FULL OF HEART

I LOVE YOU 145 MILLION TIMES

Happy Valentine’s Day BTW

I was curious

Was this holiday in fact created by Hallmark or is that just a myth?

I had to know, so I went deep

What I found surprised me

It was not created by Saint Valentine

The holiday that we celebrate as Valentine’s Day has roots that date back to ancient Rome

They had an annual festival to promote fertility called Lupercala in mid-February

Centuries later, Chaucer’s poetry created the aura of romantic love on 2/14, popularizing this day as the day for ❤️

The Duke of Orleans in 1415 officially penned the first Valentine’s Day love letter

He penned it to his wife while locked up in the Tower of London

Unfortunately he never saw her again, but it was the thought that counts

In the 1800s, it was enterprising merchants who encouraged the tradition of giving gifts like chocolate, flowers, jewelry, and the mass-produced Valentine’s card

How big is the day?

One hundred and forty-five million cards are exchanged today in the U.S.

We spend a total $27 billion on it

That’s alot of love

(For comparison, the most recent Black Friday-Cyber Monday ecomm event was worth $41 billion)

THE RULE OF 100

Mr Beast was on one of my favorite podcasts yesterday

It’s called My First Million (don’t judge me)

He shared this nugget

He gets asked for advice from aspiring Youtube moguls

They all ask the same thing, how do I succeed on Youtube

His answer is this-

“I’m not going to tell you. Make 100 videos and then come ask me.”

The reason, he says

Most people will quit, so the advice won’t help them

The ones who succeed in making 100 videos don’t need the advice anymore

They will have figured it out on their own

It’s a good insight

Do something 100 times and you’ll learn most of what you need to know

You can’t learn how to drive by reading about driving

You learn to drive by driving

This is the same for cooking, painting, running a business, or becoming a social media star

Advice is only useful when you’re ready for it and know how to use it 💯

UP AND TO THE RIGHT

This was a big week

The monthly reports for U.S. inflation came out

Things aren’t looking great

You already know this if you’ve bought anything at all in the last few months

Price increases are not slowing

The Consumer Price Index, a measure of price changes paid by consumers, was up 3% year-over-year last month

The Producer Price Index, a measure of business-to-business pricing, was up 3.5%

That’s not all

The tariffs that have been implemented for China, steel imports, and the threat of other tariffs is going to add more fuel to this, starting this quarter

As a merchant, you need to watch your costs very closely

You should be strategizing on pricing in order to protect your profitability

The buying power of consumers is eroding rapidly

So competition for share of wallet is increasing

Those who succeed this year will do so because of great pricing strategies

Have a great weekend.

I’m rooting for you!

CHAD