Why is the public so stupid?

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Here’s an insightful comment George Lucas said after a bunch of critics (who have no feel for the outside world and the common man) gave the first Star Wars an awful review, calling it the “infantilization” of film.

One critic even said, “What happened with Star Wars was like when McDonald’s got a foothold; the taste for good food just disappeared.”

Lucas’s response:

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“Why do people go see these popcorn pictures when they’re not good? Why is the public so stupid? That’s not my fault. I just understand what people like to see”

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Which brings me to my point.

Don’t get angry if your audience doesn’t “get” what you’re doing. Or it doesn’t see the value in what you’re promoting. It’s not your job to convert them—not directly at least. See, the truth is that it doesn’t matter. At least, as long as you know the difference between what your audience wants and what it needs.

Sometimes you gotta treat them like dogs. Not the filthy type, but the type who needs to take their medicine, yet won’t have any of it.

So what do you do? You wrap it up in ham and feed it to them anyway.

You need to understand your audience. To know what they like to see. Then give them exactly that. And only then, can you give them what they actually need. By including the solution to their problem in the thing they wanted.

It’s the same with email marketing.

And I’ll teach you exactly how to do this in Email Valhalla so people will pay attention from start to finish and actually learn the things they need to learn.

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


Fail fast, fail often

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You may (or may not) know that I’ve been working on competing (as far as there is any real competition lol) in new niches; more specifically hobby niches.

Doing so requires research—lots of research. Especially when it’s a niche I know almost nothing about—as is mostly the case for me.

So for the past few days I’ve been doing nothing but scrolling through tons of Reddit posts, reading hundreds of YouTube comments under dozens of videos, checking out every single course available about the subject on sites such as Domestika, Udemy, SkillShare, Coursera, going through the entire Facebook ad library trying to find every single ad ever written in the niches, and writing down every single detail I come across that might potentially be useful to me in one way or another.

Needless to say, I’ve spent quite a while researching (far too many) topics.

Is all of this research necessary?

Well, it might surprise you, but actually, no.

See, while doing some research is vital—you simply can’t expect to enter a market you know nothing about just like that and watch the money come flooding in. But you don’t have to do nearly as much market research as I’ve done over the past few days.

So why did I do all of this research?

Simply said, I was indecisive and afraid to fail. It was mental procrastination, to say the least.

In reality, it’s often better to do “just enough” research (or create a product that’s “good enough” in that case) and go with it. See what happens. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, now you can analyze the situation and figure out what went wrong. This allows you to move forward faster, rather than slower as some people might think, by learning from your mistakes and building your experience.

One of the best things you can do in business (and probably in life as well, although I’m probably not qualified to talk about that, yet) is to “fail fast”—as long as you analyze your mistakes, pick up the pieces, get back up, and try again almost immediately.

Anyway.

Another way to approach market research, which I also employed at the very beginning, is to use your email list, either to simply ask the questions you have to your list or by making offers, testing out new ideas, and seeing how people react.

To do that, it helps to write highly entertaining emails people love to open and read day after day.

Luckily, that’s something I can help you with.

Check out Email Valhalla here to learn more about just that: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla/


In which business are you, really?

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After the initial success of Episode IV: A New Hope (then simply titled “Star Wars”) in 1977, George Lucas decided to create the next Star Wars his way.

That meant controlling as much as possible: filming, editing, merchandizing, sequel rights, and even the funding—which he could now afford.

He wanted to control pretty much everything except for the distribution. For that, he still had to work with a bigger studio—something he always despised. Standard studio negotiations would almost always favor the studio. Often giving them as much as 50% to 80% of the profits.

But not this time.

First, George Lucas already secured his own funding with his prior profits as collateral for a loan. Secondly, pretty much every big studio wanted to get their hands on the next Star Wars release… meaning the negotiations would look a lot different than studios were used to.

Ultimately Lucas closed a deal with 20th Century Fox, giving them only a 22.5% share of the profits in return for handling the distribution (and putting the Fox logo before the opening credits).

In a later quote, Steven Spielberg said:

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“If you’re an executive, suddenly you realize that if you’re going into business with George Lucas, you are no longer in the 20th Century-Fox business, you are in the George Lucas business.”

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Read that quote again. Take it in. Then pause and think about it. Try to truly understand the implications. Because if you understand what’s going on here. Which forces are at play. And if you do everything in your power to build your business in a similar manner—to create your own business universe in a way. Then I can guarantee this will be one of the most profitable lessons you’ll ever learn.

Don’t think of yourself as being in the “personal-branding”, “copywriting”, “life-coaching”, “web-design”, or even the “marketing” business.

You’re in the you-business.

Just as everyone who works with me is in the Alex Van Dromme business.

There was no competing with Star Wars back in the day because of that. They weren’t in the movie business, nor were they in the fantasy or science-fiction business. They were in the George Lucas business.

Luckily for you, one of the fastest and easiest ways I know to start building your own business universe is to build your own unique, world-driven, and valuable (and profitable) collection of (digital) products and services that you and you alone could offer.

I urge you to try this—I even dare you to try and not be successful after thinking this through and building your own business universe step by step.

Anyway.

If you want to learn how to get started building your collection of products.

Then click the link here: https://alexvandromme.com/pcme


The obvious thing to do would be to read this email

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A few days ago I found myself receiving, reading, and finishing a small pamphlet-sized book titled “Obvious Adams” in under an hour.

The book tells the story of a young man, who wasn’t particularly creative or quick-witted, yet, but still entered the advertising world, quickly made a name for himself, rose up to become vice-president of the biggest advertising agency, and surprised everyone with his incredibly successful, very profitable, yet all the while extremely simple and ‘obvious’ solutions, resulting in some of the biggest and best advertising campaigns of all time.

It’s not so much a “teaching you what to do” book, but much more a how to do it and, more importantly, how NOT to do it.

The message of the book itself is quite boring, somewhat logical, and completely “obvious” when said out loud. Yet still so very often forgotten, especially in the sales, marketing, and advertising industries.

I.e. analyze the situation, think about it, and do the obvious thing—don’t make it any more difficult than it has to be.

Speaking of.

The obvious thing to do for me would be to tell you to check out Email Valhalla.

After all, it’s only obvious that learning how to write better and more entertaining emails that get you paid is the best thing almost anyone in business can do.

So check out Email Valhalla here: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla


Get shit done

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I’ve always been a big procrastinator.

I never got anything done unless it was absolutely necessary. This has put me in a lot of trouble in the past. But it didn’t need to.

It was only last year that I realized I could fix this problem.

How?

By setting deadlines. In fact, while I’ve always been a big procrastinator, for some reason, whenever there was a deadline, nobody could ever outwork me (go ask my classmates in uni who saw my producitivy skyrocket to infinity and beyond 2 days before we had to upload our assignment).

So yes, setting deadlines was the secret to getting things done.

But there’s one problem.

What if there is no deadline?

Imagine you wanted to launch your newsletter, create a product, or write a new email sequence. In this case, it’s very much your own project. You don’t have a boss to tell you when something is due.

So what do you do to get shit done?

Well, to learn the answer to that question you’ll have to check out Product Creation Made Easy—one of my best-selling courses, to date, which will teach you how to ideate, create, and launch profitable digital products in 21 days or less.

And believe me. There’s almost no room for procrastination if you want to accomplish that goal.

Check out Product Creation Made Easy here: https://alexvandromme.com/pcme


A letter from your future self

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Dear past me,

Let me tell you something about achieving your dreams. Because god knows you have them. So many, that you’re barely able to sit down, focus, and work toward any of them. Some of those dreams are so big, so scary, and look so ridiculous you barely even talk about them to others, let alone yourself.

Oh, what big mistakes you’re making.

Believe me when I say that one day, you’ll look back at this moment and laugh. All those fears you thought you had? All those obstacles you thought were standing in your way? Those doubts and uncertainties? All of them, one by one, are not even worth worrying about.

You’ll figure things out. You always do.

But that’s only under a specific condition. The condition is that you dare to visualize those dreams, create a plan to reach them, and commit to sticking to the plan, no matter what happens.

And before you lose focus of the bigger picture…

The ‘plan’ isn’t the important part here. Yes it’s necessary. But your plan will fail. It will crumble. And it will change.

What matters is that you have one, no matter how badly it reflects reality or how differently things will pan out. What matters is that you tell yourself what to do and actually commit to doing them.

Not thinking about them. Not writing them out. Not telling other people about it.

Do all of those things if it eases you.

But make sure, above all else, you commit to actually doing the things you tell yourself you’re going to do.

As Dan Kennedy wrote in his book, “No B.S. Time Management For Entrepreneurs”:

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“In the end, your success depends on how much of what you need to get done gets done when you want it done, the way you want it done.”

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Don’t be an “idea guy”.

Be the guy who implements a lot of ideas.

And on that note, a major part of implementing those ideas will involve lots and lots of persuasive writing. Email writing more specifically. I can’t tell you how much developing this incredibly valuable skill has benefited me (your future self) in my (your future) life already.

So you might want to check out this amazing course called Email Valhalla.

Check it out here: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla/


Stephen King on the art of loving to write

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For the past few days, I’ve been reading (and enjoying) On Writing: A Memoir of The Craft by Stephen King.

I received this book as a Christmas gift just last week. And as luck would have it, this was a newly printed 2024 edition of On Writing, which included a brand new foreword by Stephen King titled, “On Joy”.

In this foreword, King writes the following:

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“… I have sat down to write on days when I was feeling fine. I have sat down on days when I was sick with the flu and running a fever. I’ve sat down on days when I had a horrible hangover. I worked on this book after being struck by a minivan while I was out for an afternoon walk, with my broken leg stretched out under the desk. And do you know what? The worst day I ever had was fucking great.”

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And this as well:

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“Sometimes [writing] come[s] hard to begin with; it’s like exercising with stiff muscles. You have to loosen them up, and then you’re fine.”

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After reading these paragraphs, I immediately knew—more like felt—what he meant.

People like to complain all the time about everything that’s troubling them, making it seem as if they’re dealing with ginormous problems, problems so big you can’t even begin to comprehend the scale and size of them. Especially writers (and creatives in general). They like to pretend they’re doing the most difficult, most demanding, most taxing task ever to be created in human history.

But let’s face it. Writing is one of the easiest, least demanding, and most joyful professions out there.

More.

All of this is a skill. Something you can practice and get better at. That includes enjoying every second of the time you spend writing. That especially includes getting rid of writer’s block entirely.

Even more.

I’ve previously written a short, bite-sized book dedicated to just these topics. How to learn the art of loving to write, including many tips & tricks for making the entire process much easier, more productive, and a heck of a lot more—yes even more than it already is—enjoyable.

Check out the book here: https://alexvandromme.com/loving


Looking back on 2024

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Yesterday, after reading John Bejakovic’s email in which he reflected on 2024, I suddenly had the urge to write an email reflecting on 2024.

But what, specifically should I reflect on?

Luckily for me, I have a baseline. In fact, it just so happens that last year (December 30th, 2023 to be precise) I wrote an email talking about what I wished to accomplish in the following year.

Apparently, I only had one goal in mind: “To spend more time reading”.

Fair enough. I picked up a new reading habit back in 2022 and this habit picked up tremendous pace throughout 2023.

To give you an example. In the whole of 2022, I read a total of 9 books. This turned into a whopping 31 books in 2023. That’s quite a lot I’d say. Now, I definitely don’t buy into the whole “you have to read one book per week” shtick—especially not considering the size and depth of some of the books I read.

So the question now is, how did this year, when my goal was to “spend more time reading”, compare to 2023?

Well, it turns out, quite badly.

I read a total of 13 books in the entire year.

So much for New Year’s resolutions, huh?

Yet, that said. I might not have completed more books (or even came close to it), I did spend a lot of time reading, or at least as far as I can remember. Most of the books I started are a lot bigger, more in-depth, and require slower reading (that’s a win in my book—pun intended). I’ve also started reading a lot more historical articles, blogs posts, and other types of writing I did not (and will not) track.

But enough about the past. What about the future?

Well, I already have multiple projects planned—which I’m excited to start working on. But in general, I plan to get serious about growth. That means lots of advertising. Lots of new products. For all kinds of markets, in fact. This year is dedicated to becoming a better all-rounded marketer, able to get into new markets at will, research them, create products, grow a customer list, and get paid.

The past two years have been well spent on building a stable foundation.

It’s time to test out just how stable that foundation truly is.

Anyway.

Another idea I came up with (read: stole from John’s email yesterday) is to plug a general store link that shows everything I’ve got for sale at the moment.

Just take a look. Who knows, you might even see something interesting.

Check it out here: https://alexvandromme.com/store/


What’s the worst that could happen?

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Many moons ago I went for leisurely stroll of about 30 km.

At one point, in a forest, Google Maps told me to turn right, over the bridge to cross the river and continue walking in the same direction.

Except…

There wasn’t a bridge in sight.

I went back and forth a few times, thinking I must have passed it somewhere and it might be hidden in between some bushes.

But no luck.

The river, however, was small enough for me to consider just jumping over it. It was a big enough river to make it a challenging jump, but the ground where I was walking was also a bit higher than the ground on the other side, so I had some luck there.

After an embarrassingly short time of thinking, I decided to just go for it and jump. After all, what’s the worst that could happen?

Anyway.

I got ready, took a step back to get myself a running start, and went for it.

The good news?

I made it over the river, all in one piece, and without getting wet.

The bad news?

I now found myself a foot deep in what turned out to be a wet and barely solid underground of mud (which wasn’t clear just by looking at it). So much so that I lost my shoe right after I jumped and tried to continue walking.

So there I was, happy that I made it and didn’t get wet, yet my feet, shoes, and bottom of my trousers were covered in mud.

Now, I’m not trying to dissuade you from jumping over rivers—I’d happily do it again. But this experience did bring up a good point…

No matter how much you prepare, or how well you plan everything out, there will always be stuff you didn’t (or couldn’t) account for that’ll mess up your plan and alter the course you’ll have to take.

Luckily, as I’ve heard the great Matt Furey say “Nothing bad ever happens to a writer”.

And that’s why I highly recommend you to check out Email Valhalla so you can learn how to write better emails that’ll get you paid ( so nothing bad will ever happen to you).

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


Make writing sales pages fun again

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It’s that time of the year again.

Today, during a tutoring call with a client, I mentioned how much fun I was having writing a new sales page—especially coming up with the headline.

I explained to him my process of coming up with attention-grabbing AND entertaining headlines.

Namely, I write an entire list of different headlines in rapid succession, not caring about the quality of any of them. In fact, I only have one goal during this process: to write the most absurd, often unhinged and unorthodox as can be, having as much fun as I can have, trying to jam in a bunch of wordplay, making outrageous statements, being an absolute lunatic, and doing whatever else I can possibly think of without any mental restrictions whatsoever.

Next, I let them simmer for a day or two before I come back to look at them again with a fresh mind.

Then, and only then, do I pick the best variations and decide the winner—and the final headline that will end up on the live sales page.

I do this because, as every good writer ought to know, if you have fun writing it, others will have fun reading it.

It also has to grab the attention of the right audience, no doubt about that. But that takes care of itself if you do the necessary research.

As for the headline in question, the one I wrote today and told the client of mine (and the one I’m quite proud of if I do say so myself)?

You’ll find it soon enough

In the meantime, check out Email Valhalla right here: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla/