How to write content that leads to growth, leads, and sales

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Ascend 101

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

This is the topic everyone’s been waiting for.

How to write authentic, authoritative, and impactful content that leads to growth, leads, and sales.

All writing we do can be divided into 3 categories: growth, authority, and authenticity.

When creating content you want to keep these in mind and strike a nice balance. Your brand will fail if you don’t include all 3.

No growth content? Well, that one seems self-explanatory. You’ll forever be stuck at whatever size you are now.

No authority content? People won’t buy from you. You’re not giving them a reason to. People need to be convinced you’re the right person for the job.

No authentic content? You’re just like everyone else. People will flock to the cheapest alternative. You’ll be in competition with everyone.

How you should balance them is up to you. I’ve heard The Art Of Purpose say he follows his 70/20/10 rule (70% growth, 20% authority, 10% authenticity) whereas JK Molina keeps the biggest piece of the pie for authority, because likes ain’t cash.

But enough about that.

This is a 3-minute read.

Let’s go!

Growth

Your personal brand should be growing at all times.

That’s not to say that you need to reach 10k followers before you can get meaningful results. But stagnation is never a good sign.

That’s why we’ll always have to include content focused on growth.

Some content types focused on growth include:

  • Personal stories

  • Controversial topics

  • Current events

  • Questions

  • Personal beliefs

  • Platitudes (Be careful not to overdo them)

Authenticity

Authenticity is what sets you apart from others.

Show people who you are, what you like, and what you’re building/working on.

There are multiple ways to do this:

1) Express your honest opinions, likes, and dislikes.

The more controversial, the better. (See this great example from my buddy Shrawan)

2) Be vulnerable.

Don’t only share your wins. Share your losses as well.

People want real not perfect. Give them someone they can relate to.

3) Document your journey

Share everything you’re working on. Every new project that you’re taking on. Every plan you have for how you’ll achieve a certain result.

Put it out there.

Authority

Authority content is everything that will make people perceive you as an expert in your field.

You do this by focusing on depth and social proof.

Show people how knowledgeable you are about a topic by diving deep into certain topics. This is best done through threads and newsletter issues (such as this one).

Keep your tweets for the more basic topics.

Social proof is anything that displays your authority by means of what you’ve accomplished for yourself or others.

Note: showing the achievement of your clients is far better than showing yours (but start with yours if you don’t have others to show yet)

These include

  • testimonials

  • case studies

  • accomplishments

  • credentials.

Next week

On Monday, you’ll [insert what next week’s topic will be about]

Have a nice week and go take what’s yours!

Cheers,
Alex.

The inner workings of your personal brand

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Ascend 101

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

We’ve talked about defining where you came from and where you’re headed. (Go read the last 2 newsletters here if you missed them)

This week we’ll talk about the topic you’re dying to dive into: How to get to your dream destination.

How to use your brand as the perfect vehicle for creating your dream life.

This is a 4-minute read.

Let’s go!

Before we start

I recently did a giveaway where I shared a new Twitter content guide that I’ve created.

As you’re an email reader of mine I simply had to share it with you in case you missed it. Take it as a token of my appreciation.

It’s absolutely free and filled with everything I know and learned about Twitter content creation. Foundational pillars, crafting your story, idea generation, and the only framework you need. It’s all there.

You can get it here.

Your One-Person Business

Using your brand as a vehicle to get to your dream life all starts with creating your brand.

But what is it and how does it work?

Your brand is your business. And it has the same foundations any other business has.

But how we define them is unique.

Let me introduce you to the 4 pillars of a one-person business. (Credits to Dan Koe)

The 4 pillars are

  • Goals → Brand

  • Problems → Content

  • Systems → Product

  • Benefits → Marketing

Let’s go over them one by one.

1) Goals

You have goals that you’re working toward in your life. That’s your branding.

People won’t follow you for who you are or what you’ve done.

In all honesty, nobody cares.

People follow you because of your dreams and desires. You see it happen again and again.

Take Steve Jobs for example. He’s been called a visionary. A dreamer.

That’s what excites people.

He dared to dream bigger than anyone else.

Let’s take another example. Elon Musk.

Why does he have such a big following? Is it because of his unrivaled charisma? His good looks? His enormous bank account? (That last one might play a small role)

No.

He’s a dreamer. He sets goals nobody else has dared to set. He goes places where people haven’t gone before. He’s leading and inspiring people to think bigger.

You can (and should) do the same. That’s what makes your brand.

(Does it make more sense now as to why setting big goals is so important?)

2) Problems

You’ve set your goal and you’re working toward it every single day.

It’s only logical that you’ll encounter problems along the way. Problems that countless others will have experienced as well.

Share those encounters.

Give people something to relate to. Show them your current problems and obstacles.

Share how you plan on tackling them.

Take your unique combination of skills, interests, and desires and show how they will help you get to where you are.

Teach people how to do the same.

Talk about your journey.

That’s your content. Those are the tweets you’ll be writing.

3) Systems

You’ll find yourself solving your problems along the way. You’ll learn what works and what doesn’t.

You’ll discover shortcuts, gain specific knowledge, and develop systems.

These can be turned into your products.

Everything that will help the people behind you get to where you are faster is a product.

If you could be able to help you from last year. What would you say? What would you give? What would you have done differently?

You provide others with the means to get to where you are faster than you did yourself.

These can be case studies, tools, swipe files, courses, communities, or coaching/tutoring calls.

Think about every single problem your audience may have and what you did (or could do) to overcome them.

Then simply turn it into a product.

4) Benefits

This relates to the first rule of copywriting. Benefits over features.

People are intrinsically egoistic. They only care about themselves and how your offer can benefit them.

So show them.

Show them how achieving your goal will improve their life. And how your method/product will aid them in getting there.

Your method doesn’t have to be the best. You just have to believe it is.

You create the belief that it’s the best method out there for them.

You attract the people wanting to use your method.

It all comes down to your conviction. You have to truly believe in your method. People can feel your conviction.

It all comes back to you daring to dream and inspiring people along the way.

Next week

You now know exactly how your one-person business functions and how to brand it. The next part is writing content that captures attention and resonates with people.

That’ll be the topic for next week. We’ll go over how to write authentic, authoritative, and impactful content that leads to growth, leads, and sales.

Definitely keep an eye out for that next Monday.

Cheers,
Alex.

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. Claim all my courses for FREE: 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:
(Yes these are affiliate links)

  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. Hence 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.

  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!): Easily the most advanced and useful Twitter analytics tool. get in-depth knowledge about your audience, what they like, and who they are. As well as gaining a clear view of your best-performing content to spot trends and improve your results.

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!


How to carve out your path and never lack clarity again

by

Ascend 101

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

Last week we talked about creating your hero’s journey. (You can read it here in case you missed it.)

Today we’ll define your vision, mission, and values. The combination of these empowers you to carve out your path to success.

This is a 4-minute read.

Let’s go!

Vision

Your vision is what guides you. It’s what allows you to align your daily actions and choices with your overarching goal.

You’ll lack clarity without it.

How else are you going to reflect if your daily actions are getting you closer to your goal?

Ask yourself the following questions:

  • If you had all the money in the world, what would your average day look like?

  • Where do you want to live? In what kind of environment? Do you want to travel often?

  • Do you want a family? When? How big of a family? What would an average family day be like?

  • How much do you want to work? What should your workday look like? What would you want to do?

  • How do you want to look and feel?

You can also establish your anti-vision.

This determines how you don’t want your life to look.

Define both visions and think about how you can best reflect that in your brand.

What colors should your brand be? What fonts? Think about all the design choices and the feeling they give off.

Color & font psychology shouldn’t be underestimated.

But that’s a topic we won’t be covering today. (Let me know if that’s something you’d be interested in!)

Mission

Think of your mission as the one BIG problem you’d like to solve in your life.

And when I say big, I mean it. Feeding your family isn’t big. Feeding all of Europe, now that’s a big goal.

I never said it should be realistic. You might never solve it, but that’s the point.

You need to think big if you want to solve something incredible.

Aim for the stars and land on the moon.

Long-time readers (read: 2 weeks) remember this issue where I shared my goal of wanting to free all mankind. To allow anyone and everyone to achieve true financial freedom, both time and location freedom.

Everyone should be able to experience and appreciate everything the world has to offer.

It’s an absurd goal if you think about it.

So don’t hold back.

Think about problems you’ve solved for yourself. Big or small.

Think about what interests, skills, or areas of study you know or are willing to spend countless hours learning.

Then decide on what ultimate goal you can and want to solve in the world.

Values

Your values are a baseline of topics you care about.

Life will get tough. You will make sacrifices. The road to success isn’t a straight line.

Knowing this, it’s better to decide your values upfront. To decide on a few things that you’ll never sacrifice — no matter what.

Think about the eternal markets: health, wealth, and relationships as a starting point.

What matters most to you in each domain?

Health:

  • How balanced should your diet be?

  • How much exercise should you do every week?

  • How often should you meditate/journal/relax to keep your mental health in check?

Wealth:

  • How many hours a week should you spend on work?

  • How much financial risk are you willing to take on?

  • How should(n’t) you make your money?

Relationships:

  • How much time should you spend with your family?

  • How often should you hang out with friends?

  • How many dates should you go on every month?

Some things are never worth sacrificing.

Define them upfront.

Wrap-up

Your hero’s journey describes where you came from.

Your vision, mission, and values describe where you’re headed.

Your brand is the vehicle that’s going to get you from where you are to where you want to go.

Exactly how to make your brand the perfect vehicle will be explored in the upcoming emails. So keep an eye out for those!

For now make sure to take your time to clearly define your vision, mission, and goals.

Until next week!

Cheers,
Alex.

P.S.

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

  1. Schedule 1:1 coaching 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. Get yourself The Ultimate Content Creator’s Toolkit: You’ll find over 100 courses, books, threads, and tools. Everything I used to educate myself on all the important topics for building your one-person business.

P.P.S.

For those interested, this is the software stack I use:
(Yes these are affiliate links)

  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. Hence 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.

  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!): Easily the most advanced and useful Twitter analytics tool. get in-depth knowledge about your audience, what they like, and who they are. As well as gaining a clear view of your best-performing content to spot trends and improve your results.

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!


The First Step to Building a Successful One-Person Business

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Ascend 101

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

Last week I promised that today’s issue will be on the one-person business foundations.

I lied.

It’s not just today’s topic. It will be the topic for the coming 7 issues!

That’s right. I’ll take you all the way from start to finish and teach you everything you need to know (in no more than 7 emails).

So let’s not waste any more time!

Crafting the perfect profile

You’ve no doubt heard all the cliche advice about creating the perfect profile picture, header image, and bio.

And sure they may be necessary. But that’s just one piece of the puzzle.

How often have you heard people talking about the why’s? About the bigger picture tying everything together?

Probably not a lot.

That’s where people have it backward. Creating your profile is the third or fourth step. Definitely not the first.

Do you have an idea what the first step could be?

Hint: it’s about you.

It’s your hero’s journey. The road you’ve gone down in life.

Your story is the central piece of your brand.

Your Hero’s Journey

And before you go on to say “But Alex, I don’t have a story!”

Yes you do. That’s why you’re here. That’s why you’re reading this email right now.

Everyone has a backstory. And here’s a simple method to figure out yours.

Ask yourself the following question:

How did you get to where you are now?

Whatever your interests are. How did you get interested in them? What made you decide on taking the path that you’re on right now? Which events in your life all participated in steering you in this direction?

Somewhere along the road you received your call to action — maybe you even needed multiple before you took action.

Discover what it was. What made you decide to change? What made you venture from the known to the unknown? What made you start your adventure — your hero’s journey?

Why is this important?

Simple.

You’re not some big multinational with hundreds of employees and a near-infinite bank account to spend on marketing.

You’re a one-person business, a solopreneur, a personal brand.

You have to play to your strengths. And that strength is that people resonate with other people, not with big corporations.

Craft your story so others can resonate with you. This is how you build trust. This is the difference between gaining followers and creating fans.

That being said, I’ll give you some homework. Yes, homework.

I want you to create your story.

Find an hour of your day to think about it.

Write down the main highlights in bullet points first. Then go into more detail for each bullet point.

Seriously do it.

It’s what separates you from the competition.

We’ll also be using your story in the upcoming emails. Be sure to get it done by then.

Hint: Do it now (or at least today). Don’t let procrastination take over.

Cheers,
Alex.

P.S.

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

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

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!


How to use Long-term plans to achieve your goals

by

Ascend 101

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

Today we’re going to discuss long-term plans.

Long-term plans are the most effective method for achieving your goals. And yet people seem to misunderstand how they work and not use them to their full potential.

This is a 5-minute read.

Let’s go!

To plan, or not to plan

This topic is inspired by a recent tweet of mine where I asked if people had a 5-year plan.

There were only a handful of people out of the 37 that replied who had a 5-year plan. More than half of everyone had some objection to the usefulness of a 5-year plan.

The most common objections looked like this:

  • Plans almost always fail.

  • A plan that long is restricting.

  • 5 years is way too long to plan — Life will change.

  • You can’t possibly know everything that will happen to you.

  • I don’t even know what I’ll be doing next week, let alone in 5 years.

  • I’m afraid of missing out on other opportunities that come my way if I stick to a long-term plan.

Seeing these responses made me realize something.

Most people don’t understand what a long-term plan entails and how to use one.

Let’s go over why these objections miss the point.

Plans fail

When people tell me that they won’t create a plan because a plan will fail anyway.

Then there’s really only one thing to say: “Yes of course!” That’s exactly the point.

Think about it. Suppose you’re into weightlifting. You might set yourself the goal of benching 100kg at the end of the year (or 225 lbs for my American friends).

If you were to reach your goal. Ask yourself, could you have done more?

If you were aiming higher, would you have pushed yourself harder to achieve that goal?

Chances are you could’ve achieved more.

The optimal goal to aim for is one that should be impossible for you to reach, while still being able to get as close to it as possible.

Even when failing to reach your goal, you’ll have made more progress than you would’ve if your goal wasn’t set as high.

In the aforementioned tweet some people asked me what my 5-year plan is.

This was my response:

“The ultimate goal is to free all mankind.”

If your goal doesn't scare you, it's not big enough.

Let that sink in.

Change & Uncertainty

Nobody is saying you have to plan out every single day for the next 5 years.

That’s mad. It would be a lot of wasted effort as well.

It’s true. Life gets in your way. Things won’t go as intended.

So don’t put too many details in your plan. A plan is nothing more than a general overview of the direction you want to work toward.

A well-defined plan starts at a broad and almost vague endpoint and you work your way backward. Getting more and more specific as you get closer to the present.

That process looks like this:

  • Decide where you want to be in 5 years

  • Figure out where you are right now

  • Think about the big milestones you need to achieve to close the gap

  • Work out what you’re missing to achieve those milestones

  • Determine what day-to-day activities will aid you in acquiring those skills and resources you’re missing.

  • Review monthly

The only place where you’ll go into detail is while planning out your day-to-day activities.

These are planned only for the next week/month. Nothing more.

Not restricting yourself

Careful readers might have noticed to clue to this objection in the last section.

“Review monthly”

The act of reviewing is done for a few important reasons.

As mentioned, life changes. And so do you.

Getting closer to your (original) goal means learning and growing. This can (and will) change your goals.

When starting out, most of us don’t really know what we want. We’re guessing at that point.

There’s so much life has to offer. How can we know what we want out of it when we don’t know half of it?

A good plan allows you to pivot and redirect your aim.

Redirecting your aim can be dangerous if done for the wrong reasons.

When deciding on a new path to follow, think about the difficulty of that path.

If the new path will be more challenging to reach, chances are you’re making the right choice.

If, however, the new path is easier, chances are you’re cheating yourself out of your potential by taking the easy (and thus less rewarding) way.

Next week

The topic of next Monday’s issue will be on getting your foundations in order to start building a successful one-person business.

Have a nice week and go take what’s yours!

Cheers,
Alex.

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!