Job at The New Yorker.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/08/08/how-to-get-a-job-at-the-new-yorker/) - This week's cover, “On The Beach,” by @tomgauld. #TNYcovers A post shared by The New Yorker (@newyorkermag) on Jul 30, 2018 at 5:19am PDT In the year since I started this job at The New Yorker, I’ve been asked one question more than any other: How do I get a job there? Here’s what I
- [Best Buy (Best Buy!) Did Something Incredibly Smart.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/07/28/best-buy-best-buy-did-something-incredibly-smart/) - Back in 2016, after a trip to Best Buy, I wrote a post about the experience. I'd gone to get a new sound system installed in my car, and after experiencing surprisingly excellent customer service on that visit, I had an epiphany: Why was Best Buy trying to compete with Amazon on product selection when they already
- [Here, Read This.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/07/26/here-read-this-5/) - I've written before about ways to stay in touch with friends and colleagues — easy things, like writing birthday cards or sending congratulatory emails. Several former BuzzFeed colleagues have expanded on the idea with a post called, "A More Or Less Definitive Guide To Showing Up For Friends." It's a wonderful guide to the simple ways you
- [Here, Read This.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/10/04/here-read-this-2/) - One of my former BuzzFeed colleagues, Millie Tran, put together this fantastic presentation about how to visualize your career. It’s full of wonderful advice for people in their 20s and 30s — especially if you work in media. Take 5 minutes and give it a read here.
- [Here, Read This.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/03/05/here-read-this-3/) - A former co-worker of mine, Natalie, wrote about the One-Minute Rule — the rule if that if you can complete a task in less than a minute (responding to an email, cleaning a countertop, making your bed), you should do it right then and there. Definitely worth your consideration: Read it here.
- [Here, Watch This.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/03/23/here-watch-this-2/) - I love a good behind-the-scenes video. This one’s about a Spike Jonze-directed Apple ad, and it’s absolutely fascinating to see how many people and moving parts (literally, the set moves) go into making something like this. I watched it and couldn’t stop thinking about how incredible the talent must have been on this production —
- [Here, Listen To This.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/05/01/here-listen-to-this-2/) - If you’re a sports fan, you might remember the story of Jay Williams, the star point guard for the Chicago Bulls who got into a motorcycle crash that cut his career short. Maybe you haven’t heard the story of what happened after, of how he picked up the pieces and rebuilt his life. In a
- [Here, Read This.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/05/19/here-read-this-4/) - Every Thanksgiving, I write my Things I Believe post. It's one of my favorite ways to take stock of who am I, what I stand for, and how I've changed over the previous year. This week, I stumbled upon this: a very Things I Believe-ish list from investor Richard Jenrette, who died in April. There's
- [Side Project Stories: A Broadcaster's First Radio Broadcast.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/07/21/side-project-stories-a-broadcasters-first-radio-broadcast/) - I was reading this story about John Strong, the lead announcer for Fox at this year’s World Cup, and loved this anecdote: Early in his senior year in high school, Strong roped a friend from the school paper, Eric Olson, into helping him launch an online radio station. Olson helped with funding and the two
- ["Believe In What Is Possible In Life."](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/07/06/believe-in-what-is-possible-in-life/) - A few weeks ago, I wrote about my Washington Capitals, and their improbable run to the Stanley Cup. "It's OK to believe," I wrote. And because 2018 is relentless, here's a nearly identical story from the world of sports, this time from the World Cup. This week, England beat Colombia in a penalty shootout — the
- [Is There Anything You Can Still Get Out Of This Job?](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/06/27/is-there-anything-you-can-still-get-out-of-this-job/) - So let’s say you’ve decided you’re ready to leave your current job. You’re not being challenged in your role. You don’t have the team or resources to do your best work. Being willing to say that you're ready is a huge step. But it still might not be time to leave yet. Here’s something I’ve
- [See The Whole Field.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/06/22/see-the-whole-field/) - I’ve been watching a lot of the World Cup, and in particular, taking advantage of this unusual video feed that Fox Sports is offering online. Instead of the view from the sidelines, showing the players running left to right, it shows the entire field from behind the goal. And if you’ve never watched a soccer
- [It’s OK to Believe.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/06/11/its-ok-to-believe/) - When you need to hug everyone at once but you only have two arms. pic.twitter.com/JdMMnZ9Unp — NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) May 24, 2018 In the waning moments of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, with my Washington Capitals leading the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the team just one game away from advancing to the next round
- [Simple Ways To Build A Relationship.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/06/07/simple-ways-to-build-a-relationship/) - I haven’t told a story about my brother, Sam, in a long time. But I wanted to tell you one today. Sam graduated from college a few years ago, and after school, he got a job managing a restaurant in the midwest. It was a pretty small restaurant, and a few times a week, he
- [Before You Apply To A Job, Make Sure You Can Answer This Question.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/05/28/before-you-apply-to-a-job-make-sure-you-can-answer-this-question/) - If you don't have a good answer about your career plans, now's the time to craft an answer.
- [Here, Watch This.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/05/23/here-watch-this-abby-wambach/) - Former U.S. soccer star Abby Wambach gave a phenomenal commencement address at Barnard College about careers, leadership, and failure. Watch the whole thing: It’s absolutely fantastic. (And if you can’t watch it, read the transcript here.) It's the best 20 minutes you'll spend all day.
- [Don’t Make Business Cards. Build Your Own Website Instead.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/04/19/domain-name-versus-business-cards/) - What matters most is what a recruiter sees when they search for your name. That business card won't make much an impression — but a great website might.
- [Nancy and Julie.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/06/10/nancy-and-julie/) - When I look back on the women who've had the most impact on my life, I don't look to teachers. I don't look to historical figures. I look to my mother and her friends. I look most of all to Julie, and I look to Nancy. About five years ago, Julie died. Cancer. Last week,
- [Stop Talking About The Future. Start Working Today.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/06/13/stop-talking-about-the-future-start-working-today/) - “You have to learn to be bad at something before you can learn to be good at something." — John Oliver If I hear one more talk about the future of my industry, I'm gonna be sick. The future. Goodness, what the hell do we know about the future? We have no clue what
- [After The Frustration.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/06/17/after-the-frustration/) - "Innovation happens at the crossroads of frustration with the present and blind optimism about the future." — Aaron Levie A lot of really great stuff can come from being mad at where you are. You're pissed about your job or your friends or your place in the world, and you do something bold. That's where
- [The Fire.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/06/22/the-fire/) - "There's a fire burning deep inside / And it's as mad as it's mean / It's hungry as it's lean / And it's as fleeting as a dream." — John Fullbright Two separate things that happened this week: The first: A colleague at BuzzFeed died. His name was Michael Hastings, and I never met
- [Get The Work Out.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/06/24/get-the-work-out/) - "You can't choose what stays and what fades away." — Florence Welch I wrote a thing for BuzzFeed this week about Gmail. I thought it would be a pretty good post — no "What's The Cheapest, Classiest Way To Get Drunk," but a good post. And then it ended up being the biggest post I've
- [The 10-Year Plan For Overnight Success.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/06/27/the-10-year-plan-for-overnight-success/) - "Sucking at something is the first step to being sorta good at something." — Morgan Missen 10 years ago this summer, I started my first internship in journalism. I was 16. That summer, I got an article published in the A section of The Boston Globe, and I thought: This journalism thing is going
- [The Thing I Learned From The Spin Doctors.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/07/01/the-thing-i-learned-from-the-spin-doctors/) - "Just go ahead now." — Spin Doctors I have been obsessed lately with this video of the Spin Doctors playing 'Late Night' in the early 90s. David Letterman introduces the band with huge energy. He introduces them to America as though they're about to become the biggest thing since the Beatles. I look back
- [This One Very Good Break.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/07/04/this-one-very-good-break/) - "Our lives happen between the memorable." — Jack Gilbert A year ago today, something funny happened in Springfield, MO: Jordan and I had a Stry.us booth downtown at the ice rink. This guy came up to us. We hoped he wanted to talk about the project. He didn't. "You guys got any jumper cables?" he
- [Why Money Doesn't Buy What Matters.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/07/08/why-money-doesnt-buy-what-matters/) - "Joy is repeatedly being reminded that you believed in the right kinds of people." — Dharmesh Shah In 2011, three psychologists released a study about money and happiness. The title of their report summed it up nicely: "If money doesn't make you happy, then you probably aren't spending it right." They dug in further:
- [The Magic Hour.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/07/11/the-magic-hour/) - "The future is not some place we are going, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made. And the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination." — John H. Schaar There's this hour right before sunset where the light is perfect. Photographers call it
- [Get Ready. Get Going. Get Yours.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/07/15/get-ready-get-going-get-yours/) - "Life is a story, if you wouldn't read the one you're telling, write a different ending." — Jonathan Fields I went to the World Domination Summit last weekend. [1. Strange name for a conference, but powerful stuff.] And what I heard were a lot of great stories about how people do work: I heard
- [The Search For The Secret.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/07/18/the-search-for-the-secret/) - "When you feel like your work is not that good, you’re right there — you have to keep pushing. — Ike Edeani You don't want to hear this, but... tough. You're gonna. Deal with it. When I meet people who are trying to do something new in the world, I hear one thing over and
- [Everyone's A Hater.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/07/22/everyones-a-hater/) - “You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one.” — John Wooden This is Landon Donovan. He has scored more goals for the United States Men's National Team than any other player in U.S. soccer history. This is George Dohrmann. He is a reporter
- [The Solo Mission.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/07/25/the-solo-mission/) - "Oh and we end up in Brooklyn / It was rainin' so hard / Come up all day / And the rain clears it off." — Joe Purdy I was on a solo mission. That's what my friend, Emma, calls it. Sometimes, you want to do something — see a show, see a movie,
- [Are You All In?](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/07/29/are-you-all-in/) - "Only those with the courage to take a penalty kick miss them." — Roberto Baggio I was sitting on a park bench last week, waiting for a friend down by the Brooklyn Bridge. There was a man and a woman on the bench next to me. The man was hunting for a job. The
- [Otra! Otra!](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/08/01/otra-otra/) - "En la vida hay dos cosas ciertas // Son la muerte y el cambio." — Ozomatli If you ever go to see Ozomatli — and you really should; they're an amazing band from LA that's a fusion of all sorts of sounds and languages — then know this: At the end of their set,
- [Hours Mean Nothing.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/08/05/hours-mean-nothing/) - I read a thing this week that really struck me. It's from a CEO and founder of a few websites. And he wrote: At the end of each day, I’m frickin tired. But like that buff dude in the gym, I’m stoked on the weight I lifted that day. I don’t see the tired when
- [We're Talking About Practice.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/08/08/were-talking-about-practice/) - "I'm not shoving it aside, you know, like it don't mean anything. I know it's important, I do. I honestly do... But we're talking about practice man. What are we talking about? Practice? We're talking about practice, man." — Allen Iverson There's a new book out this week by a Sports Illustrated writer, David
- [Just Remarkable.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/08/12/just-remarkable/) - "What’s amazing about a leap of faith is how everyone around you is so sure it’s gonna work out, when deep down, you are so sure it won’t." — Tess Vigeland Back in July, I went to Portland for a conference, and I saw this talk. I have been thinking about it a lot.
- [It Doesn't Have To Be This Hard.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/08/15/it-doesnt-have-to-be-this-hard/) - I read this sentence this week, and it made me pause: In 1931, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary had listed “Rube Goldberg” as an adjective, defining it as “accomplishing by complex means what seemingly could be done simply.” And I started thinking about how much I love those Rube Goldberg machines. They really are fun to watch.
- [Some News: I’m Leaving BuzzFeed For The New Yorker.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/07/13/some-news-im-leaving-buzzfeed-for-the-new-yorker/) - Will work for clicks. A cartoon by Barbara Smaller, from 2014. #TNYcartoons A post shared by The New Yorker Cartoons (@newyorkercartoons) on May 21, 2017 at 6:41pm PDT I’ll keep this part brief: I’m starting a new job in August. I’m headed to the New Yorker, where I’ll be overseeing some new digital projects, starting
- [Launch It, Or Leave It Behind.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/07/20/launch-it-or-leave-it-behind/) - It’s my last week at BuzzFeed, and I’ve been cleaning out my desk drawers. It’s amazing what I've found in there: Gadgets I haven't used in years; random articles of clothing I never wear; and folders and folders of ideas, going back to my very first week of work in 2012. I’ve written about this before:
- [How Do You Know It’s Time To Leave Your Job?](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/08/13/how-do-you-know-its-time-to-leave-your-job/) - Since I announced that I was leaving BuzzFeed, a lot of people have been asking: How did you know it was the right time to leave? I hadn't been applying to jobs elsewhere when the New Yorker opportunity came around. So to make sure it was the right time for me to leave, I made
- [When They Zig, You Should Zag.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/08/17/when-they-zig-you-should-zag/) - I have a rule when it comes to picking new projects: If pretty much everyone is doing something, I try to head the other direction — and as fast as possible. I like have my own space to experiment in. I like being different. Sometimes, that means I miss out on a new trend, and
- [Play The Chorus Another 20 Times.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/08/28/play-the-chorus-another-20-times/) - I write a lot about the work — about the idea that there’s value in putting in the work every day, in trying even when the results aren’t very good, in showing up when you know that you don't have 100% in you that day. Here’s what that actually looks like. There’s a story I
- [After A Disaster, Give Money. (And Only Money.)](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/09/04/after-a-disaster-give-money-and-only-money/) - I’ll be back soon with the normal blog fare, but for now, here’s a PSA: In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, here’s something to keep in mind: If you want to help those in need, the best way is to donate money. CBS's "Sunday Morning" did a fantastic piece about the mountains of donations that
- [Here, Read This.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/09/12/here-read-this/) - A few weeks ago, I wrote, "When They Zig, You Should Zag", about trying to find opportunities hidden in plain site. And with that in mind, I wanted to share this fantastic piece from The Ringer about the unusual lessons that the Atlanta Falcons have learned from a cycling team. It's a fantastic example of how a
- [My OOO Misadventure.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/09/15/my-ooo-misadventure/) - A few months ago, I started thinking about ways to handle email while out of the office. I was getting a lot of email while I was on vacation, and I wanted to figure out a way to, A) Reduce the number of emails in my inbox, and B) Make sure that my co-workers weren't sitting around
- [Make It Work.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/09/29/make-it-work/) - If you don’t have all the money you need to build something, you can still make it work. If you don’t have all the knowledge you need to build something, you can still make it work. If you don’t have all the time you need to build something, you can still make it work. It won’t be
- [Be Willing To Suck.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/10/22/be-willing-to-suck/) - I talked to a journalism class this week, and they asked me about Silicon Valley mantras, like “Move fast and break things” and “Fail fast, fail often.” How do you feel about them?, they wanted to know. I’ve written a few times over the years about failure, and I’ve been thinking about it more at this new job.
- [Do Something Small, Do Something Kind.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/10/27/do-something-small-do-something-kind/) - I’ve written before about bad days — how to react to them, how to keep going when you're having one. I even wrote a blog series back in 2011-12 called “Things That Comfort Me When Every Fucking Thing Goes Wrong.” I was thinking about those posts this morning on the way into work. The New York subway system
- [Talk To Your Fans.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/11/07/talk-to-your-fans/) - Here’s something I’m trying to do more of: Talk to the people who use our products. The easy way to do that is to survey them. We’ll send a survey to our subscribers, and promise them that it only takes 2-3 minutes to finish the survey.[1. And we actually time ourselves taking the survey to
- [Something We Tried (And Loved) In 2017: Wishing More People Happy Birthday!](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/11/16/something-we-tried-and-loved-in-2017-wishing-more-people-happy-birthday/) - A few years ago, my friend Leslie’s dad died, and she wrote a wonderful piece about him. This one part of her story really stuck with me: Every year, Leslie’s dad would call family, friends, and co-workers on their birthdays and sing “Happy Birthday”: “The dude had a goddamn calendar full of people he would
- [Direction Is More Important Than Speed.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/12/01/direction-is-more-important-than-speed/) - A co-worker asked me this week: How busy are you these days? I’ve been at this job for four months, and my co-worker knows that we have a thousand things to do. We have to improve the way we drive newsletter growth. We have to launch new products. We have to improve our existing products.
- [How To Network The Right Way.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/12/06/how-to-network-the-right-way/) - It took me a decade to figure out what “networking” really meant: Meeting lots of people, being kind to them, and staying in touch. That’s it. Meet lots of people. Go to events involving people in your field. Reach out to leaders you admire. Talk to friends of friends — the network of people at
- [Here, Watch This.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/12/18/here-watch-this/) - My former boss at BuzzFeed, Dao Nguyen, gave a TED Talk about what makes something go viral. Dao's one of the smartest people at BuzzFeed — take 10 minutes and watch:
- [Everyone Needs A Good Editor.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/12/21/everyone-needs-a-good-editor/) - A few weeks ago, I flew to Australia to give a talk about email, and I flew down on Fiji Airways.[1. I should say: Their customer service was excellent. I’d absolutely recommend them if you’re flying to that part of the Pacific.] Ever since, I haven't stopped thinking about the flight map in their in-flight
- [Three Work Resolutions for 2018.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/01/04/three-work-resolutions-for-2018/) - Last year, I tried making a few work resolutions — things I wanted to do better at work in the coming year. Let’s try this again for 2018. In the new year, I’d like to do a few things better: 1) I want to do a better job of holding my colleagues accountable — and
- [Here, Listen To This.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/01/06/here-listen-to-this/) - I’m a huge fan of James Andrew Miller, the author behind the best-selling oral histories of ESPN and “SNL.” He’s also got a podcast, “Origins,” and the new season focuses on ESPN. I just listened to the episode about “Pardon The Interruption,” the ESPN talk show that changed the landscape for debate on cable TV.
- [Just Because It's Hard Doesn't Mean It's Complicated.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/01/13/just-because-its-hard-doesnt-mean-its-complicated/) - I’m watching college basketball last Saturday. Clark Kellogg, who’s been doing games for CBS for 20+ years now, is on the call. It’s the Missouri-Florida game, and Mizzou’s on offense. There’s a mismatch: One of the Florida guards is matched up in the post against a Missouri player who has seven inches and probably 70
- [How To Do Better Work, Faster.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/01/21/how-to-do-better-work-faster/) - Here’s something I’ve been told: You can do work well, or you can do work quickly — but you can’t do both. I don’t think that’s true. I believe you can learn how to do quality work with speed. The way to get there is through process. If routines are the habits that individuals use
- [Make The Hockey Assist.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/01/31/make-the-hockey-assist/) - Here’s something I love about team sports: Credit’s given not just to the person who scores, but also the players who set up the score. In basketball, an assist is only given to the player who makes the pass that leads to a basket. But in hockey, there’s also a secondary assist, given to the
- [Things Change Quickly.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/02/04/things-change-quickly/) - I'm just old enough to remember the artifacts of the recent past. I remember computers with MS-DOS and floppy disks. I remember the first time I saw an iMac in my elementary school’s computer lab. I remember the dial-up sound. I remember when the librarians at my middle school showed us how to use Google.
- [Make Sure Someone Holds You Accountable.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/03/03/make-sure-someone-holds-you-accountable/) - I’ve only ever lost weight once — from 2012 to 2013, when I decided to compete against my Dad in a $1,000, winner-takes-all competition we called The Belly Challenge. It worked for a few reasons: 1) I didn’t want to lose to my Dad, and I definitely didn’t want to write him a check. 2)
- [Try Weird Stuff.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/03/18/try-weird-stuff/) - I’ve written before about my love of the morning paper — the physical edition that shows up on my doorstep every morning. You never know when you’ll flip through the pages and find something unexpected. For instance: the obituaries. I’d never go looking for them online, but in the paper, I try to make a
- [You, Too, Can Make A Thing.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/03/30/you-too-can-make-a-thing/) - I was so excited to find a story in the New York Times Food section this week, titled, “A New Generation of Food Magazines Thinks Small, and in Ink.” Here’s how it starts: Shayne Chammavanijakul, a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, felt let down by the way some magazines depicted Asian cuisines
- [Some People Specialize, Some Are Versatile.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/04/08/some-people-specialize-some-are-versatile/) - A basketball team can put five players on the floor at one time. A baseball team can have 25 players on the roster on game day. So how do you build the best possible roster with those limitations? I’ve been fascinated by some of the ways teams are trying to address that question. In basketball,
- [Why A Side Project Can Be So Valuable.](https://danoshinsky.com/2018/04/14/why-a-side-project-can-be-so-valuable/) - If you’re still in school, or just out of college, you should really have a side project. If you’ve got a job or an internship for the summer, that’s great — but that gig probably isn’t showcasing your work in the way you want. It’s up to do to build your own showcase. But you should
- [How to Get Your Ass Moving.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/05/01/how-to-get-your-ass-moving/) - Some mornings you wake up, and -You can't find your keys. -The gym's closed. -The highway's blocked.[1. Here's looking at you, donkey in the road. And yes, Grandma, he's the ass I'm talking about in the title. I wouldn't use that kind of language on the blog otherwise :-)] -Oh, and it's raining, and you
- [5 Things Before Breakfast.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/07/05/5-things-before-breakfast/) - My first job turned me into a morning person. I worked from 6:30 am to 3:30 pm, but to actually do my job, I needed to wake up around 5:30 in the morning to start updating the KENS5.com homepage. Then I’d eat breakfast and leave home around 7. By the time I showed up at the
- [It’s OK If Your Ideas Suck.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/06/28/its-ok-if-your-ideas-suck/) - I want to tell you about a bad idea of mine. My bad idea happened on December 18, 2012. It was my second day at BuzzFeed. I didn’t know anyone yet, and I didn’t have any idea what I was supposed to be doing. I’d met with one of our designers to build the templates
- [Have You Tried Asking Them What They Think?](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/06/21/have-you-tried-asking-them-what-they-think/) - Take a second and watch this video. It’s of guitarist Taylor Goldsmith, from the band Dawes, debuting a new song for listeners. And before he starts, he mentions this: “I’m going to do another new one, and this one I’ve never done before for anybody, so it makes me a little bit nervous. But if it’s
- [Success = Work + Luck](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/06/09/success-work-luck/) - Five years ago, I wrote about the magic equation for work. It was simple: Work = Passion + Hustle + Skills + Time + Tribe If you had passion for what you did, the ability to hustle and ramp up your work rate, the right skills for the job, enough time, and an awesome team behind
- [Too Late/Too Soon: An Introduction.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/02/04/too-latetoo-soon-an-introduction/) - When do you know that it's time? Introducing a month of posts about how I learned to stop worrying, buck up and do the work. I've had a song stuck in my head for a few weeks now, and it just won't leave. It's called "Too Late Too Soon," and it's by a Nashville musician,
- [So This Is 30.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/05/16/so-this-is-30/) - When I was in high school, my journalism teacher made us end every news report with "-30-". Why -30-? Nobody really seemed to know. But if you saw it, that meant you'd reached the end of the story. So I suppose that for most of my life, I've been thinking of 30 as the end. Which
- [Let’s Get Uncomfortable.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/05/15/lets-get-uncomfortable/) - I hate feeling comfortable. Why? When I’m comfortable, I’m not challenging myself. When I’m comfortable, I’m not learning new things. When I’m comfortable, I’m not trying to reach really big goals. So what do you do when you start feeling comfortable? You can start a new routine. You can set a new goal. You can
- [Set Learning Goals For Yourself.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/05/08/set-learning-goals-for-yourself/) - There are a lot of things you can’t control at your job. In fact, the longer you stay at a job, the more you realize that many — if not most! — of the things that happen at work are outside your control. Successes are a group effort, and so are failures. I’m not here today
- [Own The Moment.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/04/27/own-the-moment/) - My wife and I spent last weekend at a wedding on the Jersey shore, and like every other outdoor wedding we’ve ever been to — and I believe this was our sixth outdoor wedding together — there was the threat of rain. This is how it works with weddings. You plan for the perfect day,
- [Keep On The Sunny Side.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/04/19/keep-on-the-sunny-side/) - It’s that time of the year when I’m spending a lot of my time watching playoff hockey. I write about it pretty much every year. Last year, I wrote about how every new opportunity gives us an opportunity to rewrite our story. The year before, I wrote about chasing the action, and learning when to find space
- [Just Tell Me What’s Going On.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/04/13/just-tell-me-whats-going-on/) - Here’s something I've discovered about managing a team that I learned at — of all places — the airport: We’ve all been on a flight that gets delayed. Maybe you’re at the gate, still waiting to board. Or you’re on the plane already, and there’s going to be a delay. I’ve discovered there are two
- [Don’t Forget To Enjoy The Ride.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/04/09/dont-forget-to-enjoy-the-ride/) - A post shared by BuzzFeed Marketing (@buzzfeedx) on Jul 27, 2015 at 1:14pm PDT There are days at BuzzFeed when I have to stop to remind myself: Can you believe you’ve been a part of this thing? We’ve grown so much and we’ve grown so fast — from 30 million unique visitors to more than
- [Five People You Meet In Every Office.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/03/31/five-people-you-meet-in-every-office/) - Baseball season begins next week, and there’s buzz around the league about one player and his potential impact on the game. The player is Andrew Miller, a relief pitcher for the Cleveland Indians. Miller is one of the best in baseball: He’s unhittable on the mound, and teams rarely eke out runs against him. For
- [Everyone Has Ideas.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/03/23/everyone-has-ideas/) - I have a lot of ideas. They’re not always good ideas — but I always have ideas. I wrote about my approach to ideas back in 2012: “The challenge, it turns out, isn’t coming up with good ideas. It’s deciding which of them is worth pursuing and working on.” In that same post, I laid out
- [Ask For A Little More.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/03/18/ask-for-a-little-more/) - Last week, I wrote about a big mistake I made when I was first interviewing at BuzzFeed: I didn’t talk to colleagues and mentors about the role, so I incorrectly estimated the value of the job. In the end, I accepted an offer for less money than I should have. And a few days after
- [The Rules Don’t Apply.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/02/17/the-rules-dont-apply/) - Imagine you’ve got a pencil in your hand, and I give you this challenge: Using four continuous straight lines, without picking up your pencil, what’s the best way to draw a line through every one of those nine dots? I’ll give you a second. If you try to go around the outside first before cutting
- [The 1-1-1 Model.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/02/12/the-1-1-1-model/) - A friend forwarded me an email the other day — Mikki Halpin’s Action Now newsletter. It’s an email series geared towards inspiring progressive activism, but she said something so wonderful that I wanted to give it a little shoutout here. She wrote: Think about all of the things swirling around you, all the opportunities you have
- [Ask, Listen, Learn, Decide. (The Tevye Theory Of Leadership.)](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/02/03/ask-listen-learn-decide-the-tevye-theory-of-leadership/) - Can we talk about “Fiddler on the Roof” for a second? I love “Fiddler.” I love the music, and I love the story.[1. I especially love the Lin-Manuel Miranda version of “To Life”, but that’s for another day.] And as I grow into a leadership role at my office, I’ve been thinking a lot about the main
- [Look Up.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/01/24/look-up/) - I’ve lived in New York City for four years, and in those four years, I don’t believe I’ve ever gone all Tom Friedman and written a post in which I take a tiny public transportation experience and make it into a big thing. That, sadly, ends today. So with apologies to the Times’s op-ed page,
- [Momentum Matters.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/01/19/momentum-matters/) - I hate feeling stuck. I hate those weeks where you feel like things aren’t moving forward — your relationships, your job, your life. You feel like things aren’t going at the speed you want. I’ve been there enough times to know how to get myself unstuck, and it might work for you, too: By starting
- [Get That Buy-In.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/01/11/get-that-buy-in/) - ’Tis the season to start setting New Year’s resolutions. Every year, I set several personal goals, but this year, I want to set a few resolutions for my work, too. Here’s the third and final resolution: I’m really excited about something that’s happening at work this month: Several members of my team are moving on
- [Reset Your New Year’s Resolutions Every Quarter.](https://danoshinsky.com/2017/01/02/reset-your-new-years-resolutions-every-quarter/) - ’Tis the season to start setting New Year’s resolutions. Every year, I set several personal goals, but this year, I want to set a few resolutions for my work, too. Here’s the second: In 2016, I set a few different goals for myself. I set a few small goals that I felt were highly achievable,
- [Start It From The Top.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/12/28/start-it-from-the-top/) - ’Tis the season to start setting New Year’s resolutions. Every year, I set several personal goals, but this year, I want to set a few resolutions for my work, too. Here’s the first: I read this wonderful quote in a Chris Pratt profile about the tone that the star of a movie or TV show can set
- [This Behind-The-Scenes Video Of The ‘SNL’ Crew Tearing Down A Set In Two Minutes Is Absolutely Fascinating.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/12/25/this-behind-the-scenes-video-of-the-snl-crew-tearing-down-a-set-in-two-minutes-is-absolutely-fascinating/) - I love learning about the way other people work — not just what they do during their day, but how they do it. A few years ago, I remember grabbing a burrito at Chipotle late in the afternoon, in the dead time between the lunch rush and dinner. The manager was training a team of new
- [Is There Anything Else I Haven’t Asked About?](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/12/09/is-there-anything-else-i-havent-asked-about/) - There’s a trick that I learned in journalism school that more people should know about. It’s simple: If you’re interviewing a source, ask your questions. Listen carefully, and ask follow-up questions. And before you end the interview, ask one final question: Is there anything else you want to discuss that I haven’t asked about? You’d be shocked
- [What Would Make This A Great Year?](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/12/02/what-would-make-this-a-great-year/) - December is here, and it's the time of year when I always ask myself one question: What’s left that my team can accomplish before Dec. 31? I know it's hard to think about work this time of year. The holidays are almost here, and every week brings more and more people on vacation. You're shopping. You're
- [Take Care Of Yourself, OK?](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/11/18/take-care-of-yourself-ok/) - We’re dogsitting this week for a neighbor’s dog. Her name is Lexi. She is — and I have told her this about 10,000 times already — a very, very good girl. This happens to be a particularly good week for us to be taking care of a 10-pound ball of fluff who basically only wants
- [Let’s Get To Work.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/11/11/lets-get-to-work/) - My wife and I sat down on Wednesday night to watch TV. We just wanted some quiet. We flipped through on-demand to find something to watch, some bad TV to take our minds off everything. Except that during the first commercial break, this ad appeared on our TV. It was an ad the Hillary team
- [One Thing I’m Trying To Get Better At.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/11/02/one-thing-im-trying-to-get-better-at/) - When I was younger, I was a bit of a know-it-all. In any situation, I almost always thought I had the right answers. But as I get older, I’m learning to quiet that voice that jumps to a conclusion right away. There’s a concept they teach at my office, called the Ladder of Inference. It
- [Being A Sports Fan Made Me An Optimist — Even Though My Teams Always Lose.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/10/28/being-a-sports-fan-made-me-an-optimist-even-though-my-teams-always-lose/) - I love sports. I love my Washington Capitals and Washington Nationals. I love my Missouri Tigers. I love my Maryland Terrapins. The only thing is: I happen to root for teams that almost never win the big one. In my lifetime, my teams have combined for one championship: Maryland’s 2002 national title in basketball. The
- [You Don’t Need Permission To Do The Best Things In Life.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/10/18/you-dont-need-permission-to-do-the-best-things-in-life/) - You don’t need permission to call someone you care about just to say hi. You don’t need permission to send a kind email to a friend. You don’t need permission to take a long run in the park. You don’t need permission to learn something new. You don’t need permission to try a recipe you
- [Nobody’s Going To Stop You.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/10/08/nobodys-going-to-stop-you/) - There's a fantastic story on Deadspin this week titled, “I Covered The Braves For A Newspaper That Didn't Exist.” It’s the story of how a real estate broker from Atlanta realized that he could get a press pass to cover his favorite baseball team by inventing a fake newspaper and becoming its one and only
- [Do One Thing Really Well.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/09/28/do-one-thing-really-well/) - Last month, on a road trip back from New England, I had the best pizza of my entire life. It was at a place called Sally Apizza in New Haven, Connecticut, a restaurant that's been there since 1938. The pizza was incredible. Everything they did — the crust, the toppings, the sauce — was perfect. Right
- [Everybody Does Something Else.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/09/20/everybody-does-something-else/) - A week before I started my job at BuzzFeed, I started to get the sense that this new job was going to be a little... different. I was scrolling through Twitter when I saw everyone at BuzzFeed — literally, hundreds of my soon-to-be co-workers — retweeting an account called @SeinfeldToday, which imagined if Seinfeld took place in the
- [Your Fuckup Probably Isn’t A Big Deal.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/09/16/your-fuckup-probably-isnt-a-big-deal/) - In 2012, I wrote a blog post on this very site that asked a rather uplifting question: “How long are you willing to suck?” In it, I suggested that if you were going to get really good at anything, you were going to suck at it for a very long time first. It really does take a
- [You Don’t Know Who Jerry O’Keefe Is. But Here’s Why I Remember Him.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/08/29/you-dont-know-who-jerry-okeefe-is-but-heres-why-i-remember-him/) - I was reading through the paper this morning when this headline caught my eye: “Jeremiah O’Keefe, Ace in His First World War II Battle, Dies at 93”. I didn’t recognize the face of the man in the fighter plane, but down the page, there was a second photo of a man — the same face,
- [The Blog Is Going On Hiatus For August!](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/08/07/the-blog-is-going-on-hiatus-for-august/) - Fun blog note: I'm getting married this week! And with the wedding and honeymoon coming up, the blog's going to take a bit of a break. I'll be back in September with more posts. Have a great rest of your summer — and I'll see you back here soon! — — — That's a photo of
- [Get Ready To Grab That Baton.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/07/31/get-ready-to-grab-that-baton/) - I love the Olympics, and I think there’s a lot to learn from watching them. I’ve written before about the Yellow Line Theory. I’ve written about the importance of keeping your eyes on the road ahead. And with the Olympics just a few days away, here’s this year’s big Olympics idea. — — — I’ve talked
- [How To Explain That Blip In Your Resume.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/07/15/how-to-explain-that-blip-in-your-resume/) - I’ve been talking to a lot of recent grads lately, young people who’ve moved to New York and are trying to figure life after college.[1. Way back in 2009, I wrote those three words as, “Life? After college?” And that still seems to ring true for recent grads.] The market seems to be improving for
- [Do It For The Story.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/06/20/do-it-for-the-story/) - A buddy of mine from college got married last weekend. We went to Chicago to celebrate him and his new bride, and to toast good times. We told all of our favorite stories for the thousandth time, and we laughed until the wee hours. And one phrase of ours from college kept coming up again and again:
- [Is It Baggage Or Experience?](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/05/27/is-it-baggage-or-experience/) - I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the narratives that we construct around our lives, and how they influence the way we see the world. Point in case: The Stanley Cup Playoffs. The San Jose Sharks are going to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history — after years of coming
- [What Happens After The Rocket Ship Levels Off?](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/06/02/what-happens-after-the-rocket-ship-levels-off/) - I can’t believe I’m saying this, but: I completely agree with Simon Cowell on something. You remember Simon, of course. He was the loud, controversial judge from “American Idol", and the reason even I tuned in to see that show's finales.[1. I still stand by my Ruben Studdard vote.] Anyway, he said something in an interview
- [How I’d Revitalize Best Buy With One Simple Fix.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/06/18/how-id-revitalize-best-buy-with-one-simple-fix/) - This is a little outside my normal sphere of expertise. OK, a LOT outside that sphere of expertise. But still: I was inspired on a trip to the store to write about a way an entire business could do better work. Here’s what I think. ——— A few weeks ago, I did something I hadn’t done
- [What’s The Problem?](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/06/09/whats-the-problem/) - Major League Baseball’s draft is tonight, which has me thinking about “Moneyball,” the best book ever about the way baseball teams are built. I love this one scene from the movie adaptation of "Moneyball," where the scouts are sitting around the room, trying to figure out how to replace three key stars from the previous
- [Always Trust Your Cape.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/05/17/always-trust-your-cape/) - I don’t get worked up much when musicians die. But Guy Clark — a wonderful country singer/songwriter — died today, and I went digging for a great song of his, “The Cape.” Specifically, this lyric: Well, he's one of those who knows that life is just a leap of faith / Spread your arms and
- [Now Now NOW.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/04/29/now-now-now/) - I've written before about one my favorite habits: Sending occasional, out-of-the-blue "Congrats!" or "Thinking of you!" emails, or even calling old friends when I've got a free minute just to say hi. I was thinking of that today while reading an oral history of Prince's famous guitar solo at the Rock and Roll Hall of
- [Say It Now.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/06/03/say-it-now/) - "Cause this is what you've waited for." — Glen Hansard When I was a kid, I was really shy about approaching people. An interview with a source, or just saying hello — I was always slow to make a move. And at some point, I just got tired of dawdling. Waiting was exhausting. I learned:
- [I Almost Burned Down My Apartment Because I Was Too Busy Watching Hockey.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/04/17/i-almost-burned-down-my-apartment-because-i-was-too-busy-watching-hockey/) - A photo posted by Washington Capitals (@washingtoncaps) on Apr 15, 2016 at 12:17pm PDT I don't post a lot of personal stories anymore on the blog, but I put this one up on Facebook this week, and it got such a response that I wanted to re-post it here. TL;DR — I'm an idiot. ——— It’s
- [What Do You Do When Your Entire Job Changes?](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/01/29/what-do-you-do-when-your-entire-job-changes/) - I had a moment today where I had to ask myself: What the hell am I doing today? This sort of question isn't all that strange. I do this every once in a while: I wonder about what it is I do, and whether or not I’m doing the right thing right now — normal
- [Get That Glide Out Of Your Game.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/04/27/get-that-glide-out-of-your-game/) - I’ve been watching a lot of the NHL playoffs lately, mostly because I’m trying to give myself an early heart attack, but also because my Washington Capitals are in the hunt for the Stanley Cup. As always, I’ve been paying close attention to how our superstar, Alex Ovechkin, is playing. If you’re not familiar with
- [One Little Piece Of Advice For The Class Of 2015.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/05/12/one-piece-of-advice-for-the-class-of-2015/) - Hi, there! Congrats on graduation — and welcome to the world of unemployment! You're probably already applying to a million jobs online, and not hearing anything back from employers. And worse: You're living at home with your parents, and they're going to keep asking you the big question: Why haven't you gotten a job yet?
- [What Are You Going To Do?](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/05/20/what-are-you-going-to-do/) - When someone comes to me with a problem, one of my favorite things is to listen to what they have to say and then ask six of the best words in the English language: What are you going to do? And oftentimes, they’ll start talking about planning or ideas, and I’ll just cut them off
- [10 Things That Will Save You So Much Trouble At The Office.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/05/27/10-things-that-will-save-you-so-much-trouble-at-the-office/) - 1.) Don’t send emails if you don’t have to. If you can walk over to someone’s desk and explain something, do it. If you can make a phone call, do it. Unless it’s something simple, don't send that email. It’ll save you time in the long run. 2.) Say “Congrats!” If someone kicks ass on
- [So What Do You Want To Ask?](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/06/01/so-what-do-you-want-to-ask/) - I've been lucky to meet some exceptional people in my life, and there's something interesting that I've noticed about almost all of them. They have a lot of the common traits you’d expect — they work hard; they surround themselves with good people; they're highly skilled; you get the idea. But there’s something else: Almost every
- [Let's Make Yesterday Count.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/07/20/lets-make-yesterday-count/) - When I first started working, there were really only two types of days: good days, and bad days. But over time, those two categories spawned a whole new set of days. There were good days that were slow, and good days that were fast; good days where a dozen great things all seemed to happen
- [No.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/07/30/no/) - A few weeks ago, I wrote about 10 things that will save you time at the office. But there’s one more I didn’t write about in that post, and I want to touch on it now: It’s the word “no.” I haven’t always been good at saying that word. I really like saying “yes.” I
- [It's All Process.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/08/19/its-all-process/) - I just finished “The Best Team Money Can Buy,” a really good new read on the Los Angeles Dodgers’ quest to win a World Series. It focuses in on Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers’ star left-handed pitcher, and one of the most dominant players in the game. (How dominant? He’s won the Cy Young award for
- [For Whatever Lies Ahead.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/09/08/for-whatever-lies-ahead/) - Stand in my shoes for a second. You’re standing on a hill above the Pacific, maybe an hour north of San Francisco. You kayaked here from a bay, across unexpectedly choppy water. Your arms are sore. You set up camp on the beach, and then you start hiking up this hill. You’re not sure how far
- [Don’t Follow The Leaders.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/09/17/dont-follow-the-leaders/) - Here’s a very smart thing that someone told the New York Times this week: “So if everybody is essentially doing the same thing, is anybody likely to get ahead? That quote happens to be about — of all things — the surprisingly high-stakes world of convention center hotel construction. But it could just as easily
- [Another Chance To Do Better.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/09/25/another-chance-to-do-better/) - This week marks the end of the Jewish High Holidays. I like the High Holidays for a lot of reasons: You get to see family members that you don't see every day; you get to feel this connection to an incredible, ancient tradition; and you get to eat a ton of lox. (Mostly, I like
- [Why I Started Reading The <em>New York Times</em> In Print (Yes, Print!) Again.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/09/28/why-i-started-reading-the-new-york-times-in-print-yes-print-again/) - A photo posted by mynytimes (@mynytimes) on Aug 16, 2015 at 8:21am PDT About a month ago, I did something I hadn’t done in almost a decade: I started reading the print edition of the New York Times every morning. You read that right: A 28-year-old working in digital media actually re-subscribed to the dead
- [The Hard Thing Is That There Are Always More Hard Things.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/10/06/the-hard-thing-is-that-there-are-always-more-hard-things/) - It's fall, which means I'm already thinking about plans for 2016. The new year is less than 90 days away, and there are a ton of big decisions to make between now and then. As I think about the state of my four-person team at BuzzFeed, these challenges come to mind for 2016: -We need
- [We Should All Stop Eating Those Sad Desk Lunches.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/10/31/we-should-all-stop-eating-those-sad-desk-lunches/) - BuzzFeed’s grown a ton since I started in December 2012 — not just in prestige or influence or monthly UVs, but also in raw size. We had about 175 staffers in New York when I started. Now, we’re so big that we take up two different offices — one across the street from the other.
- [One Thing You Should Know Before You Send In Your Résumé.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/11/09/one-thing-you-should-know-before-you-send-in-your-resume/) - Over the past three years, I've been lucky enough to hire a handful of really talented candidates to join my teams, first at Stry.us, and now at BuzzFeed. In the process, I've looked at a lot of résumés. And here's what I can tell you: Everyone — and I mean, EVERYONE, from entry-level candidates to
- [Why Didn't Anyone Show Up To My Presentation?](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/11/18/why-didnt-anyone-show-up-to-my-presentation/) - Here's something that happens at every office: You work hard on a big presentation. It's got everything a great presentation needs: Actionable advice, clear takeaways, and data to back up your big points. You send out the calendar invite to a large group of co-workers — maybe an office listserv full of people who could
- [Encouragers Make The Best Bosses.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/12/21/encouragers-make-the-best-bosses/) - I just finished Jason Gay’s excellent book of advice, “Little Victories”, and in the chapter about work, he touches on something I’ve been thinking about a lot: “The best bosses share a common characteristic: they are encouragers. It’s easy to be an ass-kicker, to find holes in someone’s professional ability, but good bosses see a flicker of
- [Well Done!](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/01/04/well-done/) - Last summer, I asked my team to start doing a very simple thing: Every Monday, I wanted them to send an email to a co-worker who’d done a particularly good job that week. And the work didn’t have to be related to our team. If a co-worker in LA made an awesome video, they could send
- [Setting A Reach Goal.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/01/14/setting-a-reach-goal/) - It’s January, and you’re two weeks into your New Year’s resolution, so let’s talk about goals for a second. I love New Year’s resolutions. I think they’re a wonderful way to set ambitious goals for the year ahead. And if they’re matched with a change in habits, they can actually lead to some incredible changes
- [Why Does Time Move Fast Some Days, But Slow On Others?](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/02/10/why-does-time-move-fast-some-days-but-slow-on-others/) - Four years ago this week, I wrote a post about something I didn’t quite understand: The idea that time was simultaneously moving really fast and really slow. I wrote: Fast. It’s moving so damn fast. So many things to cross off the to-do list. So many things happening all at once. So many tasks. Knock
- [When You Send An Email Matters As Much As What’s In The Email.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/02/25/when-you-send-an-email-matters-as-much-as-whats-in-the-email/) - Last year, I wrote down six simple rules for writing better emails. Follow those six rules and you’ll get so much more out of your inbox. But there’s something almost as important as learning how to write better emails. Learning when to send those emails. If you deliver your email at the wrong time, you’re
- [How Long Does It Take To Build A Great Reputation? Try 10 Years.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/03/05/how-long-does-it-take-to-build-a-great-reputation-try-10-years/) - An unusual and alarming thing has been happening lately, and I’m only now starting to figure out how to handle it: College football is making me feel old. It started about a year ago, when recruits coming to my alma mater, the University of Missouri, started saying things like, “I was a huge fan of
- [Little Things You Can Do To Be A Better Team Player.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/03/09/little-things-you-can-do-to-be-a-better-team-player/) - I got coffee the other day with a friend who’s maybe a year out of college, and we were talking about how her work was going. You know, she said, I just didn’t understand how hard it would be to adjust to working at an office. And that’s a common sentiment! I know didn’t understand it
- [Where We Come From.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/03/17/where-we-come-from/) - Everybody has bad days. Especially at work, everyone has days where you get weighed down by the little things: Too much stress; Thoughts about better work/money/hours somewhere else; Little details that can overwhelm you. Lately, when I have one of those days, I try to remind myself of something: A little more than 100 years ago, my
- [Owning My Own Thing.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/03/24/owning-my-own-thing/) - I am not old — but working at BuzzFeed sometimes makes me feel old. Our staff is filled with so many awesome and truly talented young people. There are a lot of staffers in their early 20s. At 28 — almost 29 — I’m probably well above the median age at the company. And the thing about
- [What Do You Do On Your Best Day?](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/04/06/what-do-you-do-on-your-best-day/) - There’s a question that Facebook’s recruiting team asks potential new hires, and it’s a great one: "On your very best day at work — the day you come home and think you have the best job in the world — what did you do that day?" I’d have done two things: 1) I’d have a
- [When Suggesting That a French Man Needs to Move Lands You on New York Sports Talk Radio.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/05/12/when-suggesting-that-a-french-man-needs-to-move-lands-you-on-new-york-sports-talk-radio/) - The first thought was that I was being pranked. Sure, I'd just written a fairly controversial column about why the Spurs should trade Tony Parker for Kens5.com. It had generated quite a few hits on our website, and I'd gotten plenty of e-mail feedback from readers about it. But a radio station in New York
- [A Dan Oshinsky Life Status Update That You May Not Believe Is Real (But Is).](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/12/03/i-just-took-a-job-at-buzzfeed/) - So I'll keep this semi-brief: In two weeks, I'm going to start a new job. At BuzzFeed. Yes, the same BuzzFeed that regularly produces stories like this. I'm going to join them as their first-ever Newsletter Editor. I'll be working out of their New York office. I am pretty freaking excited about this. If you're
- [Building Big Things Never Happens Fast.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/03/21/building-big-things-never-happens-fast/) - "Velocity, not speed." — Siqi Chen There is a funny misconception that exists in the general public about building big companies. They see something like Instagram, which sold for a billion dollars, and think: The path from A to B(illionaire) doesn't take that long. Wrong. Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong. I work at BuzzFeed
- [Data + Story.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/12/12/data-story/) - Two weeks ago, while I was writing out my annual "What I Believe" post, I had a small epiphany, and jotted this down: If you can show it in a spreadsheet, you can sell it. And if you can pair that data with a great story, you’ve really got something. In my job at BuzzFeed,
- [What I Learned As A One-Man Band (Working Within A Larger Company)](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/05/19/what-i-learned-as-a-one-man-band-working-within-a-larger-company/) - I got asked the other day about how you make it work as a one-man band — if you're starting at a decently sized company, but you're the only advocate for what you do. And I told this person: At BuzzFeed, when we launched email, I was the only staffer fully devoted to email. Every
- [Some Of My Favorite Books About Work.](https://danoshinsky.com/2016/01/25/some-of-my-favorite-books-about-work/) - When I was in 9th grade and starting to focus in on journalism as a career, I interviewed a neighbor for a school project. He was a reporter for the Washington Post, and he’d written a few books. I asked him for career advice, and I remember his advice well: Read a lot, and write
- [Thanks, Ken.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/12/11/thanks-ken/) - Fantastic tribute to a pioneer... https://t.co/K9ECOzZFVc pic.twitter.com/XjQkr6FX0b — Dave Preston (@davpresto) December 7, 2015 Everything I learned about listening, I learned from Ken Beatrice. I know that name probably doesn’t ring a bell for you. I grew up in the D.C. suburbs, and in my house, we didn’t listen to rock or pop or any
- [It's OK To Break Your Routine.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/11/04/its-ok-to-break-your-routine/) - A photo posted by Dan Oshinsky (@danoshinsky) on Mar 5, 2015 at 5:27pm PST I’ve written lovingly about routines before, and how building good habits can help you do amazing things. A good routine can keep you focused and productive. But I’ve also learned that sometimes, routines can make work feel monotonous. So what can
- [Four Things To Ask Yourself Before You Start.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/07/24/four-things-to-ask-yourself-before-you-start/) - Before you start the work, you've got to ask yourself: Are you willing to struggle? Because you're going to struggle with this. The work is going to kick your ass, and just when you think you've made a breakthrough, it's going to kick your ass again. You are going to ride that struggle bus for
- [Everything Will Change.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/08/31/everything-will-change/) - Every year, I write a post called “The Things I Believe.” I wrote the first one when I was 24. This year will mark the fifth installment of the post. When I wrote the first one, I knew that I was in a period of transition, and I wanted to be able to look back
- [A New Thing On Stry.us? A New Thing On Stry.us!](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/08/29/a-new-thing-on-stry-us-a-new-thing-on-stry-us/) - For the first time in three years, I wrote an essay today for Stry.us about the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and the way we in the media cover disasters. I write: Five years ago this summer, I was in Biloxi, Miss., talking to anyone who wanted to tell me their Katrina story. The people
- [How Will They Talk About You 15 Years From Now?](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/08/03/how-will-they-talk-about-you-15-years-from-now/) - There’s a video going around the internet this week about Kmart. If you’re reading this, you probably haven’t thought about Kmart in a long time, and you probably haven’t shopped at a Kmart in even longer. (Confession: I actually have shopped at one in the past year. There was one in my old neighborhood here
- [What Does The Modern News Media And Whaling Have To Do With One Another?](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/07/06/what-does-news-and-whaling-have-to-do-with-one-another/) - I’m taking the week off, and spending it up in Nantucket. I love it up here: the days are simple, and there isn’t internet or TV at the house. (I’m making a quick exception to log online for this post.) The island is an interesting case in reinvention. A few hundred years ago, this was
- [A Note To My High School Self, 10 Years Later.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/06/08/a-note-to-my-high-school-self-10-years-later/) - 10 years ago this month, I graduated from high school. (It’s only been 10? It feels like more.) But as I look back on 2005 — an age of flip phones, buddy lists, printing out Google Maps before road trips, limited text messaging plans, no Facebook, and a whole host of stuff that had absolutely nothing to
- [Forget About My Money. What Are You Doing To Get Me Back My Time?](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/05/04/forget-about-my-money-what-are-you-doing-to-get-me-back-my-time/) - When I’m traveling, it’s the inefficiencies that really kill me. I know that travel is going to cause some headaches. There are going to be lines at security, and flight delays happen. I get that. But it’s the little moments of inefficiency at the airport that, to me, can make flying a real pain. For instance
- [Your One Swing.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/01/23/your-one-swing/) - There's this one thing that my Uncle Billy said to me about two weeks ago. It was after my grandma's funeral. We were sitting on the couch, watching the game, eating chopped liver. We were talking about, I dunno, the Broncos or the chopped liver, probably. Doesn't really matter now. But somewhere along the line,
- [The Worst Piece Of Advice You Can Give.](https://danoshinsky.com/2015/04/13/the-worst-piece-of-advice-you-can-give/) - Here's a piece of advice you've certainly heard before: Not where you want to be? That’s OK. Just fake it ‘till you make it. I really hate those words. I think it’s a very dangerous piece of advice — especially for young people who are still trying to find their way. And here’s what I
- [What It Feels Like To Quit.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/12/04/what-it-feels-like-to-quit/) - There was a story that blew up on BuzzFeed this week about people who've quit their jobs in spectacular fashion. It makes sense why that story was so popular: A lot of people hate their jobs, and a lot of people dream of one day quitting their jobs in a way that lets everyone know
- [Once You Display A Skill, You Own It.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/10/20/once-you-display-a-skill-you-own-it/) - My new favorite thing comes from — of all places — an ESPN article about the Kansas City Royals. Writes Jonah Keri: "'Once you display a skill, you own it.' Fantasy baseball guru Ron Shandler coined that expression, which essentially means that once a player shows the ability to do something in baseball (hit home
- [The Frame Matters.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/10/02/the-frame-matters/) - Seven years ago, The Washington Post's Gene Weingarten conducted an interesting experiment. He took one of the world's best violinists, Joshua Bell, and had him perform on a Friday morning during rush hour at a subway station in Washington, D.C. He didn't tell anyone who Bell was. As Weingarten explained in his article: "His performance
- [Bye For Now, Twitter.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/09/23/bye-for-now-twitter/) - I'm not going to write a long thing about Twitter here. It's been written before, and from Twitter users far more insightful than me (including here and here and here and here, and that's just a small sample). But what I will say is: Especially in the last year, I've realized that Twitter frequently makes
- [Wanting To Skip Ahead.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/09/08/wanting-to-skip-ahead/) - Sometimes, when I'm in the middle of a big project that's still got more work to do, I just want to hit fast-forward and get right to the end — to the "good" part. I never feel this way at the start. At the start of something, I'm excited! I've got ideas, and ambition, and
- [United, We Stand.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/08/14/united-we-stand/) - This is something I've written about before — waiting for permission, as opposed to just going out and doing stuff — but I had a funny moment last week that made me think of it again: I went to a show at Lincoln Center here in NYC. It was a free show, and one of
- [Don't Stop Now.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/07/28/dont-stop-now/) - I continue to be amazed at how often people stop — just stop. These are people who say they love what they do, and are passionate about making it work. People who've started something. And then they just stop. But stop is the polite way of putting it. They give up. They quit. And here's
- [Just Do The Best You Can Do.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/06/30/just-do-the-best-you-can-do/) - Three years ago, I wrote a post about Todd Snider, a singer/songwriter I really love. Whenever I've gone through strange times, I've always had Todd to remind me that things can — and almost certainly will — get even weirder along the way. This line especially stands out for me, re-reading that post now: I
- [A Brief Explanation Of Why I Went To Fargo This Weekend.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/06/02/a-brief-explanation-of-why-i-went-to-fargo-this-weekend/) - Don't get me wrong: I love working in journalism in New York. But the New York media world is pretty small. Go to events or conferences, and you see a lot of the same people. (And I've discovered that the world of New York people who do email stuff — my expertise at BuzzFeed —
- [You Can Always Make It Better.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/05/28/you-can-always-make-it-better/) - You can always — ALWAYS — make it better. You can always go back and make that second edit, or fix that line or code. You can always ask someone new for help to make the second version better than the first. You can always try again. It doesn't have to be PERFECT the first
- [A Funny Thing I Learned Along The Way.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/05/13/a-funny-thing-i-learned-along-the-way/) - People have short memories. I used to think that when I screwed up, people would remember forever. Or, at the very least, for an extremely long time. A long enough time that it might as well be forever. But what I've found is just the opposite: When I've really messed up, I spend a little
- [The Road To The Final Four](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/03/20/the-road-to-the-final-four/) - Right now, I can tell you that one of these four teams is almost certainly going to win the NCAA Tournament, which begins in a few hours: Florida, Wichita State, Louisville, or Villanova. That's what the stats suggest, and that's what I believe. But I'm still going to watch the games. They'll play 63 games
- [Acknowledgements.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/03/03/acknowledgements/) - I know this is the kind of thing people usually save for an awards speech or a published book. But I just finished a good book yesterday, and then I watched the Oscars, and now I'm in the mood for saying "Thanks." Who says I can't offer a few acknowledgements just because? So to start:
- [People Have The Right To Be Stupid](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/02/27/people-have-the-right-to-be-stupid/) - I get annoyed when I read a story about someone who — rather publicly — makes a really dumb decision. When they've got an opportunity to do something amazing and instead do something… stupid. I pointed this out to a friend last week, and she told me something perfect: "People have the right to be stupid."
- [What Should I Do With My Life?](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/02/20/what-should-i-do-with-my-life/) - There are times when I look around at myself and the life I have — 26, working at a rapidly-growing company, building cool stuff with a really awesome team — and I manage to convince myself that I am absolutely nowhere. I look around, and all I see are people going places, and I don't
- [Should Work Be Fun?](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/02/17/should-work-be-fun/) - I have a fun job. I really do. I get to make fun things on the internet that people like to share and play with and laugh about. When I talk to people who want to work at my company, this comes up a lot: It seems like it'd be fun to work there! Everyone
- [Losing Sense Of Time](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/02/10/losing-sense-of-time/) - A week ago today, I sat in a room and listened to Jerry Seinfeld speak. It was seven days ago. It feels like months ago. One of the things about working on the internet is that time moves in incredibly bizarre ways. News that blows up in the morning is forgotten by the afternoon. Things
- [It Doesn't Get Easier.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/01/30/it-doesnt-get-easier/) - I was listening to this interview with Chris Rock earlier this week. I recommend the whole thing, but one part stuck out to me: It comes about 3 minutes into this interview with Alec Baldwin. Now here are two men who've done everything you can do in the world of acting. Rock's one of the
- [Two Big Things.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/01/27/two-big-things/) - Earlier this month, I started looking ahead to all the things I want to accomplish at BuzzFeed in 2014. And it's a lot. This will be a year filled with launches and A/B tests and speaking engagements. It's going to be a busy year. And looking at it from a distance, it was kind of
- [A Photo On The Wall.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/01/16/a-photo-on-the-wall/) - I went to a funeral last weekend. At 87, my Bubbe — my mom's mom — died suddenly. Two days later, I found myself in her old house, surrounded by loved ones as we mourned. I've been in that house hundreds of times, but I'd rarely gone downstairs. And walking around downstairs, I stumbled into
- [Wanting To Believe vs. Wanting To Do.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/01/09/wanting-to-believe-vs-wanting-to-do/) - I will confess that I once believed that I was madly in love because of something I saw on TV. There are a lot of shows out there featuring tall men — some of whom were even Jewish! — falling in love with attractive blondes and attractive brunettes. If you watch enough of them (and
- [Giving Myself Permission To Go Off Schedule.](https://danoshinsky.com/2014/01/06/giving-myself-permission-to-go-off-schedule/) - When I really started writing this version of the blog, in the winter of 2012, I had one rule: I had to write a certain number of times per week. At the time, I wrote three posts per week, and I stuck to it — 3 posts every week, for an entire year. I wrote
- [This One-Armed Guitar Player Reminded Me That People Are Awesome.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/12/30/this-one-armed-guitar-player-reminded-me-that-people-are-awesome/) - The best part is Robert Randolph is wearing a Sergio Tacchini warm-up. #ParkCity50 pic.twitter.com/AprdXWFM6o— Andy Miller (@AndyMacMiller) December 21, 2013 I saw something last week that I have never seen before, and will probably never see again. I was in Park City, Utah, for the holidays. Mom had heard on the radio that Robert Randolph
- [Hurry Up And Wait.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/12/20/hurry-up-and-wait/) - I heard the voice of my mother today while waiting in line at JFK to get through security. I'd hurried through work, and then hurried my way over to the train, and then hurried through check-in, and then… I waited. I waited for 20 minutes at airport security, because that's how it works. My mother
- [How One Little Device Changed A Lot About The Way I Work.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/12/16/how-one-little-device-changed-a-lot-about-the-way-i-work/) - I'll admit that I didn't always understand the smartphone. I had a flip phone, and it did pretty much everything I wanted a phone to do. I was happy with it. And in the first few months of owning a smartphone, I didn't really change my opinion. It helped me keep track of my calendar,
- [You Have No Excuses.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/12/09/you-have-no-excuses/) - Sometimes I write long on this blog, and sometimes I write short. And sometimes I read a story like this, and simply want to say: Read this. Read this, and remember: Opportunity is there for those who put in the work, and who let others help.
- [Time Off.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/12/06/time-off/) - A wonderful thing happened on Wednesday: I had a busy day at work. A ton going on. Lots of new projects and things that I was trying to get done. And then I left work to head to a dinner party. The whole way there, my mind was still on work — what needed to
- [The Opposite.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/12/02/the-opposite/) - One of my favorite stories of the college football season came from the University of Southern California. The Trojans had an awful start to the year. They fired their head coach a month into the season. They replaced him with Ed Orgeron — an assistant coach who had previous served as head coach at Ole
- [What Do You Have To Show For It?](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/11/25/what-do-you-have-to-show-for-it/) - Ask me what my favorite college basketball team of all time was, and I'll tell you: The 2011-12 Missouri Tigers. I loved that team. They could pass. They could shoot. They were insanely entertaining. With a few weeks left in the season, I remember a conversation I had with a buddy of mine, a fellow
- [Thankful.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/11/21/thankful/) - As this Thanksgiving comes around, I'll say this: I'm thankful for the chance to do the work. To have the chance to work with these people. To have the chance to build something awesome. I'm thankful for all that. And for the year ahead. I'm thankful for the chance to make it something great. That
- [The Importance Of Little Victories.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/11/18/the-importance-of-little-victories/) - A week ago, I was looking through my calendar when I realized that I hadn't been to the gym in a month. Hadn't run. Hadn't gotten out for 20 minutes on the elliptical. Nothing. And this was after a breakthrough year for me in 2012 where I'd gotten out and really gotten excited about getting
- [Knowing When To Tear It Down.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/11/14/knowing-when-to-tear-it-down/) - I've had a lot of trouble with Time Warner this year. They service internet at my apartment, and — somehow — they're the only provider who offers internet on my block. Which is a problem, because, 1) I work on the internet, and 2) Time Warner's internet is wildly unreliable. I've had seven visits from
- [Mixing It Up.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/11/11/mixing-it-up/) - I love routine. When it comes to getting work done, I'm fanatical about sticking to a good routine. Of course, there's also something to be said for switching things up every once in a while. It's why I'll sometimes come to the office really early, just to get a change of scenery. It's the reason
- [Jealousy Is A Really Lousy Color.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/11/07/jealousy-is-a-really-lousy-color/) - A thought about power and money and jealousy, and what it all means for your work: Here in New York, there are two types of power I see: Power from money, and power from crowds. The first is obvious: You see a friend or big name making it big, and it's easy to wonder, Why
- [What Comes First.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/11/04/what-comes-first/) - Every Sunday night, I try to take a few minutes to think about the week ahead. I think about what I want to accomplish, and the people I need to talk to in order to make those things happens. And then I take a minute to think about the first step. Where do I start
- [Where Do You Do Your Best Work?](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/11/01/where-do-you-do-your-best-work/) - There is a zone where I do my best work, and it usually involves one thing: A lack of time. If I've got deadlines that can't be broken, that's when I usually do great work. Take Wednesday, for instance. I had a flight home at 3pm. I had a few work assignments, and I needed
- [What Happens When You Add Up All The Work.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/10/28/what-happens-when-you-add-up-all-the-work/) - That's a photo of me in 7th grade. I'm in the center, wearing the fireman's hat. I was shorter then. When I went for a checkup in 8th grade, the doctor said I'd probably top out at 6'. Then I grew 6 inches in a year. And kept growing. But a funny thing about that:
- [It's So Great To Be The Dumb Guy In The Room.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/10/24/its-so-great-to-be-the-dumb-guy-in-the-room/) - I am writing this on a plane, about 30 minutes from landing in London. I'm headed there for a conference. I'm speaking. While I'm there, I'm also going to write a few things for the site, and I'm really excited about that, too. And I'm realizing now: This is the first time I've been really,
- [Celebrating The Big Moments.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/10/21/celebrating-the-big-moments/) - I saw a show at Carnegie Hall on Friday. The band was The Lone Bellow, a really exciting group in the Mumford & Sons/Lumineers vein that's just starting to get some national attention. The Carnegie Hall show was one of their biggest ever. The band invited their family to the show. During a break between
- [The Words You Need.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/10/17/the-words-you-need/) - A few years ago, I saw Florence & the Machine in concert. I was getting over this girl, and I really wanted to hear Florence sing this song of hers, "You've Got The Love." I wanted to hear her sing: Sometimes it seems that the going is just too rough And things go wrong no
- [What One Thing Would Screw Up Everything?](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/10/14/what-one-thing-would-screw-up-everything/) - So a question I like to ask myself: Could one single thing screw up everything I'm doing? If a key part fell through… if a plan didn't work… if the modem at my office crashed: would that mess with everything? Right now, I'm dealing with Day 5 of an unexpected internet outage at home. It
- [The Colbert Message.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/10/10/the-colbert-message/) - I got to see a taping of "The Colbert Report" this week, and I'd never been to a taping quite like that. I'd been in studios for TV morning shows, and for high school quiz shows, but nothing like "Colbert." There's something different about "Colbert." When you're waiting to get into the show, a woman
- [What Can Happen When You Put Things Out There.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/10/07/what-can-happen-when-you-put-things-out-there/) - So here's what I love about that story, above, from the very talented Kishi Bashi: Sometimes, you stumble into amazing things. Sometimes, you make a snippet of a thing, and people like it, and they ask for more. Sometimes, you unintentionally put something amazing into the universe. Our world is full of happy accidents, of
- [The Next 10.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/10/03/the-next-10/) - Two nights ago, I saw Lorde, a 16-year-old singer from New Zealand, play a sold out show here in New York. Yesterday, her first single hit no. 1. Lorde is very good, and very talented, and also — she's a decade younger than me. Which makes my head hurt a little. And all I could
- [Going Above And Beyond.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/09/30/going-above-and-beyond/) - There's a saying you've heard before: "That person went above and beyond." And I've seen it. I've seen people go far beyond what should be expected to deliver something amazing. It really does happen. But I'd argue that for the most part, going "above and beyond" doesn't require us to go as far as we
- [A Quick Lesson From Vine.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/09/26/a-quick-lesson-from-vine/) - A thought about Vine, the social media video platform that everyone I know is obsessed with: The reason Vine is so freaking great is because it has constraints. At 6 seconds per Vine, you don't have enough time to make something big. So people are often turning to Vine not to capture the important moments
- [The Thing I Learned From "Lost."](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/09/23/the-thing-i-learned-from-lost/) - I was a huge fan of the show "Lost," and still am. It was an epic show — 6 seasons and 121 episodes. But a lot of "Lost" fans are still mad about the way the show ended. I always thought that was funny. I stuck with that show for six years. It started when
- [Following Up Matters.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/09/19/following-up-matters/) - I'm going to brag about my little sister for a second. A few years ago, my sister announced to me that one day, she was going to move to Colombia and do… well, she didn't know. But she was going to move there. Okay, I said. And then she graduated from college and moved to
- [Saying The Things We Do Not Want To Say.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/09/16/saying-the-things-we-do-not-want-to-say/) - This past weekend was Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. It's a day where — most notably to the outside world — Jews fast from sundown to sundown. To Jews, it's known as the Day of Repentance. We gather together to ask for forgiveness — from ourselves, and from our God. It is
- [Stop Worrying About Endings. Just Keep Going On.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/09/12/stop-worrying-about-endings-just-keep-going-on/) - A lot of things have been kicking around lately, and it started with this tweet: Everything works out in the end. If it's not working out, it's not the end.— Tim Van Loan (@TimIsHungry) September 3, 2013 And I thought: Well, that's not right at all. I don't think about endings that often. I think
- [Being Normal Seems Weird.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/09/09/being-normal-seems-weird/) - “I don't do normal. I have a reputation to uphold." ― Joan Bauer I've had a lot of conversations lately about the idea of normal. They usually start with a statement like this: "Dan, there's nothing even remotely normal about you." To which I usually say: Why, yes, thank you. And then: Do I
- [My Computer Died This Morning, And That's Probably Okay.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/09/05/my-computer-died-this-morning-and-thats-probably-okay/) - "Life is 10% how you make it and 90% how you take it.” — Irving Berlin So I woke up this morning, and my laptop died. It died while I was in the middle of writing the daily email to BuzzFeed subscribers, and I tried to restart my laptop twice, and each time the
- [Things Move Forward.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/09/02/things-move-forward/) - “The spirit, the will to win and the will to excel --- these are the things what will endure and these are the qualities that are so much more important than any of the events themselves.” — Vince Lombardi Football kicked off this weekend. This is fantastic news. I love football. A football Saturday
- [Katrina, Eight Years Later.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/08/29/katrina-eight-years-later/) - Eight years ago today, Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. I've written this before: There aren't a lot of big news stories on the eighth year anniversary of a storm. In two years, for the 10th anniversary, every TV truck in the Western hemisphere will be down in the French Quarter to cover the story. Not
- [I Missed A Monday.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/08/27/i-missed-a-monday/) - "Put what you want to do last and what you need to do first." — Mike Orren I missed my Monday blog post for the first time in… well, I don't know. I've been posting here twice a week for months — since at least the start of 2012. And to miss a Monday?
- [What I'd Tell Myself If I Was Starting College Today.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/08/22/what-id-tell-myself-if-i-was-starting-college-today/) - I started classes at the University of Missouri eight years ago this month. Which got my me thinking: If I was starting college this year, what advice would 26-year-old me give my 18-year-old counterpart? So, 18-year-old Dan, here's the thing: College is 100% about experiences. You should do stuff because you CAN. Go to
- [The Places You'll Go.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/08/19/the-places-youll-go/) - "Daniel, you get there when you get there." — My mother I am writing this from an airplane, somewhere above the Atlantic Ocean. I am flying back to New York; my flight is, of course, late. Flights are always late these days. I don't remember when the idea of an "on time" departure became
- [Go For It.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/06/06/go-for-it/) - "He does shit." — Bruce Arena, on Clint Dempsey There's a guy on the U.S. National Team named Clint Dempsey. As of Sunday, he's the second-leading scorer in the history of American men's soccer. What makes Dempsey so special? It's a combination of things. He's got incredible ball skills. He plays with the sort of
- [You Are Not A Phony.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/05/30/you-are-not-a-phony/) - "It's all going to be okay." — Rick Webb There is a certain point in your life when you realize that you don't know anything. Up until that point, you thought you knew what was up. You thought you'd experienced heartbreak. You thought you'd experienced pain. And then comes this big breakthrough, and you
- [One Day, You Will.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/05/27/one-day-you-will/) - One day, you will. You'll wake up and wonder where all that time went. When you're a kid, time passes so slowly. The minutes stretch on for days. A school week feels like ages. Friday never comes. But one day, you'll grow up and leave the house, and time will move into another gear.
- [While You're On Stage.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/05/20/while-youre-on-stage/) - "Follow your passion. Stay true to yourself. Never follow someone else's path unless you're in the woods and you're lost and you see a path. By all means, you should follow that." — Ellen DeGeneres I don't remember what was said at my graduation. I can probably guess the themes, but I don't really
- [Nobody Knows Anything Before You Start.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/05/16/nobody-knows-anything-before-you-start/) - "This can be anything you want." —Louis C.K. It's been more than 11 years since Disney announced that they were going to do something unusual: Turn a theme park ride into a movie. The movie was called "Pirates of the Carribean." And early on, critics thought it was a terrible idea. Here's what one
- [The John Prine Test.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/05/13/the-john-prine-test/) - There is a John Prine song I absolutely love, called "Angel From Montgomery." And the last verse includes these two lines: How the hell can a person go to work in the morning And come home in the evening and have nothing to say? So this is the John Prine test: Come home every day
- [17 Things I Learned From My Day With Warren Buffett.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/05/09/17-things-i-learned-from-my-day-with-warren-buffett/) - Last Saturday, 35,000 shareholders gathered in Omaha to hear Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger speak. The two men lead Berkshire Hathaway, which is now the fifth-most valuable company in the world, valued at over $264 billion. I was there, too — as the guest of a family friend, Steve, who's a shareholder. I didn't want
- [Don't Go With The Crowds.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/05/06/dont-go-with-the-crowds/) - A very smart thing I heard Warren Buffett say this weekend: "You can't afford to go along with the crowd." He had been asked at the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting about some of the new trends out there — internet stocks, new technology, new currencies. People wanted to know what he thought about that. We'll
- [The Thing That Makes The Internet So Amazing.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/05/02/the-thing-that-makes-the-internet-so-amazing/) - "The future ain't what it used to be." — Yogi Berra In Feb. 1995, Newsweek published a story titled, "Why Web Won't Be Nirvana." It is a piece that has not aged well. And this is my favorite quote from the story: "What's missing from this electronic wonderland? Human contact. Discount the fawning techno-burble
- [Shut It Down.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/04/29/shut-it-down/) - "Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?" — Josh Pais For about two weeks, I haven't been myself. A combination of things — work, some weird breaks, some late nights — caught up to me. Friends started saying that I didn't seem like myself. And they were right. For two weeks,
- [Do Weird Shit.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/04/25/do-weird-shit/) - On Tuesday, I saw the Gregory Brothers — a band that has made some amazing viral videos — perform a mini rock opera about Jeff Goldblum. It was… well, borderline insane. I have no idea how they came up with the idea for it. But it was amazing. And so the very brief point here:
- [There Has To Be Another Way.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/04/22/there-has-to-be-another-way/) - "Awareness is the most precious kind of freedom." — Joshua Fields Millburn So we're at the top of a mountain somewhere near Cold Spring, N.Y., and we're lost. And sunburnt. And tired. And out of water. And there's this guy at the top, too. He's hiked here 600 times, he says. Every year for the
- [Get On Stage.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/04/18/get-on-stage/) - "Shut up and make something." — Danielle Morrill I went to the Apollo Theater last night for Amateur Night. I went to watch, not perform. That's probably for the best. I have personally stood on some amazing stages, but I'll never be on anything like the Apollo. For performers there, it's just you, and
- [Don't Wait.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/04/15/dont-wait/) - Aaaaand TurboTax isn't working. It's almost as though I should have started my taxes sometime before right now— Daniel Victor (@bydanielvictor) April 15, 2013 Because yes, that's the kind of thing that happens on April 14, the day before Tax Day. That's just how deadlines work. Bad things happen to otherwise good people — at
- [Just Don't.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/04/11/just-dont/) - "Percentage wise, it is 100% easier not to do things than to do them." — John Mulaney Don't. Just… don't. The work will be hard. It'll be draining. You'll be tired all the time. You'll be working harder than you've ever worked. And the work won't stop. You'll go to bed at midnight, having
- [Demand The Finish Line.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/04/08/demand-the-finish-line/) - "I applaud the guy who has the courage to meet the confrontation." —Kim English I ran a 10k on Saturday — my first in six years. And this thought popped into my head, somewhere around mile 4: You did it, Dan. Yes, I knew I had 2.2 miles left. But I knew I was
- [How Things Change.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/04/04/how-things-change/) - There is a quote from a "West Wing" episode I really love. It's from season 1 of that show. It's about a news story that's just been leaked. It goes: Leo: It's gonna break... tomorrow? C.J.: Yeah, it's on the Internet right now. That episode of the show aired on January 12, 2000. It was
- [People + Things.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/04/01/people-things/) - There is a quote that I've been carrying around for a few years now. It's one of the few core things I believe. My little manifesto goes: "In this life, find things you love, and people you love, and make time for both." Everywhere I've gone, it's worked for me. It's not exactly the most
- [The Two Types Of Routine.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/03/28/the-two-types-of-routine/) - "Funny thing happens when you keep putting one foot in front of the other: you get somewhere." — Marina Martin Something you learn from doing the work: There are two types of routine. There's good routine: A process to help you get through tasks faster. Then there's bad routine: When things get dull. Creating the
- [Another Thing I Learned Watching Missouri Play Basketball.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/03/18/another-thing-i-learned-watching-missouri-play-basketball/) - "If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?" — John Wooden So that photo at top is of me. That's me from, I believe, my sophomore year at the University of Missouri. Yes, that is my yellow pinstriped jacket. (Also, yes, that is very
- [In March, Tomorrow Is Never Guaranteed.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/03/14/in-march-tomorrow-is-never-guaranteed/) - "There is no great genius without some touch of madness." — Seneca So this is the part of the year where I lose touch with reality and start watching about 12 hours of college basketball a day. It has always been like this. I love college basketball. I cannot really explain why I love
- [The Easy Way Out.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/03/07/the-easy-way-out/) - "The journey is all. The destination is beside the point." — Leo Babauta Let me pose a hypothetical to you for a second. Tomorrow, I'm going to give you the chance of a lifetime: I'm going to make you a lottery winner. You're going to get $20 million. You're never going to have to
- [The March Edition Of The Awesome File.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/03/04/the-march-edition-of-the-awesome-file/) - Every month, I put together a list of 10 things to inspire you to do more awesome work. (Work results may vary.) Let’s get into it: 1. That Awesome Photo (at top) DC in the morning after a full moon. Amazing shot. 2. This Awesome Letter This is the letter Tim Burton sent to Disney
- [Too Late/Too Soon: The End.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/02/28/too-latetoo-soon-the-end/) - When do you know that it's time? The eighth and final post in a month of posts about how I learned to stop worrying, buck up and do the work. So if you're ever trying to decide whether or not to end a project you've been working on for the previous 30 months, here's
- [Too Late/Too Soon: The Team.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/02/25/too-latetoo-soon-the-team/) - When do you know that it's time? The seventh in a month of posts about how I learned to stop worrying, buck up and do the work. A year ago this month, I called up Jordan Hickey and told him I wanted him to be my editor at Stry.us. It was a strange conversation.
- [Too Late/Too Soon: The Break.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/02/21/too-latetoo-soon-the-break/) - When do you know that it's time? The sixth in a month of posts about how I learned to stop worrying, buck up and do the work. The big break probably came in April 2011, when the University of Missouri decided to award me a fellowship to work on Stry.us. They gave me money
- [Too Late/Too Soon: The Wandering.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/02/18/too-latetoo-soon-the-wandering/) - When do you know that it's time? The fifth in a month of posts about how I learned to stop worrying, buck up and do the work. After I left Mississippi, I went through a long period of… well, nothing. I wanted to belong to something. I wanted to be part of something. I
- [Too Late/Too Soon: The Dream.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/02/11/too-latetoo-soon-the-dream/) - When do you know that it's time? The third in a month of posts about how I learned to stop worrying, buck up and do the work. The dream really started sometime in the spring of 2010. I've told this story a few too many times: I was working at a TV station. I
- [Too Late/Too Soon: The Fear.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/02/14/too-latetoo-soon-the-fear/) - When do you know that it's time? The fourth in a month of posts about how I learned to stop worrying, buck up and do the work. The fear caught up to me on the flight to Mississippi. I remember looking out the window as the flight came over Gulfport. I didn't recognize anything.
- [Too Late/Too Soon: The Call.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/02/07/too-latetoo-soon-the-call/) - When do you know that it's time? The second in a month of posts about how I learned to stop worrying, buck up and do the work. Long before I ever started Stry.us, I had this dream for a journey across America. A friend called it my De Tocqueville trip, and that was pretty
- [The Experts Are Probably Wrong.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/01/30/the-experts-are-probably-wrong/) - "Whatever you believe / You might be wrong." — Paul Thorn When I was in college, I was part of a small group of journalism students who took classes that were basically about the Internet. This was 2005 or so. Journalism on the Internet wasn't new, but it was for journalism schools. Anyway, we
- [The February Edition of The Awesome File.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/02/01/the-february-edition-of-the-awesome-file/) - Every month — except last month, when I forgot (sorry) — I put together a list of 10 things to inspire you to do more awesome work. (Results may vary.) Inside this month’s Awesome File: Jerry Seinfeld appears on a rap album! Parody songs about sex with ducks! Strategies for getting on "The Price is
- [Seriously, Penny Lane.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/01/28/seriously-penny-lane/) - "I always tell the girls, never take it seriously. If you never take it seriously, you never get hurt. If you never get hurt, you always have fun." — Penny Lane With all due respect to the immortal Penny Lane of the immortal film, "Almost Famous": That's a load of crap. Take your work
- [Finding The Difference.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/01/24/finding-the-difference/) - "When everyone has good players, teaching will be a telling difference." — John Wooden Assume, for a second, that everyone in your world is smart. That everyone in your world is talented. So, here's the question: What's the difference between you and them? For legendary UCLA coach John Wooden, it was teaching. For you,
- [When You Stumble Upon A Speakeasy.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/01/21/when-you-stumble-upon-a-speakeasy/) - "I'd like to suggest that the greatest risk we face these days is that of an unlived life." — Jeff Goins It's 10 p.m., and I get home from a full day of watching football. My apartment faces the street here in New York. I hear a marching band. A full-on, trumpets and tubas
- [What Is Long, and What Is Not.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/01/17/what-is-long-and-what-is-not/) - "The NFL isn't a career — it's an experience. Most careers last 40-50 years, and people grow old in them." — Alfred Morris Two things got me thinking: The first is that quote, at top. It's from Alfred Morris, the rookie running back for the Washington Redskins. (That's a photo of him sleeping on
- [Go On.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/01/14/go-on/) - "There is a direct relationship between your ability to handle uncertainty and your happiness." — Joshua Fields Millburn We're all going to make mistakes in our work. We're going to go directions we didn't expect. We're going to make choices we don't like. It happens. But here's what happens next: It's normal for us
- [I Need A Race.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/01/10/i-need-a-race/) - "If you're the smartest person in the room, you need to find a better room." — Chris Conrey I've been going to the gym for a few weeks now without a goal. At the gym, especially, goals are huge. Last year, I had the Belly Challenge. And then I had the sprint tri. Both gave
- [Waiting Sucks.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/01/07/waiting-sucks/) - "Find what moves you, and move. Find what keeps you up all night, and stay up all night." — Nicole Antoinette There is so much I want to do this year. So much to take on. There really is no time to waste. But more importantly than that: This is no time to wait.
- [What Really Matters.](https://danoshinsky.com/2013/01/04/what-really-matters/) - "To practice courage and compassion is to look at life and the people around us, and to say, 'I’m all in.'" — Brené Brown What really matters in this life? People. That's it. Get good people in your life. People who lift you up. People who challenge you. People who help make you you.
- [My List of Things for 2013.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/12/27/my-list-of-things-for-2013/) - Last year, I put together a List of Things for 2012. It wasn't a bucket list — just a list of things I wanted to make more time for in my day-to-day life. I had three big things in mind for 2012: -Travel more — I got out to Austin, New York, New Orleans, Denver
- [My List of Things for 2012. (Not a Bucket List, FWIW.)](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/12/14/my-list-of-things-not-a-bucket-list-fwiw/) - This is the time of the year when people start making bucket lists. You know what they are; I won't ramble on here about mine. But what I would like to discuss is a sort of corollary to the bucket list. See: We have the bucket list, which looks long term. We have the to-do
- [Say *Something* With Less.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/12/17/say-something-with-less/) - "Be quick, but don't hurry." — John Wooden I am guilty. I have used 50 words where five will do. I have used entire paragraphs when words like "yes" or "no" or "I agree" would have sufficed. Forgive me, friends. I have not always been brief. But I am reminded, again and again, that
- [Practice Isn't Optional.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/12/20/practice-isnt-optional/) - "You really can see what makes up a winner when you put them in a lose lose situation." — Mike Germano I really like Shaquille O'Neal. I've written about him before on the blog. I even created a site inspired by one of his quotes. But I've been reading Phil Jackson's book about the
- [The December Edition of The Awesome File.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/12/10/the-december-edition-of-the-awesome-file/) - Every month, I put together a list of 10 things to inspire you to do better work. This is The Awesome File. Inside this month’s Awesome File: "Gilligan's Island" meets Led Zeppelin! Teleportation! Making Your Bed! Solitude! 1. UNDERSTAND: How 'New York' Got That Amazing Cover Photo. It was only a few weeks ago that
- [Three Reasons Why Jimmy V's ESPYs Speech Is Such An Amazing Display of Public Speaking.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/12/13/jimmy-v-espy-speech-is-so-freaking-amazing/) - "Don't give up. Don't ever give up." — Jim Valvano I have seen Jim Valvano's speech at the ESPYs 100 times now. Maybe more. Probably far more, actually. I've seen it on TV, and I've watched it for inspiration on my laptop. I once saw it played on the JumboTron at Madison Square Garden
- [The Questions We Ask When We Want To Remember.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/12/06/the-questions-we-ask-when-we-want-to-remember/) - "Time will magnify whatever you do. So even in the smallest matters, do what is right. — Ralph Marston 39 days ago, Hurricane Sandy hit New York City. It came. It flooded. But now the city — Manhattan, at least — is back to normal. Next week, I'll grab the keys to a New
- [The Might of Mo.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/11/29/on-momentum/) - "Slump? I ain't in no slump. I just ain't hitting." — Yogi Berra Over the years, I've developed a sixth sense for certain things during sporting events. Like many sports fans, I know exactly when to flick back to the game after a commercial break. Like other sports nuts, I can usually tell you
- [Why Does It Take So Long For United Airlines To Come Up With New Menu Ideas? (And Should It?)](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/11/26/why-does-it-take-so-long-for-united-airlines-to-come-up-with-new-menu-ideas-and-should-it/) - It takes about 12 months for @united to create and then actually get a new meal choice on board #SMD4— The Points Guy (@thepointsguy) November 15, 2012 Yes, you read that right: It takes a full year for United Airlines to get a new meal option onto a flight. It takes a full year —
- [When You Don't Know The Score Of The Football Game.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/11/19/give-your-stories-context/) - "The things we create tower over us." — Matt Dopkiss I was watching an old college football game on ESPN Classic the other day. It was from the 80s. My mom walked into the room. "What's the score?" she asked. Not sure, I told her. "How much time is left?" she asked. No idea,
- [We, The News Industry, Are Still Searching For Our Can Opener. But It's Coming. (Eventually.)](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/04/10/we-the-news-industry-are-still-searching-for-our-can-opener-but-its-coming/) - There is a lot of frustration in the news industry right now. We have this amazing distribution system called the web. We're entering a golden age of storytelling. Every year, more and more people are taking time for stories. And we're still not making money. But consider the following: Peter Durand patented the tin can
- [Sometimes, We Need Other People To Help Us Make the Leap.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/11/12/sometimes-we-need-other-people-to-help-us-make-the-leap/) - "There are three diseases in Panama. They are yellow fever, malaria, and cold feet; and the greatest of these is cold feet." — John Stevens Last year, I wrote about the time I went skydiving. I surrendered to the fear, I said, and jumped. But that's only part of the story. I didn't do a
- [What Are You Looking At?](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/11/15/what-are-you-looking-at/) - "The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness." — David Foster Wallace That cartoon at the top of this post is by a cartoonist named Wally Wood, and — the title is kind of a giveaway on this — it's a list of 22 ways to illustrate a panel in a cartoon.
- [Let The Experts Make Their Predictions. They Don't Know What You Can Do.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/11/08/let-the-experts-make-their-predictions-they-dont-know-what-you-can-do/) - "Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you, and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you'll never be the same again." — Steve Jobs This is the Feb.
- [Why Ellen DeGeneres Embraced the Struggle.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/11/05/why-ellen-degeneres-embraced-the-struggle/) - "I'm so grateful that I struggled." — Ellen DeGeneres Those are the words of someone who's really, truly learned what it's like to see bottom. Look at her resume, and you'll find that Ellen DeGeneres has been low places: • She got into comedy by accident. • She worked crappy nightclubs and bars. (Once,
- [What Reuters America Means for Stry.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/12/14/what-reuters-america-means-for-stry/) - The big news out today is that Reuters is going after the AP. Their new service, called Reuters America, intends to produce "Tier 2 domestic US news" with "one-person bureau chiefs," with news "tailored to the needs of the US consumer media domestic audience." Which means they're sending one-man bands into under-served markets and selling
- [re: The Catskills. (Or: What I Mean When I Talk About Undercovered Issues in Undercovered Areas.)](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/08/29/what-i-mean-when-i-talk-about-undercovered-issues-in-undercovered-areas/) - The catchphrase at Stry last year was simple: Stry covers undercovered issues in undercovered areas. And any time I mentioned that line, I brought up another. It's from a conversation I had with a local when I was down in Biloxi last year, covering the aftermath of Katrina. We were talking about local issues, and
- [Come, and Embrace the Joy Of Time-Shifting and Longreads-Related Metrics, Ye Merry Publishers!](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/12/09/come-and-embrace-the-joy-of-time-shifting-and-longreads-related-metrics-ye-merry-publishers/) - In 2002, the company that measures how many people watch television decided to do something experimental: They started measuring how many viewers were watching TV shows via something called TiVo, a personal recording device that had come to market three years earlier. Nielsen Media Research, the ratings company, had been measuring TV ratings since the
- [What the Hell is the New York Times Doing Selling Subscriptions Inside the 'Wal-Mart of New York City?'](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/12/12/what-the-hell-is-the-new-york-times-doing-selling-subscriptions-inside-the-wal-mart-of-new-york-city/) - I was in New York City last week, and I went shopping with a friend. Or, more accurately: She went shopping, and I came along to try on funny hats and annoy her. Nevertheless: She took us to a store north of Columbus Circle. I'd never heard of the store before. It was called Century
- [This Research Is Really Interesting. The Problem Is, It's Also Really Old.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/01/18/this-research-is-really-interesting-the-problem-is-it-is-also-really-old/) - The PhD with whom I share an office wall at RJI just published a cool study on how readers react when they stumble across news. In it, she makes a number of really interesting points about serendipity and the news. And before I go any further, I want to say this: Many of the points
- [The Students Who Didn't Know Bob Woodward's Name.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/03/05/the-students-who-didnt-know-bob-woodwards-name/) - I got asked to speak to a class of business students about two weeks ago. The students were all upperclassmen, all entrepreneurial-minded. I talked about learning how to adjust to life after college, and then we got into the Q&A. One student asked me if I had any heroes in journalism. "I'm not going to
- [Ideas Worth Doing > Ideas Worth Spreading.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/10/31/ideas-worth-doing-ideas-worth-spreading/) - "Don't be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is at hand." —Henry Miller I had the privilege of going to a TED event last Friday. It was fantastic. Colin Powell gave a talk. So did a guy who marched with MLK. And an opera singer who's had two lung transplants. It was an
- [The November Edition of The Awesome File.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/11/02/the-november-edition-of-the-awesome-file/) - Every month, I put together a list of 10 things to inspire you to do better work. This is The Awesome File. Inside this month’s Awesome File: Advice! Struggle! Hurricane photo porn! That dude from 'Inception' covering Lady Gaga! 1. LEARN: From Jack Donaghy. If you're a '30 Rock' fan, you already know that Jack
- [The Haters Have Already Decided What They Think. So What Will You Do?](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/10/29/on-haters-and-comic-books/) - "Confidence is a little voice in the back of your head that tells you that you belong." — Michael Gervais There's a cartoonist named Scott McCloud. He's given TED talks and written some really influential books. "Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art," is revered within the world of cartoonists. There's a quote in that book
- [How You Know.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/10/24/finding-the-work-you-love/) - "There's always better. There's always faster. There's always more. But there will never be another now." — Dustin Curtis A question I've gotten a lot this year: How do you know? How do you know when you're doing something you really, really love? How do you know when you're doing the work that's meant
- [That Time I Decided to Ride Amtrak.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/01/07/that-time-i-decided-to-ride-amtrak/) - It is 72 degrees in St. Louis today, and it is January. This, by itself, would be considered unusual, except that today, something even more unusual is happening: I am traveling on Amtrak. When I was a kid, living just outside Washington, D.C., I used to love traveling by train. I loved riding D.C.'s subway,
- [The Really Easy Way To Tell If You're Networking The Right Way.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/10/26/laundry-baskets-and-networking/) - "Poverty, I realized, wasn't only a lack of financial resources; it was isolation from the kind of people that could help you make more of yourself." — Keith Ferrazzi I was folding my laundry on Monday when I realized something: Right there, in that laundry basket, I could tell that I hadn't hustled hard
- [How to Survive Living With Your Parents.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/10/22/how-to-survive-living-with-your-parents/) - "Because of their size, parents may be difficult to discipline properly." — P.J. O'Rourke Right now, I am writing this blog post from a house that is very near and dear to me. It's the house I grew up in. It's the house where my parents still live, in fact. And for the last
- [Close Just Shows You How Far You Still Have To Go. ](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/10/19/close-just-shows-you-how-far-you-still-have-to-go/) - "Failure isn’t final. It’s a test – and the difference between those who pass and those who don’t is who gets up and who doesn’t." — Emily Bennington I love sports for many reasons, but over the years, I've discovered I love it most for one reason: Sports remind me exactly what I need
- [The Three Things That Separate Those Who Do From Everyone Else.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/10/15/those-who-do/) - "Ignore the money and the news. Find good people who make wonderful things, and help them do it." — Erin Kissane About once a month, I get an email from someone I don't know. The email reads as follows: Hi, Dan. I'm a huge fan of Stry.us. I'm thinking of starting my own news site
- [The Story About My Mother and Moses.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/10/08/the-story-about-my-mother-and-moses/) - "Me shooting 40% at the foul line is just God's way to say nobody's perfect." —Shaquille O'Neal A story about my mother: About five years ago, my mother was asked to serve on the board of directors at my synagogue. They asked her to write a short essay about her favorite moment from Jewish
- [This Post Is For People Who Publish Content on the Internet.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/10/12/this-post-is-for-people-who-publish-content-on-the-internet/) - Please pardon the brief pause today from your regularly-scheduled work-related post. Today's blog is about some smart thoughts I heard at a conference last week. Wise words about work will be back on Monday. -Dan [View the story "Digital East 2012: The 10 Best Things I Learned." on Storify]Digital East 2012: The 10 Best Things
- [Perspective Matters.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/10/10/perspective-matters/) - "When you look at the Moon, you think, ‘I’m really small. What are my problems?’ It sets things into perspective. We should all look at the Moon a bit more often." — Alain de Botton When I lived in Springfield, MO, I occasionally had to fly other places for work. Getting flights out of
- [A Word About The Black Keys As They Prepare to Potentially Win a Grammy.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/02/11/a-word-about-the-black-keys-as-they-prepare-to-potentially-win-a-grammy/) - I remember that I didn't like music all that much. I'd spent my childhood listening to sports talk radio -- to 570, and then to 980 when it moved up the radio dial. I'd come home from school, and I'd catch the last hour of Tony Kornheiser's show. I'd start my homework, and Andy Pollin
- [The October Edition of The Awesome File.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/10/01/the-october-awesome-file/) - Every month, I put together a list of 10 things to inspire you to do better work. This is The Awesome File. Inside this month’s Awesome File: Lessons from NYC! Adorable puppies! Rock and Roll! And Richard Freaking Branson! 1. READ: 'Fifty Important Lessons New York City Taught Me' This was a fantastic read on
- [Today Is Awesome. Can We Just Recognize That For A Second?](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/10/05/today-is-awesome-can-we-just-recognize-that-for-a-second/) - "Do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of." — Ben Franklin I don't write about religion very often on the blog — at least a serious discussion of religion, that is — and there's a good reason for that: I'm not a very religious person. So I won't get
- [How I Lost 30 Pounds In A Year (And You Can, Too).](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/09/26/three-ways-to-lose-30-pounds-by-summer-2013/) - "Staying comfortable is the number one way to stay exactly where you are." — Kate Matsudaira In 2008, when I got my new driver's license, I weighed in at 175 pounds. By the end of senior year, as I started to grow into myself, I hit 190. But I was still pretty darn skinny.
- [Excuses We All Tell Ourselves.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/10/03/fuck-excuses/) - "Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change. — Brené Brown There is a voice in the back of your head that's trying to tell you that what you want to do cannot be done. All of us hear that voice. It leaves us wondering things like: Where do I even begin to
- [A Message To The Guy Wearing The 'Lazy But Talented' T-Shirt.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/09/24/lazy-but-talented/) - "Failure is temporary. Quitting makes it permanent." — Layne Beachley Hi. I saw you on the subway the other day. You were wearing a T-shirt that said, "Lazy But Talented." Let me very blunt: Me and my friends — we will own your ass. We will outwork you. We will outhustle you. We will
- [How Tom Petty Helped Me Understand What I Really Wanted To Do With My Life.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/09/28/how-tom-petty-helped-me-understand-my-life/) - “You belong among the wildflowers.” — Tom Petty One man is responsible, probably more than any other, for much of what's happened to me the past two years. That man is Tom Petty. I can't tell you the date, but I can tell you how it felt when I first heard “Wildflowers,” an acoustic
- [What's Next For Stry.us?](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/09/21/whats-next-for-stry-us/) - "Moving forwards into the unknown is a lot better than falling backwards into the abyss." — Simon Sinek When I was in San Antonio, I got asked to cover a Los Lonely Boys concert. It was a bit of a surreal experience. I knew exactly one Los Lonely Boys song. They spent most of
- [How Can I Help You?](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/09/19/how-can-i-help-you/) - "You have to put in many, many, many tiny efforts that nobody sees or appreciates before you achieve anything worthwhile." — Brian Tracy I am at a very unusual point in my life. I have put in a lot of tiny efforts. I'm closing in on 10 years since my very first published clip,
- [Great Tools + Great Storytellers = Tools For Reporters.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/09/17/great-tools-great-storytellers-tools-for-reporters/) - About nine months ago, I launched jstart.wikispaces.com, a wiki of journalism resources. It's massive now — some 500+ tools and tutorials for journalists. The problem is, it's tough to sort through all of that and figure out what the best tools are. So I'm launching a new project: ToolsForReporters.com, a weekly newsletter geared specifically to
- [25 Ideas That I May or May Not Decide To Do Something With.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/09/14/25-ideas-that-i-might-do/) - "Start where you are." — Danielle LaPorte Five words I don't ever expect to say again: I don't have any ideas. The challenge, it turns out, isn't coming up with good ideas. It's deciding which of them is worth pursuing and working on. I have a list where I keep all these big ideas
- [The September Edition of The Awesome File.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/09/12/the-september-edition-of-the-awesome-file/) - Every month, I put together a list of 10 things to inspire you to do better work. This is The Awesome File. Inside this month's Awesome File: Reality checks! Great stories! Serendipity! And a guide to getting $15,000 in free travel! Read on: 1. READ: 'Do Not Ask What Good We Do.' I'll start this
- [Run Your Own Race.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/09/10/run-your-own-race/) - "At 25, if I was sitting at this desk speaking with you, as pompous as the things I have to say are now, they would be millions of times more pompous and inappropriate." — Scott Avett I'm 25, and it feels weird to say that. I haven't been quite sure what 25 means —
- [Go Chasing Waterfalls.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/09/02/go-chasing-waterfalls/) - "Don't go chasing waterfalls / Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to / I know that you're gonna have it your way or nothing it all / But I think you're moving too fast." — TLC With all due respect to the wise women of TLC: Screw that. This
- [Anthony's Lesson: Onward, We Go.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/08/29/anthony-tryba-story/) - "If I've gotta make it, I'll make it." — Anthony Tryba I called Anthony last night. I first met him two years ago in Biloxi. He said he had a Katrina story to tell me. Did he ever. Anthony rode out Katrina on his roof, a few hundred yards from the Gulf of Mexico,
- [Want To Start Doing Better Work? Set A Schedule.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/08/27/great-work-starts-with-routine/) - "Decision is power." — Tony Robbins I've kept a private collection of writings for the past two years. I was fishing through that collection the other day when I found something that surprised me. A year ago this month, as I headed out to start my fellowship at RJI, I wrote this: "Dad's been
- [What Would You Say You Do Here?](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/08/24/what-do-you-do/) - "Life. It's the stories you tell." — Eric Garland There's a thing that any entrepreneur needs to learn how to do in his/her career — if he/she wants to be a successful entrepreneur, that is. Make the pitch. You're at a conference. You're at an event. You find yourself seated next to Bill Gates
- [Success Is....](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/08/22/success-is/) - "Success is never owned, it’s only rented; and whether you win or lose, the rent is still due every day." — Rory Vaden Success isn't an easy thing to define. It is — at best — elusive. You set a goal, and then when you get there, you find that the goalposts have moved.
- [How You Hug Is How You Do Everything In This World. ](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/05/26/how-you-hug-is-how-you-do-everything-in-this-world/) - I am a large human, and as a large human, I tend to give out really big hugs. They come in many forms: Bear hugs, bro hugs and -- best of all -- lift-you-off-the-ground-and-swing-you-around hugs. I have a friend who loves the latter type of hugs almost as much as I do. She's amazing in
- [An Oshinsky Family Lesson: Do Big Things With Crazy Amounts of Love.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/08/17/big-things-with-crazy-amounts-of-love/) - "Of all the things to be picky about, people is the most important." — Nick Seguin Two years ago, I wrote a happy birthday message to my mother on this blog. It read: "A very happy birthday to you, mom, without whom this blog would not be possible, and without whom I would be
- [You Will Screw Up Over And Over Again. (And That's Okay.)](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/08/15/you-will-screw-up-over-and-over-again-and-thats-okay/) - "I would not change a thing because if I did, I wouldn’t be me and I’m really glad to be me. There are a hundred things I regret; there are 75 things I could do over, but I wouldn’t because that would mess up what I ended up with." — Seth Godin Endings tend
- [Words Of Advice From an "Overnight Success."](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/11/06/words-of-advice-from-an-overnight-success/) - My startup songwriter-in-residence, Todd Snider, has a line that I find myself quoting a lot. It's from a brilliant little song, titled "Easy Money." He sings: Everyone wants the most they can possibly get For the least they can possibly do And he couldn't be more spot on. I meet a lot of people who
- [Welcome to danoshinsky.com 2.0.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/08/10/dan-oshinsky-com-2-0/) - "People respect perfection, but they fall in love with imperfection." — Derek Shanahan I started this blog four years ago. The first post was a photo gallery. Since, blog posts have been a little all over the place. But starting in January, this blog got focused. It's no coincidence that as I got focused
- [Learning To Solve For X.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/08/08/learning-to-solve-for-x/) - "Impossible is only true until you prove it otherwise." — Tanner Christensen There's this thing I tell people often, whenever the bill comes or whenever a series of numbers get laid out on the table. "I'm not very good at math," I'll say. This is a standard journalism line. Journalists all say they're bad
- [The August Edition of The Awesome File.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/08/01/the-august-edition-of-the-awesome-file/) - Last month, I published the first edition of The Awesome File, a list of 10 awesome things that you should make time for each month.[1. And that I hope will inspire you to do great work.] It's August, and that means The Awesome File is back, with 10 new awesome things for your month ahead.
- [11 Things Every College Graduate Should Know To Exist In The Real World.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/07/27/11-things-ever-college-graduate-should-know-to-exist-in-the-real-world/) - "Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen." ― Conan O'Brien I came home last night and found one of my roommates making pasta. This roommate had filled up a pot of water. The stove was on low heat. There was already pasta in the pot. I wasn't sure if I should groan
- [How To Make Friends In The Real World* After Graduation. (*You Know, The Real World? That Strange Place That Exists Outside of College?)](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/02/24/how-to-make-friends-in-the-real-world-after-graduation-you-know-its-that-place-that-exists-outside-of-facebook/) - This post is really for anyone who's about to graduate college and move to a new city. I don't recommend graduation, but if you have to do it, and you're moving to a new place, this post might help. I graduated college on my 22nd birthday. I didn't yet have a job. Three days later,
- [Why 'Just Be Yourself' Is Lousy Advice When You're Young.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/05/24/why-just-be-yourself-is-lousy-advice-when-youre-young/) - Here's a piece of advice I don't much care for, especially when it's directed towards young people: Just be yourself. You're giving a talk? Just be yourself. You're writing a paper? Just be yourself. You're going on a date with Cindy Crawford? Just be yourself. But the problem is, What if you're not really sure
- [The Secret to Networking. (Hint: It's not really so secret).](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/10/12/the-secret-to-networking-hint-its-not-really-so-secret/) - Up front, I should say: I am not a great networker. Not yet. This goes back a long way, but the short version is: Sometime around the 6th grade, I realized that I was terrifyingly shy. Calling a friend to ask, "Hey, you wanna play basketball up at school?" was a Herculean ordeal. I remember
- [A Brief Word of Advice For Those About to Start Their First Job.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/10/17/a-brief-word-of-advice-for-those-about-to-start-their-first-job/) - I've been gainfully employed for nearly four months, and I'm finally starting to understand a few truths about life inside a conglomerate. When you're the new guy at a big company, the flowchart of power feels a little like one of those multi-piece Russian matryoshka dolls: you'd like to think you're important, but if you were to
- [Help! I'm Sending in an Application For a Job in Journalism!](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/03/27/help-im-sending-in-an-application-for-a-job-in-journalism/) - I posted the job openings for Stry.us on JournalismJobs.com last week, and since then, the apps have been rolling into my inbox. Some are exceptionally good. A few have been exceptionally bad. Many have left no impression on me whatsoever. That shouldn't happen. I'm seeing apps from talented people who just failed to catch my
- [Ferris Bueller, You're Still My Hero.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/05/11/ferris-bueller-youre-still-my-hero/) - I had a Twitter back-and-forth with Therese Schwenkler last week. She'd just written an awesome post about Derek Zoolander and finding yourself. And I joked: "Zoolander" is a classic, but I think my lifestyle (and Stry.us) is more based on "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Except I wasn't really kidding. There's a whole lot of Ferris in
- [Spread Love, or Just Keep Your Damn Mouth Shut.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/05/21/spread-love-or-just-keep-your-damn-mouth-shut/) - In 2009, I wrote something that I thought was clever. Turned out I was just being a dick. I had gone to a concert with my roommate, Nate, at the Blue Fugue in Columbia, MO. There were a couple of bands playing that night, and one of the openers was from Utah. They were called
- [The Story That Never Got Told. (or: A Tale of Poor Hustle.)](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/07/25/the-story-that-never-got-told-or-a-tale-of-poor-hustle/) - "You get a limited number of chances in life to do something really, really big. Take them." ― Dharmesh Shah Four years ago, I was in Beijing, reporting from the Olympics for the Rocky Mountain News. It was my first true experience reporting from a foreign country, and it was the Olympics, and the
- [Just Once, I Wish Someone Would Ask Me: How The Hell Are You Still Here?](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/05/09/just-once-i-wish-someone-would-ask-me-how-the-hell-are-you-still-here/) - So it's Tuesday afternoon, and I'm in an almost empty TV studio in the middle of Springfield. I am sitting next to Leigh Moody, news anchor at the local ABC station. I am the guest for the 4 p.m. news "Close-Up" interview. The countdown goes "4.. 3... 2...," and then Leigh turns to me and
- [Some Advice to the Kid Who Was Afraid of Jumping Into the Pool This Morning.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/07/19/some-advice-to-the-kid-who-was-afraid-of-jumping-into-the-pool-this-morning/) - "The best way to truly crush your self-doubt is to take action immediately. No plans, no ideas, no considerations, no excuses, no tomorrow. Just go do it right now." ― Andrew Olson I'm at the pool this morning, doing my weekly swim. There's a six-year-old over in lane 1. He's wearing a red Angry
- [I Now Pronounce You Husband... and Tribe.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/07/23/i-now-pronounce-you-husband-and-tribe/) - "Revolution is whatever you want it to be, and it’s wherever you want it to go.... And the people you meet, from the mundane to the most inspiring, are the ones who will unlock it, break it open, or help you find it." ― Jonathan Kalan I went to a rather lovely wedding this
- [Check It Off The List: The Stry.us Team Made a Live Event Happen Last Night.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/07/18/check-it-off-the-list-the-stry-us-team-made-a-live-event-happen-last-night/) - "Don't be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is at hand." ― Henry Miller On Jan. 12, 2012, I laid out six goals for the then-TBD Stry.us project. I did not have a location set for the project. I did not have a team. I only had these six goals: Put together the
- [Devour The Moment.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/07/16/devour-the-moment/) - "Now is the time to go for broke." ― Jeff Goins It became an unofficial life motto of mine about two years ago. I was having a conversation with my friend, Ryan. We were talking about moments. I was about to leave my job to start Stry.us. He was about to finish his master's
- [Big Auto's Failures Can Teach Us A Ton About Building A Better Future For News.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/07/13/auto-industry-failures-and-the-future-of-news/) - “You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.” ― Henry Ford In the late 1880s, Karl Benz built the first modern automobile. In 1908, the first Model T rolled off the assembly line. And then came the dawn of a new age in America: The age of the automobile. You
- [How I Learned To Stop My Selfishness And Share Stry.us With Everyone.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/07/11/how-i-learned-to-stop-my-selfishness-and-share-stry-us-with-everyone/) - "Just remember what was yours is everyone's from now on." ― Wilco Two years ago this month, I officially moved to Biloxi to start Stry.us. In July 2010, it was just me, an apartment, some really expensive photo equipment, and an idea that was way bigger than myself. A lot of people want to
- [Journey > Destination: Why The GPS Generation Has It All Wrong. ](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/07/07/journey-destination-why-the-gps-generation-has-it-all-wrong/) - “I don’t know where I am going, but I am on my way.” ― Voltaire I have friends who are addicted to their GPS devices. Without a GPS, they couldn't find their own feet. They're always plugging destinations into that device, and that GPS voice gives them the road ahead. Miss a turn? The
- [The July Edition of The Awesome File.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/07/02/the-july-edition-of-the-awesome-file/) - If you've been reading this blog, you know already: I'm a big fan of awesome work. But doing the work isn't easy. It requires persistence, patience, luck, hustle -- and a whole lot of inspiration. I'd like to help connect you to some of the things on the web that inspire me. Maybe they'll spark
- [Give Absolutely Everything You Have To Something You Love.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/06/19/give-absolutely-everything-you-have-to-something-you-love/) - To partially steal a line from the band Dawes: If you can gives yourself to something, then you should. Stry.us is the closest I have come to realizing myself in another thing. It is everything I care about -- stories, the web, people, building, design, sharing. It is impossible to separate myself from this project.
- [The Night I Got My Mojo Back.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/06/24/the-night-i-got-my-mojo-back/) - At this point in my life, I'm still learning how to produce good work. The quality of the work will change over time, but everything I do starts with a commitment to work. That work ethic started about the 1st of this year, actually. That's when the schedule I have today -- the hours, the
- [Focus, Dan, Focus.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/06/21/focus-dan-focus/) - The brilliant Hayes Carll one sang these words, a sentiment that I find holding more and more true by the day: There ain't enough of me to go around. Of course, Mr. Carll was singing about a different thing altogether. Hayes loves women. I love work. To each his own, I suppose? But these days,
- [How I Fell In Love. For the First Time. For Forever, I Hope.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/03/01/how-i-fell-in-love-for-the-first-time-for-forever-i-hope/) - Something changed in me this year. I know, because I was on the phone with a friend a few weeks ago. I was telling her about all the work I'm putting in with Stry and Very Quotatious and the fellowship, and she didn't say anything. And then I saw her a few days later, and
- [Finding The Energy To Do The Work On Days When It Just Isn't There.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/06/16/finding-the-energy-to-do-the-work-on-days-when-it-just-isnt-there/) - Navin R. Johnson: The new phone book's here! The new phone book's here! Harry Hartounian: Boy, I wish I could get that excited about nothing. Navin R. Johnson: Nothing? Are you kidding? Page 73 -- Johnson, Navin R.! I'm somebody now! Millions of people look at this book everyday! This is the kind of spontaneous
- [To Be Or Not To Be? You're Overthinking It. Just DO.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/06/13/to-be-or-not-to-be-youre-overthinking-it-just-do/) - Two of my reporters came to me last week with an idea for Stry.us: We should use our Twitter feed to curate a bucket list of Springfield-related things, and then cross those things off as the summer goes on. It'd be a way to engage our audience and to learn more about our new city.
- [Anything I've Ever Done Well, I Have Done Wrong First -- Many, Many Times.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/06/11/anything-ive-ever-done-well-ive-done-wrong-first/) - How about I just put this in the simplest way I can? Everything I have ever done right in my life is something I've done wrong a half-dozen times first. Every good idea, every well-executed plan, every romance -- it's all the result of complete, total, abject failure. I have never done anything right the
- [This One Daydream I Had: Get on I-35 North. Never Look Back.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/03/30/this-one-dream-i-had-get-on-i-35-north-never-look-back/) - Probably around January of 2010, a few months before I left my desk job in San Antonio, I started having these daydreams. I'd be driving along I-35 to a Spurs game, and I'd start fantasizing about just driving beyond, past the city limits, past Austin, past Dallas. I'd started to think that I wasn't ever
- [There Is No Set Path From A->B. There Are Only Steps. Take The First One.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/06/04/there-is-no-set-path-from-a-b-there-are-only-steps-take-the-first-one/) - When I first started Stry.us, I had this notion that I was going to create a company that was going to disrupt the Associated Press. It was going to do a lot of things -- most especially, it would tell great stories -- but it would be funded by news organizations who would rip up
- [I Can't Fucking Believe I Left My Windows Open Again.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/05/31/i-cant-fucking-believe-i-left-my-windows-open-again/) - I took my team up to Ha Ha Tonka last weekend. Ha Ha Tonka is a mid-Missouri park, and I could tell you about its rolling hills, or its castles, or its sinkholes, but all you're going to remember is its name: Ha Ha Tonka. It has a funny name. But I digress: I took
- [We May Look Silly For Trying To Predict The Future. But We'll Look Like Morons If We Don't Try To Build It Anyway.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/05/30/we-may-look-silly-for-trying-to-predict-the-future-but-well-look-like-morons-if-we-dont-try-to-build-it-anyway/) - I just finished Michael Eisner's autobiography, "Work in Progress." It's an excellent read, but I couldn't help but laugh at the final chapter. It's 1997, and Eisner -- CEO of Disney -- starts predicting the future of his corporation. Hindsight makes a book that's only 15 years old seem like an absolute relic. Eisner offers
- [When You're Lost, Don't Be Afraid to Ask. And Definitely Don't Be Afraid to Listen.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/03/26/when-youre-lost-dont-be-afraid-to-ask-and-definitely-dont-be-afraid-to-listen/) - Let me take you back to 2009. Newspapers were slashing staff daily. Jobs weren't plentiful. A young, wide-eyed Dan Oshinsky was about to graduate from college. And in the midst of all this, a strange thing happened: A big newspaper chain decided that they really liked me. They liked my attitude and my skills. They
- [There Is No Such Thing As Bad Work. George Carlin Taught Me That.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/05/28/there-is-no-such-thing-as-bad-work-george-carlin-taught-me-that/) - When I was in 9th grade, my family roadtripped down to Florida over winter break. My parents had always found interesting things to play in the car on long drives. My parents were big fans of D.C. parody group The Capital Steps,[1. I still can't hear Billy Joel's "The Longest Time" without singing, "Boris Yeltsin
- [Mad Max, and a Few Thoughts on the Nature of Childhood](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/05/03/mad-max-and-a-few-thoughts-on-the-nature-of-childhood/) - A brief comment in advance of this post: like the majority of the commentary on this blog, this post is meant as a representation of events observed. Somewhere, between observation and judgment, there's truth. And yes, truth is not as universal a concept as we'd like it to be. Now: on with the post. ❡❡❡My
- [My Little Brother is Lazy. But What I Can Really Do About It?](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/05/19/my-little-brother-is-lazy-but-what-i-can-really-do-about-it/) - My little brother is -- and I say this with all the love that I can muster -- the laziest little shit I know. I just got off the phone with my mother. She told me that ever since he got back from college, he's been sleeping in until 2 p.m. every day. She wants
- [A Dan Oshinsky Birthday Wish: Today, Do Something That Scares You.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/05/16/a-dan-oshinsky-birthday-wish-today-do-something-that-scares-you/) - Today is my birthday. I haven't wished for something on my birthday in a long time, but hell, I'm 25, and I'm feeling old. So here's my wish. This wish is for you. Today, I wish that you'll read this and do something that scares you. You'll say something out loud that you've been afraid
- [The 'Cool Runnings' Theory of Doing the Work.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/03/23/the-cool-runnings-theory-of-doing-the-work/) - I'm going to guess that you've seen the movie "Cool Runnings," simply because I've never met anyone who hasn't seen "Cool Runnings." It's one of my favorite films, the based-on-a-true-story tale of four Jamaican guys who somehow qualify for the Olympics as bobsledders. It's funny, and goofy, and inspiring. It's also, it turns out, a
- [Life Lessons Learned From Three Chicks in an RV.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/10/26/life-lessons-learned-from-three-chicks-in-an-rv/) - Every once in a while, I get to meet someone who just knocks me over. Someone doing something inspiring and risky and ambitious and epic. Someone who's doing something incredible. And last night, I met three ladies who are traveling America in an RV, doing good deeds and inspiring others to chase big dreams. I
- [We Should All Be a Little More Like The Most Interesting Man in the World.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/05/14/we-should-all-be-a-little-more-like-the-most-interesting-man-in-the-world/) - This is not a ground-breaking statement, but I'll say it anyway: Life is confusing. We have so many questions and so few answers. And it's tough to know who our role models should be. There are so many great leaders and thinkers and builders in our world. Who to model a life after? Gandhi? Lincoln?
- [My Mother and Her Puta Grande](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/05/10/my-mother-and-her-puta-grande/) - **I told this story live at Ignite NewsFoo in December 2011. You can watch it here.** Right now, if you don't mind, I'd like to tell you a story about my mother. Eleven months ago, I was returning home. I'd spent six months studying abroad in a very pleasant beachside town in Spain. I was
- [Keep Stabbing. Keep Going. Keep Working.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/05/08/keep-stabbing-keep-going-keep-working/) - I remember seeing the band Phoenix in Austin three years ago. It was at the Austin City Limits Festival. It was just an afternoon slot on a Friday -- not quite primetime --but a massive crowd showed up. Even the band's lead singer admitted that day that it was the biggest crowd they'd ever played
- [Better Passes, Better Catches: How To Live Your Life the Bethesda Magic Way.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/04/29/better-passes-better-catches-how-to-live-your-life-the-bethesda-magic-way/) - The year was 1996. OJ went on trial in California. Michael Johnson ran away from everyone at the Atlanta Games. Garry Kasparov lost to an IBM computer in chess. And, probably most notable of all: The Bethesda Magic recreational basketball team was formed. I was one of the original Magic. There are many things I
- [When You Break The Rules, You Get Into Weird, Unexpected Situations. Here's How You'll Know You're In One.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/04/23/when-you-break-the-rules-you-get-into-weird-unexpected-situation/) - These words I have heard over and over again: Oh, I've never seen anything like that before. As in the time I brought my cell phone to the AT&T store with a crack in the screen. They asked me, "Did you stab this phone with a knife?" I told them, No! What am I, a
- [The Importance of Believing That It *Can* Get Done.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/04/17/the-importance-of-believing-that-it-can-get-done/) - When I was three years old, I found a red pan in my preschool classroom. I used to walk around with this red pan and pretend to play guitar on it. There is a photo of me that my parents still hang onto. I have big, fat cheeks, and goofy, green overalls, and I'm soloing
- [Why I've Decided to Shut Down Smartphoneless.com.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/04/20/why-ive-decided-to-shut-down-smartphoneless-com/) - Four months ago, I launched a blog that I had a lot of promise: Smartphoneless.com. I wanted it to be the hub for discussion and thought among my fellow smartphoneless Americans. And I got some amazing feedback in the time since launch, especially from students here at Mizzou. They'd see my phone or hear about
- [Why I Am Giving Such a Ridiculous TEDx Talk Tomorrow.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/04/13/why-i-am-giving-such-a-ridiculous-tedx-talk-tomorrow/) - Tomorrow, I will speak at TEDxMU, the TED-approved event happening here at Mizzou. I'm enormously excited to be a part of the speaking list. Astronauts, businessmen, leaders and thinkers will be speaking. And me, somehow. Of course, I'm not content giving just any speech. I decided that if I was going to give a TED
- [There Are No Off Days. (Jean-Ralphio and I Agree On This, Actually.)](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/04/05/there-are-no-off-days-jean-ralphio-and-i-agree-on-this-actually/) - Two things caught my attention last night and got me thinking about the work I'm doing right now. The first was this Instagram photo of the rainbow at the end of the road. (More on that photo in a second.) The second was Jean-Ralphio. Okay, not actually Jean-Ralphio, one of those strange, lovable TV characters
- [My Grandson, The Chipotle Apprentice.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/12/20/my-grandson-the-chipotle-apprentice/) - Of note: What follows is a work of original blog fiction. Only the business card printed above is real. (Also: Chipotle does make quesadillas; they're just on the secret menu.) My grandson is named Charlie. I love him very much. He is 22 years old. He has a degree in fine arts from SUNY-Schenectety, the
- [Lovers of #Longreads Wanted: Stry.us is Hiring For Our Next Reporting Project!](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/03/19/stry-us-is-hiring/) - I'm hiring four reporters for the summer for stry.us. Send your stuff to dan@stry.us. I'm looking for lovers of longform for a summer-long reporting experiment in the Midwest. You'll be working with Stry [pronounced STOHR-ee], a new reporting agency that's trying to take a snapshot of life in 2012. I'm looking for reporters who
- [The Difference Between Patience and Persistence.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/03/17/the-difference-between-patience-and-persistence/) - I remember watching my little brother go fishing once. He was in fourth or fifth grade at the time. You have to understand that my little brother is highly allergic to fish. The kid's face puffs up if he so much as walks past a Benihana. But he sat on the banks of that river
- [Want to Know The Secret to the Perfect NCAA Bracket? Pick By Storyline.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/03/14/want-to-know-the-secret-to-the-perfect-ncaa-bracket-pick-by-storyline/) - It's that time of year when everyone's breaking out their brackets. And everyone's got their methods. Some pick based on reputation. Some turn to the computers for advice. Some pick based on the cuteness of a school's mascot. I've got a new system this year, and I think it's a winner: I pick by storyline.
- [How I Got Myself a Bunch of Free Flights to Awesome Places.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/03/11/how-i-got-myself-a-bunch-of-free-flights-to-awesome-places/) - At the end of 2012 2011, I made a promise to include travel on my list of things for the upcoming year. Except that I'm not sitting on a mountain of disposable income here. If I was going to travel, I was going to do it cheap. So that's how I got interested in travel
- [What Mizzou Basketball Taught Me About Understanding the Moment.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/03/08/what-mizzou-basketball-taught-me-about-understanding-the-moment/) - So here's the moment when I absolutely knew that my team was special. It was back in January. My Missouri Tigers were playing their first Big 12 game of the year. Mizzou had been written off during the summer, when the Tigers lost Laurence Bowers -- an All-Conference-caliber power forward -- to a knee injury.
- [What the Hell Do I Do Now With Stry? (Part II)](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/01/12/what-the-hell-do-i-do-now-with-stry-part-ii/) - If you missed Part I of "What the Hell Do I Do Now With Stry?", you might want to read that first. So the question for me now is, With what I know right now, what the hell do I really want to do with Stry? Financially, I'm alright. I have +/-$45,000 left to spend
- [The Crescendo Rises Again.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/02/27/the-crescendo-rises-again/) - The crescendo, we called it. My buddy, Ryan, and I came up with the title during our senior year. Amazing things had started to happen. Our school's basketball team was experiencing massive success. We were dating women we liked. We were applying for jobs. We were really enjoying the last few months of college. (Maybe
- [When You See Me Sprinting Through an Airport, Please Step Aside.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/06/05/when-you-see-me-sprinting-through-an-airport-please-step-aside/) - There's this amazing moment in one of Carl Reiner's and Mel Brooks' "2000 Year Old Man" sketches, when Reiner is moving through a line of questions about the early days of man. He'll get to the good stuff in a second -- questions about Joan of Arc, questions about the secrets to longevity -- but
- [Introducing.... VeryQuotatious.com.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/02/22/introducing-veryquotatious-com/) - I have a friend who is studying to become a doctor. On test days, I'll often get a text or an email from her, asking for a word of wisdom. She knows I've got a Delicious loaded with inspirational links and ideas, and I'll dig through there and send her something. I love helping, and
- [When I Wear This T-Shirt With A Giant Sandwich On It, I Am Doing So Effortlessly.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/02/16/when-i-wear-this-t-shirt-with-a-giant-sandwich-on-it-i-am-doing-so-effortlessly/) - I have a friend from Kansas City. Her name is Angela, and she did something kind of unusual the other day. She started a blog.[1. On Blogger, no less! How decidedly retro! You can read Angela's blog over at maybeyesterday.com. It's quite good, actually.] Angela's always been one of those girls who seemed out of
- [One Dumb Thing I Used To Believe In.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/02/21/one-dumb-thing-i-used-to-believe-in/) - Danielle LaPorte, Internet thinker person, asked a question on her blog today: "What's one dumb thing that you used to believe in?" As someone who says/does a lot of dumb things, I felt qualified to provide this answer: ¶¶¶ I used to believe in radical, blunt honesty. In speaking without filter. In giving advice even
- [A Thought About Sam O's Birthday, Exactly One Year Ago Today.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/02/13/a-thought-about-sam-os-birthday-exactly-one-year-ago-today/) - Today is my little brother's 19th birthday. Exactly a year ago, I was thinking about how he'd just turned 18, and I wrote down this thought. I'm sharing it here on the Interwebs for the first time. Sam O turns 18 today. 18's one of those unimportant important birthdays. He gets to do nothing special,
- [Before You Sign, Read The Contract. Always Read The Contract.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/02/02/before-you-sign-read-the-contract-always-read-the-contract/) - "People change. Circumstances change. Legal documents don’t change." -- Brent Beshore, CEO of AdVentures At my first job out of college, I was told that I would get health care. Dental, medical -- the usual. This sounded good to me, even though I didn't know what a co-pay was, or a deductible, or anything else
- [Do the Work. Always Do The Work.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/02/12/do-the-work-always-do-the-work/) - I read this story last summer, and I didn't fully understand it. I loved it, and I bookmarked it, and I read it a half-dozen times, but I didn't really get it. It was about Bob Bradley, the former coach of the U.S. men's soccer team. The story was by Luis Bueno, who used to
- [What My Head Feels Like Right Now With All The Things Happening With Stry. ](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/02/08/what-my-head-feels-like-right-now-with-all-the-things-happening-with-stry/) - Fast. It's moving so damn fast. So many things to cross off the to-do list. So many things happening all at once. So many tasks. Knock one off, another one takes its place. Slow. It's moving so damn slow. So much time between now and May, and May just won't come. Why can't it all
- [I Cannot Codify Entrepreneurship, And Neither Can You, And Here's Why.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/01/21/i-cannot-codify-entrepreneurship-and-neither-can-you-and-heres-why/) - There was a point not all that long ago when I was pretty sure I could codify entrepreneurship. I'd heard plenty of stories, and talked to plenty of entrepreneurs, and I was seeing a lot of the same themes repeat. I thought that if I could just ID specific points along the way, I could
- [One Great Story Could Make You $50k. (So Steal This Idea If You'd Like.)](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/02/05/one-great-story-could-make-you-50k-so-steal-this-idea-if-youd-like/) - You're a newspaper. You're looking for a way to tell an interesting story, to engage users and make $50,000. Quick: How do you pull it off? I'm thinking about calling up the team at Quarterly. It's a new subscription service for interesting people and brands. Alexis Madrigal of the Atlantic, Gretchen Rubin at the Happiness
- [At Least My Mother Isn't *That* Embarrassing.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/01/30/at-least-my-mother-isnt-that-embarrassing/) - I've gotten dozens of excellent responses to my Puta Grande talk. But my favorite was passed along to me from a cousin on the west coast. She sent the video to her friend, a mother of four, and that mom emailed back to say, Oh, this is nothing. When our family picks up someone at
- [The Thing I Really Wanted During The Days in Biloxi In Which My Diet Was 84 Percent Tuna Fish.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/01/15/the-thing-i-really-wanted-during-the-days-in-biloxi-in-which-my-diet-was-84-percent-tuna-fish/) - Back on Aug. 1, 2010, I officially launched Stry. I was a month into my three-month stay in Biloxi. I wasn't making any money, and I wasn't really sure what was going to happen to me. That night, I wrote down this thought about my future. I'm sharing it here on the Interwebs for the
- [Introducing Smartphoneless (a Dan Oshinsky blog venture).](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/01/08/introducing-smartphoneless-a-dan-oshinsky-blog-venture/) - Back in July, I decided to defend my choice of telephonic device with a blog post, titled, "Why I Do Not Have a Smartphone." Many people read this post, said they appreciated my opinion and then told me that I was a moron. The questions about my phone persist. Every week, a handful of people
- [What the Hell Do I Do Now With Stry? (Part I)](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/01/12/what-the-hell-do-i-do-now-with-stry-part-i/) - This is Part I of II. Skip ahead to Part II if you'd like using this very link. 18 months ago, I was working at a TV station in San Antonio. I saw that journalism was changing, and I knew I wasn't a part of the conversation. Every time I saw an interview with a
- [The Puta Grande Story, Told Live.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/01/10/the-puta-grande-story-told-live/) - Back in December, I went out to Phoenix for NewsFoo, a conference for 150 of the brightest minds in news. I'm not sure why I was invited; my guess is that I was there to keep the group's average IQ from skewing too high. Regardless: I was there, and at the conference, I got to
- [What Happens When You Call Three Airline 1-800 Numbers in One Night... And Then Zappos.](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/01/05/what-happens-when-you-call-three-airline-1-800-numbers-in-one-night-and-then-zappos/) - So this is the story of how I called three airline customer care numbers in one night -- and then Zappos. And then I understood. Now, I don't recommend calling multiple airline customer care hotlines within the span of an hour. They'll make you mad. At the first airline, it took me 15 minutes to
- [How and Why I Ended Up Stalking the "Cash Cab" Guy at Dulles Airport](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/02/11/how-and-why-i-ended-up-stalking-the-cash-cab-guy-at-dulles-airport/) - So I’m at D.C.’s Dulles Airport tonight, waiting for my late-night flight to St. Louis and looking for an airport bar to watch the first half of the U.S.-Mexico World Cup qualifier. The bar near my gate is full and showing CNN, so I keep moving, down Dulles’ interminable Terminal B, an inexplicably long tunnel
- [Buy Into Your Own Demise, or Make Things More Awesome. (Your Choice.)](https://danoshinsky.com/2012/01/04/buy-into-your-own-demise-or-make-things-more-awesome-your-choice/) - Forbes ran a story on their website this week about Best Buy. The lead paragraph read: "Electronics retailer Best Buy is headed for the exits. I can’t say when exactly, but my guess is that it’s only a matter of time, maybe a few more years." Then it went on to detail numerous problems with
- [(A Unified Vision Statement For All Current and Future Endeavours Into and) For the Creation of Awesomeness.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/12/20/a-unified-vision-statement-for-all-current-and-future-endeavours-into-and-for-the-creation-of-awesomeness/) - Not too long ago, I added a little note to the top of this very blog: "Dan is the creator of awesome stuff." That's not just some bro jargon I'm co-opting; I really mean that. I love creating stuff that's both, A.) Cool, and B.) Useful, and when those two get together, the result is
- [These Are Some Really Smart Thoughts On Leadership in Newsrooms. I Stole Them From Other People, and You Should Steal Them From Me.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/12/05/these-are-some-really-smart-thoughts-on-leadership-in-newsrooms-i-stole-them-from-other-people-and-you-should-steal-them-from-me/) - I spent the weekend at NewsFoo, this unconference out in Phoenix. It's a strange affair: The organizers -- O'Reilly Media, the Knight Foundation and Google -- handpick about 150 people involved in all corners of news, and they throw them in a building together for a weekend. There aren't any sessions planned out in advance.
- [How I Dealt With Those Pesky Thanksgiving Questions](https://danoshinsky.com/2008/11/27/how-i-dealt-with-those-pesky-thanksgiving-questions/) - I have a very large extended family. They're goofy and loud and, above all, prone to asking the same questions repeatedly. If there's one thing I hate about seeing my family, it's having to answer the same question a dozen times during dinner. And since I'm a very tall college senior who's just returned from
- [The Time I Met Colleen, My (Non-Creepy) Internet Friend. ](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/11/14/the-time-i-met-colleen-my-non-creepy-internet-friend/) - The first words out of her mouth were, "You saw it on Twitter, didn't you?" Of course I did. Really, could it have happened any other way? It's last Wednesday night. I'm going to the Blue Note, Columbia's big music venue, to see Jakob Dylan, son of Bob, writer of the 1996 smash "One Headlight."
- [Re-entering the Time Warp That Was the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/11/13/re-entering-the-time-warp-that-was-the-2008-beijing-olympic-games/) - I am in the midst of reading this fantastic new book, Tom Scocca's "Beijing Welcomes You." It's about China's capital city during the years leading up to and during the 2008 Olympic Games. I was there myself, covering the Games for the Rocky Mountain News, and reading Scocca's account, I find myself experiencing some very
- [Treetop Flyers Wanted. ](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/10/24/treetop-flyers-wanted/) - I've been thinking a lot lately about the kinds of people I'd like to hire for Stry. I've been asking myself, Who's going to join me on this startup adventure? Where am I going to find reporters willing to chase stories and travel and venture forth into a world where the only structure is the
- [Why I Look Happily Towards The Future of Missouri Football, and What Exactly I Mean By That.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/09/10/why-i-look-happily-towards-the-future-of-missouri-football-and-what-exactly-i-mean-by-that/) - There is a very strange realization I came to tonight: Fans of my alma mater believe that who we were define who we are. And I do not. I was with this girl tonight. She is Missouri-born and a Tiger fan through and through. She loves this team. She actually understands football. And tonight, when
- [#BergChat: The Pivot!](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/09/21/bergchat-the-pivot/) - Four weeks ago today, I went in front of a group of students here at the University of Missouri and told them I wanted to buy them a beer and talk about journalism. And then I went in front of another class. And another. And another. And told them, a few hundred in all: I
- [Today, On This Rosh Hashanah, In What Is Apparently The Year 5772, I Would Like to Give Thanks.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/09/28/today-on-this-rosh-hashanah-in-what-is-apparently-the-year-5772-i-would-like-to-give-thanks/) - Today is Rosh Hashanah, and I am in Columbia, Mo. The last time I was in Columbia for Rosh Hashanah, Barack Obama was just a Senator from Illinois, my Missouri Tigers were about to head to Lincoln, Neb., to play a conference game, and I was still a month away from signing up for something
- [Why I'm Doing What I'm Doing.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/09/13/why-im-doing-what-im-doing/) - This was originally published over at the RJI blog. But I really liked what I'd written. So I'm republishing it here: ❡❡❡ This is not a motivational blog post. I am not writing this to inspire you. I do not want you to read this and quit your job. Is that clear? Are you sure?
- [Why I'm Starting The #BergChat ](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/08/21/why-im-starting-the-bergchat/) - View Larger Map 2. The #BergChat will last 30 minutes. 3. During said #BergChat, I will buy you a beer, or, if you're not inclined/able, a drink of your choice. 4. To schedule a #BergChat, follow me on Twitter at @danoshinsky. Each week, I'll be tweeting out times when I'll be holding a #BergChat. I'll
- [The $1,000 Father-Son Belly Challenge.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/08/15/the-1000-father-son-belly-challenge/) - This is the kind of thing that I shouldn't go doing. It's not nice of me to take an old man's money. And yet, that's just what I intend to do. The old man in question just happens to be my old man, Bill Oshinsky (he's the little fella you see in the photo below).
- [A Question From Me, The Professional Question Asker.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/08/08/a-question-from-me-the-professional-question-asker/) - I went to see NBC News' David Gregory speak tonight in a little auditorium on Nantucket Island. He spoke for an hour, mostly about the failures of our political system and our economy and our media, and then he closed by reminding everyone that we were on a little island 30 miles off the coast
- [Why I Do Not Have a Smartphone.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/07/07/why-i-do-not-have-a-smartphone/) - I am finding that lately, I have had to defend my choice of telephone. I find this strange, as my telephone does exactly what I want it to do: It places and receives phone calls anywhere in America. The fact that it does this, and that I pay about $35 per month for such services,
- [From the Dept. of Things I Want: The Kid's Menu of Wine Lists.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/06/30/from-the-dept-of-things-i-want-the-kids-menu-of-wine-lists/) - I went out to dinner last night with this girl. She was about my age. From upstate New York. We met via kickball, and I asked her out. Nothing too formal. Kickball romances typically aren't, I'm told. But we were on this patio, and it was a nice night, and she had gone through the
- [Twitter's Truth Squad.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/06/20/twitters-truth-squad/) - Here is what happens when I hear about news indirectly -- basically, when breaking news gets to me secondhand: 1. I run to a computer. 2. I open up the nearest Twitter client. 3. I search for the news that I've just heard and try to find confirmation that it is either true or false. In
- [My Sister, the Graduate.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/05/15/my-sister-the-graduate/) - My little sister graduated from college this week. We went down to celebrate graduation with her. We filed into the school's basketball arena on Thursday. We sat and watch the processional. An orchestra played. A Dean spoke. Hands clapped, and parents 'Woo-Hoo!'-ed, and mostly, we just sat, unbelievably proud of my little sister. Now, she
- [A Note Regarding the Nature of Stories About Myself and My Mother That Appear Here on This Blog.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/04/19/a-note-regarding-the-nature-of-stories-about-myself-and-my-mother-that-appear-here-on-this-blog/) - By now, you've probably read about Greg Mortenson, author of the best-selling book "Three Cups of Tea." Mortenson, according to a "60 Minutes" report, embellished, fabricated and radically altered key details in his book. Which is a roundabout way of saying: Greg Mortenson is a liar. I can't prove to you whether or not Mortenson has
- [The Very Exciting Thing That Is About To Happen To Me (or: M-I-Z).](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/05/02/the-very-exciting-thing-that-is-about-to-happen-to-me-or-m-i-z/) - This post was originally published over on Stry. It's actually a speech that I intended to give in Columbia, Mo., last week. I didn't know I was supposed to give a speech, and then I decided to read the itinerary of events I'd been sent, and saw very clearly the words "Dan Oshinsky" and "five-minute
- [How Bon Jovi's Subversive Smiley Face Would Go Viral in 2011.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/04/05/how-bon-jovis-subversive-smiley-face-would-go-viral-in-2011/) - I got a Bon Jovi song stuck in my head the other day. The song was "Have a Nice Day," the title track from the band's 2005 album. It's got all the Bon Jovi hallmarks: those familiar power chords, Richie Sambora playing a double-necked guitar and multiple lyrics about "living my life." All it's missing
- [What the Death of News Cycles Really Means For Most Humans.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/03/30/what-the-death-of-news-cycles-really-means-for-most-humans/) - A week ago, Mizzou's men's basketball coach, Mike Anderson, left to take the same position at Arkansas. And in the past week, there's been a lot of speculation about who will become my alma mater's new head coach. Mizzou went hard after Purdue's coach, Matt Painter. Today, it looked like MU was going to sign
- [Be Careful What You Tweet.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/04/03/be-careful-what-you-tweet/)
- [When I Get Jealous Over Awesome Lyrics That I Think, One Day, I Could Have Come Up With On My Own. (I Think.)](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/03/26/when-i-get-jealous-over-awesome-lyrics-that-i-think-one-day-i-could-have-come-up-with-on-my-own-i-think/) - The most unusual thing happened to me last week. I was buying tickets for a concert that I'm seeing on Monday. The artist is Bob Schneider. He's an Austin legend. He's a songwriter who's probably going to make linguists come up with a word that goes beyond 'prolific.' He's got a catalog of songs that
- [What Journalists Can Learn From @bettydraper.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/03/11/what-journalists-can-learn-from-bettydraper/)
- [Here's to You, Championship Week. And Here's To You, Bill Raftery.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/03/09/heres-to-you-championship-week-and-heres-to-you-bill-raftery/) - This is my favorite week of the year. It has been since I was in fourth grade, and my dad took me to the ACC Tournament for the first time. It was in Greensboro, North Carolina, and we stayed at a two-level drive-in motel with red brick and paint fading off the second-floor guardrails. There
- [Was Mexico's No. 2 Government Official Assassinated?](https://danoshinsky.com/2008/11/11/was-mexicos-no-2-government-official-assassinated/) - Last Tuesday -- just as Americans were tuned into the Presidential election, a Learjet crashed into a neighborhood in downtown Mexico City. Onboard was Juan Camilo Mourino -- the Mexican government's Interior Secretary, with a similar cabinet role to U.S. Vice President -- and Jose Luis Santiago Vasconelos. Both men have led the country's war
- [Okay, So Maybe Facebook Commenting Isn't The Answer For Internet Civility.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/01/31/okay-so-maybe-facebook-commenting-isnt-the-answer-for-internet-civility/) - All Things D brings word today that Facebook will soon be loaning its commenting system to major media players. For those who believe that commentating systems that use real names -- and therefore add some sort of accountability and transparency to the commenting process -- are more likely to limit trolls, this seems like a
- [The Three Stages of a News Start-Up.](https://danoshinsky.com/2011/01/27/the-three-stages-of-a-news-start-up/) - I've been spending my week down in St. Petersburg, Fla., at the Poynter Institute. The theme of the week: entrepreneurial journalism. And after seeing case study after case study about successful journalism start-ups, I'm starting to see three common areas of overlap during the initial start-up process. Those areas are: Conceptualization --> Validation --> Realization
- [Happy Birthday, Mom.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/12/17/happy-birthday-mom/) - A very happy birthday to you, mom, without whom this blog would not be possible, and without whom I would be rendered hopelessly, painfully normal. Indeed, I cannot imagine it.
- [The Power of Love (or: Things My Mother Does Not Know About My Father After 29 Years of Marriage.)](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/10/27/the-power-of-love-or-things-my-mother-does-not-know-about-my-father-after-29-years-of-marriage/) - If you are reading this, then there is a good chance that my mother knows everything about you. She knows when you were born and how much you weighed. What elementary school you went to. Your favorite type of Girl Scout cookie. Everything. I can say this with certainty because she really does remember everything.
- [The Things I Found.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/12/08/the-things-i-found/) - During the previous month, I've been cleaning out my childhood room, and I've made some unusual discoveries. Here is some of what I've found, presented without comment. 3 Maryland Terrapins posters from 1995, featuring an ad for Erol's Internet 1 World Cup USA 94 bumper sticker 1 pack of 'Moochas Gracias' stationary, featuring a picture
- [Self-Promo Alert: Talking Stry.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/12/06/self-promo-alert-talking-stry/) - A few weeks back, I was late for ONA10 in D.C. I had meant to get to a talk on APIs, but I missed the first subway ride down, and then I stopped for a bagel, and then I spotted David Cohn -- he of Spot.us fame -- and suddenly found myself even later. Because
- [Twitter Has Killed Small Talk. (Or: Why We Are Less Interesting Than Ever.)](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/04/22/twitter-has-killed-small-talk-or-why-we-are-less-interesting-than-ever/) - If you are like the majority of Americans -- and I suspect that you are -- you suffer from a severe condition that scientists typically refer to as "not being interesting." I, myself, have more than two decades in the field, and after extensive research, I feel compelled to note that only a small percentage
- [If Newspapers Had Flight Attendants (or: Keep your tray table in the upright and panic position.)](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/04/06/if-newspapers-had-flight-attendants-or-keep-your-tray-table-in-the-upright-and-panic-position/) - Hello, I’m Dan, and on behalf of your newsroom-based crew, I’d like to welcome you onboard Media Conglomerate Airlines. As we may continue to lose money rapidly during this flight, I would like to remind you of the safety features onboard. There are two exits onboard this aircraft: buyouts and layoffs. Caution: the nearest layoffs
- [My Resume, in Brief](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/04/27/my-resume-in-brief/) - I was looking at my résumé this afternoon and struck by a strange realization: the thing is three pages long, including references and clips. Ideally, I'd like it to fit on a page. So what follows is an exercise in brevity: my work in journalism, in one -- albeit very long -- paragraph. When I
- [No Matter What You May Have Been Led to Believe, I Do Not Have a Rabbinically-Related Bacon Sex Obsession](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/04/27/no-matter-what-you-may-have-been-led-to-believe-i-do-not-have-a-rabbinically-related-bacon-sex-obsession/) - A serious, actual warning: this blog post contains material that is mildly pornographic. If you are my parents or anyone who is seriously considering hiring me -- with the exception of the fine editorial board over at the Adult Video News family of publications -- I advise that you just click here to read my
- [Very Brief Thoughts on the Modern Literary Canon.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/05/17/very-brief-thoughts-on-the-modern-literary-canon/) - Tonight, in the process of cleaning out my basement, I found a stack of notebooks from previous semesters. In one notebook, I stumbled across an essay I'd written to no one in particular, in which I argue that the standards for defining the modern literary canon have changed. Mostly, it's an essay about why my
- [#onefinalread](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/11/29/onefinalread/) - I'm trying a new experiment on Twitter this week. Usually, I end each day with a #closingthought. But my closing thoughts have gotten a bit weird. Last week, they were all Allen Iverson quotes. Since I started tweeting out songs more frequently in the morning for #AMinspiration, my closing thoughts have suffered. So this week,
- [The Next Time Someone Asks You If Journalism Is Worth Paying For, Say This.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/11/28/the-next-time-someone-asks-you-why-reporters-arent-paid-more-try-saying-something-like-this/) - Funny how some things are cyclical. Again, I'm hearing reporters question whether or not there's money to be made in journalism. And again, I'm wondering why reporters feel the need to undermine themselves. Why not just come up with an explanation for why your job is essential to our democracy? Why not say something like
- [How Far Can 100 Really Good Books Travel?](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/11/04/how-far-can-100-really-good-books-travel/) - That's the question I'm asking in a new project that will soon be launching over at BooksAround.org. It's a spin-off on the old dollar bill experiment: if I send 100 interesting books out to people around the country, and ask those people to read and pass the books along to friends, where will those books
- [The Social Media News at 6.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/10/20/the-social-media-news-at-6/) - You knew it was coming, eventually: the Social Media News at 6. (To be followed soon by the Hyperlocal News at 6.) Dallas' KDFW has the story: (H/T to NPR's Andy Carvin for the link.)
- [Lessons From My (Attempted) Week Without Twitter.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/10/17/lessons-from-my-attempted-week-without-twitter/) - I took the week off from Twitter last week. Not with any real purpose in mind, really. I just didn't want to tweet, and I thought that maybe, it'd open up some free time for me to read the paper or be productive. But it didn't. I kept checking Twitter -- habitually. I keep reading
- [Introducing The Roadside Journalism Assistance Network.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/10/15/introducing-the-roadside-journalism-assistance-network/) - There is a fad coming. The buzz inside journalism circles is that great reporting needs to be supported by multiple revenue streams. Walmart won't support the Beijing bureau anymore, and a paywall might not either. Something else needs to fill in the funding gaps. Smaller news organizations are looking for their extra sources of revenue,
- [When Your Newspaper Wishes You 'Good Morning.'](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/09/29/when-your-newspaper-wishes-you-good-morning/) - I've been spending most of my time this week looking at the front pages of newspapers. It's a strange thing, almost, to see so many dailies still printing. Two years ago, after the Rocky Mountain News closed, the prediction was that dozens of daily papers would be gone by now. But they're not. Still, having
- [Rating the Hashtag.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/09/27/rating-the-hashtag/) - Thanks to Storify for the assistance with posting all of those tweets.
- [An Open Letter to the PR Firm That Represents AT&T Regarding Potential Dunk Tank Promotional Opportunities.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/09/20/an-open-letter-to-the-pr-firm-that-represents-att-regarding-potential-dunk-tank-promotional-opportunities/) - Dear Fleishman-Hillard, You're the PR agency that represents AT&T. They're one of your biggest clients. They're also one of the largest companies on the planet, and for the last few years, I have been among the millions of AT&T customers who have come to decide that they are totally screwing me over. I pay AT&T
- [Where Everybody Knows Your Name.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/09/16/where-everybody-knows-your-name/) - Biloxi is not a town of comfort. It has its simple pleasures -- the Waffle House, the Whataburger, the Five Guys -- but when it comes to some brand names, head elsewhere. The nearest Bank of America is in New Orleans. So is the nearest Kinkos. When Target opened here, they held a celebration just
- [This Was My Favorite Story To Write Here in Biloxi. Please Stop Asking.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/09/14/this-was-my-favorite-story-to-write-here-in-biloxi-please-stop-asking/) - In my three months in Biloxi, the question that's been my "Do you play basketball?" is, "What's your favorite story from down here?" I've been told of miracles and horrors, and I've become intimately familiar with the inner workings of both local government and insurance contracts. But my favorite story to write down here didn't
- [Report: Newsworthy Event Happens During Protest Against Newsworthiness.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/09/11/report-newsworthy-event-happens-during-protest-against-newsworthiness/) - The story is meant to be a laugh, right there next to "Fla. Man Punches Shark in the Face, Snaps Photo" and the slightly more straightforward "Playboy Model Detained After Allegedly Trying to Open Plane Door Mid-Flight." This one starts, "A Norwegian radio journalist quit on the air after complaining about her job and saying
- [The Ultimate Closing Thought.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/08/30/the-ultimate-closing-thought/) - Since April, I've been working on an experiment for my Twitter feed: I start each day with a bit of #AMinspiration, and I close each day with a #closingthought. A few weeks back, I expanded the latter, and started running #closingthought weeks. I had one inspired by Beatles songs. Another one featured overly-existential 90s pop
- [Five Things to Rethink the Newsroom: Engage Now.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/08/25/five-things-to-rethink-the-newsroom-engage-now/) - There's this funny little joke going around right now that there’s such a thing as a social media expert. These are people who boast advanced skills in the way of Twitter. They’ll teach you how to DM and build a fan page with the best of them. But what’s so funny is that technically, there’s
- [Five Things to Rethink the Newsroom: Partner and Grow.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/08/27/five-things-to-rethink-the-newsroom-partner-and-grow/) - This is the shortest of these posts, if only because it’s more of a pep talk than anything, and because it deserves to be brief. Your newsroom is shrinking. Your newsroom cannot deliver all the news it wants to deliver. So find a partner. Make it an exclusive deal or use the Publish2 newswire to
- [Five Things to Rethink the Newsroom: Prove It.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/08/26/five-things-to-rethink-the-newsroom-prove-it/) - When I was in elementary school, I spent a lot of time watching infomercials. This wasn’t by choice; my family had yet to subscribe to cable, and Saturday morning cartoons always came on after infomercials. So I’ve been well-schooled in the nature of the TV pitch: the Total Gym, the Ronco Rotisserie, the Unbreakable Auto-Lock.
- [Five Things to Rethink the Newsroom: Create Your Hubs (and Spokes).](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/08/24/five-things-to-rethink-the-newsroom-create-your-hubs-and-spokes/) - What does a newsroom look like? The thing that's probably coming to mind is something out of "All the President's Men": a large room, with long rows of cubicles stretching out into the distance. Which is a fine thought -- a normal thought, really -- because most newsrooms still look like that. Except for one
- [Five Things to Rethink the Newsroom: Choose Your Mission.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/08/23/five-things-to-rethink-the-newsroom-choose-your-mission/) - In the fall of 2005, I entered college. At the time, the following things were true: Facebook was available only to those with a college email address. Photos could only be uploaded in the form of a profile picture. YouTube was just six months old, and it had yet to make a splash nationally. WiFi
- [Graphics Gone Wild (A Blog Maintenence Update).](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/08/21/graphics-gone-wild-a-blog-maintenence-update/) - I've been working on an extended journalism-related blog series that will launch tomorrow, and I worked up a little logo for the series. But in the process, I decided that the old logo for the occasional "Things Journalists Can Learn From..." series wasn't cutting it. So I put Photoshop to work[1. Hastily, if you note
- [Five Things to Rethink the Newsroom: An Introduction.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/08/22/five-things-to-rethink-the-newsroom-an-introduction/) - "It seems to take a very unique combination of technology, talent, business and marketing and luck to make significant change in our industry. It hasn't happened that often." That's Steve Jobs in a 1994 interview with Rolling Stone. He's talking about personal computing, but he might as well be discussing the state of journalism in
- [Into the Myth.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/09/03/into-the-myth/) - As promised last week: 4,000 words on my little brother, Scott Milanovich, Paris Hilton, Mao Zedong and Odessa Permian high school football. I guarantee that those words have never been put together in a sentence before.
- [JetBlue's $1 Million Twitter Hashtag.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/08/18/a-social-media-case-study-jetblue-vs-sun-country/) - Two different airlines announced an incredible deal yesterday: for $500, the buyer can fly anywhere the airline flies, with unlimited flights, for one month. This made a big splash, obviously, in the news. But I found out about it first through Twitter. One of the airlines offering the sale is JetBlue, who frequently pushes exclusive
- [Hello, Stry.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/08/06/hello-stry/) - They said it couldn't be done.[1. They = my parents, siblings, relatives, friends and others who generally care about my sanity.] They said it shouldn't be done, really. They said I would have to be an idiot to quit my paying job in San Antonio, move to Biloxi, Miss., and start my own news bureau.
- [These Things I Know To Be True.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/07/25/these-things-i-know-to-be-true/) - Jorge Chávez International Airport is not a fun place to be, especially after midnight when you're leaving Peru but your flight back to Houston has been delayed yet again. But my delay at Lima's airport gave me a few minutes to reflect on my recent trip abroad, and especially on a few things that I
- [Do Not Attend the Fourth of July in Biloxi, Miss., Unless You Have Very Good Health Insurance.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/07/06/do-not-attend-the-fourth-of-july-in-biloxi-miss-unless-you-have-very-good-health-insurance/) - In the summer of 2009, having just accepted a job at a TV station in San Antonio, Texas, I attempted to convince my bosses to allow me to channel my inner Dave Barry and publish a daily blog, to be titled "The Evolution of Local Man." The pitch, as I delivered to my bosses in
- [What To Do When You Want to Bob Your Head But Cannot Because You Are Trapped Inside an MRI Machine.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/06/25/what-to-do-when-you-want-to-bob-your-head-but-cannot-because-you-are-trapped-inside-an-mri-machine/) - I'm not supposed to move. My right leg is inside an MRI machine, one that's designed only for limbs. So the rest of me is sitting on a piece of hard foam, flipping through the issue of SI with Stephen Strasburg on the cover. The MRI technician has the local Jack FM station on the
- [Why Twitter is Like Times Square, and Why Nike Ads Are Best Shared on Facebook.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/05/21/why-twitter-is-like-times-square-and-why-nike-ads-are-best-shared-on-facebook/) - In 1999, in an attempt to defeat the morning ratings Cerberus that was Katie Couric, Matt Lauer and Al Roker, ABC countered with an unusual move: They built a studio in Times Square. If you've been to Times Square in the last decade, you know which one I'm talking about. Other networks have studios there,
- [What Journalists Can Learn From Phish.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/05/22/what-journalists-can-learn-from-phish/) - They've only made one music video -- and that was back in 1994. Their concerts last hours -- and sometimes feature as few as four songs. Fans say they're the group that's taken the torch -- an already-lit, funny-smelling, tightly-rolled torch, I might add -- from the Grateful Dead. They're the most popular jam-band on
- [The Bums Who Would Be Champs (or: Macho Hercules!)](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/06/19/the-bums-who-would-be-kings-or-macho-hercules/) - In the fall of 2007, I decided that I wanted to study abroad. The rationale was simple: I was running out of classes to take at the University of Missouri, and also, I could get away with it. Seemed logical enough at the time. I decided that I'd go to Spain, and the study abroad
- [The Blog Post That May Make Me The Butt of Your Jokes.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/02/15/the-blog-post-that-may-make-me-the-butt-of-your-jokes/) - For the last 10 days, there has been something wrong with me. I have been slightly more irritable than usual. I've been twitchy at work. I've gone through long spells when my mind appears to be in a very different place. Today, I believe I've discovered the problem. I may be bleeding out of my
- [Why We Need to Change the Concept of Time -- Immediately.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/05/16/why-we-need-to-change-the-concept-of-time-immediately/) - Today is my birthday, and my annual reminder of how much I dislike the concept of time. Truth is, time is unfair. When I see someone wearing a watch, I don't see someone with punctuality in mind. I see someone slowly counting down the seconds until the grave. What is a day, after all? It's
- [You Are Not a Supernetworker. (Sorry.)](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/04/30/you-are-not-a-supernetworker-sorry/) - About a month ago, I started writing a blog post that I never finished. It was about Dunbar's Number, which explains a simple human limitation: we can only really care about so many people. Dunbar puts a limit on it: 150. But thanks to Facebook and Twitter, we're more easily connected to others than ever
- [Why I Have Clearly Not Asked for God's Help While Blogging.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/04/13/why-i-have-clearly-not-asked-for-gods-help-while-blogging/) - What follows is a brief thought about the nature of God. It is not a serious thought. I hope you do not find it blasphemous. -- Dan I have recently begun to consider the idea that if there a God, he is probably not very good at multitasking. I'll direct you to this recent study,
- [@danoshinsky, Revised.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/03/31/danoshinsky-revised/) - Maybe this shouldn't come as a surprise, as I have sent out upwards of 3,000 tweets, but I actually like Twitter. It's one of the first things I check in the morning. It's one of my best sources of political and sports news. It's where I go to find time-wasters and, occasionally, good news stories
- [Newsy on: Zimbabwe in Crisis](https://danoshinsky.com/2008/12/12/newsy-on-zimbabwe-in-crisis/) - It's only gotten weirder in the last 24 hours. The Zimbabwean government has blamed the cholera outbreak in their country on the British, claiming the U.K. dropped some sort of "biological chemical weapon" on the African country. [Cholera, I should note, is caused by consuming food or water that's been contaminated with feces.] The country
- [What Journalists Can Learn From Greg Gumbel.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/03/18/what-journalists-can-learn-from-greg-gumbel/) - At some point today, you will probably be watching college basketball. Your favorite team will be playing, and it'll be a good game -- maybe even a great game. And then, for reasons unexplainable, this man will appear on your screen. You will go nuts at the sight of this man's face. He's interrupted your
- [My Scoreboard.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/03/15/keeping-score/) - Soon, I found myself keeping score. About to graduate, aimless, preparing for joblessness and possessing a degree worth about as much as the paper it was printed on, I realized -- belatedly -- that I wasn't exactly a modern guarantee of potential. I started searching for something tangible, something worthwhile to get me through my
- [Brief Blog Update From #sxsw.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/03/14/brief-blog-update-from-sxsw/) - I've been live-blogging South by Southwest Interactive this weekend for KENS 5. The full blog is a bit overwhelming, but I'm been hearing lots of good stories, and I wanted to share my favorite three (so far): Searching for Sanjay The Accidental Fundraisers The Internet is Coming
- [Bar Codes Come Alive.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/03/13/bar-codes-come-alive/) - If the buzz at South by Southwest is to be believed, all future communication amongst humans will be done via squares like this. (You may want to download this on your phone first.)
- [A Eulogy for Dexter, the Boykin Spaniel.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/03/11/a-eulogy-for-dexter-the-boykin-spaniel/) - Like many people who I refer to as aunts and uncles, my Aunt Lois and Uncle Bobby aren't actually related to me. They did, however, have the unfortunate privilege of living across the street from my family when I was growing up, and they had the poor sense to engage my mother in regular conversation.
- [Dear Fans: Please Stop Storming the Court After Inconsequential Wins.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/01/17/dear-fans-please-stop-storming-the-court-after-inconsequential-wins/) - I'm sorry, because this doesn't concern either journalism or my mother [1. Which, as you'll note from the header here at danoshinsky.com, is the main focus of my blogging efforts], but this is too much. At right, delirious Michigan fans are celebrating a win that happened just this afternoon over the University of Connecticut Huskies.
- [What Journalists Can Learn From Abraham Lincoln.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/03/03/what-journalists-can-learn-from-abraham-lincoln/) - It's been a while since my last installment of 'What Journalists Can Learn From' -- it's the first in this Jewish new year, actually -- but I've just finished reading Doris Kearns Goodwin's excellent "Team of Rivals," and I saw more than a few lessons in Abe Lincoln's words. Three especially pertinent thoughts for journalists:
- [A Porker's Last Goodbye.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/02/16/a-porkers-last-goodbye/) - Earlier this week, my boss called me into her office to talk about a story I wrote last week about chicken fried bacon and the fried foods on sale at the San Antonio Rodeo. She told me that she liked my piece, but she wanted to see more perspectives. She wanted a fresh angle on
- [Wait, You People Still Speak to Each Other?](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/01/25/wait-you-people-still-speak-to-each-other/) - I haven't been home to D.C. since I left for south Texas just over seven months ago. I keep up with some home friends via phone, and I caught up with a few earlier this month out in L.A. But for a good chunk of news and gossip from home, I rely on an email
- [A Eureka! Moment: Why I Only Have Good Ideas When Tiny Scraps of Paper Are Around.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/01/19/a-eureka-moment-why-i-only-have-good-ideas-when-tiny-scraps-of-paper-are-around/) - The revelation came to me in the moments before sleep, and I went searching for something to scribble it down on. All I could find was a small envelope on my kitchen table. But what else could I be expected to write on in such a moment? What hit me last night, what pulled me
- [My Generation is Totally Screwed, and It's All the iPhone's Fault.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/01/13/my-generation-is-totally-screwed-and-its-all-the-iphones-fault/) - There is a very good chance that my generation is totally screwed. Certain jobs are disappearing, and that's a shame. It's a shame that copy editors at newspapers are being fired. It's a shame that accountants are being replaced by inexpensive computer software. It's a shame that elevator operators are out of jobs (and have
- [Airport Questions.](https://danoshinsky.com/2010/01/09/airport-questions/) - "Do you know which way your gate is?" I look up at the airline employee who just checked me in. It's 4:52 a.m. at San Antonio Interational Airport. "Excuse me?" She repeats the question. I look right. There is a security checkpoint over there. I look left. About 10 feet away, there is a blank,
- [The Day I Accidentally Rooted for Kansas.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/12/17/the-day-i-accidentally-rooted-for-kansas/) - I want to take it back. I cannot un-know what I know. I cannot reverse time. I cannot deny what has happened. But I cannot imagine going on knowing that one day, fourteen years ago, I may have accidentally rooted for Kansas. ¶¶ My dad used to do a bit of work with the D.C.-area
- [The Bird Who Sticks His Head Out.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/12/13/the-bird-who-sticks-his-head-out/) - My parents weren't big on idioms when I was a kid, and I'm probably happier off as a result. Idioms have a way of summing things up a bit too perfectly, of providing a universal answer to a singular context. Not ever wound demands a band-aid, I guess is what I'm saying. The other thing
- [Proof That Advertisers Are Microtargeting Ads to Jews.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/12/08/proof-that-advertisers-are-microtargeting-ads-to-jews/) - Back in April, I wrote about how I believed that advertisers were specifically courting the ridiculously niche audience of Jews in Columbia, Mo. The idea seemed both outrageous and entirely plausible. Now, via this MediaPost article, here's proof that someone really is microtargeting to Jews.
- [Three Cool Thoughts.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/12/04/three-cool-thoughts/) - What could be the first of a regular segment on danoshinsky.com: three thoughts I heard this week that made me stop and think: 1. Make small stuff do big things. (via Professor Wade Adams, Director of the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science & Technology at Rice University) 2. Some things aren't rocket science;
- [Stupid Human Things That Happen on Thanksgiving.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/11/27/stupid-human-things-that-happen-on-thanksgiving/) - Three Thanksgiving things that I'm submitting immediately to the "Stuff White People Like" database: 1. Thanksgiving Day runs: Like many semi-lazy humans, I participated in an extended, organized run yesterday. It's common knowledge that such Thanksgiving Day runs are notorious for presenting the most variable weather conditions existing outside of Death Valley. I have now
- [More Proof That I Am, in Fact, an Idiot.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/11/12/more-proof-that-i-am-in-fact-an-idiot/) - I am an idiot. I'm 22 years old and blissfully unaware of the world around me. Blissfully unaware, I'd venture, is one step closer to bliss than most people ever get. But it's that bliss that, today, reminded me of how big an idiot I really am. I had to go to Target this afternoon
- [Read This, and Every Time You See the Word "DVR," Insert "The Internet" Instead.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/11/01/read-this-and-every-time-you-see-the-word-dvr-sub-in-the-internet-instead/) - The New York Times has an interesting article today about the DVR and its impact on TV viewing. The article notes that TV execs once feared the DVR. Now, they love it. What happened? It's a cycle that happens with any revolutionary technology: 1. The technology is created and released to the public. 2. The technology
- [What I've Been Up To Lately.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/10/30/what-ive-been-up-to-lately/) - It's been a busy week at the office, which means it's been a slow week here on the site. So I wanted to pass along links to a few things I've been doing lately. This week, we launched a weekly NBA column. This was the first edition. Also this week: my 'Top 10 Costumes We
- [How Gnarls Barkley Predicted Today's Journalism Crisis.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/10/21/how-gnarls-barkley-predicted-todays-journalism-crisis/) - Back in 2006, two guys with fake names took over pop radio. One was named Cee-Lo Green; the other was named Danger Mouse. They toured in a band whose name combined California skater slang with a Hall of Fame NBA power forward. They went on stage wearing costumes from hit 80s movies. They were, somewhat
- [A Thought About Lifestreaming](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/10/13/a-thought-about-lifestreaming/) - The chart above is from Steve Rubel's blog, and I think it's a monumentally important step in terms of defining the scope of all this new media. [1. Which would include technology like: Tweeting, Facebooking, Flickring, texting, livestreaming, liveblogging, livechatting or any other verb that didn't exist at the start of this millenium.] I'll let
- [Dedication. Multitasking. Longhorns Football.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/10/06/dedication-multitasking-longhorns-football/) - I'd like to take just a minute to discuss a word that, too often, gets misused and misapplied in the English language. I'm talking, of course, about the word 'dedication.' It's a word that gets associated with athletes and scholars and really anyone for whom hard work is a core value. But I'd like to
- [Proof That Not Everything Needs to be Rebranded.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/09/26/proof-that-not-everything-need-to-be-rebranded/) - I'm a big fan of branding and -- more particularly -- re-branding. When a product isn't selling, it might not be because the product isn't any good. The flaw might be in the presentation of the product. But not everything really needs to be rebranded. I'm reminded of this now, as I'm looking at the
- [Ron Burgundy and Chris Marrou: Separated at Birth?](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/09/25/ron-burgundy-and-chris-marrou-separated-at-birth/) - Like most American males aged 18-23, I'm a fan of 70s-era mustaches, Will Ferrell movies made before 2005 and side-by-side facial comparisons. Somehow, this blog post fits all three categories. TV news anchor Chris Marrou announced his retirement from San Antonio's KENS 5 last week. Marrou's been working at the station for 36 years [1.
- [An Explanation As To Why I Am Suddenly Craving Clam Chowder.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/09/23/an-explanation-as-to-why-i-am-suddenly-craving-clam-chowder/) - I had a very strange feeling of sensory overload this afternoon, and it nearly ended with me driving to the grocery store for the sole purpose of buying clam chowder. Now I feel compelled to explain why. Of course, I'll understand if you're not interested; this story doesn't exactly fit with this blog's two main
- [What Journalists Can Learn From God.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/09/17/what-journalists-can-learn-from-god/) - Tomorrow is the first night of Rosh Hashanah, and for the second time in the last four years, I'm headed to services in a city not renowned for its Jewish population. (My previous experience in Columbia, Mo., was especially enlightening.) But with another year upon us -- we Jews are up to year 5770 --
- [Whatadrivethru: Where The Other Line Always Moves Faster.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/07/02/whatadrivethru-where-the-other-line-always-moves-faster/) - There is a force in San Antonio that is often discussed but rarely experienced. I’m talking, of course, about the weather 1.). It is hot here; that should not come as a surprise to you. But what is a surprise is how little time people spend outside in San Antonio. It’s so hot that humans
- [A Heightened State of Apathy (Or: If a Drug Deal Goes Down In My Parking Lot, Shouldn't I Be a Bit Freaked Out?)](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/07/19/a-heightened-state-of-apathy-or-if-a-drug-deal-goes-down-in-my-parking-lot-shouldnt-i-be-a-bit-freaked-out/) - I heard her scream last night. I shouldn't have; I was sleeping, and sound doesn't just sneak into my apartment. A half-dozen Camaros could backfire simultaneously in the parking lot outside, and I wouldn't hear it. But I heard her. I went to the window and peered out from behind the shade. She was there,
- [On: Choosing Your Words Carefully. (Or: Why a Dead Russian Guy Is Affecting White House Policy.)](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/09/07/on-the-value-of-choosing-your-words-carefully/) - Late Saturday night, two days into a Labor Day weekend, a special adviser to President Obama resigned. Now, this blog post isn't about the politics of the issue, but it'll be helpful if you watch Newsy.com's roundup of the issue. Pay particular attention to the one four letter word that keeps coming up over and
- [A Brief Word About Why It Is I Keep Breaking Into Christopher Walken Impressions At Work.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/09/02/a-brief-word-about-why-it-is-i-keep-breaking-into-christopher-walken-impressions/) - I've started commuting for the first time in my life. It's 25 or 30 minutes round trip on the highway, and for a while, listening to music was enough. Then I started to feel like I was wasting time. If I was going to spend a full 10 hours each month in my car driving
- [Mojo.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/08/30/mojo/) - Sorry for the slow week of blogging here at danoshinsky.com. I'm working on a big piece that has to with the photo above -- and this book. Should be up later in the week.
- [Why Steve Brill is Wrong (or: The World is Flat, But Also Sort of Elongated.)](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/06/02/why-steve-brill-is-wrong-or-the-world-is-flat-but-also-sort-of-elongated/) - Steve Brill is wrong. He's pitching a plan to save newspapers, and it's based around the idea that newspapers should begin charging for all-access passes to their sites. And when he's giving his pitch, just before he's finished riling newspaper executives into believing that the public is just going to start handing over money in
- [UPDATE: Why Twitter Has Killed Small Talk.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/08/02/update-why-twitter-has-killed-small-talk/) - In April, I wrote a blog post in which I suggested that "we, as Americans, are quickly becoming less interesting. Naturally, I would like to blame Twitter for this decline." The diagnosis was simple: as Twitter allows us entry into the lives of friends and loved ones, we're seeing thoughts both mundane and profound in
- [ESPN Graphics Guy Puts Those Unused Exclamation Points to Use](https://danoshinsky.com/2008/10/25/espn-graphics-guy-puts-those-unused-exclamation-points-to-use/) - I'll modify a quote from "Oceans Eleven" for these purposes: "On your network, you should know that someone's always watching." Case in point: RAIN!!!!!!
- [My Life in T9 (or: One Last "Woo-Hoo!" for Alexander Graham Bell)](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/04/15/my-life-in-t9-or-one-last-woo-hoo-for-alexander-graham-bell/) - Girls hated it. Well, maybe "hate" is the wrong word. They didn't understand it, really. The strange thing is, every time I'd explain my situation to a girl, no matter where she'd grown up or how popped her collar was, she always had the same look. I got used to it, eventually. It was a
- [The Little Things You Notice While Blogging.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/08/24/the-little-things-you-notice-while-blogging/) - Yesterday, in the process of writing about relativity, I went looking for a photo to lead off my blog post. So I opened up Apture -- the program that allows you to click on a link like this without leaving the page -- and searched the word "big" to see what came up. Here's what
- [The San Antonio Theory of Relativity.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/08/23/the-san-antonio-theory-of-relativity/) - Ignoring the contradictions and laziness in general sentence structure for just a moment, I'd like to suggest that context is everything. [1. Technically speaking, "context is everything" makes no sense, because placing something within context means taking it out of the general text and inserting into a more specific subtext, which does not and can
- [But If Twitter's Down, Where Will I Post This Ridiculously Interesting Link?](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/08/06/but-if-twitters-down-where-will-i-post-this-ridiculously-interesting-link/) - Here's where I stand: This morning, Twitter went down. Later in the morning, I went to tweet an interesting story about Twitter going down. Only Twitter was down, so I couldn't post the story about Twitter being down. Now hundreds of my followers are unable to read a story about Twitter being down because Twitter
- [America, The Drive-Thru.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/06/12/america-the-drive-thru/) - I tweeted this earlier, but it's worth a brief blog post, too, because this image says everything I have ever wanted to say about America. For the record, that store is located at this address in San Antonio.
- [What Journalists Can Learn From the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/08/19/what-journalists-can-learn-from-the-dallas-cowboys-cheerleaders/) - More than Dirk Nowitzki or the hole in the roof of their stadium or even the words "Who shot J.R.?," I think the thing the majority of Americans connect with the city of Dallas is their cheerleaders. And it's a strange thing, really, because cheerleaders are so ubiquitous now that one exclusive group of females
- [Extreme Makeover, Blog Edition.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/08/18/extreme-makeover-blog-edition/) - The blog has relocated to, well, the exact same address. But it looks different. And the font is a little bigger, which my parents will immediately assume is a backhanded way of me reminding them that their vision is decaying due to old age. To which I say: I could've made a balding joke instead,
- [What's Black and White and Dead All Over? The Early Printed Edition of the Sunday Paper.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/07/31/whats-black-and-white-and-dead-all-over-the-early-printed-edition-of-the-sunday-paper/) - I saw something at the gas station today that I didn't even know still existed: the early edition of the Sunday paper.On Fridays, the San Antonio Express-News prints an advance copy of their Sunday paper. It's almost all feature stories, plus the fluffy stuff that stays evergreen: comics, crossword puzzles and coupons.But as much flack
- [What Journalists Can Learn From the Free T-Shirt Giveaway.](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/07/28/what-journalists-can-learn-from-the-free-t-shirt-giveaway/) - There are few advantages to being 6'6'' and unable to dunk. Three come to mind: 1.) It makes it easy for people to find me at crowded social events; 2.) It makes it easy to dust hard-to-reach places; and 3.) It gives me a decided advantage when catching t-shirts at sporting events.In my lifetime, I've
- [An Open Letter to U.S. Soccer TV Commentators: Stop Selling Yourself as the Little Guy](https://danoshinsky.com/2009/07/26/an-open-letter-to-u-s-soccer-tv-commentators-stop-selling-yourself-as-the-little-guy/) - Dear American Soccer TV Commentator,I've been seeing a lot of you lately. This isn't really a surprise; I happen to love soccer, and there's been some great soccer on TV of late, from the Confederations Cup to the World Football Challenge.But I'm noticing a familiar trend in these games: you keep asking, "Has soccer made

## Pages

- [Contact Dan.](https://danoshinsky.com/contact/) - There are a few easy ways to reach me. Reach me... >Via email: dan@inboxcollective.com >Via LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/danoshinsky >Via my newsletter: Sign up for Inbox Collective's twice-monthly newsletter (about newsletters). ——— All photos of me on danoshinsky.com were taken by Wesley Verhoeve, and graciously republished here with his permission.
- [A Massive List of Dan's Stories.](https://danoshinsky.com/stories/) - Here’s a semi-comprehensive list of stories published on non-danoshinsky.com websites, and presented in reverse chronological order. 2020. Sept. 10, Revue: The Chicago Sun-Times embraces the conversational side of email June 14, Revue: Casey Newton’s Four Rules for Building a Great Newsletter Jan. 24, Revue: A publisher in the Netherlands sent a newsletter that hit a 98% unique open
- [New To This Blog? Start Here.](https://danoshinsky.com/start-here/) - After more than a decade of blogging and 1,000+ posts, there's a lot to sort through on this blog. So here are my favorites. Posts about work: 1. Do the Work. Always Do The Work. 2. Good. Better. Done. 3. How Long Are You Willing To Suck? 4. Enough. 5. You Are Not Behind. 6.
- [About Dan Oshinsky.](https://danoshinsky.com/about/) - I’m Dan Oshinsky, and I run Inbox Collective, an email consultancy that helps brands grow audiences, build relationships, and get results via email. I'm also the creator of Not a Newsletter, a monthly briefing with news, tips, and ideas about how to send better email. Previously, I worked as the Director of Newsletters at The New Yorker,
- [The Stry.us Archives](https://danoshinsky.com/stories/stryus/) - Stry.us [pronounced STOHR-ee] was a band of a reporters in pursuit of great storytelling. We had two bureaus: One in Biloxi, Miss., in summer 2010, and as second in Springfield, Mo., in summer 2012. You can find all of the stories from those bureaus below: Biloxi, Miss., 2010 | All stories and photography by Dan

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