One of the biggest improvements I made in my email and business career was when I started telling more stories everywhere I went.

In my emails, in my X or LinkedIn posts, during X spaces (when I used to do those), during consultation calls, in the DMs to explain concepts and close prospects, or simply outside of business when talking with friends or family members.

No matter when or where.

It’s always a good time to be telling stories—not to mention how good of a practice it is to develop your own storytelling and, in turn, your copywriting abilities.

I've never come across a situation where sharing a well-told and relevant story didn’t help me out in any way, shape, or form.

And I don’t want you to read this and think you have to become a guru who doesn’t shut up about storytelling tips, tricks, tactics, or god forbid, teaches you how to use ChatGPT to tell better stories, yet never actually tells any stories.

Seriously, there’s a direct inverse relation between how often someone shares storytelling tips and how often someone tells relevant stories.

That’s good life advice as well.

Don’t listen to the person doing the most teaching.

Listen to the person doing the most doing. (take that grammar nazis)

And talking about people doing a lot of doing—I happen to do a lot of doing, especially when it comes to sending emails, they get a lot of doing from me.

So much doing.

I sometimes even do the doing multiple times a day, like I’m doing right now.

That’s a lot of doing.

Anyway.

If you want to learn how to do the doing as well, then check out Email Extraordinaire here: https://alexvandromme.gumroad.com/l/EE

P.S. I'll be retiring Email Extraordinaire this Saturday, January 27th at midnight CET

From then on, the product will remain unpurchasable for the near future until I've completely overhauled and improved it to make it an even better fit based on customer feedback to make it as high of a quality product as I possibly can.

Not to mention the entire visual rework I want to give it to make it fit together better with my other products and vision of the future.

If you purchase the product now (or have already bought it in the past) you’ll keep your access indefinitely (meaning you'll also get the improved product at the ridiculously low price of only $97, compared to the $497 it'll likely end up costing)

Click the link here for more information about the product: https://alexvandromme.gumroad.com/l/EE

One Christmas gift I received last month was a small little book titled “A Philosophy of Walking”

It’s been an oddly enjoyable read so far (I never would’ve thought so deeply about a simple topic such as “walking” if not for this book).

Early on in the book it talks about the four stages of life according to Hindu philosophy.

I wouldn’t do it any justice if I were to explain it myself, so I’ll simply share the entire passage from the book.

Check it out (it’s extremely insightful and very much worth reading):

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Heinrich Zimmer, one of the great writers on Indian civilizations, tells us that Hindu philosophy distinguishes four stages on the journey through life.

The first is that of the pupil, the student, the disciple. Thus in the morning of life, the essential tasks are to obey the master’s injunctions, absorb his lessons, submit to criticism and conform to the principles laid down. It is a time for receiving and accepting.

In the second stage the man, now adult, in the midday of his life, becomes the master of a house, married, responsible for a family: he manages his property as well as he can, contributes to the upkeep of the priests, exercises a trade or skill, submits to social constraints and imposes them on others. He agrees to wear the social masks that define a role for him in society and in the family.

Later, in the afternoon of his life, when the children are ready to take over, the man can abandon all social duties, family expenses and economic concerns, to become a hermit. This is the stage of ‘withdrawal to the forest’, in which through contemplation and mediation he familiarizes himself with what has always lain unchanged within us, waiting for us to awaken it: the eternal Self, transcending masks, functions, identities, histories.

And the pilgrim eventually succeeds the hermit, in what should be the endless, glorious summer evening of our lives: a life henceforth dedicated to travel in which endless walking in one direction and another, illustrates the harmonization of the nameless Self with the omnipresent heart of the World.

The sage has now renounced everything and attained the highest level of freedom: that of perfect detachment. He is no longer involved, either in himself or in the world. Indifferent to past and future alike, he is nothing other than the eternal present of coexistence. And as we know from the pilgrimage diaries of Swami Ramdas, it is when we renounce everything that everything is given to us, in abundance. Everything: meaning the intensity of presence itself.

===

Now that’s a lot.

Both in text and meaning.

But it reminded me of my own transformation as a person, a businessman, and ultimately (and especially) a creator. It’s also a process I see repeatedly in other people who enter (and leave) this market.

Let’s go over the four stages every creator goes through, according to banana philosophy (also referred to as bananaism).

Stage 1:

A new creator will almost always enter the scene by way of discovering it through a guide or a ‘guru’. Creators at this stage lack any and all knowledge about the market and can only rely on the holy words spoken by their guru.

They’ll follow it to the letter, never asking themselves if it makes sense, nor asking if it’s even what they want to do.

They just listen and follow.

Stage 2:

After having gained a basic grasp of what it means to be a creator, the newbie will now take on their own clients, build their following, craft an offer, and get paid in direct proportion to how much noise they’re making and how much time they’re putting in.

However, their entire curriculum will still be based on the teachings of their prior guru and nothing new, unique, nor personal will have been added.

Stage 3:

Now the creator has taught and guided many others under him, based on the teachings of his former guru. New creators who can take his place to continue sharing the holy teachings with every new soul that enters the market.

At this time the creator will almost always, if they even get this far, enter into an identity crisis.

They start to realize that, all this time, they’ve been chasing a goal that wasn’t theirs. Building a dream they never dreamt of. Nothing they have done has been out of their own wants or needs.

They’ve been led astray.

It’s at this point that the creator has to fight an inner battle so fierce most never recover from, never seeing the light of day ever again.

Only when the creator truly get through the battle (never unscathed) will they find out what it is they’ve truly been looking for all along.

At that point, they enter into stage 4:

The creator has now renounced all the teachings of his prior guru that don’t align perfectly with his personal vision.

The creator attained the highest level of freedom.

Everything he’ll do is now based on his experience, his interests, and his own philosophy of life. He wakes up every single day excited to share his vision with the world, to do things his way, and the defy the industry norms as much as possible, for he knows this will bring him fortune, freedom, and everything he could ever wish for (in abundance).

He walks a free life.

No longer restricted by his earthly shackles, no longer getting paid in direct proportion to how much time he’s putting in, but instead by the quality of his thoughts, ideas, and the care he puts into his relationships and his own audience.

This is the way of the enlightened creator.

And that same way is what I’m teaching in my course Email Extraordinaire.

No longer do you have to be reliant on the teachings of some guru who’ll steer you in the direction of his dreams instead of yours. No, I share with you all the tools, all the principles, all the meat and potatoes, the pure evergreen basics you need to know to create your own path and reach stage 4 as a creator.

Click the link here to learn more: https://alexvandromme.gumroad.com/l/EE

PS: I’m closing the cart on Email Extraordinaire this Saturday, January 27th at midnight CET.

It’s currently priced at $97, which is a total steal. I’ll likely increase it to $497 when I decide to reopen the cart again, so if you want to get it, I highly suggest you do it now and save both yourself and me a lot of trouble (and money) later on.

You’ll often hear people talk about how you should “write to yourself from 2 years ago”.

I used to believe this early on.

See, the people who buy into this belief argue as follows.

1) People learn best from those a few steps in front of them
2) Your best customer is thus someone who’s a few steps behind you
3) The best way to understand your ideal customer is to compare him to who you were 2 years ago
4) Write to yourself from 2 years ago because what would’ve helped you back then will interest your current customer now

And that sounds amazing, right?

I get why people believe this stuff.

But the difference between theory and the real practical world can often be miles apart.

First problem: I’m not interested, nor am I passionate about whatever I needed 2 years ago.

Why?

Well, whatever it is, I’ve probably already fixed it, learned it, or experienced it. It’s not going to help me right now. It’s fine to talk about that stuff once in a while, but making this the main thing you write about?

You’ll bore out real soon.

(Not to mention how your feelings and emotions transfer over to your readers through your writing, so writing about stuff you don’t really care about anymore will only result in bland and boring writing—none of which will entertain your reader, much less make them want to buy anything you offer)

To get back to my previous email:

I don’t see myself in 5 years time still talking about something that could’ve helped me 2 years ago but doesn’t interest me as much anymore nowadays.

Secondly, chances are you don’t even really know what you needed 2 years ago.

You think you do, but how can you know?

You were in a completely different world, a completely different headspace with a mindset you probably can’t even comprehend anymore.

Don’t believe me?

Look at every single person who advises you to “Write to yourself from 2 years ago”.

I promise you 90% of them, if not more, are talking about how they use ChatGPT to come up with topics to talk about.

Spoiler: If you’re so passionate about your writing and love the work you’re doing, then you don’t need some dumb emotionless inhuman piece of software to tell you what to write about.

What’s the alternative?

Simple.

Write about what’s interesting and valuable to you now—not last year, not last month, not even last week, but now, today, right this very moment.

The time of “10 things I wish I knew in my 20s” or “15 best copywriting tips and tricks your boss doesn’t want you to know about” is over. Today’s day and age is all about infotainment—information blended in with entertainment.

How do you expect to entertain your audience if not with the stuff that fascinates you on a daily basis?

What interests you, will interest your audience as well.

And how better to share your interests than through growing an email list filled with loyal readers and customers who “dig your writing”—as a long-time reader told me yesterday—while getting paid for it in the meantime?

Which brings me to my course Email Extraordinaire.

I’ll dive deep into my email systems, principles, and frameworks, showing you how you can talk about the stuff that interests you, build a high-quality and loyal audience because of it, and do it in such a way that keeps your readers reading day after day while getting paid to do so—even if you don’t have a product or service to offer yet.

You can get it for only $97 (which is way underpriced and one of the most inexpensive products I sell) if you get it in the next 3 days.

I’ll officially close the cart from this Saturday, January 27th onwards until 6 months later when I’ll relaunch a highly improved and expanded upon version for probably 3–5 times the price (you’ll get access to the same improved product if you buy the course now or have already bought it before).

If you want to get your hands on the products or just want some more information, then click the link here: https://alexvandromme.gumroad.com/l/EE

(I urge you to check it out today so you don’t forget)

A while back I was helping a client (who I’m not sure wants me to name him) figure out his offer.

He had a bunch of ideas and just didn’t know which one(s) to choose and how to make them work.

That was until I shared the following major life rule of mine:

“Don't start something if you don't see yourself still doing it in 5 years”

I use this for everything. Ranging from business to hobbies, relationships, friendships, investments, living situations, health choices, and pretty much every major area of life.

I’m in it for the long run or I don’t want anything to do with it, it’s that simple.

Going back to my client.

He had a major breakthrough when we looked at his offer through that lens.

Out of a dozen of ideas, only one or two remained. From then on it was easy sailing, crafting a full-fletched offer, setting up a game plan, and committing to it with full conviction—something most people lack and why they likely won’t ever succeed, a lack of conviction.

I urge you now.

If you have similar problems, where you don’t entirely feel sure about your offer or what you should talk about or you don’t know how to continue.

Look at everything you’re currently doing and ask yourself, “Do I still see myself doing this in 5 years?"

No? Change it.

As for me?

You better know I’ll still be doing all of this day in and day out in 5 years time. Hell, I’ll keep doing this for decades to come.

You won’t ever escape my daily emails.

As long as both you and I are alive (and in functioning condition, I don’t know how well I’ll be able to keep doing this if I’ve been abducted by Mexican Cartel members because I didn’t pay off the loan I borrowed from them to afford my latest import of bananas) you’ll keep getting them day after day.

Mark my words.

And as for you?

Since you’re reading my emails, I’ll assume you like reading them. I’ll even assume you’ll like writing them almost as much as I do (even if you don’t realize it yet).

And that only leaves me one choice.

To recommend you to get my course Email Extraordinaire which will teach you the ins and outs of my email framework so you can write daily (or if you want to write less or more, all the same, but I like to recommend daily) emails that get sales and keep your readers reading day after day.

This is also the last time you’ll ever be able to get your hands on the product for at least another 6 months give or take because I’ll be closing the cart on the product this Saturday, January 27th at midnight CET.

So no time to waste.

Get it now or get it (probably) never.

Here’s the link to grab it: https://alexvandromme.gumroad.com/l/EE

PS: I’m closing the cart on Email Extraordinaire this Saturday at midnight CET.

And it won’t be available for purchase again until 6 months later. At that time it’ll have seen so many improvements based on my personal experience and feedback from current customers that it’s undoubtedly going to increase in price (more than double even).

Get it now and save yourself a lot of trouble (and money) later on.

Last night I joined a live training given by one of my favorite email marketers and copywriters, John Bejakovic.

He shared a lot of useful and interesting anecdotes, stories, examples, and even concepts I hadn’t thought about before.

One of which was a quote from William Goldman, one of the most successful Hollywood screenwriters, with over 4 decades of experience in the industry, and famous for works such as The Princess Bride.

The quote?

“Nobody knows anything”.

With this Goldman referred to the movie industry in Hollywood and how nobody really knows what makes a blockbuster movie.

Hollywood has known far more outright flops and financial disasters than they’ve known successes.

Yet Hollywood is still around (for now).

That’s because each and every of those successes far outweighs the disasters.

So what’s the secret?

Volume.

If there’s no guaranteed way to make a successful movie. Then simply start pumping out tons and tons of movies and a few of them will turn out successful, successful enough to offset the loss of the other (and then some).

And it’s the same way with everything else.

Not every offer you make will make you rich, not every social media post you make will go viral, not every email you write will get you tons and tons of sales.

But if you do enough of them, learning from each and everyone, and following certain rules, guidelines, and age-old principles to increase your chances, then boy there’s no chance you won’t get yourself some successes every once in a while.

Which brings me to my system for writing (daily) emails that make sales and keep your readers reading day after day.

It’s not just enough anymore to write a simple email sharing your offer with your list, nor is it enough to write an email a month.

You need to know how to entertain, how to give people feelings of insight (the famous “aha”-moments), how to tease correctly, and how to build a relationship with your reader, all the while promoting your product and offers in such a way that people will thank you for doing it and buy everything you have to offer.

This (and more) is what I teach in my course Email Extraordinaire.

If you want to learn more about it, then click here: https://alexvandromme.gumroad.com/l/EE

P.S. I'll be retiring Email Extraordinaire this Saturday, January 27th at midnight CET

From then on the product will remain unpurchasable for the near future until I've completely overhauled and improved it to make it better fit together with my other products and vision of the future.

This might easily take me 6 months and by that time I'll relaunch it at a much, much higher price.

If you purchase the product now (or have already bought it in the past) you’ll keep your access indefinitely (meaning you'll also get the improved product at the ridiculously low price of only $97)

Click the link here for more information about the product: https://alexvandromme.gumroad.com/l/EE

People always remember their first times.

Whether it’s your first kiss, your first sales call, the first dog you got, the first house you bought, the first car you drove, or the first time you ever snorted cocaine off a gypsy while backpacking through Eastern Asia (hey, no judging here).

The point is, people remember their firsts.

And I’m no different.

In my case, I very much remember (and think highly of) the first ‘real’ course I made.

More specifically, my email course, Email Extraordinaire.

I’d spend an extremely long time building that course, making sure it was as good as it could be, spending hours doing research looking at what others were teaching (and how to do better), adding tons of bonuses, and making sure it was a complete and finished product from start to finish.

And boy was I proud of it.

But that was me from many months ago who built that product.

I’ve changed now. My approach has slightly evolved. I’ve got more experience building different products, talking to different people, and helping lots of different business owners build (and profit from) their email list.

Whereas I value my other, more recent products upwards of a thousand dollars, I value email extraordinaire at $400–$500.

Which is still more than good enough for most people.

But not for me. I want it even better.

It’s for that reason that I’ve decided to retire my email extraordinaire from this Saturday onward.

From then on the product will remain unpurchasable for the near future until I've completely overhauled and improved it. This might easily take me 6 months and by that time I'll relaunch it at a much, much higher price.

I’m doing this to motivate myself to completely rebrand the product and make it as good as it can possibly be (The longer it takes me, the less I’ll earn because it’s not up for sale).

So with that said.

If you were ever considering to get your hands on Email Extraordinaire, now is the time.

Quick side note: If you purchase the product now (or have already bought it in the past) you’ll keep your access indefinitely—meaning you'll also get the improved product at the ridiculously low price of only $97.

That’s something for you to keep in mind.

Anyway.

Click the link here for more information about the product: https://alexvandromme.gumroad.com/l/EE

Here’s an interesting fact I’ve found out to be true:

===

The more tasks, projects, and responsibilities you take on in your life, the more productive you become.

===

Do with this information what you want.

That said, I haven’t done one of these in a long time, so here we go:

Are you a creator earning under $5,000/month? Or do you want to become a creator but don’t quite know where to start?

Reply to this email and give me a quick overview of your situation and what your goals are.

I’ll get back to you within 24 hours and chances are I might be able to help you.

Cheers.

Ascend 101

Lessons about building a one-person business, writing, and self-improvement

---

A few days ago I wrote a long-form post for LinkedIn.

But it turned out to be a really valuable post, so I thought I’d share it with you via email as well.

Be sure to follow me on LinkedIn (which you can do here https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexvandromme/) because I won’t always cross-post the same stuff.

With that said, here you go:

===

My first product launch only netted me $500.

Here’s 3 things I’ve learned since then to have a killer launch every time:

1) Email … a LOT

If you want to have a killer product launch, you’ll need an email list.

Best-case scenario, you’ve already been building your list before this product launch.

But if this isn’t the case, then you need to start teasing the hell out of your product everywhere you can. Schedule multiple posts a day on all of your socials and make as much noise as you can. Then invite everyone to join your waiting list because you’ll be releasing an incredible product soon and everyone on your waitlist will get first dibs.

Once launch week is coming, you’ll want to email like crazy.

That means at least 2 emails a day the whole week and at least 3 emails the last day of the launch (I’ve sent as many as 14 emails in 2 days on occasion).

And no that’s not “too much”.

Not as long as you don’t break the holy rule of email: “Don’t be boring”. (this means no blatant sales pitches)

2) Make use of early-bird pricing

Having a launch is all good and well. But there needs to be a reason for people to buy your product NOW as opposed to next week, next month, or even “sometime soon”.

You can do this in multiple ways.

You could add disappearing bonuses such as extra teaching material or a one-time LIVE workshop for early buyers, or you could even close the cart, making your product unavailable after launch.

But one of the easiest ways is early-bird pricing.

If you want to launch a $249 product, then make it available for purchase for only $129 during launch week.

This gives people a reason to buy sooner rather than later and incentivizes early action-takers.

3) Have upsells in place ready to go

Having an upsell (or multiple) in place is your way of asking “Would you like fries with that?” when someone’s at the checkout.

This could easily double your profits depending on the products you’re selling and the amount of upsells (and downsells) you have.

Even if this is the first product you’ve ever created, make sure you’ve got an upsell.

If you’re selling a video course, sell the audio transcript as an upsell—either as an e-book or as a physical book if you want to increase the value even more.

If you’re selling a workout plan, you could create a “workout with me” video where you go through all the sessions on camera or you could host regular workshops (bonus for having a continuity offer) or just a one-time video coaching session.

There’s never a reason not to include an upsell.

The only rule you’ll have to follow is to make them somewhat related.

Don’t upsell your email marketing course to someone buying a set of gardening tools.

My first sales call was a nightmare.

It’s early March 2023.

I’d been creating content for just about 2 months at that point. Made some money, got some traction—nothing crazy, but enough to show I knew what I was doing.

Then, suddenly, completely unexpected, I received a DM from a recent follower called Amanda.

Amanda asked me whether I had a coaching offer (I didn’t) and asked if I could teach her how to grow and monetize her personal brand.

So as any logical-thinking person would do in that situation, I said “Yeah sure”. (literally, that was it)

Then SHE had to ask whether we could hop on a call and talk about my program (which didn’t exist).

I sent her my Calendly link and she booked a Zoom call for the next day.

So I spent my next 24 hours:

1) building a coaching program from scratch

2) learning how to do a sales call (I’d made a friend on Twitter who’d done over $500k in sales and wanted to teach me)

3) figuring out how to even accept payment from her if she miraculously would say ‘yes’

The day came and I hopped on the call.

I was 3 minutes early and those were the longest 3 minutes of my life. I kept hoping she wouldn’t show up. More than once, I thought about leaving the call and simply ghosting her.

But then, suddenly that message came “Amanda wants to join the call”

I let her in and started casually talking. Asking how she was doing, getting my speaking muscles engaged to forget about the insane amount of stress I had.

Next thing you know, I started sharing my screen because I had a whole-ass PowerPoint (!) prepared to explain my coaching offer (the one I summoned up from thin air the night before). I stuttered a lot and even hesitated to name my prices when it was time—I even tried to explain and justify my pricing (I truly did not know what I was doing).

She asked me some questions—which I apparently seemed to answer quite well according to her (still no idea whether this was true or not).

And then the moment we’ve all been waiting for came.

I asked her if she was ready to continue and commit to the coaching program.

Her answer?

“I need to think about it”.

Nothing anyone in sales hasn’t heard before. I even knew there was a high chance this was coming (my friend taught me all about handling objections).

So with all my experience of a 2-hour crash course right before the call, I opened my mouth and the following magic words came out “That’s ok”.

I said goodbye and got off the call.

God, I was happy to finally get off that call which seemed to take ages (it took less than 30 minutes).

I never heard anything from Amanda but this was an amazing victory nonetheless. I had officially conquered my fear of hopping on sales calls and went through with it from start to finish. That experience taught me so much (both on the call and during the preparation).

Not every defeat is a loss.

Luckily though, I don’t have to hop on sales calls anymore.

I’ve completely eliminated that need out of my business. I’m able to close clients straight on social media, through email, or even at the local supermarket if I wanted to.

And I can teach you how to get leads, qualify your prospects, and land clients consistently and effortlessly even without any sales calls required! (You can still do them, but they’re not required to make this work).

Simply click here and check out my Abundant Client System to learn more: https://alexvandromme.gumroad.com/l/clients

Yesterday I received a message on LinkedIn from Quy, a new email reader and “Executive Brand Concierge for busy 7-9 figure CEOs”.

Here it is:

===

[…] can I congratulate you on the welcome email for Ascend 101 – fantastically well written – engaging and full of personality. Defo up for someone else failing on my behalf.

I can confirm I don’t throw bananas away. Not even the peel (OK, just saying that cos I didn’t know how strict the rule was and didn’t want to risk it).

===

Now I’m sharing this for a few reasons.

First, to probably-not-so-subtle brag about how people react to my welcome email (aka my ability to hook people from the very first moment by inserting personality into my writing).

But more importantly, to highlight a mistake I see so so so so so so so (is this enough yet?) many people make when it comes to writing emails—welcome email or not.

They fail the number 1 rule of email marketing: “Don’t be boring”.

I’ve seen too many people do stupid shit when it comes to writing emails.

Either they swipe (read: copy-paste) the emails of their favorite so-called “social media expert” whose email marketing knowledge is as extensive as my braiding knowledge (aside from having relatively longer hair, I have absolutely zero clue).

If they’re not swiping, chances are they’re “leveraging the unlimited power of AI and the full potential of the future”, obviously making their emails read like crap without them noticing.

Or worse, they have no personality and write with as much entertainment as a dictionary.

I truly wish I was making this up.

To this day it still baffles me how this happens.

And don’t get me wrong. I’m not calling names or anything. Not even close. These people probably aren’t even aware of the mistakes they’re making. And it’s due to no fault of their own.

The sad reality is that there are way too many who built a big audience based on one of their skills, which they’re undoubtedly good at, but that skill isn’t email marketing.

Then they create their own list and start giving advice about writing emails—bad advice.

I’ve been there as well.

Listening to all the bad advice that’s out there—which is a shit ton because everyone with a phone and internet can make their voice heard all over the world.

The reason why I keep going on and on about these topics and these problems is because I care.

I care about sharing the right knowledge with people.

I care about making sure others can live a life of freedom and autonomy. One where your business revolves around writing engaging, valuable, and persuasive emails—helping others with whatever offer you have to sell and making a reliable income.

So please, for the love of everything that’s holy.

Don’t be boring.

And if you want to dive deeper into the wonderful world of email and learn how to write extraordinary emails that make sales and keep your readers reading day after day, then check out Email Extraordinaire.

Here’s the link: https://alexvandromme.gumroad.com/l/EE