Howdy all! 

Another week behind us. 

We’re heading out of the dog days of summer, and careening toward the beginning of fall. Knowing that the end of summer is coming gets me in a bit of a slump.

I try to put my best productivity hat on, but sometimes it just doesn’t fit.

When I need a little help, I turn to my arsenal of tools that help get me through. While my toolbox is robust and diverse, today I want to focus on a particular set of tools: Chrome extensions.

As the piece below details, Chrome is the default browser for about ~87% of users, so if you’re in that large group, hopefully these can help!

There’s an extension for just about anything, and you can poke around on the Chrome Web Store to search for yourself. (Just make sure you’re only downloading reputable, well-reviewed extensions.)

Here are a few of my favorites that help make my workflow a little easier:

1. LastPass. The last thing I want is for my accounts to be hacked, but I certainly can’t remember a 16-string of numbers, letters and characters. LastPass keeps everything organized and safe, so I can log in wherever I need.
   
   
2. Apollo.io. If you’re in sales, or any field where you might need to do some outreach, Apollo can hook you up with contact information.
   
   
3. Hunter. Similar to Apollo, Hunter can scrape emails from a web page.
   
   
4. Grammarly. Who doesn’t love something having your back to ensure there are no typos in your email.
   
   
5. Vidyard / Loom: I’m video recorder agnostic, as both platforms have their benefits. If you’re looking to send an explainer to a team member or a client, these will both do the trick.

I’d love to know what your must-have Chrome extensions are. Send me a reply and let me know!

-Sage Levene, VP of Marketing, Hypha HubSpot Development

Open Mic 🎤

Tuning Out the Noise: How Listening to Music Can Boost Your Creative Flow

By Rebecca Albright, Senior Inbound Content Developer, Hypha HubSpot Development

If you’re feeling boxed in by the constant echo of updates, viral trends, targeted content, meme culture, curated feeds, clickbait, algorithms, AI, filter bubbles, and other meta flotsam and jetsam, you’re not alone.

How can you tap into your creative pathways when you’re constantly being told what to think, how to think, and what’s “fire” at any given moment? (My Gen Z daughter says it’s OK to use this term for now).

Believe it or not, one refreshing way to break free from the digital clutter and ignite your workday creative juices is by listening to music, an ancient media that predates our modern technological maelstrom by millennia.

Music speaks to us on a primal level, bypassing the logical centers of our brains and tapping directly into our emotions and creative centers.

Even Harvard says so.

Business research juggernaut Harvard Business Review reports a positive association between creativity and mind wandering. Music offers an escape, a veritable yellow-brick road of divergent thinking that can free the imagination, stimulate ideation, and boost problem solving.

Of course, like anything, picking the right music for the right time and task is key. Music can be a distraction or drown out other distractions, clearing the way for your next magnum opus. Task complexity, mood, music preferences, and personality can all play a part in your selection.

Vocal tracks with lyrics are also a consideration. If you find yourself following along with that song about American pie, just remember: those 8 minutes and 34 seconds are gone forever, and you may end up with nothing to show for it. Maybe try something more instrumental at first.

The good news is that finding the right tunes to spark your creativity has never been easier. Streaming giants like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube offer countless playlists and channels specifically designed to enhance creativity (though with decidedly uncreative titles like “Creative Focus” and “Creative Boost”). That said, if curated lists aren’t your style, feel free to craft your own musical journey. Simply slip on those noise-canceling headphones, cue up your favorite mix, and let the creative floodgates open.

Second Hand News 📰

Adweek: 4 Implications of Google’s Landmark Antitrust Loss ↠

Moore Google news! (I’m running out of GIFs to use).

The Verge: Instagram is making views the primary metric for content ↠

Something to be aware of when reporting on social content metrics. Having the same key metric is a nice-to-have, but views may prove difficult to utilize in proving ROI.

“Instagram is making ‘views’ the primary metric across all of its formats, meaning that creators will be able to track the same metric across Reels, Stories, photos, and more. The change will roll out in the coming weeks, according to a post on Instagram’s creators account.”

“‘Historically we’ve shown different metrics for Reels vs. other posts, but we want to evolve this so it’s easier to understand how your content is doing regardless of the format,’ Instagram chief Adam Mosseri writes in a post. A view is different than reach, Mosseri says in an accompanying video, because the same person can view the same piece of content multiple times.”

Hypha Highlights 🖊️

Effectively marketing membership renewals to customers without access to their membership history is problematic, if not impossible. And relying on membership tracking software that retains only current information—such as DaySmart in this use case—can hinder long-term customer engagement and personalized marketing strategies.

By integrating DaySmart with a HubSpot CRM platform, historic customer membership data can be housed in the CRM and leveraged for targeted marketing campaigns and improved customer retention.

Read: Enhancing Business Operations by Integrating DaySmart With HubSpot ↠

5 Star Review ⭐

I worked with Phil and Phillip for a website migration from Squarespace to HubSpot and for help implementing my deals pipeline in HubSpot. Both Phil and Phillip cared about helping out and solving my problems. I am a solo attorney and didn't have a huge budget and I always felt like my project was handled with the same level of attention as a bigger project. Phil was constantly problem solving when I brought up different ideas and Phillip got the design perfectly. I will miss working with them both. -R.M. Stadler

Industry: Branding, CRM Implementation, and Website Migration

Services provided: Branding, Content Creation, and Email Marketing

HubSpot Product Updates: July Roundup

“Curious about the latest HubSpot updates? Wondering how new features can streamline your workflow? In this monthly product update, we unveil exciting enhancements, including interactive workflow diagrams, new Zoom integration capabilities, pipeline deal approvals, and weighted meeting rotations. Discover how these updates can boost your productivity and simplify your processes.”

How can we help you?

Industry Spotlight: Direct Mail

Design Distributors, Inc. is a premier, full-service direct mail marketing company providing a comprehensive suite of services including printing, data processing, mailing, and fulfillment for a wide range of direct mail projects.

Design Distributors sought to strengthen its digital presence and lead generation capabilities. The company partnered with Hypha HubSpot Development to infuse inbound marketing strategies into its traditional marketing framework and reposition itself as a thought leader and forward-thinking brand within the direct mail industry.

Hypha’s Solution

• Logo Design/Branding
• Corporate Messaging
• Website Redesign
• Website Migration
• Blog Migration
• User Journey Mapping
• Core Site Content
• Lead Generation
• SEO
• Content Creation
• Collateral & Graphic Design

Thanks for reading! We’ll catch you in next week’s edition.

-Team Hypha