Steve Fink on LinkedIn: Meanwhile… Tacos Are Sandwiches | Florida Man Steals Pokémon Cards |… (2024)

Love this. Thanks, Darleene Powells!

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I always feel a bit icky tooting my own horn, but I'm really freakin' excited and honored to share this story on StudyFinds' success that was recently published by Google: https://lnkd.in/gF6XSiRV2023 was such a crazy awesome year for StudyFinds. Our 73 million+ pageviews allowed me to triple our staff, increase the number of daily posts, and keep the site from needing outside funding -- and thus, continue as an agenda-free publication. So when Google reached out to me and asked if they could write a case study about how we've built a successful business simply from ads, of course I was quite thrilled to share our story. I love that we've been able to create jobs and give freelancers a source of supplemental income. I love that I have an outstanding team who I trust, who are all reliable and enthusiastic and eager to be part of the StudyFinds story. I love that we've been able to develop even more content that can help people make better decisions about their health, diet, daily routines, finances, business management, productivity, traveling habits, etc, etc... as well as become smarter shoppers thanks to our Best of the Best posts.I love that this has become my life.I want to emphasize for other content creators that this hasn't been easy. There's been lots of sweat, stress, and tears along the way -- and the rise of helpful, personalized AI is only making it far more competitive for small publishers like us. But I love competition. I live for the challenge. I thrive on naysayers and the underdog mentality. We can't run away from technology and change that threatens to steal or crush our business, we must run beside it. Whatever 2024 and the future throws at us, we will stay progressive, we will follow the data, and we will adapt. We have to continue believing wholeheartedly that we can do hard things and that we will succeed. Most importantly, we will continue to create helpful, informative, and relevant content.If I had a dollar for all the people who never believed in me, I wouldn't have needed to start StudyFinds. Conversely, without question thanks to everyone who's supported me in my journey, I have found success. This goosebump-inducing writeup from Google validates that -- and all the hard work from my fantastic team. I am grateful.

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This doesn't surprise me -- and if anything I'm surprised the number isn't higher!

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How's your New Year's resolution coming along? I wrote a piece about mine, and why I think it'll be the best (and most important) one I'll have ever achieved.

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We hear the term "superfood" being attached to certain foods all the time. But are superfoods a real thing, or just another smart marketing move coined by manufacturers? StudyFinds dietitian Shyla Cadogan, RD, LDN sets the record straight.

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I'm so incredibly proud of StudyFinds' in-house dietitian, Shyla Cadogan, RD, LDN (and a brilliant fellow UMD Terp I might add), for a recent post of hers being recognized by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Her article on the health benefits of pumpkin headlined the academy's latest newsletter! 👏👏👏 Shyla's articles (you can read by clicking on her photo) have routinely been receiving credit from national news outlets, but I know this one was a special moment for her in particular. So I really am so happy to share this "full circle moment," as she called it. I'm also excited because she wrote it the same day I coincidentally picked up some pumpkin butter (no, not pumpkin-flavored butter) to spread on my daily English muffin. Very important detail there, obviously.When Shyla joined our team, she mentioned an alarming figure that I also want to highlight: just 3% of registered dietitians are Black. I told her I hope that her work with us will help bring attention to this important issue and make a difference in helping to improve the diversity of RDs. I have to think she already is making progress. This is important to me -- my mentor and the most important person in my career was the late Dr. Lee Thornton, who was the first Black woman ever to cover the White House during her time with CBS. Dr. T was a professor of mine at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism - University of Maryland, and advised me early in my career. This coming Monday marks 10 years since she passed away. There is no way I would be where I am today and StudyFinds would have existed without Dr. T; and so, in a way, I feel like Shyla's amazing work is a fantastic way to honor Dr. T's memory and outstanding career.

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This is such a fantastic, goosebump-inducing read by Andy Kostka from The Baltimore Banner.

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I had a blast this past week connecting with and learning from so many of my peers in Philadelphia at #ona23, the Online News Association's annual conference. It's still a bit awkward rolling solo at the event and not knowing many attendees, so, I've found that plenty of the 14,000+ studies on StudyFinds.com make for fantastic icebreakers. And this one in particular (and one of my kids' favorites) was the clear winner among the folks I met. 12 seconds, who knew? Already looking forward to next year's conference, marking its 25th year. Thank you Online News Association!

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Love this study. #reading #books #children #brainhealth

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