Email Valhalla

How to grow your email list (without the use of social media)

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A few days ago I wrote an email ranting about the current state of social media and the boring, unfulfilling, and downright soul-wrenching game you have to play if you want to achieve any kind of ‘success’ according to most “social media gurus” out there.

That message seemed to have struck a chord somewhere because I received quite some responses.

One of those responses was from a long-time reader (whose name I won’t share for obvious reasons) who felt exactly what I was talking about.

He mentioned how he felt like he “had to” play this social media game to build social proof and authority to get started as a beginner in his market.

Obviously, that didn’t please him. So he asked me, yours truly, what I would do if I were in his shoes instead and wanted to build my business from the ground up when nobody knows my name.

So here goes:

First, realize that social media is a new thing.

Marketing and sales aren’t.

There have been plenty of ultra-successful marketers selling all sorts of products, services, and even experiences for far longer than social media has been around.

Don’t get trapped in this mindset that social media is the end-all-be-all. The only people who want you to believe that are the ones who want to sell you their social media course.

I’m not saying social media doesn’t work—it clearly does.

But it’s not for everyone and it definitely isn’t your only option.

Second caveat:

Realize that social proof, while definitely being powerful and useful, is far lower on the ladder of necessity than you might think.

90% of all the ads you see (if not more) don’t use any kind of social proof. They simply make you aware of a problem you might be having, and then offer you a potential solution to said problem.

If the advertiser did his homework, aka he knows what keeps his market up at night, then the problem will be so close to home you can’t help but pay attention to whatever solution the ad might be offering. And if the solution is positioned correctly then you, the customer seeing the ad, will end up buying it.

Regardless of whether you’ve heard of the product before or your next-door neighbor Nancy also happened to have used that same product.

Once your realize this, that’s when countless doors will open for you.

You’ll realize all you have to do is get your product, service, or better yet, yourself (and a plug to your email list—the most valuable asset you’ll ever build and which allows you to create repeat buyers and die-hard fans instead of having to survive on one-time sales) in front of your target audience while talking about their problems or their interests—regardless of what market you’re in (every single product in the entertainment industry solves the “problem” of boredom—which just so happens to be at an all-time high right now; making it the best time ever to grow your entertainment business if you know what you’re doing).

Some possibilities:

  • Run ads on Google, Facebook, Amazon, popular forums, or wherever your target audience hangs out (simple yet effective)

  • Get on podcasts as a guest speaker: start small and build your way up. You won’t get on Joe Rogan’s podcast as a no-name but there are thousands of people with dreams of building a big-name podcasts who just so happen to always have a need for guests to interview. Mention what you’re working on and how that could interest their audience and chances are most, if not everyone, would like to talk to you.

  • Write blog posts, articles, or press releases for online newspapers, other people’s blogs and email lists, internet magazines, or any of the tens of thousands of media outlets all scattered around the internet (most of which are owned by people who dislike writing articles but want to publish as much content as possible so they can make a living off the ad revenue)

  • Message local newspapers, radio shows, or television channels: Most people lead boring lives. So just by building a business or doing something artsy or creative, you instantly become so much more interesting—which is more than entertaining enough for every local media outlet to want to interview you (what’s a better story than the “local celebrity”?)

  • Meet new people and keep an eye out for potential joint-ventures: You’re not alone in your market. Use this to your advantage. Work together with other creatives or entrepreneurs. Ask if they’d be interested in recommending you or your products to their audience if you’d do the same for them (or simply pay them to recommend you).

There’s a lot more where that came from, but this should be more than enough to keep anyone busy for quite a while already.

After all, no amount of information will save you if you never get to implementing things.

So get to it.

Start implementing at least one or two of these and build yourself a big email list.

At that point, you might want to master how to write engaging, entertaining, and persuasive emails that’ll help sell your products while keeping your readers reading day after day as well.

For that, consider checking out Email Valhalla here: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla


The smell of cold piss on molten lava

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I just returned from a three-day trip with a small group of friends of mine.

It was a lot of fun, a nice change of pace (I didn’t do anything work-related at all—not even checking my emails or how my promo was going), quite adventurous at some points, and especially tiring when we stayed up until 6 in the morning playing board games (that’s not your usual “stay up way too late” culprit, now is it?).

Funnily enough, one of the main things I learned during and still remember from that trip was a funny little word used to describe “the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil” (courtesy of Wikipedia).

Or, as smart people would call it, petrichor.

So, as you may (or may not) know, I just had to start digging for other such scents.

I then quickly learned about bibliosmia, coined by Oliver Tearle, an English lecturer and author, in 2014 and which refers to “The pleasant smell and aroma of a new (or any) book, caused by the gradual chemical breakdown of the compounds used within the paper”.

The hunt was on. I had so many questions.

How many other scents, smells, or even tastes and sounds have been given unique names of which I’m not aware?

When does a scent become unique or special enough to be deserving of a name?

What’s it called when cold piss falls on molten lava?

Unfortunately, I couldn’t answer all of them.

But that’s not the point.

The point is that I got curious. I let my inner child come out and went looking for what some people might consider stupid answers to even dumber questions.

This is the key to creativity. Which in turn is the key to happiness. And that happiness can easily affect a large number of people who just so happen to be connected to me some way or another thanks to the vast network of modern globalization—further aided by my deliberate intentions to share this curiosity, my findings, and my joy with the world; which in turn might inspire a select few people to do the same and continue expanding the range of global network and reach an uncountable amount of people all over the world.

Many people might say entertainment lies at the root of civilization.

And they’re definitely not wrong.

But there’s a real argument to be made that curiosity lies at the root of entertainment, and thus civilization by extension.

Whether this newfound knowledge about the names of certain scents is of any use to you remains to be seen.

What I do know, however, is that just by sharing my findings and curiosity with you, there’s a good chance you’ll go out there into the world with a newfound appreciation for something which in turn will aid your creative endeavours, giving you a boost which might help you become successful at whatever it is you want to do, and ultimately make the world a better place.

And if you’re curious about something else that might help you become successful, then I’d highly suggest you check out my flagship course Email Valhalla, which teaches you all about writing emails that get you sales while keeping your readers engaged and entertained so they’ll keep reading your emails for a long time.

Click here for more information about Email Valhalla: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla


Do you struggle with procrastination and perfectionism?

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Well, then here’s a fun fact for you:

So did the man, the father of modern-day fantasy and author of still the number one best-selling Epic Fantasy series of all time, the legend himself, JRR Tolkien.

In fact, his procrastination was so bad it often took him over six months to revise a particular scene or fix a certain plot hole (which his manuscripts were filled with—he was THE master of plot hole writing).

What about his perfectionism fueled by anxiety and insecurity?

Well, it took him TWENTY YEARS to “finish” Lord of The Rings after The Hobbit was released. I say “finished” because he wouldn’t stop tinkering with the damn thing and was basically forced to put it out there by his fellow colleagues.

It’s a miracle The Lord of The Rings got published at all.

Seriously.

Tolkien easily made over 50 revisions—each time rewriting the whole damn thing from scratch basically.

Even more.

If it wasn’t for C.S. Lewis, the author of the popular Narnia books, the Lord of The Rings as we know it today wouldn’t exist at all. Lewis was the person who convinced Tolkien to write about more than just “Hobbits sitting around talking to each other in the Shire all day” (which is what fascinated Tolkien the most).

You can read more about the story behind the Lord of The Rings, the writing, Tolkien’s inspirations, and C.S. Lewis’s contributions to the whole thing in the book “Bandersnatch”.

But I hope I could at least give you some sort of hope that you’re definitely not alone.

Writing is hard.

Any creative type of work is hard. It feels like you’re never finished, sometimes you absolutely despise your own work, but at the end of the day, none of it matters if you don’t get it finished and put it out there into the world for everyone to see.

Who knows, maybe you have a new best-selling series in your hands without even knowing it?

Or maybe you have your next best-converting sales letter or launch emails ready to go without even realizing it.

One way to learn how to write better sales emails (and actually get them out there) is by checking out Email Valhalla.

More information can be found here: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla


How to solve your problems by complaining about them

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Here’s a good one for you:

Some 15 years ago famous actor Robert Pattinson had to deal with quite the number of obsessive fans who went as far as camping outside of his apartment for weeks just to get a chance of seeing him.

Obviously, nobody likes this kind of attention. So 22-year-old Pattinson had to come up with a solution to solve his obsessive stalker problems.

His solution?

He asked his stalker out on a date.

I’m not even kidding, you can look this up and verify it yourself.

He took her out on a dinner date and, I quote: “I just complained about everything in my life and she never came back”.

Now that’s giving a new meaning to “never meat (get it?) your heroes”.

So think about this the next time you consider complaining about the problems in your life. Whether it’s to your friends, your family, your co-workers, or, worst of all, your audience and (would-be) customers.

If an obsessed stalker suddenly decides they never want to hear from you again. Just imagine the effect complaining will have on your audience.

Anyway.

In case you’d like to learn how to write actual good emails so you can make sales daily and/or get clients on repeat, without having to complain about anything, then consider checking out Email Valhalla.

Here’s the link: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla


Stop whining and get this topic right

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If you claim to be an expert—let alone a leader—then you should have something to say every single day.

Nobody cares about how much you know (or think you know) unless you prove it on a consistent and regular basis.

If you—an obvious expert and experienced veteran and among the top 1% of peak human evolution in whatever market you're in—only have something to say once every week or so… Yet Timmy, who might have spent a few months watching YouTube tutorials and has only recently started working with clients, shows up every single day, sharing a valuable lesson, insight, principle, or tactic that's on his mind that day…

Who, out of the both of you, would look more credible and build up more authority in the market?

But I get it.

You might not have the time to be posting every day. Fair enough, you're running a business after all. But don't keep shouting about how only posting once a week, or maybe even a few times a week, is the optimal move.

It’s not and you bloody well know it.

Posting content, no matter how or where is done (or should be done at least) for the sole purpose of grabbing attention, showing people you know your shit, and driving that traffic to somewhere that gets you paid (which requires trust).

So if you truly want to stand out.

If you truly want to make a difference.

If you truly know your shyt.

Then back it up by showing up day after day and proving you're worthy of being called "an expert".

And there’s no better place to prove you know your shit every single day than by sending it straight into the inbox of your audience.

For more about how to go about doing so, check out Email Valhalla here: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla


Shocking new statistics show the power of this simple marketing trick

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The average 12-year-old boy is 356% more likely to ask his parents to buy ice cream at the store than a 15-year-old girl.

How crazy is that?

Not only because that’s an enormous difference in the likelihood of a kid asking for ice cream. I mean, it’s not as if ice cream is this extremely gender-specific interest as opposed to playing with dolls or reading your average superhero comic book.

And neither is that 3-year difference that much when you think about the general age range of people who enjoy eating ice cream.

But no, that’s not all. There’s a lot more that makes it a crazy statement.

More specifically…

It’s also crazy because I made up that fact just now. Entirely made up. Total bollocks. I didn’t even do a sliver of research to make it feel more possible.

And yet…

I’m certain there’s a high chance you read that first sentence and simply believed it.

In fact, I know many people did.

Coincidentally, it’s also something Claude C. Hopkins wrote about in Scientific Advertising when he said the following:

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“The weight of an argument may often be multiplied by making it specific. Say that a tungsten lamp gives more light than a carbon and you leave some doubt. Say that it gives three and one-third times the light and people realize that you have made tests and comparisons.”

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Now, admittedly, he didn’t say anything about lying and or making up facts.

Probably because that’s not a good business practice.

But it does work just as well—which clearly shows you the power of being specific.

Now, I’m sure you’re not planning on making up random specific, and believable, facts as a party trick wherever you go.

But you might be interested to know that you’d make, on average, a total of $42 for every $1 you spent on email marketing.

Not a bad trade, eh?

And if you’d like to start learning how to write better emails so you can make more sales while keeping your readers reading day after day, then check out Email Valhalla here: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla


My predictions for the upcoming American presidential elections

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You may or may not be following the absolute crapload of articles, interviews, debates, social media posts, social discussions, commentaries, and pretty much everything else related to the upcoming American presidential elections.

But, regardless you’re likely to know it’s Biden vs Trump fighting one another for a second shot at being able to sit their sweet buttocks down in the White House.

And if you didn’t even know that, then now you do.

But you might be wondering. Who are both these people?

Well, people often refer to Biden as a senile old pile of crap who’s drugged up all the time and only awake for two hours a day (if that many) while merely existing the other 16 hours or so he’s awake.

On the other hand, Trump is a tiny, yet very angry, orange oompa loompa with a wet raccoon on his head. He calls himself a true businessman, but we all know the only reason people know him is because of his role in Home Alone. Did I mention that he gets extremely pissed off if you were to mention his mediocre golf skills?

Anyway.

My prediction isn’t nearly as exciting as keeping up with whatever new ploy or scheme the media is cooking up to manipulate, twist, and turn the public’s perception—there’s a lot of shady stuff going on everywhere you look and not a lot of honesty—every single day.

But as for a prediction.

As the elections will happen in November, I reckon people will already be in the Christmas spirit—since, you know, the selling and advertising of everything Christmas related is starting earlier and earlier every year to milk as much money out of the public’s pockets—so they’ll rewatch Home Alone (as people do). This will subconsciously alter the perception of Trump in people’s mind to that of the helpful guide (after all, he does guide the way), making it so Trump will win the elections by a landslide.

Now, whether any of this will actually happen, much less if it’s relevant at all, doesn’t actually matter.

You see.. in his book The Ultimate Sales Letter, Dan Kennedy wrote the following:

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“The two keys to unlimited media attention and publicity are being predictive and being provocative.”

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So I’ll leave this be for what it is and gently enjoy all of my newfound media attention, thank you very much.

But before I do.

Maybe you’d like to get some media attention as well?

In that case, do check out Email Valhalla where I’ll show you just how to write emails so you can get drive more traffic and attention to whatever you are selling (and make a profit while you’re at it).

My prediction is that you’ll become extremely successful after implementing everything you read inside of Email Valhalla.

But enough talking.

Click here for more information: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla


Never stop learning

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Even more.

Do all of your learning in public.

Start new projects all the time. Share your progress. Give regular updates. Talk about what you’ve learned, where you made mistakes, and how you’d go about avoiding those same mistakes in the future.

When it’s time you can ever start educating other people on the skills you’ve learned and the experience you’ve gathered.

There are many places you can learn, record, and even build stuff in public.

Personal websites, portfolios, and blogs are good.

Building an audience on social media platforms is better.

Growing your own email list which you own, control, and gives you direct access to every single one of your readers is the best.

Remember, you’re playing a long-term game here.

You’re not in it to MAYBE go viral and MAYBE get a chance at becoming popular and extremely rich. You’re here to guarantee you’ll be seen and guarantee you’ll have a decent income.

You probably won’t get extremely rich, sure. But chances are you wouldn’t have gotten rich by enslaving yourself to a social media platform, hoping the algorithm works in your favor, always following whatever the latest trend or the latest update is, following the crowd wherever you go, and never truly being able to master something or to stick to one formula.

Instead, you find a format that works and stick to it for decades. You become a platform onto yourself by building an email list which you control.

Most importantly, you take your marketing into your own hands, doing things you can control, which guarantees a positive outcome.

Everyone who’s out there playing the algorithm game is gambling with their future—and gamblers always lose (and they lose hard).

Don’t be a gambler.

If you’d like more information on how to best take matters into your own hand by building yourself something you control and can guarantee a positive outcome, then check out Email Valhalla here: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla


Two-time self-published author doesn’t know how to promote her books

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A question popped up in a self-publishing writer’s community:

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I published my memoir in late January of this year. I was able to get quite a few sales (I was amazed tbh because my previous book I had published barely even sold…).

I’ve been trying my best to promote it this last month because the sales are dropping and I think it’s simply because people have no idea it exists…? But I don’t think I’m catching people’s attention with it.

I published it on Amazon kdp. I can’t pay for ads currently so…am I SOL? I really want my story to be heard

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Classic case of short-sightedness.

You see it everywhere. People trying to get others to buy their products or services so they start looking for ways to advertise that specific product… only to get a few one-time sales and then struggle to keep that momentum (if they even got any to begin with) going—never actually making a business out of what they’ve got.

Here’s the tl;dr of what I’d suggest to anyone in a similar situation:

• Step 1: Create an email list

• Step 2: Drive people to your opt-in page through content creation

• Step 3: Email them as often as you can about the common interests that connect you and them to whatever you’re selling.

• Step 4: Sit back and relax while growing a business that doesn’t rely on one-time sales because you’re not losing your customers. Instead you’re actively growing your customer list and building a better and tighter relationship with them, guaranteeing more sales (consistently) in the future as long as you keep giving people what they want.

Ain’t nothing complicated to it (and if you think this only works for authors, you couldn’t be more mistaken).

If you’d like a more in-depth view of this process, then check out Email Valhalla to learn all about building, growing, and monetizing your email list.

Click here to check it out: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla


Stop chucking stuff into the void as a “nobody”

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I came across a post on a well-known forum from a musician who released his latest song the day before.

Apparently, he worked long and hard on the song, did everything he could to make it as good as he possibly could, then went on to try his hand at “marketing” it—clever guy—by convincing a couple of blog writers and a few popular Instagram music pages make a post about his latest song.

The guy was so excited thinking about the fame and riches he’d amass from this song he almost couldn’t sleep.

Yet when he woke up the next day… nothing happened. And I truly mean nothing. Nobody except probably a few friends listened to his latest song.

36 hours after release and all he got for it were 15 plays.

I can’t help but feel sorry for the man.

So here’s the issue:

He’s a nobody. Not as in the pessimistic “he doesn’t have any talent and will never amount to anything”. No, he clearly has some talent.

But right now, nobody knows him. Plain and simple as that.

It pays to be aware of the current situation instead of fighting or running from it.

To his credit, he tried doing some marketing and getting the song out there. But he did so in the wrong way.

See, nobody cares about your new song, your new book, your new product, your new game, your new cocaine addiction you developed because your mother never told you she loved you when were younger.

None of that.

People only care about two things: themselves and other people (in that order).

What does this mean for you?

Instead of trying to market your song a day before it releases, start by marketing YOURSELF all year-around. Build a fanbase of you, not your song. You’re more than just that one song. So show them.

Be interesting, be entertaining, and most importantly, make sure they see and hear you everywhere all the time—not just when you have something new to promote.

People who only market when they’ve got something new don’t really care about their audience, their fans, their followers, they just care about themselves and their new thing.

Be someone who’s there all the time, regardless whether or not you’ve got something new to promote.

Then, when the time comes and you actually have something new to promote, you’ll have an audience already established, it’ll immediately be liked, and you have the right to absolutely bombard them with promotion about your new thing—your audience likes you after all, and nobody gets tired of of getting MORE of something they like.

Long story short: Don’t stay a nobody.

Talking about not staying a nobody and keeping in touch with your audience every single day, check out Email Valhalla to learn more about how to do exactly that.

Here’s the link: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla