So good you have to do it twice

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Once upon a time, I received the following message from Gaurav, a long-time reader, after he bought my Abundant-Client System course (not currently for sale):

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I saw there was a sale on your Abundant Client Acquisition System and had to get it.

The course didn't disappoint. It's so good I went through it a second time in 2 weeks.

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Now, I don’t know about you. But that’s one of the best compliments I could ever receive.

Most people lead busy lives.

So for someone to go through my course twice in short succession means it’s definitely well-received and a high-quality course.

In fact, I can guarantee the majority of people who buy online courses never completely go through most of the stuff they buy.

So this is saying something.

Secondly.

He also casually saw that I was running a promotion on the product and he immediately grabbed it—just like that.

Which goes to show you the power of mailing every day and building a relationship of trust with your reader (and proving you know what you’re talking about).

But obviously that’s only to get people to buy your stuff.

You’ll have to make quality products if you want to get messages similar to the one above.

After all, nobody runs a business on the first sale—it’s what you sell people next that earns you 80% of your income.

Which is no different when it comes to writing.

No author gets rich off of one book. Everyone who makes a living writing does so because of an entire series they’ve written, which they can sell to people who found, read, and enjoyed the first book in the collection.

The problem?

Most people only have one product, one book, or one offer to sell to people. And those that don’t often rush the process, giving up quality for quantity in the process.

And while I’m definitely no expert and will never claim to be one.

I have picked up my fair share of product-creation experience (even to the point where I can produce high-quality products in an extremely short time).

So if you’d like to learn my ways, then definitely check out Product Creation Made Easy where I’ll show you how to ideate, create, and launch profitable products in 21 days or less.

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


George Lucas bled on the page every time he had to write

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As a young lad and still widely unknown director, George Lucas didn’t have the luxury of hiring screenwriters—or any other writer, for that matter.

So he had to go and write everything himself.

Which turned out to be an absolute nightmare for him. In fact, the writing has always been a disaster for him. From the first time he ever tried to write a screenplay up until the last and most recent word he ever wrote down.

He even mentioned as much himself by once having said in an interview, “I can be chained to my desk and I still can’t write it.”

This obviously didn’t make his life any easier.

But, there was hope.

In fact, one of his early friends and mentors was Francis Ford Coppola himself. At one point Lucas and Coppola were touring around, driving to all sorts of locations, filming together for Coppola’s latest project at that time.

At the same time, however, Lucas was working on writing the script of what would become THX 1138.

He wasn’t making any progress at all.

Rewriting scene after scene, never getting any proper ideas, always getting stuck on certain parts, and just never seeming to have the creativity or even the motivation to create a good, well-written, thought-out, and coherent script.

That’s until Coppola gave him the following piece of advice (referring to writing the first draft): “

Don’t ever read what you’ve written. Try to get it done in a week or two, then go back and fix it.. you just keep fixing it.”

This meant, just picking up his pen, writing everything that came to mind, never looking back, never making adjustments, just keep on going, keep on writing, and whatever comes out of out, comes out of it.

Only after you have created a first draft, that’s when you’re allowed to go back and start improving or changing things you’ve written.

That said.

The same principle applies to everything else that needs creating.

For example, that new digital product you’d like to create.

Honestly, I’ve seen countless of people trying to create a product only to spend months, sometimes years on the product, only to create a sub-par deliverable that could’ve been made in a few weeks (if they even finish it in the first place).

The worst part?

It could’ve been easily avoided by having (and following) a proper framework that guides you on how to easily ideate, create, and launch a digital product in 21 days or less.

A framework like I teach in Product Creation Made Easy for example.

In fact, I’ve dedicated one whole module to this exact issue (and the solution to actually getting more work done in less time when it comes to creating your product).

If you’d like to learn more about it, then check it out here: https://alexvandromme.com/product


I lied

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In yesterday’s email, I made the exciting “pre-announcement” that I’ll be announcing something super exciting today.

So exciting in fact, some people already reached out to me with their (correct) prediction of what is was.

But it turns out I lied.

Or more so, life got in the way and I underestimated the amount of things I still needed to do before I could make this announcement the right way while making sure everything is ok and ready to go.

The irony is that I often teach people about the dangers of overly relying on a plan—as plans are nothing more than guidelines, and as practical experience will teach you, nothing ever goes as planned.

Which doesn’t mean plans are useful—far from it.

But that’s just life.

Anyway.

If all goes well, I should be able to make this terribly exciting and amazing announcement tomorrow, or at the very least the day after (more likely tomorrow though).

In the meantime, keep your eyes open for the next email you’ll receive.

I won’t ask you to pay attention to anything else of mine, not a single other offer—that’s how important this coming announcement will be.

Cheers.


Non-money-related reasons to write emails

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In no particular order:

  • It’s incredibly fun and fulfilling

  • Writing emails brings forth more ideas and inspiration which can be used for other projects

  • You get to do whatever you want, whenever you want it, without any platform limitations

  • Your own email list is probably the closest thing you’ll ever got to free speech on a large scale

  • Allows you to talk to and bond with tons of people across many walks of life individually with the benefits of large scale efficiency

  • Incredibly easy to do—especially if you’ve been doing it for a long time already—making it the perfect way to start your day off right by checking something off your to-do list

  • Everything you write is reusable in some way, giving you unlimited benefits that keep scaling indefinitely the longer you do it

  • The best way to notify people about important announcements

Announcements such as the one you’ll see tomorrow.

See keep your eyes open for that one.


In need of a new fantasy book to read

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It’s that time again.

I’ve finished reading A Clash Of Kings, the second book in the A Song of Fire And Ice series, also known as Game of Thrones.

The book itself was about 800 pages, which shouldn’t have taken me that long.

But I have this habit of always reading multiple books at once—around 8–12 most of the time.

Why do I do this?

It helps me to stay disciplined in my reading habit. Whenever I don’t feel like reading a certain book, I’ve got a handful of others to choose from.

So no matter what mood I’m in or if I don’t feel like reading a specific book that day, I’ll still get my daily reading in (A nice and rather unexpected consequence is how it also helps me make better connections between different topics I’m reading about)

Doing it this way allows me to get through a lot more reading each month than I would otherwise.

The secret isn’t to read fast (I’d argue reading slower is better), nor is it to spend half your day reading.

No.

The secret is best described by the man, the myth, the legend, Rocky Balboa himself, when training Adonis in the movie Creed.

“One step at a time, one punch at a time, one round at a time.”

And so it is for reading, business, and life as a whole.

The goal for most important things in life isn’t to win, it’s to keep playing the game one step at a time.

Another way I’ve been applying this “one step at a time” mentality is with email.

Just one simple email a day, for months, years, or even decades straight has the power to change your entire life.

So why not give it a try yourself?

Check out Email Valhalla here to see what all the fuss is about: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla


How to enjoy doing the stuff you dislike

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A fair warning first.

I’m no psychologist, therapist, or any other type of person who formally studied any of this.

I can only tell you about my experience.

But if you pick something you don’t enjoy doing (yet don’t absolutely despise doing either) and just do a lot of it?

Well then you’ll slowly but surely start becoming better at it.

A lot better even in certain cases.

You’ll start to discover the hidden intricacies of the skill you’re pursuing and you’ll start to appreciate everything you’re doing—and can do—a whole lot more.

Which almost always leads to you starting to like and sometimes even come to love what you’re doing.

It’s extremely rare that your enjoyment doesn’t increase when you actually put in the time and effort to develop the skillset and understanding that goes along with what you’re doing.

And so it is for writing emails (or any other form of writing even).

The more you do it, the better you’ll become, and the more fun you’ll have.

This brings me to remind you of my flagship course Email Valhalla which will show you how to write extremely quick and easy emails that get you paid and keep your readers reading for years to come.

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


Brandon Sanderson’s 3-question character writing rule

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The quality of a story depends almost entirely upon the quality of the characters and their development.

Even more so if your story is told from the perspective of one main character the audience follows throughout the story. No matter how deep you explore real-life relatable topics, how detailed your worldbuilding is, how new and exciting your magic system is, or how epic your large-scale battles are, none of it will help you if the characters are lifeless, unrelatable, and devoid of true meaning, emotion, or ambition.

Writing good characters, however, is a whole art in itself.

But, luckily you can get almost 80% of the way there by simply asking yourself the following three questions, which I’ve first heard mentioned by Brandon Sanderson, best-selling author known for his works such as the Mistborn series or the Stormlight Archive (as well as many, many more):

  1. What does your character desperately want?

  2. What does your character need?

  3. Why can’t they have both?

Answering this will not only set you up with a good, lifelike character, but if done correctly, it could potentially help you create your entire story from start to finish with just these three questions in mind.

More.

You could ask the same question about your readers/customers/clients/whoever and come up with interesting and valuable information about how to 1) treat them as best you can and 2) dramatically improve your business because of it.

Hell, I’d even argue this could be the base of your entire marketing strategy.

  1. What does your average customer want?

  2. What does he actually need?

  3. What stopping you from giving them both of these?

Figure out the answers to these questions, entice your customers with what they think they want, then include the thing they actually want, and you’ll have yourself your golden ticket to success.

Let’s take you as an example.

I’m guessing, since you’re on my email list, you’d want to earn more money selling your own products, books, courses, art, services, whatever. But what you actually need is a simple and reliable way to get your stuff in front of your target audience so you can make sales while focusing on the stuff you do best—creating.

Well, the thing that’s been stopping me so far from giving you both is the fact that my paid ad course (which would give you both of these things) isn’t out yet… but it’s almost here!

All that’s left to do is for you to wait a little while longer and for me to finish the last bits and pieces of the course.

So definitely keep an eye out for that.

In the meantime, check out my flagship course, Email Valhalla, which makes for an extremely powerful—and profitable—addition on top of said paid ads course I’ll be releasing shortly.

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


The more, the merrier

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Last night I read a post by a new first-time self-published author who struggled to sell his debut novel.

He just couldn’t figure out how to advertise, market, and sell his book—far from a new and original tale obviously.

But this situation was different.

As I continued on reading I noticed that this person wasn’t ‘struggling’ with his marketing in the usual sense (i.e., pouring his heart and soul into it without seeing any results). No, this time he was getting results.

Quite decent results, in fact.

The problem was he wanted more. He wanted—as he called them—die-hard fans and lifelong readers, or in other words… repeat buyers.

I hope you already noticed the problem here…

But in case you don’t, the guy only just released his first novel. How can you expect to get lifelong fans, let alone “repeat buyers” if you only have one thing to sell??

This reminded me of the following fun, useful, and maybe somewhat obvious (but not obvious enough that everyone thinks about it) lesson: the more stuff you have to sell, the more money you’ll make.

It’s as simple as that.

Straightforward, simple, and effective.

I’ve realized this early on in my career as well.

Not only will you create fans who love your stuff so much they buy everything you put out, no matter what it is, but you’ll also be able to convert people, complete newcomers in your world, so much easier and with a higher average order value (the average amount of money a new customer pays you on their very first purchase) because of all the upsells, downsells, cross-sells, bonuses, bundles & packages, and future email sequences selling the next thing you already have in place.

There’s this saying I first heard from Ben Settle, who probably heard it from someone else, “To make more money than you do now, simply create more content than you do now, faster than you do now.”

That’s easily proven true by seeing how much more profitable it is to sell a trilogy series compared to three standalone novels.

That’s just how it goes around here.

Anyway.

If this got you thinking, “damn I’d like to create some more things to sell, but I don’t know how, let alone if I even have the time for it”, then worry not my cheeky little pumpkin pie.

Because I’ve got just the thing for you.

Let me introduce you to one of my best-selling, highly effective, and currently most expensive item on the menu, “Product Creation Made Easy”. It’ll teach you the ins and outs of product creation, including how to ideate, create, and launch profitable digital products in 21 days or less.

All of which can make for great additions to treat your customers and readers even better.

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


The best confusing piece of advice for new and upcoming writers

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When asked about advice for new and upcoming writers, the great George R. R. Martin often goes into a story about how, when he was still a “new and upcoming writer”, he’d get advice along the lines of, “Write what you know.”

This always confused him.

Because here he is, wanting to write about dragons, medieval empires, large-scale military battles, lots of politics, shady spy networks, and all kinds of weird and ancient magic. Yet he’s told to “write what he knows”, which, strangely enough, doesn’t include any of the above, let alone dragons and magic.

Fair enough, right?

But it wasn’t until George got older, wiser, and more experienced that he truly started to understand the meaning and intention behind “Write what you know”.

It’s not so much about the big central topic as it is about the underlying emotions and relationships that carry the story—after all, as the great Chris Claremont, who single-handedly revived the entire X-Men series when nobody thought anything of it and turned it into the giant that it is today, used the say, “the fights are bullshit”

For example:

You might not know anything about dragons, magic, or the ruling of kingdoms but you might know how it feels to be disconnected from a loved one, to be scared to death not knowing if you’ll ever see a relative again during a period of war and chaos, to be raised in a broken family full of alcohol and abuse, or even to do everything you can, hoping for someone to tell you they’re proud of you, only it feels like nothing is ever good enough.

Those are the things you know which you should write about.

Do this right and other people will be able to relate to a dragon-riding, empire-ruling, 5,000-year-old vampire assassin. Because it’s never about what’s on the cover. It’s always been about what’s underneath.

Coincidentally, “Write what you know” isn’t only good fiction writing advice.

It’s good writing advice in general, including writing emails that get you paid and keep your readers coming back day after day.

If that’s something you’d like to learn more about, then check out Email Valhalla here: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla


My long-forgotten past of playing the social media content creator

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I used to be active on Twitter (I’m never calling it X) for over a year until I got banned and then player around on LinkedIn for a while.

But I’m no longer active on either.

Or any other social media for that matter.

I realized that I don’t actually enjoy the whole social media content creator thing as much anymore. A lot of stuff I read feels (and often is) fake.

It’s all the same dumbed-down information (if it isn’t outright BS advice that’s actively hurting every single person who’s reading it).

Don’t get me wrong.

Social media can be a good thing. It’s a tool like any other, after all.

It’s probably one of the best practice fields for newcomers.

But it shouldn’t be the only thing people depend on. In fact, you shouldn’t depend on it at all.

I’ve seen so many people fall into the social media echo chamber only never to get out again. They skip (or simply forget to learn) so many business fundamentals necessary for their career.

But that’s not even the worst part.

What’s by far the biggest danger is how it feels like you’re doing stuff and achieving something, while in reality, you probably aren’t.

Likes, shares, and follows feels nice. Sure. And so do, one-off clients here and there.

But recurring and predictable revenue, something most social media content creators don’t have, is a whole lot nicer.

So how do you get recurring and predictable revenue?

Well, some ways include but are not limited to, running paid ads, getting on podcasts, driving traffic to your website, writing articles, working on SEO, getting referrals, and so on.

The key here is, however, to make your email list the center of everything.

As the saying goes, “All roads lead to email”.

And if you want to learn how to build and monetize that email list effectively, then check out Email Valhalla here: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla