Sunday with The Scribes - #28
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Sunday with The Scribes - #28

PRODUCTIVITY TIPAs the new year approaches, we are focusing on something very particular: becoming an Optimalist.Not sure what an Optimalist is? We didn't know either, until a few months ago when we started working with Dr. Maria Bruce to design our first ever guided journal. We will release The Optimalist on December 15, and until then, chew on this quote from Maria, and start focusing on a great year ahead. "An Optimalist sets goals and works to create all the steps necessary to move towards them. An Optimalist recognizes that the road is not a straight line, and knows that even the best thought-through plans have set-backs and obstacles.Optimalists incorporate the negatives as lessons learned, instead of viewing them as reasons to give up; they learn from them and move forward."WHAT'S IN OUR JOURNALE-Commerce is booming, and shipping companies are struggling to keep up. In some instances, shipping companies like FedEx and UPS are actually limiting the number of packages they can pick up from individual brands from now until the holidays. More on that here. With that said, it is super important to place your orders with us ASAP if you are looking to receive them before the holidays. We are making a big push to get as many orders in, and out, before December 17, to ensure on-time delivery.So shop early with promo code 'Holiday15' for 15% off. and on-time delivery Enjoy your Sunday!Mike, Pooja, and Alden
Sunday with The Scribes - #27
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Sunday with The Scribes - #27

PRODUCTIVITY TIPProductivity Stat: 50% of employees decline by 20% during the holiday season.While a decline in productivity is nearly inevitable, this article outlines a few helpful tips on how to stay productive around the holidays!And remember, the holidays will decrease productivity across the board, and that's ok. Spend time with your friends and family and be ready to come back after the holidays to conquer the new year. WHAT'S IN OUR JOURNALThis week we wanted to highlight an amazing partnership we've formed with another great company. Generous Coffee is a for-purpose brand that sells sustainably sourced coffee and apparel. Most importantly, all of their products help give back to various charities around the world. For example, the bags on their website help give back to education for women in Guatemala. Until December 15th, you can enter to win a giveaway that is valued at $2,200. This giveaway includes products from 32+ brands, and we are happy to be one of them! To give yourself a chance to win, input your email into this link. If you are looking to make a difference in your shopping this holiday season, check out the Generous Coffee Gift Guide, a comprehensive list of great products from even better companies. Enjoy your Sunday!Mike, Pooja, and Alden
Sunday with The Scribes - #26
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Sunday with The Scribes - #26

PRODUCTIVITY TIPAs December quickly approaches, it's time to reflect on the year and start planning for the year ahead. This time of reflection will help you remember the 'good' and the 'bad' of 2020, and will lead you to a well-defined goals list for 2021.Grab your scribe, and take a few minutes to answer the questions below.1. Where did you succeed?2. What are some of your favorite memories?3. Where did you fail? What regrets do you have? 4. What do you need to do more of?WHAT'S IN OUR JOURNALThis past week at The Scribes was BUSY! Thanks to you all, we will be spending the rest of the weekend shipping orders!We also got to spend some time with our families, which as always, was so nice. Black Friday is behind us, but the holiday deals are not! Take advantage of 20% site-wide with promo code HOLIDAY20. Spend more than $50 and we'll throw in a surprise gift!Lastly, remember to #shopsmall this year. Here are a few of our favorites small businesses. Irving Farm Coffee - Located in NYC? If so, check out Irving! If you are not in NYC, you can purchase coffee directly from their online store. Harper Coats - The best jacket for the worst weather. Their co-founder, Rachel, has been helping The Scribes throughout 2020, so give them a look! Homesick Candles - This has been our go-to gift this year. So many friends and family members have re-located in 2020, and Homesick candles are the perfect gift to remind them of home! Talk to you next week!Mike, Pooja, and Alden
Sunday with The Scribes - #25
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Sunday with The Scribes - #25

PRODUCTIVITY TIP7 Lessons to Grow Your Business from Serial Entrepreneur, Neil Patel is so much more than a 'business article.' In this article, the author outlines seven pieces of advice for entrepreneurs and business owners, but in our opinion, these lessons relate to everyone.Take more action.Always be learning.Focus on quick wins.Think about your motivations. Building your team.The importance of perceptions.Getting started. Give it a read!WHAT'S IN OUR JOURNALIn mid-October, we received an email that reminded us of the importance of what we are doing. The email read, "I am an art teacher in Brooklyn, I'm working remotely and a lot of my students do not have notebooks or sketchbooks. I was at a meeting (ZOOM) with my borough arts director and she mentioned your company might be able to donate books for my students. I would be very interested in receiving books that I (or my principal/assistant principal) can distribute to families in need. I look forward to hearing from you."This past week, we were thrilled to take action on this by donating over 200 journals and 200 marker-sets to 4th-6th graders in Brooklyn.Talk to you next week!Mike, Pooja, and Alden
Sunday with The Scribes - #24
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Sunday with The Scribes - #24

PRODUCTIVITY TIPLet us be honest - we didn't have time to find a zinger of a productivity tip for you this week. Instead, we have been trying to solve some pretty big issues.. On Friday afternoon, we were so excited to update our website to a new and improved version that we've been working on for months. What we didn't know was that our website would immediately crash after updating, causing down time for about 30 hours.Fortunately, our website is now up and running again, however, our email accounts are still having issues. If you need to reach us, text us at 256-682-3675 and we'll get back to your right away.If we were to leave you with one 'tip' or piece of advice, we'd simply encourage you to keep at it when life presents you with a challenge. You might botch the initial execution of a new idea or project, but if you keep at it, you'll learn something along the way and be better for it in the long-haul.WHAT'S IN OUR JOURNALLast week, we joined Kestner De Vera on The Katch Up With Kestner Podcast! This conversation takes listeners on the journey of how we started The Scribes and how we've navigated the Covid-19 pandemic. Links to the podcast are below. We hope you'll give it a listen!Listen on SpotifyWatch on YoutubeTalk to you next week!Mike, Pooja, and Alden
Sunday with The Scribes - #23
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Sunday with The Scribes - #23

Sunday with The Scribes is going to look a bit different this week. Today, we want to celebrate one year in business, and talk about what this day means to us. The past year has been a roller coaster in so many ways. We're fighting a global pandemic, we've seen unrest around the country related to racial injustice, and we are still in the middle of a tense presidential election.And yet, through all of that, we couldn't be more thankful for the position we are in and we couldn't be more excited for what the future holds.So raise your glass (coffee or champagne) and join us in a cheers to our first year in business, with many more to come. Cheers to 5,000+ journals being donated to students around the world. Cheers to our 2,000+ new customers who have shopped with us. Cheers to our 9 retail partners who carry our products in their stores. Cheers to our 25 corporate partners, who took a chance on a young brand like us. Cheers to our 4th website iteration that we'll be releasing in the coming days. Cheers to our production partners and vendors all over the world. And cheers to our friends and family who have supported us along this amazing journey. We have more products to make, more supplies to donate, and many more customers to please. Thank you to everyone who has supported us thus far!Mike, Pooja, and Alden
Sunday with The Scribes - #22
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Sunday with The Scribes - #22

PRODUCTIVITY TIPMatthew McConaughey's new book, Green Lights, is now on the shelves!According to McConaughey, this autobiography was written as a compilation of his 36 years of personal journals, where McConaughey captures his daily thoughts, both large and small.On the act of journaling McConaughey has this to say:"Check in with yourself before checking in with the world when you wake up in the morning. Read a little something between you and you. Write a little something that's between you and you."Not all of us will keep a journal like McConaughey does, but if we did, we think the world would certainly be a better place.WHAT'S IN OUR JOURNALWe have a few quick updates that we want to share with you this week.The Quill is back in stock and we want to thank everyone who ordered our best-selling pen on preorder! We also want to extend a huge shoutout to Pooja Patel and her entire family for helping us ship over 200 orders this weekend! Our success is truly a team effort!3,000 journals have made it to Honduras and will soon be distributed to the students and teachers across 14 different schools. This comes in partnership with The Foundation for Education in Honduras!We will be speaking on the Katch Up With Kestner podcast this afternoon! We will be speaking about our give-back model, how we started The Scribes, and how we've managed our small business throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. We hope you'll check out the podcast as soon as it is published!Talk to you next week!Mike, Pooja, and Alden
Sunday with The Scribes - #19
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Sunday with The Scribes - #19

PRODUCTIVITY TIPInstead of hearing from us this week, we want to hear from you!Take this survey and let us know how you are adapting to the new normal. We want to use this feedback to create new products based on your feedback! To thank you for your feedback, we will send over a $5 gift card. WHAT'S IN OUR JOURNALDon't forget to sign up for the Going Beyond Your Brand as You Knew It panel TONIGHT at 7:00 PM EST featuring our founder, Pooja Patel!!! All proceeds will be going towards Girls Inc and by using promo code GOINGBEYOND at checkout you'll receive 20% off of all of our products!
Sunday with The Scribes - #18
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Sunday with The Scribes - #18

Productivity Tip To-do lists are key.But.Why does the day often end and you feel dissatisfied with what you crossed off?It's because you are doing to-do lists wrong according to Mathias Barra. Check out this article, where he explains the two types of to-do's; The No-Way-I'm-Not-Doing-This List and The I'd-Like-It-If-I-Could-Do-This List. What's in our Journal Q4 is here, and for eCommerce businesses like ours, it's game-time. This week, we want to let you know how we are planning for the busy season.More inventory + New products. In just a month or two, we will launching a few new products, one of which is sure to be your friend come January 1 when you start having 'New Year, New You' thoughts. More to come on this.For anyone who has ordered The Quill recently, you might have noticed that the pens weren't individually packaged. Packaging shortages are soon to be a problem of the past, as we've made major investments in more pens, and more packaging. We've also had multiple requests for blue ink. To those people - we got you.Marketing.We want YOU to help us tell our story. Over the course of Q4, want to focus on promoting and creating content alongside our customers. So when you buy our products, make sure you leave a review, and if you do, you might just see your own words across all of our advertising channels. Giving.As you probably know already, giving back is core to what we do. Just in time for Q4, we designed and produced 1,000 new 'Student Scribes,' ready to be donated to schools and non-profit organizations. If you have a cause in mind that you think we should support, let us know and we'd love to lend a hand.And last, but not least, our very own Pooja Patel will be speaking on a panel with other leaders about life as a female entrepreneur. We hope you'll tune into this event on Sunday, October 11 at 7:00 p.m. All ticket proceeds are being donated to Girls Inc. As the sponsors of the show, we too, will be donating to Girls Inc through the proceeds of our journal sales. To support the event, our business, and Girls Inc, buy a few journals with promo code 'GoingBeyond'.Talk to you next week!- Mike, Pooja, and Alden