sari

“At Panera, we talk a lot about what we call the “desire to friction ratio.” While that sounds math-y, it’s actually a simple idea for any consumer business: You want to keep increasing your customers’ desire for your product while working to reduce the friction they have to put up with to get your product.”

It took less than 30 days for Amazon and other top marketplace retailers to punish its media partners. With historic levels of organic demand, there is a diminished need for media-driven traffic.

In America, losing a job means making a hundred phone calls to a state unemployment-insurance system. Getting hit by a car means becoming your own hospital-billing expert. Having a disability means launching into a Jarndyce v. Jarndyce–type legal battle. Needing help to feed a toddler means filling out a novel-length application for aid.

A blog post is a search query. You write to find your tribe; you write so they will know what kind of fascinating things they should route to your inbox. If you follow common wisdom, you will cut exactly the things that will help you find these people.

• THE CLASS MOVES AT THE PACE OF THE SLOWEST STUDENT: YOU