Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

Hiring an executive assistant (EA) to delegate work tasks and life admin to has long been something reserved for celebrities and Fortune 500 executives. But that belief might now be changing, as rank-and-file workers decide they, too, want a taste of the EA experience. As Callum Borchers wrote earlier this month in The Wall Street Journal, more workers outside the C-suite are finding assistants—virtual, in person, or AI, and sometimes just for a couple of hours a month—to help with everything from booking bouncy castles to managing work calendars. Nowadays, everyone’s schedules are packed right down to the last minute. Plus, labor has never been easier to offload…

Matcha drinks continue to challenge coffee’s dominance as the caffeinated beverage of choice. In the U.S., retail sales of matcha are up 86% from three years ago, according to market research firm NIQ. The drink’s increasing popularity, particularly among Gen Z consumers, has resulted in shortages and supply-chain issues. But when a recent Instagram reel that went viral suggested consuming Matcha might be contributing to hair loss, panic ensued. “Can I unsee this post?” one wrote. “WHY DOES THE INTERNET HAVE TO RUIN EVERYTHING,” another protested. Soon, others were sharing similar alleged experiences. “When you realise that the matcha you’ve been drinking every …

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday that the government shutdown is putting more stress on air traffic controllers who already have an extremely stressful job, as well as threatening a program that small communities rely on to help subsidize airline service. Controllers are expected to continue working without a paycheck, Duffy said, so they are now worried about how to pay their bills in addition to worrying about keeping flights safe. And there have started to be instances of controllers calling out sick, leading to delays at several airports Monday. “Now what they think about as they’re controlling our airspace is, how am I going to pay my mortgage? How d…

Oil prices declined on Friday, after settling around 1.6% lower in the previous session, as the market’s risk premium faded after Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a plan to end the war in Gaza. Brent crude futures were down 66 cents, or 1%, at $64.56 a barrel at 1016 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 61 cents, or 1%, to $60.90. “Finally having some kind of peace process in the Middle East is lowering the shoulders a little bit,” said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB. This could ease fears about crude carriers passing through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, he said. BOTH BENCHMARKS ON TRACK FOR WEEKLY GAINS Isra…

We know that people with ADHD often approach work differently than might a neurotypical person. And while ADHD can manifest in traits like impulsivity and being easily distracted, the condition is also associated with many desirable qualities—including, it seems, incredible creativity. That’s the upshot of new research recently presented at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Congress in Amsterdam. Researchers conducted a pair of studies involving 750 participants, finding that those with ADHD may experience more frequent episodes of mind-wandering, and that that, in turn, could lead to greater creative thinking abilities. “Previous research …

A single stream of income is simply not cutting it for today’s young professionals. Instead, “income stacking” is the new way young people are weathering an unstable job market and rising cost-of-living. The annual Next Gen of Work survey from freelancer services company Fiverr polled over 12,000 respondents from both Gen Z and Gen Alpha across the U.S., the U.K., France, and Germany. It found that for almost half of Gen Z (46%), their biggest career fear is not making enough money to live comfortably. Cue income stacking. “Gen Z is watching the single-paycheck model wobble, and instead of waiting for it to steady, they’re building safety nets of their own …

Taiwan’s leading computer chip maker, TSMC, said Thursday that its net profit surged nearly 40% in the last quarter, boosted by the surge in use of artificial intelligence. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. is the world’s biggest semiconductor manufacturer. It reported a net profit of a record 452.3 billion new Taiwan dollars ($15 billion) in the July-September quarter, higher than analysts’ forecasts. The company earlier said its revenue jumped 30% year-on-year in the last quarter. TSMC has been building chip fabrication plants in the United States and Japan to help hedge against risks from China-U.S. trade tensions. The chipmaker is a major supplier to compani…

Love it or hate it, iOS 26 brought the most radical software redesign to the iPhone in over a decade. The company’s new design language, Liquid Glass, mimics how light in the real world warps and transforms when passing through physical glass. Many iPhone users find Liquid Glass refreshing, fun, and technically impressive. Detractors of the new design say Liquid Glass’s myriad transparent toolbars and other UI elements, which let the content behind them bleed through, make iOS 26 harder to navigate than its predecessors. Regardless of where you stand, Liquid Glass isn’t going away. Yet, if you fall into the latter camp and find the new design element distracting, …

There’s not a more fairy-tale story in business. Nike CEO Elliott Hill began as an intern. Worked about every job imaginable at the company. Was passed up as a fave for the CEO role in 2020 when John Donahoe was brought in from Bain. And then, finding himself retired, and charter member of a silver fox baseball league in Austin, the swoosh boomeranged in from the clouds and Hill hitched a ride back to Beaverton. Now, after a year at the helm, Hill’s still dealing with Nike’s COVID hangover, brought about (at least in part) by Donahoe, who bolstered profits by selling waves of retro sneakers to people at home, all while reorganizing the core innovation team structure that…

Snack maker Mondelez is using a new generative AI tool to cut costs for the production of marketing content by 30% to 50%, a senior executive told Reuters. The packaged food manufacturer began developing the tool last year with IT firm Accenture and expects that it will be capable of making short TV ads that would be ready to air as soon as next year’s holiday season, and potentially for the 2027 Super Bowl, said Jon Halvorson, Mondelez’s global senior vice president of consumer experience. The Cadbury chocolate producer has invested more than $40 million in the tool, Halvorson said, adding that savings would grow if the tool is able to make more elaborate videos.…

It’s already been an exciting Major League Baseball season. And that excitement is clearly translating into the business and advertising side as well. Earlier this summer, Variety reported that ads for the MLB All-Star Game, which took place in July, sold out over a month in advance. On Monday night during Game 3 of the World Series, when the Los Angeles Dodgers won against the Toronto Blue Jays—which gave L.A. a 2-1 series lead and featured another significant performance from Shohei Ohtani—the game went to 18 innings and lasted six hours and 39 minutes. So what happens to ads when a game has extra innings? When a large tentpole tournament or games lik…

Syracuse University is rolling out a new “Center for the Creator Economy,” looking to train the new class of influencers, streamers, podcasters and YouTubers. The center, the first of its kind in the U.S., is a joint project between the university’s communications and business schools, and aims to attract students planning to participate in the $250 billion creator economy. With rising unemployment rates, and a college degree no longer unlocking the career opportunities it once did, the creator economy could be a beacon of hope for young graduates in a dismal job market. The number of creators globally is expected to grow at a compound annual rate between 10 and 2…

Check your medicine cabinet: A major pharmaceutical company has just recalled nearly 600,000 bottles of a blood pressure medication due to the potential presence of a potentially cancer-causing chemical. According to three different recall notices shared by the FDA, the New Jersey-based drugmaker Teva Pharmaceuticals USA has voluntarily recalled several lots of the blood pressure medication prazosin hydrochloride. Here’s what to know: What happened? According to the FDA’s reports, about 590,000 bottles of prazosin hydrochloride have been recalled due to “presence of N-nitroso Prazosin impurity C above the Carcinogenic Potency Categorization Approach (CPCA) acc…

This weekend, tennis star Novak Djokovic is serving snackers something a little different: a new sorghum-based, corn-free “popcorn” brand called Cob, which will compete in the same aisle as SkinnyPop and Orville Redenbacher’s. The popcorn’s launch coincides with the announcement of a $5 million seed round for the startup that’s led by Djokovic. Popcorn has become a particularly alluring category for celebrities over the past few years. New entrants have included Khloud Protein Popcorn backed by reality TV star Khloé Kardashian; singer Luke Bryan’s Boldly Grown Popcorn; and Rob’s BackStage Popcorn, cofounded by the pop rock band the Jonas Brothers. Why popcorn? …

What’s the best way to respond when customers, former fans, or anyone else criticizes your work? Taylor Swift just provided a perfect script for what to say. It’s a great example for any entrepreneur, business leader, or creator to follow. Swift’s 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl, released 10 days ago, is unquestionably a commercial success. It broke streaming records on Spotify with more than five million pre-saves, as just one example. But that doesn’t mean that everyone loves it. The reaction from music critics has been lukewarm and the reaction from fans is decidedly mixed, with some saying they adore the album and others saying they can’t stand it. One brand st…