I found myself explaining to a 20-year-old what Minesweeper was (or is?).

Since there are a few subscribers in that age group, it’s worth taking a few seconds to introduce it: before cellphones and the internet, there was a time when the only fun thing you could do on a computer was to play games.

Sure, CounterStrike, Starcraft, Fifa and the likes were the best, but even before those, Windows - the only operating system available worldwide, came with a few games by default: Solitaire, Hearts (oh boy, were there some intense Hearts games in my primary school as you could play via your local network) and… Minesweeper.

Minesweeper was a numbers game, and after doing a poor job of explaining how this was played, the 20yearold said this looked like fun.*

I remember trying to play this game for most of my childhood with little to no success. Everyone who explained it to me didn’t do a good job. I learn differently, so simply giving me instructions doesn’t work well (all the time).

Until a good friend and colleague (who I still work with today) took a few minutes to show me exactly how it’s done and what those numbers represent.

He explained it in a way that made sense to me.

He explained it in a similar way.

He told me the numbers don’t lie and you can’t not know where the mine is.

I didn’t become an expert nor develop the patience for the game, but I understood it. The numbers made sense.

Some people see them naturally, while others have more difficulty unless, again, it’s presented to them in a way they can understand.

SEO PowerSuite is a suite of SEO tools (duh!) that I’ve been using for the past 4 years now. It’s extremely versatile, has a great and intuitive UI (very important, as I feel lost in other, more popular tools such as SEMRush and Ahrefs where you need to juggle between many tabs) - and probably, the most important feature - it’s extremely affordable.

Ok, there's another important feature - unlimited projects and keywords to monitor + the ability to create local search results. And probably a million of other features worth purchasing this product at a HUGE discount - up to 82% off, lifetime.

The promotion runs from May 21st to 23rd.

Use this link to get this huge discount. And there’s an article shared at the end of this newsletter where you can learn more about the new features of this product.

The numbers make sense, and they don’t lie. Something it took me a while to understand. Although I have done accounting and worked with numbers most of my life, I only later learned how to leverage them. Later, I looked at the data from my analytics (or bank account or a company balance sheet) and made an effort to understand what those numbers were telling me.

Where the mines were (usually in spending towards something that doesn’t bring any kind of benefits) - the proximity and how to avoid stepping on them.

The difference between the successful (and large) organizations vs. the ones that are struggling is having SOPs (standard operating procedures) and the ability to take decisions based on the data that they have.

You don’t need a team of MBAs - you just need to take a few minutes and do nothing else but analyze your revenue stream, your expenses, and the results.

I recently consulted a business and audited their social assets - they were putting a lot of effort into creating social posts, videos, etc. - and also good content, but with little to no success.

And this is the case for many businesses. It’s not an easy conversation to have, and facing the reality that perhaps committing the effort (mostly time, but also some money) to something else, could bring better results.

The numbers don’t lie - find a way to understand them, have them make sense to you, and make the next important decisions based on them. There are times you need to be pragmatic - perhaps this is the right time for that.

*It’s funny how a video with this name showed up while I was doing research for this edition. Also, you can tell the guy actually enjoys this game - as many do.

Song of the Day is another mix that I’ve been productive on. Short and efficient, I tend to divide my work into chunks of Pomodorros and playlists.

Here's the Short of the day

Some articles worth sharing

​How to combine Google Ads with other channels to retarget, nurture and convert​

Retargeting is one of the missed opportunities many advertisers (especially small businesses that often run the ads on their own) miss. Read a detailed guide on how you can take advantage of it, as well as some best practices.

​The Maiden Voyage: Bruce Dickinson Interviewed​

There’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Bruce Dickinson and Iron Maiden (as I’ve mentioned before in this newsletter). I thought I should share this interview to remind everyone what a master of his craft is like and look at him as a source of inspiration. In case you need arguments for who Bruce Dickinson is, here’s a sentence from the mentioned article: ​​As well as being a multi-millionaire global rock star, Dickinson is a national-standard fencer, an airline pilot, a brewer, a cancer survivor, an author, a businessman and the Honorary Group Captain of an RAF squadron.

​What’s New in SEO PowerSuite: Spring 2024 Edition

This tool suite is becoming better and better. I recommend taking advantage of this huge discount that’s happening in May. Check this article out for more information about the most recent updates. Quite powerful.