That’s a quote by Zig Ziglar.

See, with today’s cancel culture, inclusion marketing, greenwashing, LGBTQ123+ and other diversity movements, there’s simply no shortage of people, companies, and big-figure enterprises trying to play it safe, pleasing their customers, and acting as if everything is always sunshine and rainbows.

Yet that’s the exact opposite of what you as a marketer, salesman, copywriter, coach, consultant, or other product seller/service provider, should do.

People (and by extension the world) run on problems.

The only reason people take action is to solve a problem. Everyone has problems, all the time—even Buddhists trying to reach a state of a problemless (not sure if this is a word) nirvana still have the problem of having problems.

And that’s a good thing too.

Otherwise nothing would happen, nothing would get done, you and I wouldn’t get paid, and there’d be nothing to life as a whole.

Life is a permanent conquest of solving problem after problem.

With that said.

What are people trying to achieve by pretending everything is ok? By “sharing happiness” everywhere they go and encouraging everyone that they’re perfect just the way they are, they can do whatever they dream of, and they shouldn’t let anything get in their way.

First.

They’re not getting paid that way.

But even more important.

They’re not helping people either.

Most people aren’t perfect the way they are. Acting as if that’s the case is ignoring the potential inside of everyone waiting to be released and become a better person day after day.

In fact.

If you’d really care about people, really want to help your customers, clients, readers, listeners, followers, and everyone else you meet. Then you’d tell them the hard and difficult stuff.

You’d show them their imperfections, their flaws, their faults, and even make them feel the pain and shame that comes along with it.

But.

At the same time, you’d also present them with a solution to help them solve their problems.

That’s where your product or service comes into play.

And that’s how you get paid while actually helping your customers improve their quality of life.

Not by being all happy dandy all the time.

Here’s an example:

Do you have a service business? Or do you want to build a service business?

Is that business currently providing you with a full-time income while only having to work a few hours every day?

No?

Then you’ve undoubtedly got a client issue.

Nobody who has the ability to land clients consistently and effortlessly has money nor time issues.

I know this because I’ve helped a good dozen people implement and even automate a client-acquisition framework that allows them to focus on what truly matters (providing their service) while working minimal hours, getting paid handsomely, and never worrying about when or where there next client is coming from.

If you’d like to learn more about this framework and how to get it then click here: https://alexvandromme.gumroad.com/l/clients

I’ve been taking it slow the past few days.

In fact, I’ve barely been doing anything at all.

This reminded me of an interview with Mr. Beast I once saw where he was explaining his “work schedule”.

I use the word ‘schedule’ conservatively here.

But what he said is that he’d work all the time, every single day, until you just can’t do it anymore. He works until he burns out and only then does he take a day or two off to reset and start working again… until he can’t anymore and the cycle repeats.

Admittedly, he didn’t recommend anyone to try it for themselves, but I found it a logical and efficient approach.

Now, I’m far from a Mr. Beast.

I don’t work nearly the hours he works, but I can and will work a lot depending on the situation.

And on that note, taking a day or two off once in a while isn’t a bad thing.

(I can already hear the hustle bros and productivity community screaming at me)

But let this be a reminder.

Not every system has to be complex, not every system has to be perfect, and certainly not every system is a one-size-fits-all.

Even my systems and solutions aren’t.

They’re simply created and optimized for my life, my business, and my philosophy.

But then again.

If you like the way I do things and want to build a similar business. Then I’d highly recommend you to check out Product Creation Made Easy where I dive deeper into my whole product creation framework—which (next to how I do email) is the backbone of my entire business.

Check it out here: https://alexvandromme.gumroad.com/l/product

First and foremost: I just plain don’t like them.

Not just as in "I don't like using them to build my list"—also that as well.

But I’m now talking about the "I don't like other people's lead magnets" side.

Point being.

I often like certain people's content and would happily opt-in to their list. But often the only way to opt-in is to first download their lead magnet—which is extra friction and makes me less inclined to opt-in.

Why?

First, I simply don't care about your lead magnet and have no need for whatever it’s trying to teach me.

So forcing me to download it?

Nah.

Second, most lead magnet landing pages don't talk about what happens afterwards.

How many emails will you send me? What are they like? What will you talk about?

Are you even going to send me regular emails?

And god forbid if the only way to read their emails is to go through a "10-day email course" I don't care about, forcing me to wait 10 days before I can read your (daily) emails and actually keep up with what you're doing on a daily basis (which more often than not is a lot more entertaining and interesting than the email course itself).

And yes, yes, maybe I might just be a special snowflake in this regard

Obviously, every market, niche, and person is different.

But these are mine.

And because I plain don’t like lead magnets, it would make negative sense if I made my (future) readers go through the same process I dislike.

On another note.

Most lead magnets only attract broke people and freeloaders—you don’t want those on your list.

You want people willing to invest, willing to buy what you offer, and willing to engage with your stuff and work towards a better future.

That’s a high-quality list and one that’ll get you paid by selling products, landing clients, or both.

And if you’d like to learn more about how to land clients consistently and effortlessly, then check out The Abundant-Client System here: https://alexvandromme.gumroad.com/l/clients

Especially when it comes to making new connections on social media.

I’ll take a quick look at you and if I don't vibe with what I see, if it looks like you're preaching bullshyt, or have no idea what you're talking about, then I don't want anything to do with you. (This goes for like 98% of people I see posting content on social)

I also want to see intensity in your work.

And with that I mean. is your soul in it? How much effort are you truly putting in everything you do? Are you actively challenging yourself to do better? Or are you merely using the stuff that “works right now” even though you don’t care much about it.

Example.

If every post is "5 tips to get more work done" or “Here’s my game plan to grow my [insert social media platform] account” then I'm out.

I guarantee most of those audience builders who do nothing except flex the size of their followers (and often their monthly income—an even bigger red flag) have no real skills to offer and most of them would be broke if it weren't for other people who buy into the dream of growing a big audience to also sell audience building.

I’m not saying this hating on the whole “coaches coaching other coaches on how to coach coaches”. Arguably, I find the whole coach-hating notion to be absurd and not at all relevant or even remotely correct.

But that doesn’t mean there’s not a tremendous amount of shyte out there.

If it wasn’t obvious yet, the lesson of today is to be careful who you listen to and not merely take advice from anyone.

It’ll do you more harm than good.

Anyway.

If you want to see what I mean when I talk about putting intensity in your content (and these emails aren’t enough of an example for you yet), then check out my content over on LinkedIn.

Not every post is a banger. I don’t go viral.

Which is often by design.

They’re for a specific audience, at a specific point in their journey.

But more importantly, they’re made with intensity, passion, and a true admiration and love for the craft.

But enough about that.

I’ll let you decide for yourself.

Check it out here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexvandromme/ 

Yet it was a fluke.

I couldn’t repeat it—let alone increase it—the next month.

It took me another 3–4 months before I figured out exactly how to make it happen, how to repeat it consistently and efficiently, and most importantly, how to increase it month after month.

Even more.

I learned how to get my clients better and better results each time as well.

Better product launches, better content creation, better email marketing, better offer creation, better funnel building, better audience building, better everything.

Looking back now, I can clearly see the mistakes I made that held back from building a profitable freedom-focused business early on—a skill that also allows me easily spot these mistakes in other people’s approach to building their business.

Because truth be told. It shouldn’t have taken me that long to build something worthwhile of my own to a high enough level to where it can pay my bills (and then some).

In fact, it shouldn’t take that long for anyone.

This is something I reminded myself of today. And it’s the exact reason why I started offering these clarity calls in the first place. To help people get to a position where they can build their freedom-focused business without having to waste months like I (and sadly, many others as well) have done.

I don’t want you to waste any more time than is absolutely necessary.

And I’m guessing you don’t want to either.

So with that said.

Let’s save months, maybe even years, of the time it would take you to build your freedom-focused business. One where you can work on the things you want, whenever you want, from wherever you want, and with whom you want.

Click here to schedule a clarity call: https://calendly.com/alexvandromme/clarity-call

See you then.

PS: I’ll be doubling the price of a clarity call ($500 instead of $249) tonight at 10 pm CET (that’s in less than 60 minutes).

If you’re serious about wanting to build your own freedom-focused business then there’s nothing else my extremely biased banana-eating ass can recommend you.

It’s an incredible bargain right now and you’ll never get a better deal for my clarity calls ever again.

If you have to force it, it’s probably shit.

And so it is for creating content, selling your offers, getting clients, and everything else in business.

Don’t believe me?

Spend 2 months chasing a single client who’s still on the fence and has trouble committing to your offer with lots and lots of objections.

Then when you finally get that client on your program.

You’ll know what shit feels like.

And you’ll probably never make that same mistake ever again.

In fact, never forcing anything is a serious life hack, both in business and in life. I’m no woo-woo guy and I sure as hell don’t understand why or how this even works. But the moment you take things for what they are, let them be, and go with the flow, without forcing anything in a particular direction, but merely take the things that are happening and use them in such a way that they benefit you best.

Man, incredible things are waiting for you to happen.

Now, that’s easier said than done in some cases. It can feel especially difficult to say no to ‘shit’ clients or turn people down from working with you if they so much show a single red flag, especially if you’re low on cash—having ‘screw you’ money makes life a lot easier after all.

But even then.

Taking things as they are, not forcing anything, and being particularly ruthless without your curation will go a long way.

Fun fact:

Some of my biggest paydays came AFTER I turned people down to work with me or refunded someone’s payments.

I’m even writing this email entirely “with the flow”. The only thing I had prepared for this email was the first “Creativity is like a fart” sentence. Everything else just happened—even I didn’t know where I was going before I wrote it down.

In some way, I’m always going through the same journey of discovering what’s coming in this email just like you when reading it.

And if I’m following the flow of this email, then this feels like a great moment to talk about this great offer I have for you today.

An offer where we’ll through a journey of discovery together.

More precisely, your journey of discovery.

Whether it’s the first steps of your business or the latest fine-tuning of your upcoming product launch. We can cover it all in one of my clarity calls, which you can still get for a whopping $251 off (I’m increasing the price of my clarity calls from $249 to $500 tonight at 10 pm CET).

If that interests you, then click this link: https://calendly.com/alexvandromme/clarity-call

Another client, Vince, and long-time daily email reader’s testimonial reads (back when I was still only to be found on Twitter/X):

===

Alex and I started on our journeys to help others around the same time, but we took very different paths due to our backgrounds and experiences. Getting to finally meet him on a call was one of the best things that I could do as I was still having trouble seeing the bigger picture of my process.

It didn't take long for him to see where my roadblocks were even though he was incredibly humble about it.

Before this point, I had been gaining clarity on my process on my own. It took me months to get comfortable enough to be ready for his guidance.

After just one session, I now have a clear strategy and road map from which to launch and generate more and better content centered around my pillars, not to mention a path by which I can eventually launch an offer that is true to my values.

I was on the fence about a paid call because of my own personal readiness for one. Clarity calls to me were something that I felt required a reasonable amount of prep.

My journey took longer because I didn't have as much time.

If you're on the fence about contacting Alex for your own guidance, I will say this: just do it. It's worth the price for the perspective he can provide, and it decisively pushes you into a position where you commit to whatever journey you're on.

If you are truly serious about building a presence, a personal brand, or a business on X, I would certainly encourage you to book a call with him!

===

I find this an incredibly insightful testimonial because it shows you one of the main problems holding people back.

And not just for hopping on a call with me or anyone else. But actually holding people back from achieving their goals—both in business and life in general.

And it’s all summarized in the following single sentence: “I was on the fence about a paid call because of my own personal readiness for one.”

So many people doubt themselves.

They don’t believe they’re ready.

They’ll come up with excuses (both knowingly and unknowingly) to convince themselves that they’re not ready. Often delaying their dreams by years, decades, and in the worst case, ensuring they’ll never even reach their dreams.

And if there’s one thing I’ve learned after helping dozens of people build a business they love and one that prioritizes the three main pillars of simplicity, enjoyment, and freedom, then it’s that everyone is ready and nobody is ready at the same time.

Here’s what I mean.

Nobody is truly “ready” in the sense that they know what they’re doing or that they’ve learned everything there is to know about a topic before going on. In fact, that’s quite literally impossible.

There’s always something more to do.

Something to learn, something to double-check, something to practice.

The thing is.

You need to jump in before you think you’re ready. And for that? You’re always ready.

I hope this makes sense.

And if it doesn’t, no problem. It took me a long time to finally understand this—and I still have to regularly remind myself of this.

But that said.

Listen to Vince. Do the thing, even though you currently might not think you’re ready for it. Push yourself into a position which forces you to commit to whatever journey you’re on.

And for that, hopping on a clarity call with me might very well get the job done—just like it did for Vince.

Click here to learn more: https://calendly.com/alexvandromme/clarity-call

PS: If you want to achieve your goals, if you want to push yourself in the abovementioned position, if you aren’t sure if you’re ready yet then you should definitely hop on a clarity call.

And you should do so today.

Because I’ll be doubling the price of my clarity calls today at 10 pm CET (that’s in 14 hours).

I recently learned the importance of having a ‘flagship offer’ as many people call it—including Ben Settle who recently did the teaching/reminding for me.

In case you don’t know what a flagship offer is, a flagship offer is the main offer your business offers. It’s what everyone has to buy/go through to understand and get value out of all your other offers.

More often than not it’s also your most-sold offer.

This used to be Email Extraordinaire for me but it wasn’t built in the way I liked it to take the title of ‘flagship offer’.

So admittedly, I don’t currently have a flagship offer. (Hey, we can’t all be perfect, right?)

My plans are to rework Email Extraordinaire into an advanced (and high-ticket) email course which will serve as the next step in someone’s email journey AFTER they have bought my true flagship offer.

I already have a few plans and ideas for this new offer (which will be all about teaching the basics and fundamentals of my email methodology—which will be more than enough for most people and can thus function as a standalone course).

Every other course, product, service, bonus, whatever, I offer will be solely complementary and only for people who want more (and have already seen what I bring to the table through my flagship offer).

I’ll try to create that new flagship offer either this month or early next month (probably next month because there’s also another juicy surprise I can’t wait to reveal).

The essence here is speed.

A business simply cannot thrive without a good flagship offer.

Luckily I’ve got my fair share of product creation experience and I know what I’m doing so it shouldn’t take me that long to get everything just as I want it to be—all connected, working together, and helping both me and my customers get a ton a value out of it.

With that said.

I’m currently running a promotion (in case you hadn’t noticed) for my clarity calls because I’ll be increasing the price from $249 to $500 tomorrow (Friday) at 10 pm CET.

One of the things a big part of my prior clients hopped on a call with me for was to help them ideate, create, and launch their very own (flagship) offer/product.

Sometimes it was their first offer, sometimes it was their 20th.

If you’d like help crafting your own flagship product (or clarity on another topic) then be sure to check out my clarity calls here: https://calendly.com/alexvandromme/clarity-call

A previous client, Denis, once wrote:

===

I had a struggle of implementing a system in my content creation process.

As a new dad there are a lot to handle with constant changing daily schedule and having a 9-5.

Alex helped me to understand that systems don't have to be complex.

He provided me with simple but effective steps to apply the structure right away.

===

Many people like to brag about their intricate and complex systems.

They think it makes them professionals.

But the only thing they’re doing is unnecessarily making life (which is difficult enough as it is) even more complicated than it needs to be.

I have 3 main pillars, both in business and in life. Those are simplicity, enjoyment, and freedom.

The best systems are simple. The best systems are the ones you can enjoy using. And the best systems are the ones that add more freedom to your life, not less.

If something doesn’t align with one of these pillars, I don’t want any of it.

And neither should you.

That said.

In case you’d like some help setting up your business focused on simplicity, enjoyment, and freedom, then do check out my clarity calls here: https://calendly.com/alexvandromme/clarity-call

PS; I’ll be doubling the price of a clarity call ($500 instead of $249) this Friday (that’s tomorrow), February 9th at 10 pm CET.

So if you want to get in before then, I’d better not think over it too long.

This was many banana harvests ago.

My goal was to persuade people to support the World Wide Fund for Nature, and more specifically to pay a monthly fee that would go to a fund to help protect the African elephant from poachers (so they wouldn’t go extinct).

There were some other projects I worked on—all of them being for a good cause from big-name non-profits.

But the elephant project was my main one (ask me anything about African elephants, I know my stuff).

I got paid a decent wage.

My standard wage was about $13 an hour. I had a minimum of 3 “sales” to make every day and every sale I got after that paid me an extra $20 or so (I can’t remember the exact numbers).

There were also some bonuses and regular events going on at all times to motivate us to sell more (sometimes even doubling the amount you get for extra sales).

Point being.

You could get paid a good $300 for a day’s work if you happened to know how to sell.

And remember, this was all while I was still studying at my university. So not bad for a student.

But there was one main problem (aside from me not being a very good salesman).

The amount of time I had to waste.

I had to leave home at around 7 am to arrive at 8. Then we’d have to wait to gather everyone and split up into groups to efficiently cover the area we were selling on that day. Once the groups were made we had to do a bit of practice, go over our pitches, listen to a presentation about some new sales principle or tactic, then do a hype session, get in the car, drive to our destination, and get started knocking on doors.

Before I even knocked on a door I had to waste a total of 4 hours—all of which weren’t even paid because “we weren’t working”.

Then you HAD to take a 30-minute break in the middle.

And by around 5 pm we had to leave (this is when our workday stopped and we weren’t getting paid anymore) but we still had to drive back to the office (often an hour's drive), arrive, bring in a report, wait around a bit because everyone was so slow with everything, then finally do a performance review at the end of the day, and only then could I head home for the day (which often took another 30-60 minutes).

I often wasn’t home until 8 or 9 pm.

Remember I still had lessons to prepare, studying to do, and lessons to attend (this didn’t always go smoothly).

Now I’m not sharing this to complain or anything.

It was my own choice to do this. As it was my own choice to quit because of this a while later.

But I’m sharing this to prove a point.

Time is valuable.

It doesn’t matter how much you’re getting paid if you don’t have any time left over to do anything with the money you’ve earned. Working 24/7 only to pay the bills and keep on living (if you could even call this living) is no way to run your life.

And I’m definitely not the only one who lived in such a state.

I know of many a high-performing corporate types who earned top money but were so overworked (while not enjoying it) they weren’t able to be there for their friends, family, partners, and even their kids.

Let alone have time to relax, practice hobbies, spend time doing something you love, or even do something as simple as sit down and watch a movie.

And that’s the exact benefit being a one-person business owner/solopreneur/creator/whatever you want to call it gives you.

Freedom of time.

And while it’s not always difficult to make the transition, it’s certainly a lot easier than living your entire life living the way I described above.

I also happened to have helped a good dozen people make the transition from their 9–5 to working on their own one-person business to the point where they were able to quit their job and focus entirely on their new business (while having 10 times the amount of free time on their hands).

So if you’d like some help making the same transition, then I recommend you to hop on a clarity call with me where I’ll help you build an entire roadmap to get you out of your time-draining 9–5 and into your prosperous freedom-focused business.

Here’s the link: https://calendly.com/alexvandromme/clarity-call

PS: I’ll be doubling the price of a clarity call ($500 instead of $249) this Friday, February 9th at 10 pm CET.

Why am I increasing my prices?

Simply said. I’m way underpriced. So many people have told me I’m undervaluing myself and ultimately I agree.

Some (including both current & previous clients) told me even the $500 is underpriced.

But hey, good news for you, right?