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/


Netflix comedy special waiting inside

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What's a writer's favorite dinosaur?

A thesaurus.

Now, perhaps this silly little joke won’t land me a Netflix special together with Dave Chappelle, after all.

But it more than fulfilled its purpose.

More specifically.

For the reader (that’s you) to continue reading this email. Which, if you’re currently reading this, did its job.

See, whereas the subject line of the email serves the one and only purpose of making people open the email (unless you’ve already established a relationship with your reader—at that point, the subject line matters a lot less than the “from” line), the opening line instead serves the one and only purpose of getting people to read the second line, and then the third, the fourth, the fifth, and so on.

Now, there are many ways to write great opening lines that make people continue reading.

One of which is to be different than every other email in your reader’s inbox, to say something unique, to be entertaining even and make them smile—or at least chuckle internally.

Of course, the story doesn’t end there.

You’ll want to follow up your email with something education, informative, inspirational, or anything that gives your reader the feeling of being worth their time—simple entertainment won’t have people coming back for more every single day after all.

The simplest way to do so is by tying the topic of the opening line to a useful lesson or insightful anecdote.

After that it’s simply a matter of connecting everything together and packaging it up into an enticing and simple-to-follow call to action.

So if you enjoyed this mini-masterclass in grabbing attention (and keeping it) when it comes to email writing, then you’ll want to check out my flagship course Email Valhalla which will teach you all about how to write emails that get you paid while keeping your readers reading day after day.

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


One of my secret guilty pleasures

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The Transformer movies.

See, ever since I was young, I remember loving the Transformer franchise, getting multiple Transformers action figures as Christmas and birthday gifts and whatnot, and when I outgrew those action figures, I ended up spending hours playing Transformer video games.

I eventually outgrew those.

But then I started getting fascinated by film music, at which point I was deeply obsessed with—among others—the original Transformer soundtracks by Steve Jablonsky, and later got fascinated by filmmaking as a whole.

And look, the Transformer movies have many flaws—more than anyone could count.

It also didn’t get better as time went on (Don’t even get me started on the most recent releases).

But you know what? That doesn’t matter at the end of the day.

The franchise doesn’t take itself that seriously. And why should it?

It’s making a world of its own. I have no doubt that when Michael Bay was directing Transformers he said to himself “you know what would look totally sick and make for an entertaining picture?” and then did whatever he had in mind.

Without any fear of being ridiculed, of being parodied, of not making “the perfect picture”, there’s no sliver of doubt about the intention behind the films and their entertaining nature.

And it shows in the earlier films (and some scenes of the later ones as well, although arguably less so).

That’s the difference between the artist and the entrepreneur

A true love for the craft—not just the numbers.

And that, to me, is what it’s all about.

See, I don’t care about building the perfect business, the best-optimized funnel, the most automated systems, or anything else.

It’s not about that.

It’s about the creative freedom. About doing what you love. Thinking something might be enjoyable and simply doing it no matter how ridiculous it might seem, how unoptimized it might be, or even how “the public might not like it”.

Authors write the books they wish would’ve been written, simply because they want to experience the joy of reading that story.

That’s the way one should aim to build their creative business.

And if you’re interested in learning one of the ways—if not the best way—to go about building such a business, then you might want to check out Email Valhalla here: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla