A long time ago I picked up a good read titled George Lucas: A Life by Brian Jay Jones.

I first heard about it from Ben Settle, one of the greatest email marketers alive, who called it “one of the best biographies ever to come out that should be a must-read for everyone who does business.” (I’m paraphrasing).

Anyway.

As I was reading I came across this perfect passage. It’s something 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.”

Here’s 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 people don’t “get” what you’re doing. Or if they don’t see the value in what you’re promoting. It’s not your job to convert them—not directly at least.

It doesn’t matter if you know what people need. They’re like dogs who need their medicine. They won’t have any of it.

So what do you do?

You wrap it up in ham.

You need to understand your audience. To know what people 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.

This is the same no matter what market you’re in

But when it comes to email?

There’s no better way to learn how to do this so so people will start craving your solution—to the point where they take out their credit cards before you even mention buying anything—than by checking out Email Valhalla Enough about this.

Click here to learn more: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla

I know I’m not new or original with this one, but one of the best skills you can develop to aid your marketing efforts is the art of storytelling.

People have been telling stories for thousands of years (the oldest recorded story in history—The Epic of Gilgamesh—is over 4,000 years old).

Stories are how we learn and remember.

We evolved that way.

There’s simply nothing more entertaining than a well-told story.

More.

We all know how to tell stories. We do it all the time.

When you’re talking about your vacation to friends and family, gossiping about that awful customer experience you had to your co-workers, or when you made up that story as to why you couldn’t participate in swimming class to Miss Stephanie, your 5th-grade science teacher.

That’s all storytelling.

So it amused me when, a few days ago, I came across a bunch of people online discussing the best storytelling books and courses to learn from.

Why?

Well, the best way to learn (or rather improve, because you already know how) to tell stories isn’t by buying books on courses on the topic. It’s by practicing, by simply telling (or writing) stories each and every day.

If that’s not enough for you.

Then the second best way is to immerse yourself in great storytelling, which is easily done by watching great movies, reading more novels, and, if this is your thing (which it definitely is for me), going through and playing the best story-driven video games and experiencing the rollercoaster of emotions it makes you feel.

I’ve picked up a consistent daily reading habit since late 2022 and have been (re)watching a lot of incredible classics for the past few months, as well as re-visiting some of the all-time best video game releases in the last decade.

Now I’m not saying you should do the same.

I’m interested in game development, for one, so this works out.

But find the medium you enjoy and truly immerse yourself in it. By doing so you’ll essentially pick up the skill of storytelling through osmosis.

That is, as long as you consistently practice telling stories while you’re immersing yourself in them.

And the best way I found to easily and enjoyably share stories with other people is by writing daily emails—not to mention the fact it’ll also get you paid.

Anyway.

Check out Email Valhalla here to learn more about daily email writing: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla

Once came a Reddit post titled “Are newsletters better than social media following?”

It went as follows:

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I see a lot of talk about newsletters on here and am about to publish my first (and possibly only) book. As I consider how to connect with readers and what to put as a hook to connect at the end of the book, I was wondering… isn’t social media more engaging than newsletters? Would an invitation to follow a FB page, for example, not be more effective at regularly having a dialog? Why or why not?

I appreciate you guys being willing to share your experience with a newb like me.

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Short answer: email is superior in every way

Longer answer: Take a look at this and think about how “useful” this is.

You create a Facebook page, Instagram profile, Twitter account—or whatever social media you prefer—and invite all of your readers, customers, and other folks interested in your stuff to follow your profile.

Then, even though you’ve already got them to follow you (a difficult step on it’s own) you’ll still have to compete against hundreds of other people (friends, family, influencers, theme pages, other businesses,…) to get the attention of your followers whenever they happen to doomscroll (or zoomerscroll) through their homepage—most of the time while taking a dump at work to avoid working.

And as if that alone wasn’t enough.

If you do happen to grab their attention, then god forbid if you want to show them something nice, guide them to a new product of yours (a podcast you were on, a new YouTube video, your latest book, or even a free novella as a gift) because you will be heavily punished by the platform for “sending traffic away” aka, including a link that points to anywhere else but the social media you’re using.

Hell, let alone if someone doesn’t like something you post and decides to report you. With how today’s social landscape is looking, that could easily mean a total loss of your profile (losing everything you’ve worked for in the process).

You don’t even have to piss someone off to have it happen to you.

Many creators get their accounts banned or closed for no reason at all (and trust me because I’m one of them).

Long story short, you’re shooting yourself in the foot.

Using email as the main form of communication between you and your customers is the only certainty and security you’ll ever have.

Make sure you’re using it.

Anyway.

If you’d like to learn more about all things email-related, then check out Email Valhalla here: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla

Chances are you’re either subscribed to 2 or 3 or subscribed to a shit ton of email lists, potentially as many as 50.

The latter is most often the case with people who are new to a certain market or industry—or still at a lower awareness level in the market.

And that’s a good thing.

That’s how it should be. Discover all there is to discover in your market. Learn about the different problems you (or other people) might be facing, the causes of those problems, their solutions, the specific products or services, and the thousand and one personalities and authority figures in that market.

But sooner or later, and this is always the case, I’ve never seen it not be the case, and I’m staking my entire net worth and everything I own on this fact, every single person will come to a point where’ve done enough “exploring”.

They don’t need to be subscribed to 30 email lists anymore.

In fact, they come to a point where they realize that 90% is bullshit anyway. They’ve learned what they needed to learn. They found the people they liked, the philosophies they wanted to embrace, and the solutions they enjoyed using.

It’s at that point when people cut the fluff, unsubscribe from almost every single email list, and only keep a handful of them around.

At most, they’ll keep 3 different email lists.

Take this message I received many moons ago from a long-time reader and fellow creator, Eshana:

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Alex's emails are the best! One of the very few daily emails I read. And I have subbed to about 50 haha.

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That’s the start of it.

And, even though I haven’t asked him, I’m fairly certain of the fact that he finally decided to take a few minutes out of his day to unsubscribe from a good 45 of those email lists.

But yet he’s still on mine.

And that’s one of the powers of daily emails.

Hook them in the exploratory phase, stay close to them, focus on the relationship with your readers, show up every single day, stay top of mind, be relevant, be engaging, be valuable, and you’ll outperform—outlast—99% of all other lists out there.

And I teach exactly how to do so in Email Valhalla.

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

Here’s a review I received shortly after launching my latest self-published non-fiction book on Amazon, The Art of Loving To Write from game developed and owner of Eventide Games Studios, Aaron.

Check it out:

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“My book order arrived yesterday. I ended up finishing it around 50mins. Short and sweet.

Overall, the book achieves its purpose: gives you perspective and advice to make writing easy, fun and meaningful so you'll love doing it and won't want to stop.”

…

“It repeats a lot of the same ideas you have in your emails which bring a repetition element into the picture and lets the idea sink in more. That part I am fan of and it brings a breath of fresh air in a different form.

It also demonstrates and backs [my top-secret and tremendously powerful systems for making high-quality products as fast as possible]. Big brain moves.

I'm happy with the book.”

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So there you have it.

Short, sweet, and extremely useful (not to mention entertaining).

Just like you’ve come to know my stuff—which on it’s own is a valuable lesson to take home: make sure you develop a signature style over time so people know what to expect from you.

Anyway.

If you’d like to check out The Art of Loving to Write then click here for more information: https://alexvandromme.com/loving

If you haven’t lived under a rock for the past decade, you probably know who Henry Cavill is.

In case you seriously don’t know, he’s an English actor mainly known for his role as Superman in Man of Steel, Geral in The Witcher TV series, his depiction of Sherlock Holmes in the Enolma Holmes TV series, and many more.

Something else entirely Henry Cavill is known for is his immense love and passion for gaming and nerd culture as a whole.

Cavill reportedly missed the call telling him he got the part of Superman because he was busy raiding in World of Warcraft. He was referred to as “a living encyclopedia” on the set of The Witcher, built (and games on) his own custom-built gaming computer—he even live-streamed the whole thing. As well as he regularly talks and nerds out about everything that has to do with Warhammer 40k.

And, not unsurprising, many of his fans love him for it.

So much so that people in the gaming and nerd culture communities are proud and excited to call Cavill “one of us”.

Now, this information might not seem all that useful to you, but it is.

Because think about it: How would Cavill being so open about his passions and his interests (including his appeal to the gaming and nerd-culture communities) impact his work as an actor?

Would the movies and series he stars in get more or less recognition (especially from said communities)? Would those people enjoy those same movies and series the same amount (assuming the stays the same if it were played by a different actor)?

The truth is, none of us know.

This is only a thought experiment and there’s no way to get a defining answer. But I would bet all of my life-savings on the fact the movies he stars in get way better results from audiences alike just because he’s in it as opposed to someone else, who might very well be a better actor, yet isn’t as beloved in the same circles.

Which, once again, brings us to one of the most important lessons in all of business and marketing alike, regardless what you do, what you sell, or what market you operate in: You’re always, first and foremost, selling yourself before anything else.

So now that you know the power of selling yourself first, why don’t you check out my flagship course Email Valhalla that’ll help better sell your personality through entertaining emails that get you paid and keep your readers coming back for more.

Click here to learn more: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla

I’m always working on something.

Whether it’s writing an email, reworking a sales page for the 10th time, crafting a new offer, batching social media content, working with clients, or updating a product I made a while ago.

This might look overwhelming to many people.

More.

Some might fall into the trap of working on their stuff indefinitely, trying to get it “just perfect”.

Yet this is the least productive task you could probably spend your time on.

That 100th revision won’t make the difference. That one typo you fixed in your 2,117-word email won’t make you more money. That logo you redesigned won’t magically land you more clients.

Creating more content, launching more offers, and talking to more people. Now that will make you more money.

Which brings the question: how do you handle saying to yourself “it’s good enough” and just go with it.

My answer?

Public deadlines.

See, I’m a big procrastinator.

Always have been and always will be. I never get anything done unless it’s absolutely necessary. This has put me in a lot of trouble in the past. But it didn’t need to.

I realized last year that I could use this to my advantage.

How?

By setting deadlines.

Whether artificial or real—setting deadlines is the secret to getting things done. Especially for a procrastinator—they get extra productive when those deadlines come close.

So imagine I have to write an email that has to be published by 8pm.

There’s no way I’m procrastinating on that one when the clock strikes 7.30. Neither will I avoid researching a topic for a coaching call an hour before I’m supposed to hop on the call.

But there’s one problem.

What if there is no deadline?

Imagine if you wanted to launch your newsletter or create and sell a new product. It’s your own project. You don’t have a boss to tell you when something is due.

But you do have (potential) customers, readers, followers, or whatever you call the people who like your stuff.

The solution?

You announce that you’ll be launching a new product before you even start creating it. Tell your followers that your course will launch in 2 weeks. Even stronger. Announce that your product is available for early purchase at a discounted price.

Now you have no choice but to 1) create a sales page 2) write those promotional emails 3) create a curriculum 4) design your product 5) figure out your pricing and most importantly 6) get everything done in 2 weeks.

No time to mess around. No time to procrastinate. And no chance for you to “keep gathering information and not take action”.

Now I’m sure this might not be possible with everything in life.

But so far I’ve found a way to apply this trick to everything that’s functional and important in my life.

Try it out for yourself and see how much you can truly get done in a short amount of time.

On another note.

If you’d like to discover my framework for writing high-converting emails that keep your readers engaged and coming back each and every day, without having to spend hours writing them (in fact, you could easily start writing emails in less than 5–10 minutes), then check out Email Valhalla here: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla

See, many people want to be liked (which goes hand in hand with getting a lot of engagement on their posts).

They constantly need confirmation that what they’re doing is good and that they’re sharing awesome stuff.

They want people to tell them how much they love what they’re doing and thank them all the time.

Get them a few naysayers and all hell breaks loose.

I hate to break it to you though, but ‘being’ liked doesn’t pay the bills. Being respected does.

What this means is, people will give compliments to the guy they like, they’ll engage with him, reply to all his stuff, and tell him how amazing his content is, but when it gets down to actually taking out their credit cards and buying some new product they’ve been eyeing for a while, they’ll always purchase from the guy they respect rather than the one they like. In fact, there’s something to be said that your biggest haters and dislikes are actually your most valuable customers, but that’s something for another time.

Now, I don’t know about you but I’d rather be respected than liked if it meant actually getting paid (in real-life money, not imaginary likes or thank you’s) for what I do.

So how do you go about it?

Well, there are many ways to be respected.

But if I were to name one, just one, that you could start doing today, without any issues, without much work, that’ll have an almost immediate effect, and will keep increasing its effect until nobody dares not to respect you, let alone compete with you, for months, years, even decades (not saying you’ll have to do it for decades, just showing you the absolute power of this), then it would have to be, without a doubt, the act of mailing your list daily, showing up day after day, showing who’s the boss, sharing something every day, never taking any shit, proving you know your shit, and doing it your way.

I know, it ain’t exciting.

It’s nothing new.

But it’s by far the best, most effective, and, dare I say, fastest way to become respected instead of merely being liked (something that isn’t as valuable as you might think at first).

Anyway.

To learn more about the most effective way to send daily emails, build up a reputation, show your readers you know your shit, and do it in a manner that’s easy, simple, and doesn’t take any time whatsoever, but has massive effects for you, both in the short-run as in the long-run, then check out Email Valhalla.

Click here to learn more: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla

If you’re reading this, I’ve either just completed walking 100km in 24 hours or less OR my feet couldn’t handle anymore and I had to drop out of the race.

Either way, there’s an extremely big chance that I’ll be feeling proud of myself.

Few people would even dare to attempt such a feat, let alone give it everything they’ve got and try to complete the whole thing.

That said, since I’m writing this email a full day before it’s supposed to go out, I have no idea what the outcome will be or how I’m feeling about it.

These are just my predictions.

But one thing is certain.

Nobody ever regretted giving it their all and daring to do things which they didn’t know they were capable of (I sure as hell never expected to see myself walking 100km in less than 24 hours).

So here’s the question:

When’s the last time you pushed yourself to the edge? Physically, mentally, whatever it may be. Whatever just popped up in your mind right now. That big project you’ve been procrastinating on. That dream you’ve barely told a soul about because you’re ashamed you might not be able to do it (or alternatively, that goal you’ve been talking to everyone about, yet you still haven’t actually started it).

Whatever it is.

Make sure you don’t come to regret not seeing it through in 10 years’ time.

That’s it for me today. Nothing to plug. Nothing to offer except (hopefully) a bit of motivation.

Now go and do something with that motivation.

Here's an interesting observation:

Recently my mother has gotten frustrated because she has NOT been receiving any marketing flyers, emails, or whatever else from some of the local shops in our area.

This is something most people, when it comes to doing their marketing, fail to understand.

When done correctly (very important), people WANT to hear from you. They're ready to give you their money. All they need is to hear from you, for you give them the opportunity to buy—which is completely different than how most people think about it.

You're helping people improve some aspect of their lives by allowing them the privilege and opportunity to buy from you—at least if you're doing honest business and care about your customers.

Think about this the next time someone tells you not to send frequent emails to your (future) customers because "you're going to annoy them".

You won't.

Not if you do it right and make your emails as entertaining and interesting as they can possibly be.

For more advice on how to do just that, check out Email Valhalla here: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla