This space is always moving forward. Always. From my perspective, this does two things more than anything else. It can leave a feeling falling behind, of not doing enough, and that adds pressure. It's mostly internal, but it can feel like it's constantly hanging over you. And it means there are always countless opportunities available for you. New relationships, new tokens, new projects, new tech to utilise your NFT and a whole load of other new possibilities arise from embracing those opportunities.
Governments, Global Organisations and Businesses are taking crypto seriously. Even if they would like us to think otherwise! There are any number of news articles on any given day. There are many spot ETF's being applied for. Mostly for Bitcoin, but we are seeing some for Ether now too. Greyscale recently won an appeal against the SEC ruling that reject their proposed spot ETF without explaining it's reasoning. I will come back to what a spot ETF is later.
Crypto is on the agenda at the G20 this weekend with the International Monetary Fund set to deliver a paper calling for global coordination on crypto. Unsurprisingly this will be to talk about regulation on a global scale. Very little is likely to be decided but a lot will be talked about. What comes out of it will be interesting and could be defining. Just after Vitalik Buterin and Jacob Illum released a co-authored Privacy Paper. Coincidence, I don't know, but I have been known to be sceptical in the past.
Other news about some massive brands/corporations. Amazon gaming now has Web3 games within it's gaming ecosystem. There are rumours about GTA6. You can find them if you look. Google is about to allow Web3 gaming adverts for the first time. Justin Beiber did a thing with NFT's and royalties, and his song 'Company'. Disney are still playing, this time with Cryptoys. And Adidas has unveiled an NFT artist residency. One way or another, this tech is here to stay.
There has been a lot of talk about Spot ETF's for Bitcoin recently and this relates to the stock market and Bitcoin being traded on public exchanges. This could lead to investment companies getting involved and that would be good for people that held. What's an ETF? This article on investopedia goes into more detail about ETF's.
In summary, an ETF (Exchange-Traded Funds) is a type of pooled investment security that holds multiple underlying assets. An ETF is traded on an exchange like stocks. As it's traded like stocks, the ETF's value changes as the trade changes during the day. ETF's typically track indexes (S&P500 or FTSE 100 etc.), sectors, commodities and other assets, like maybe Bitcoin.
A spot Bitcoin ETF is another type of ETF. This type of ETF would be backed by 'physical' bitcoins, these underpin the value of the ETF and you would expect the value of the ETF to go up and down in line with the price of Bitcoin. When a spot Bitcoin ETF happens, and I believe it is a when, it green lights institutional investment. That would make a difference to how cryptocurrency is viewed and who is investing in it.
You can see from all of the above that a lot is happening in this space, like all the time happening. It's impossible to keep on top of all the news, even with headline newsletters (and there are some good ones). Social Media intensifies this. There is an insistent and incessant demand for our attention, from every angle. From the tools that we use to the communities that we are in. From our own content creation, to supporting our friends, and everything in between.
We get rewarded for engagement and penalised for not engaging, in almost everything we do. And this brings me to a personal bug bear. I hate that I have to jump through hoops to access the benefits that are offered to me as part of a sale price. Get the info on a website, tell me where and how I access it. Essentially make it easy and accessible. Not just for me, the average person using anything wants it to be easy.
Distractions aside, the engagement reward mechanics is still in it's early days and who knows where it ends. Earn to earn, learn to earn, play to earn, burn to earn and whatever else to earn. It doesn't matter what the mechanic is, everywhere we see it, it reminds us that we have to do something. It's constant and adds pressure. It draws our attention from what truly needs it.
All of the above provides us with countless opportunities too. There is a need for education and knowledge. There are always new skills required. There are relationships to be made everywhere. It is challenging and exciting. And it should remain this way, if the pressure builds up to much then we forget to be excited. To explore and discover. To innovate and teach.
The last couple of issues of my blog have been written about similar subjects. This is clearly a feeling that is still hanging around. Anecdotally I hear it regularly from people I know and care about. I think talking about it helps people find solutions for them, it makes it OK to talk about the pressure they feel. It hopefully stops people from bottling things up. If nothing else, it certainly helps me express my thoughts and feelings!
The summary for me is communication and finding time to do the things you enjoy. There are plenty of mindfulness and wellbeing tips you can find, but nothing quite so good as doing something you love. If it is something creative then not only is it rewarding emotionally, it is rewarding in terms of output too.
I want to finish this with a reminder. A reminder that at the end of the day, unless there is a monetary pressure, that pressure is pretty much all internal, or all internal by proxy. As in you can never know what someone else truly expects of you until you have the conversation. If you are feeling the weight of expectation, talk to the people you love and care about. Let them know, who knows what pressures they can release.
An explanation of customer/user journeys and some tips to review yours.
This sounds a bit Web2. They are marketing processes and thoughts that have been around for a while. I can't deny it.
Doesn't mean they aren't useful or valid
Treat this…
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I touched on it above, users want things kept simple and easy. I hosted a spaces called the customer/user journey and wrote an article on it this week. It is the first part of a marketing story that maps the customers journey and experience. That wraps into everything you do from a marketing perspective. Without a customer/user (collector), you have nothing but some art and an idea. And I will continue to share knowledge about this.
The customer/user journey talks you through the steps a potential customer/user has to make before they would by a product, use a service or spend any time in a community. From their very first thought that they need or want something. They then research it. Then they commit or purchase. After that you have to onboard that customer user. There will later be a retention or upsell moments. And if you have done a great job, you will have advocacy, at multiple points in that journey.
You need more than this to make your processes and journey better, but understanding what a customer or user journey looks like allows you to work out touch points. When and where you connect with a customer/user. Once touch points have been figured out, you can work on the experience that customer/user has. And if you document this, you can wrap your goals and values all the way though it.
I had a lot of fun, enjoy the smiles and check out the long list of collaborators below
Thank you all for all the bonus smiles I got
It's been a tough week for me in terms of pain, I don't want to dwell but add in heat and it has sapped my energy, I was worried this blog would be more than a day late at one point. I look better though. It is what it is, it will be what it will be and you can be sure I will be looking for smiles.
I always appreciate your time and aim to add value with what I do, whether it is writing articles, making my first video, writing a blog, hosting spaces or anything else. Thank you for reading, I will be back at the end of next week. Until then, look for the smiles. They are out there.
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