This Friday I wrote an email titled Chicken, Eggs, and Tea in which I experimented with a new type of email format. I got a reply from one of my earliest subscribers Carol:

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I love this Alex!

Was not expecting it, it made me want to read until the end.

Great hook.

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Maybe you agreed with Carol’s opinion about my mail. Maybe you don’t.

But it’s responses like these. Simple ones like these that keep me going. It doesn’t have to be much. But small affirmations that people like the content you’re putting out.

It’s also a great reminder to myself. A reminder that I don’t know what will work and what won’t. It’s a reminder to keep experimenting. Try out new strategies, tactics, formats, topics, marketing angles,… The list goes on.

Who knows. Maybe you’ll discover a unique opportunity. A business model nobody has thought of. A content plan nobody can compete with. An idea nobody has shared before.

The only thing holding you back is your own insecurity. Your fear of failure. This is especially true in the creator economy.

You’re creating a personal brand for yourself. A personal brand is by definition one of a kind. There can only be one YOU. You’ve made your own Blue Ocean. Whether you realize what that means or not.

I could go on and on about this. About how there’s a gigantic opportunity in front of you. About how the only way to know whether this will work is to get out there and start experimenting.

But I won’t. You don’t need motivation. You don’t need information. You need action. You need to take your first step. Then your second. Then your third. And so on.

So don’t wait any longer. Take your first steps and build your creator business so you can earn money online while working less than 3 hours a day.

Ascend 101

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

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Last week we went over building connections through DMs. And that’s great for growing your account and all. But we’re here to earn ourselves a living as well. And we’ll need to make sales to do so. Preferably high-ticket ones.

While they might look similar. The underlying goals of building connections differ from making sales. This means our strategy will also change.

Making sales depends on making our prospects aware of their problems and our solutions. We want to nurture and guide them towards wanting (needing) our product/service.

You’ll see how this entire process focuses on raising the awareness level of your prospects. Let’s get into it.

My 8-Step Framework for Getting People On Sales Calls

There are a few things you need before you get people ready to buy and on sales calls:

– An offer (this can be a service or a product)
– A scheduling software (Calendly is great to schedule calls)
– A qualifying form (you want to filter the number of calls people book)

That qualifying form is optional. But it’s highly recommended not to allow everyone who finds your Twitter to book a call. It can be time-consuming and we’re not aiming to build another 9–5.

However. It’s beneficial to skip this if you’re just starting out. It’s good to get the practice in. Even if you know some people simply can’t afford your prices.

What follows is the 8-step framework I used to get people on sales calls, something I talk more about in my Abundant-Client System, which teaches you all about getting leads, qualifying your prospects, and landing clients consistently and effortlessly.

Step 1) Find someone to DM

This step is the same as before. You can’t send a DM to someone if you have nobody to DM. That much is obvious.

The difference is where we’ll find the people we want to DM. This time we’re looking for prospects. Warm traffic.

We’re looking for people with similar interests as you but who are 1–2 steps behind you on their journey of solving their problems.

You’ll find these people:

– In replies, likes, retweets, DMs, or other forms of engagement with you
– In the engagement section of other people that create similar content
– In the “following” or “followers” section of accounts that are similar

Find 1–5 people every day that engage with your actionable or educational posts. These people are the most interested in the topics you talk about.

Step 2) Send the first message

Don’t overthink this part. Be open. Friendly. And authentic.

Example:

– Hey ___! I’ve seen you engage with my content a few times now. Thought I’d come say hi. How’s everything going?

Literally anything goes.

(If they send YOU a DM first. Reply to their message and transition into the next steps.)

Step 3) Transition

This is the moment when we’ll want to uncover their goals and what they’re trying to achieve.

In the best-case scenario, they’ll briefly describe how they’re trying to go about it. You can always ask them yourself if that’s not the case.

The goal here is to understand their desires and get a feel for who they are. You’ll also be able to tell whether they’re a good fit for your service based on the answer they’ll give you.

You don’t want to spend your time pitching a high-ticket offer to someone who isn’t at least aware of their own problems.

Example:

– That’s awesome man. Glad to hear it. What are you working towards?

Step 4) Identify the roadblock

There’s a crucial rule of sales that you need to remember. People pay to solve problems. If there’s no problem. Then there’s nothing to buy.

It’s important then to understand what they’re struggling with. What are their current obstacles? It’s your job to identify them.

Then build your offer around helping them overcome those obstacles.

Example:

– Sounds like an impressive goal. I’ve helped a good amount of people reach a similar goal in this space actually. What’s your biggest obstacle so far?

Step 5) Dig deeper

The first problem they mention is never the real problem. It’s the surface-layer symptom of a deeper root cause. Figure out what the root cause of the problem is. Ask as many questions as you need to understand their situation.

Asking questions makes you look like you know what you’re talking about as well. This builds up trust & authority before you’ve even given a single piece of advice.

Examples:

– Have you done anything to try and fix it yourself?
– Why do you think that approach failed?
– Is this related to [some other problem]?

Tip: use carefully crafted questions to guide your prospect to a realization. This is a great way to raise their level of awareness before you pitch your offer.

Step 6) Pitch

Now is the time. It’s time to pitch your offer.

There are 2 ways to go about this. You can either:

– Full-on pitch your paid offer and get them on a sales call immediately
– Help them for free with one simple obstacle and ask if they’d be interested in continuing with you

Most people immediately jump for the first option. They want to get paid without wasting any time. And that’s fine. If you know what you’re doing.

But if you’re just getting started. Give the second option a chance. This gives you the opportunity to:

– Get more experience
– Build up more trust
– Get testimonials

And you can still pitch your offer at the end of that call. Do a good job on the call and they’ll want to pay you for your service.

Example (free call):

– I see. I’ve actually implemented a system for myself that might be able to help you. Would you be up for a call so I can tell you how it works?

Example (immediate pitch):

– I offer a pack of 4 calls that would run you through my entire system and solve your obstacle for good. Is that something you’d be up for hearing more about? I’m happy to schedule a call to get to know each other and see if it would help. If not. No worries. Happy to [help some other way].

That other way could be just sending a document/course of your system or some resource you’ve found. It could be hopping on a short one-time call as well. It’s up to you.

The most important is to build connections with people. You want everyone to get to know you. People will start referring their friends to you as you keep doing this. With time those referrals will start compounding so much that you don’t have to do any work yourself.

Step 7) Send a form or calendar link

Have a Calendly event prepared and send it to them when they say yes to your previous message.

Once you’re more experienced you’ll want to transition to sending them an intake form. Think Google Forms or Typeform.

This is to limit the number of calls you have to get on. That way you can qualify them before you hop on a call. No point in pitching your $5,000 coaching service if you know they’ll never be able to afford it.

Sending a form will also make it easier for qualified people to hop on a call with you. They’ve already invested time & energy in filling out the form. This reduces the friction of hopping on a call. Win-win.

Step 8) Follow Up

This process won’t go smoothly all the time. You will get people who don’t respond. You will get conversations that die out.

Most sales aren’t made the first time you contact someone. The real money is in the follow-ups.

How you follow up is up to you. You can send them a resource of something you’ve found related to their goals/obstacles. Or you can simply mention that you’d wanted to check up on them again and see how everything’s going.

An example follow-up schedule might look something like this:

– First follow-up: spaced 2 days apart after the initial message
– Next 2 follow-ups: spaced apart 1 week after previous follow-ups
– Last 2 follow-ups: spaced apart 2 weeks after previous follow-ups

Just let them go after those follow-ups. There’s no point in wasting your time any longer. Your time is better spent with other people at that point.

And that’s it.

If you’d like to learn more about getting leads, qualifying your prospects, and landing clients consistently and effortlessly, then be sure to check out my Abundant-Client System.

In it, I’ll show you my entire system, every single framework I use, and how to adapt it to your business, so you can get paid (with or without having to hop on sales calls).

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P.S. Whenever you’re ready. Here’s how I can help you:

1. Hop on a Clarity Call with me: Remove all of your uncertainty. Get clear on what you have to do, when you have to do it, and how. Let’s get you on the right track to achieving the freedom you deserve.

2. Work 1-on-1 with me: We’ll determine where you stand and where you want to go. Then we’ll devise a roadmap to get you from A to B. And get you there in the next 30–60 days.

3. Download all my products (free & paid): Ranging from every resource I ever read to everything I know about content creation. It’s all waiting for you to claim it. Start your journey to financial freedom the right way.

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And if you've got a moment, I'd love to hear what you thought of this edition of Ascend 101.

Send me a quick message – I reply to every email!

Do you like eggs?

I know I do. Not as much as bananas of course. But I love some good eggs.

They’re great. You can put them in everything. There’s not a single meal on earth that doesn’t get better when you add an egg. Hell they’re even used in cocktails as well.

But why am I talking about eggs?

Well I’m subscribed to quite a few email newsletters. And one of them caught me completely off guard. The mail opened with the following question: Do you have enough chickens to make an omelet for breakfast in the morning?  

Well no I thought. I get them from the store. Like most people. Why would I need chickens?

But that wasn’t the point. The mail goes on to explain how having enough chickens to make an omelet is like having enough marketing power to sell your product/service.

I’ve seen my share of crazy analogies in the past. But this one I didn’t expect.

So let me enter this game and start making my own analogies. One even crazier.

I asked you if you liked eggs at the beginning of this email.

Imagine if you said no. You don’t like eggs. But do you like pasta? (the type with eggs in it). Do you like a frittata? How about Shakshuka? Tortilla? Hollandaise sauce? Quiche? Egg fried rice? Pancakes???

Everyone likes pancakes.

My point is. You don’t have to like every single ingredient to like the recipe. Switch it up. See what other recipes you can make with that ingredient. There’s bound to be something you like.

I once knew a guy that said he didn’t like tea. I asked him what kind of tea. He said “just tea”. What do you mean you don’t like “just tea”? Tea is water with a taste. It can almost be any taste you could imagine. Tea doesn’t even have to be hot. Cold tea exists as well.

Anyway.

It’s the same when it comes to building your creator business on Twitter.

Imagine you don’t like engaging all that much. Have you tried posting different types of comments?

Instead of being all serious and sounding like you have something smart to say. Experiment with sharing your own experiences in the comments. Not your thing either? Try making jokes related to the tweet. Turn every tweet into a philosophical lesson about bananas (my favorite).

I’ve even seen people use the main idea of a tweet as inspiration to write a short 280-character poem. If it works it works.

Focus your attention on what you like most. Don’t say something isn’t for you if you haven’t tried all the recipes yet.

Now go out there and find your favorite recipes. Don’t be the person who doesn’t like tea. Be the person who LOVES a few select egg recipes.

If you like to know more about marketing and how the original analogy went with having enough chickens. Be sure this subscribe to Adam’s newsletter. He’s a great marketer and knows what he’s talking about.

http://the-adam-james.ck.page/e769c48621

Do you still remember the welcome email you’ve gotten when you signed up for my newsletter?

You might’ve gotten it 3 months ago when I first started. Or you might have gotten it only yesterday.

Whatever the case may be. You might remember this sentence:

“I’m making this up as I go. It’s not a structured newsletter yet.”

It’s something I wrote at the end of my email. At the time I had no idea what I was doing. (I still don’t). And I wanted to use that fact as a motivational message.

I hope it worked. I sincerely hope you realized that it’s okay NOT to know what you’re doing. You wouldn’t be here otherwise. I know I wouldn’t.

But that brings me to the topic of today’s email. And the reason why you’re even getting an email from me today.

I’ve been writing weekly emails for the past 3 months. In that time I’ve learned quite a few things. One of them is that I absolutely love writing these.

They’re satisfying to write. It’s motivating to receive so many positive replies. And it’s the only way I could ever go so in-depth into certain topics. Something a 280-character tweet doesn’t allow me to do.

So all in all. I love writing a weekly newsletter.

But then again. What about a daily one? I wouldn’t know. I've never done it before.

This is something I’ve been thinking about for quite a while now. And you know what. I shouldn’t have been thinking about it for this long.

I always advise people to jump in head-first. Act now — think later. Business is about speed.

So here’s my plan. I’ll start writing daily emails from now on. Just to get a feel for them. See how they go. See how I like them. And see how you like them as well.

With one small change. I’ll only write a daily email each weekday. I feel like there’s a lot of value in my weekly email so I’m not willing to quit writing those. But since I’ve been writing an email each Monday. That’ll have to change.

So here’s the new schedule:

• Monday: Short Daily Email

• Tuesday: Short Daily Email

• Wednesday: Short Daily Email

• Thursday: Short Daily Email

• Friday: Short Daily Email

• Saturday: No Email

• Sunday: Longer Weekly Email (Ascend 101)

This allows me to experience the best of both worlds.

Let me know what you think of this new schedule by clicking one of the links below:

As for the name of this email. I don’t even know. Does an email need a name? It probably does. The longer weekly email is named Ascend 101. And it’ll be useful to have another name for the shorter email to differentiate between the two.

It’ll also be useful to have an option that lets you choose if you want to receive both emails or only one of them.

Here’s the deal. I’ll look into adding the latter as a functionality. And you’ll be able to name the new daily email newsletter if you like. Simply reply to this email if you have a recommendation.

And who knows. The entire future of my creator career might be determined by your idea.

That’s it for today. I’m looking forward to seeing what the future holds.

See you tomorrow. (I’ll have to get used to this)

Cheers

Alex

Look.

If you had one shot.

Or one opportunity.

To seize everything you ever wanted.

One moment.

Would you capture it?

Or just let it slip?

Yes I've just quoted Eminem.

Why?

Because I'm a big fan first of all.

But also because I need to remind myself of this way too often.

I'm working towards building my dream life every single day.

And it feels good.

Too good sometimes.

I'm working so hard to reach a certain milestone.

And when I reach it? I have to celebrate ofcourse.

But that celebration can become dangerous.

I become complacent. I stop putting in the same level of effort that got me here.

I need to become aware of the fact that the race isn't over. Far from it.

There's still so much more to do.

I have to remind myself to keep on the lookout. On the lookout for great opportunities to come along.

And most importantly. To jump on them as soon as I can. No hesitation.

Opportunities that can change your life are rare to find. Don't let them get away from you.

One of those opportunities is hopping on a clarity call with me and learning how to get your first client. Your first victory. Your first $1,000.

No longer suffer from your uncertainty, limiting beliefs, or missing pieces of information that hold you back from getting what you set out to achieve.

Book yours today before time runs out and the price increases by 50%.

Today's your last chance. Tomorrow morning the price will be updated. Don't hesitate any longer.

Cheers,

Alex "seize your opportunity" Van Dromme

Ascend 101

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

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The road from 0 to 1,000 followers is the most difficult one.

You:

– lack social proof
– get no eyes on your content
– still have to figure everything out
– feel lost while everyone seems to know what they’re doing

But luckily for you. The solution, while sometimes tedious, is straightforward.

It’s all about engaging with others. Building connections gets you from 0 to 1,000 followers. How much (and how well) you reach out to others determines the speed of your growth.

Engaging and reaching out can be done in numerous ways. Today we’ll focus on one of the most important ones. Sending DMs.

Not only is this the most personal method that allows you to make the deepest, longest-lasting connections. It’s also the foundation for building trust and setting up sales calls. So the more practice you get, the better.

Step 1) Find someone you want to DM

Let’s make it clear from the start. You don’t have to DM everyone you come across. That’d be exhausting and unproductive.

You only want to DM people you:

– are inspired by
– would want to work with
– would want to strategize with
– see potential for mutual benefit with

This also makes you more authentic. You actually have a reason to DM people. You can just be yourself.

Too often people try to DM everyone. People they don’t care about. It’s hard to get a genuine conversation going that way. Trust me. I’ve been there.

Start by DM’ing people that are more or less within your follower range. And work your way up.

Example

– At 500 followers aim to connect with people at 500–1500
– At 1000, aim for people with 2000–3000
– At 5000, aim for 5000–10000
– At 10000, aim for 20k–30k

Where do you find people to DM?

– In the reply area of your favorite big accounts
– In the “following” list of accounts that you like
– In your timeline as accounts your peers engage with

Step 2) Send a genuine compliment

First impressions matter. Be nice. Genuine. And thoughtful.

Send them a piece of content they made that resonated with you and tell them. Share why it resonated and what you liked about it.

Give a thoughtful comment about how their profile looks or what they talk about.

Don’t say “Hey I like your tweets”. Be specific. What tweet? Why? What made it stand out?

Bonus: look for tweets that got less engagement. Even better if you see they were passionate about it. If they put a lot of work/thought into a piece of content and it flopped then it’d be even more meaningful to them if you complimented it.

Step 3) Show interest

Ask them about:

– their goals
– what they’re building
– what they do for work
– how long they’ve been on Twitter
– what made them decide to start on Twitter

The best way to go about it is to imagine you’re at a house party. Introduce yourself to people and start asking questions about them. Don’t be a weirdo and start pitching what you do for work or asking people “to connect”.

Have a normal conversation like you would otherwise. Show you’re friendly and not overly formal.

Step 4) Lead with value

The goal now is to show people you’re not just in it to get something. Whether that be a follow, engagement, or a new client.

Show them you’re a giver. Give without an expectation to get anything in return. We’re here to build goodwill first. A following/a bank account second.

These are your first options:

– See where you can help
– Send actionable tips (tips they can implement immediately)
– Send resources, systems, or videos you’ve created

No matter what you may think. You always have value to give people.

Even if you don’t have enough knowledge about the subject or haven’t created anything. You can always:

– send a resource someone else made
– connect them with someone else in your network
– just continue having a friendly conversation and keep showing interest (too many people on Twitter take things way too seriously)

Step 5) Get on a call to make a deeper connection

I’d like to say this is optional. But this is a real game-changer. It’s easy to message people and start hundreds of conversations. But how many of those are actually meaningful and memorable?

Hopping on calls with people will make a much deeper connection. Seeing each other “face-to-face” is priceless. They’ll remember you like no other. You can show them your authentic personality and mannerism. You can connect so much better.

If you want to make long-lasting connections. Hopping on calls is the way to go.

All you need is a Calendly account:

– Create an event (call it “social calls”, doesn’t actually matter much)
– Fill in your availability
– Send the link to people asking if they’d like to hop on a call sometime soon to get to know each other better

Step 6) Follow up

The initial conversation will eventually die out. That’s alright.

Wait a few days. Maybe even a week. And hit them up again and offer some more value. This could be another resource you’ve found/created. An idea you came up with. Or someone new you’ve met that they’d be interested in getting to know as well.

Example:

– “Hey ____! I remember you telling me about your plans for ____. I found this today and thought it could be useful for you.”

Step 7) Make an ask

Once you’ve built a solid connection. Meaning that you’ve given value to the point where they are ready to return the favor.

Then you can:

– ask them to join a mastermind group
– send them a post of yours that you put a lot of time into
– ask specific questions you have without paying for consulting

If you’re sharing a post of yours hoping to leverage their audience. Be sure that it’s a post they’d want to share. It has to align with their content and the wants/needs of their audience.

Example:

– “Hey man. I just posted this and thought you'd enjoy it. It was inspired by our previous conversation.”

Do not ask for engagement. Let them decide for themselves. They will share it if it’s something they like.

Wrap-up

This is the only 7-step framework you need for building connections through your DMs. That being said. Pitching and selling your offer requires a slightly different approach.

One which is built on a different framework. A framework focused on educating your prospect and moving them up the levels of awareness.

Reply to this email if you’d like to know more about that framework as well. If enough people show interest I’ll make it the subject for next week’s email.

Until then. Have a great week. And start building those connections.

Cheers,
Alex

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P.S.

Whenever you’re ready. Here’s how I can help you:

1. Hop on a Clarity Call with me: Remove all of your uncertainty. Get clear on what you have to do, when you have to do it, and how. Let’s get you on the right track to achieving the freedom you deserve.

2. Work 1-on-1 with me: We’ll determine where you stand and where you want to go. Then we’ll devise a roadmap to get you from A to B. And get you there in the next 30–60 days.

3. Download all my products for FREE: Ranging from every resource I ever read to everything I know about content creation. It’s all waiting for you to claim it. Start your journey to financial freedom the right way.

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And if you've got a moment, I'd love to hear what you thought of this edition of Ascend 101.

Send me a quick message – I reply to every email!

Ascend 101

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

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I enrolled in university back in September 2018.

I always excelled in maths, economics, and most of the sciences (except for biology). So with no idea what it meant I enrolled in Business Engineering (I still don’t know).

As the years went on I added more IT-related courses to what I was studying.

Data science was the new hot shit. And I wanted a piece of the pie as well. Machine learning, AI, data mining, you know. All the cool fancy words that everyone loves to talk about but nobody actually has a clue what it means.

This was before ChatGPT and the likes were around. So most of the world literally didn’t know about the existence of those words.

I pretty much had my life all figured out. I would graduate and become a consultant for one of the Big 4 with my expertise being data science.

Like any other student wanting to be informed and secure the safety of their future. I too would often go to networking events and meet with different people from different departments of these firms.

We’d talk about what business culture I could expect and what my average day of working for them as a consultant would look like. I couldn’t help but notice that every conversation with every single person from every single corporation went exactly the same.

They were all duplicates of one another. They all had great working environments. Big paychecks. Wonderful colleagues. And they loved what they were doing.

Some of those claims were true. Some of them weren’t. I don’t think I have to explain which ones were and which weren’t.

I figured I didn’t want any part of this. Working 60+ hour weeks for years. Doing unfulfilling work for other people. Not building something for myself. Looking forward to those 1–2 vacations I can take each year. And doing this until I retired at 65.

No thank you.

The summer of 2022 came around and so I had a lot of free time. I always get a burst of passion for some new skill or hobby whenever I have a lot of free time OR a complete lack of time (which doesn’t help during finals). No in-between.

I became obsessed with both game development & music orchestration during that summer. I spent months learning, experimenting, and creating my own games & soundtracks.

The underlying goal for me was to find a career path where I could be independent and make a living doing something I enjoyed.

Eventually I figured that both these options weren’t the best for making a good living. Looking back that’s not entirely true. But I was missing the knowledge necessary to do so.

After some more digging around I came across SMMAs. Social Media Marketing Agencies. They were a big thing on YouTube at the time. So this led me to become a digital marketing freelancer. I learned everything I could about creating social media & Google Ads (I still have my certifications).

I got a few projects on Fiverr. But that didn’t do it for me. One reason is that I don’t like the business model. Or at least not how most people are being taught how to do it.

The second and far bigger reason is that I’m a creative person. Something that I only realized a few months ago. I need a way to express myself and create something of my own. Creating ads for others wasn’t going to cut it.

I needed to find yet another method to become obsessed with.

You’ve probably guessed it. This is when I came across Dan Koe on YouTube. Everything he talked about resonated with me. I devoured his content and without any hesitation I got started.

I logged back into my old Twitter profile from 2016. Cleaned it up. Deleted the handful of dumb tweets I made. Unfollowed everyone. Quickly made a banner in Photoshop — It was a picture of a road with the text “Start Your Journey” in front of it. I added a new profile picture. And I posted a tweet. It was a list tweet about 5 life lessons going to the gym taught me.

I’ve never gone from idea to execution so fast in my entire life. It wasn’t perfect. Far from it. But I got started.

Within a month of writing on Twitter I knew I finally found it. It just felt right.

Building an audience. Sharing what I learn with others. Helping people achieve freedom in their life. 

This is what I’m supposed to be doing. This is what I want to keep doing this for the rest of my life.

It was right then and there that I decided to drop out of Uni. 5 years of education were already behind me. There’s only 1 year remaining and I would’ve gotten my master’s degree in Digital Business Engineering: Management Information Systems.

But that didn’t matter. I have no use for that piece of paper in my life. It won’t give me the life that I dream of.

Still I’m grateful for all the years I’ve spent in that place. All the lessons I’ve learned and experience I’ve gained. They weren’t for nothing.

I made friends for life. Friends who don’t understand exactly what I’m doing. Friends who probably think I’m crazy for dropping out like this. But friends that are still subscribed to my newsletter and read every mail I send regardless.

I've grown and developed as a person. The person I was 5 years ago and the person I am today are 2 completely different people. I worked on my social skills, my thinking skills, my sales skills, and even my leadership skills.

I wouldn’t take that back. But that season of my life is over now. It’s time for a new chapter.

Finishing my degree would be the safe bet for sure. But it would be a waste of my time and an easy excuse for why I’m not going all-in on building my creator business.

Most people would tell you to play it safe and take the long route. I’m not most people. I’m telling you to take that risk. Fully commit to it.

Light that fire under your ass and force yourself to make it work.

This holds especially true if you’re in your 20s. This is the time in your life when you have to go all in. Try 10 different things and fail at 9 of them. Fail fast and get back up again.

I’ve made the jump and figured out how it works.

It’s your turn to make the same jump right now. But you’re not on your own this time. I’m here to help guide you. You don’t have to struggle like I did. Spending $1,000’s on courses only to struggle to implement them.

Schedule a call with me and we’ll figure out how to get your creator business started so you can start living independently as well.

You owe it to yourself not to give up on your dreams. You owe it to yourself to stop wasting your time. You owe it to yourself to reach your full potential.

Check out how I can help you and decide what’s best for you.

Cheers,

Alex “Make that jump” Van Dromme

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P.S.

Whenever you’re ready. Here’s how I can help you:

1. Hop on a Clarity Call with me: Remove all of your uncertainty. Get clear on what you have to do, when you have to do it, and how. Let’s get you on the right track to achieving the freedom you deserve.

2. Work 1-on-1 with me: We’ll determine where you stand and where you want to go. Then we’ll devise a roadmap to get you from A to B. And get you there in the next 30–60 days.

3. Download all my products for FREE: Ranging from every resource I ever read to everything I know about content creation. It’s all waiting for you to claim it. Start your journey to financial freedom the right way.

P.P.S.

For those interested, this is the software stack I use:
(These are affiliate links, so if you sign up, I'll get a small referral bonus.)

1. Beehiiv for my newsletter: One of the biggest, easiest, and best providers for people wanting to build their newsletter. A logical choice to make with its abundance of integrated solutions for easy growth. (e.g., an integrated referral program)

2. Tweethunter for everything Twitter: From scheduling tweets to gathering inspiration and engaging with others. TweetHunter has everything you need if you’re serious about building your business on Twitter.

3. Carrd to build my landing pages: You’re building a business. You need simple and effective landing pages for your funnels. Carrd is an easy-to-use website builder that does exactly that.

4. Testimonial to gather testimonials: Simply drop your clients a link where they can leave a testimonial. Gather everything in one place. And embed it on your landing pages as you wish.

5. Ilo for my Twitter analytics (+10% discount): The most advanced Twitter analytics tool and a MUST if you host spaces. Get in-depth knowledge about your audience, what they like, and who they are.

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And if you've got a moment, I'd love to hear what you thought of this edition of Ascend 101.

Send me a quick message – I reply to every email!—

Ascend 101

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

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I used to look up to people who could work all day. 10, 12, 15 hours a day. The non-stop grinders.

You probably know who I’m talking about. The real hustlers.

For some reason that’s what society praised — or at least the part of society that I came into contact with.

So I wanted to be one of them

Often times I got really motivated on some project and would work on it non-stop for a couple of days. Until I eventually got tired of it and quit entirely.

I didn’t want it enough apparently. Otherwise I too would keep working these ruthlessly long hours day after day.

This back and forth of trying new stuff, going all-in, and quitting because it felt unsustainable eventually led to me not doing anything at all for quite a while.

Slowly but surely I started to think about this bizarre cycle in my life.

Was this the way it was supposed to be? Maybe I haven’t found my passion yet. Maybe I’m not designed to do this. Maybe I’m the problem. Am I the problem?

I found out that this was a common occurrence with countless others as well. Surely we can’t ALL be the problem. There had to be something else.

This led to lots of research and experimentation. But after about a year I ended up right here on Twitter where I started writing.

No longer did I believe that working 80-hour weeks was the most admirable thing to do.

No longer did I believe you had to sacrifice your relationships, your youth, your time, and above all your happiness if you wanted to be successful.

No. I could build my business while working less than 3 hours a day.

Why longer isn’t better

Some of you might be wondering, “Alex you have far more time, why do you limit yourself to only working 3 hours a day?”.

And well that’s because it’s optimized this way.

Let me explain.

Parkinson’s law states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion.

Aka. If you were to give yourself 5 hours to do something. It’d take 5 hours. Give yourself 3 and it’d take 3. More isn’t necessarily better.

To add to that. People often measure their productivity by tracking the time spent working.

Which is a flawed metric. If I complete 3 tasks in 1 hour. Am I less productive than someone completing 1 task in 3 hours?

Of course not.

This is where you have to reframe your own beliefs about work.

What matters is not how long you spend working. What matters is the quality of the work you do. For the informed readers, yes I’m going to talk about Deep work.

Deep work refers to the ability to focus without distraction on a complex task. It gets you into a flow state. Your creative energy and mental power is at its maximum. Performing deep work gives you the best results.

But there’s a caveat. Most people can’t perform more than 2–3 hours of deep work a day. Most highly trained professionals can’t perform more than 4 hours a day.

In short: working longer than 3 hours would be less optimal. And you also need to give yourself rest to recover your mental capacity and perform as best as possible the following day.

Meaning that working longer hours isn’t only less optimal. It’s counterproductive.

My personal system

So how do I structure my system?

As you might know by now. I’m not a big fan of very complicated systems and complex stuff in general. I like to keep everything as simple and minimalistic as possible.

Yes I might be able to optimize certain aspects of my life even more. But why should I? There’s always a pay-off. Let us stop overcomplicating the world and enjoy the simplicity of everyday life.

With that in mind, my system is straightforward. I start off by writing for the first 2 hours of my day. Every day.

I wake up. Maybe drink a glass of water. Look outside. Get some sun in my eyes — if there is any. Turn on my PC and start writing.

What I write depends on what day of the week it is.

Monday: write Tuesday’s thread
Tuesday: free to choose
Wednesday: write Thursday’s thread
Thursday: work on a product/giveaway
Friday: free to choose
Saturday: write my newsletter (this one)
Sunday: write & schedule my tweets for the next week

The most important parts of my system are the weekends.

The newsletter is the foundation of my content. This gets my brain thinking about different perspectives and potential ideas to expand upon.

And Sunday is when I write out all of my results, experiences, thoughts, ideas, and discoveries that I’ve made throughout the week. Condense them down into the core message. And convey them as best as possible in an eye-catching format limited to 280 characters.

That’s why my content might differ from week to week. It reflects what I’ve been working on that week. Which is another added layer of added authenticity and a great way to work if you ask me.

The moments where I’m free to choose what to write about can be for everything. I could help my future self out by already making an outline for my newsletter. Or I could work on some copy for my landing pages.

Whatever fits me at that moment in time.

“But what about the other hour Alex?”

Yes what about it? This is for the other parts of the business.

• Engaging with other tweets

• Replying to comments

• Responding to DMs

That type of stuff.

Sometimes it takes me 20 minutes. Sometimes an hour. But never longer.

Sometimes I skip it entirely for a day. Crazy right?

And that’s about it.

I fill the rest of my day reading books, learning new skills, talking to friends & family, enjoying the weather, working out, and just trying to enjoy my life as much as possible.

If you want to be someone online, you have to be someone offline as well.

I hope getting to know my system helps you gain some useful insights to create your own.

In case you still have some uncertainty and want to discuss it with me in more detail. Don’t hesitate to schedule a clarity call with me.

I’m always happy to help you develop a fully functioning system/routine according to your needs.

Cheers.

Alex “don’t overcomplicate it” Van Dromme.

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P.S.

If you’d like more help, I’ve got your back:

1. Hop on a Clarity Call with me: Remove any and all uncertainty you might have. Get clear on what you have to do, when you have to do it, and how. Let’s get you on the right track to achieving the freedom you deserve.

2. Download all my products for FREE: Ranging from every resource I ever read to everything I know about content creation. It’s all waiting for you to claim it. Start your journey to financial freedom the right way.

---

And if you've got a moment, I'd love to hear what you thought of this edition of Ascend 101.

Send me a quick message – I reply to every email!

Ascend 101

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

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I held 3 coaching sessions last week. They went great.

Wonderful people, with lots of potential, bright ideas, and amazing visions.

Lots and lots of potential.

But one thing stood out to me.

They were lost.

They didn’t know what to do. Where to go. Or how to get started.

And I felt that. Strongly.

Why?

I’ve been there as well.

When I first came to Twitter I gave copywriting a go.

I spent $1,738.72 on all the books and courses I could get my hands on. I filled my days reading, researching, and writing.

Doing everything I could to hone my skills.

I then tried getting clients and making some sweet sweet cash.

But nothing happened.

I had no idea what to do. I barely had an audience. I didn’t have any proof that I could write copy.

Who was I to make money doing something I had never done before?

I was lost.

Perhaps this sounds familiar to you as well.

So what’s the problem here?

I was following standard Money Twitter advice

And let me get you in on a little secret:

90% of people shouting about what to do on Money Twitter don’t have any clue themselves.

They repeat the same boring advice that everyone else is giving, not knowing that the advice they’re sharing doesn’t work.

Trust me, I learned it the hard way.

I learned it through trial & error. Mostly error.

And I don’t want you to have to do the same.

I’m here for those who haven’t yet found their way.

While I do have my coaching offer. I realize not everyone has the cash to spend $500, especially not when just starting out.

Because of that I’ll be holding 1-1 clarity calls.

These 60-minute sessions aim to remove all of your uncertainty and get you on the right track to actually build your business and enjoy the freedom you deserve.

It’s my personal mission to overdeliver with everything I do. And this is no exception.

Check it out here

Who is this for?

This is for you if you:

• Want to get clarity

• Can’t seem to grow your account

• Want to speed up your learning phase

• Are ready to build your creator business

• Feel like you haven’t found your inner potential

• Have an audience but don’t know how to monetize

• Know you have something to offer but don’t know how

I’m against over-complicating everything.

And this is no different.

Don’t make your journey any more difficult than it has to be.

Remove your uncertainty now

Cheers,
Alex.

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P.S.

If you’d like more help, I’ve got your back:

1. Hop on a Clarity Call with me: Remove any and all uncertainty you have. Get clear on what you have to do, when you have to do it, and how. Let’s get you on the right track to achieving the freedom you deserve.

2. Download all my products for FREE: Ranging from every resource I ever read to everything I know about content creation. It’s all waiting for you to claim it. Start your journey to financial freedom the right way.

---

And if you've got a moment, I'd love to hear what you thought of this edition of Ascend 101.

Send me a quick message – I reply to every email!

Ascend 101

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

---

If you’ve been on Money Twitter (as the cool kids call it) for a while you’ve undoubtedly come across people talking about ‘storytelling’.

But what do we mean when we say 'storytelling’?

No, we aren’t all secretly in the fable crafting business.

True storytelling is all about sharing personal stories.

They have to be personal. Because the aim is to build a deeper connection with your audience.

We tell stories to express our hardest, best, and most authentic truths. To share our deepest desires and greatest fears. To build trust and a feeling of resemblance with everyone.

Storytelling is the single greatest skill to have. It has been used to win elections, build fortunes, and conquer nations.

Let’s dive into the wonderful world of storytelling.

Everything changes

Let’s start off with the number one most important rule of storytelling.

What constitutes a story to begin with?

Is it that time when you got blackout drunk and woke up missing a tooth?

You might think it’s a funny story. And while it certainly can be entertaining.

It’s not an actual story.

It doesn’t hold any intrinsic meaning.

A real story revolves around change.

You must start out as one version of yourself and end as another.

That change doesn’t have to be huge. It can be as minuscule as realizing you liked bananas more than you originally believed you did.

But something had to change.

Every story is a transformation story.

This is also the key concept of your story.

Every great story revolves around one moment where something changes.

If I were telling the story about how I came to love bananas, it would be nothing more than a 5-second moment of how I came to realize it.

And I’d package that story with carefully chosen events that lead me to this moment.

Pay attention next time you’re reading a book or watching a movie.

Even your latest 3-hour-long Hollywood blockbuster is nothing more than events leading up to a 5-second moment changing the protagonist for good.

You ARE the main character

Every story you tell should be about you.

Don’t tell stories you’ve heard about other people.

Your audience doesn’t care about others. They care about you. They’re your audience.

Do you want to tell a story about how your brother fell into the lake during your camping trip? Sure go ahead. But tell it from your perspective.

Describe what you remember, what you saw, and how you felt.

Why wouldn’t you tell your stories?

Are you telling the stories of someone else because you’re not interesting enough?

Let me tell you otherwise.

You have a lot more stories to tell than you can imagine.

Your Turn

It’s time for me to give you some actionable steps once again.

Think about moments in your life. Anything really.

Think about experiences that affected you, memories you keep holding onto.

Occurrences you don’t want to forget.

Write them down.

Next try to pinpoint what your 5-second moment is.

What was the change that occurred?

Try to be as specific as possible.

Last think about what events came prior and craft write out your story.

I probably gave you enough content material for the next weeks (if not months).

You’re welcome.

Wrap-up

If you can’t tell already.

I’m having fun writing these newsletters, exploring different topics, and sharing my thoughts about them.

I’m well aware jumping into storytelling can feel awkward and weird for some of you.

But trust me. You’ll soon get the hang of it.

And It’ll be worth it.

Let me know how you’ll incorporate storytelling into your life and if you want me to delve further into how to actually craft your story.

Until next week.

Cheers,
Alex.

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P.S.

If you’d like more help, I’ve got your back:

1. Book a 1:1 coaching call with me: We'll talk about how you can start building your one-person business and set you up for success in the long run.

2. Download all my products for FREE: Ranging from every resource I ever read to everything I know about content creation. It’s all waiting for you to claim it. Start your journey to financial freedom the right way.

P.P.S.

For those interested, these are the most important pieces of software I use:
(These are affiliate links, so if you sign up, I'll get a small referral bonus.)

1. Beehiiv for my newsletter: One of the biggest, easiest, and best providers for people wanting to build their newsletter. A logical choice to make with its abundance of integrated solutions for easy growth. (e.g., an integrated referral program)

2. TweetHunter for everything Twitter: From scheduling tweets to gathering inspiration and engaging with others. TweetHunter has everything you need if you’re serious about building your business on Twitter.

3. Carrd to build my landing pages: We’re building a business, not a blog. We have a need for simple and effective landing pages for our funnels. Carrd is an easy-to-use website builder that does exactly what it needs to.

---

And if you've got a moment, I'd love to hear what you thought of this edition of Ascend 101.

Send me a quick message – I reply to every email