Howdy Reader! There's passive income, like dividends and interest. Then there's residual income, like royalties, commissions, and product sales. This week I sold a couple more copies of my Obsidian Starter Kit for Content Creators. Three dollars and sixty-two cents, after fees. It's proof of concept income, but not "I can quit now" income. The main driver, all other things being equal, is traffic. More people visiting the sales page means more sales, other things being equal. By doing more of...
2 days ago • 1 min read
Howdy Reader! Dick Van Dyke turns 100 today. He's in a class all his own, of course. But even just considering his age, he's still in an elite group: Only 1 in about 5,000 people in the US live to 100. A hundred years, as long as that is, is only 5,217 weeks. For us "mere mortals," we might get around 4,000. Every TGIF ticks one of those weeks off the calendar. Make sure they count! Let's grow together! ~ John P.S. Check out my writing on Medium Note: Some links in this email may be affiliate...
3 days ago • 1 min read
Howdy Reader! Reddit is huge. Redditors are also very savvy and can smell BS a mile away. I've been commenting over there in a few subreddits. No selling, no plugging, just being helpful. This is the counterintuitive part: It's less going out to find people than it is people finding you. That's how I'm interacting with people to do deals. They see what I write, and reach out to me. Pay it forward! Let's grow together! ~ John P.S. Check out my writing on Medium Note: Some links in this email...
4 days ago • 1 min read
Howdy Reader! How do you sell a $97 product? I actually don't know. I haven't sold one yet. But I am selling a $3 product. (Here it is.) Three sales have come in from articles I've written. That's the first step: Selling a low-priced product. I get some customer feedback, and build the product out. Then I'd sell that version for $9. Rinse, and repeat, and I'd sell it for $19. Then $47. Then $97. Sell something small as proof of concept, then build it up. Let's grow together! ~ John P.S. Check...
5 days ago • 1 min read
Howdy Reader! After last night's email, I got a message from my client. He asked how my week was going. He also mentioned that I was up late last night. Because he reads my newsletter. To be fair, he's a good friend and we've encouraged one another for a while. But it's a helpful reminder that emails, comments, likes, whatever aren't the whole story. Those are the indications you can see. Beyond that, though, there are more people that are reading or watching what you do. So the post that...
6 days ago • 1 min read
Howdy Reader! I'll make an admission to you. Right now it's 3:21 AM, and I'm writing this newsletter. It's been close to an hour, going back and forth from different websites frantically in search of some idea. Then I looked at the timer I don't use nearly enough. I finally set my Secura timer for 5 minutes to get it done. And I found something to talk about in that time. Deadlines work. Let's grow together, even if it's ugly. ~ John P.S. Check out my blog or my writing on Medium Note: Some...
7 days ago • 1 min read
Howdy Reader! I've mentioned my newsletter client a few times. This one client right now is covering all of my tool expenses right now. Months -- years? -- of being in the red is turned around right now. My first payment was in November. You can see my expenses monthly in my income and loss reports. I might miss my profitability target for 2025. But I'll be on track in 2026. Let's grow together! ~ John P.S. Check out my blog or my writing on Medium Note: Some links in this email may be...
9 days ago • 1 min read
Howdy Reader! My writing when I started blogging was boring. Long paragraphs with little direction. Like walking around a sad, beige clothing show. I could get away with that kind of writing back then. Not anymore. There are too many good options now. I've changed my writing style to be more effective. Certainly more to the point, more precise. My newsletter client likes how this writing style speaks to his prospects. Here's the secret, though: I learned this from a short, tactical read by...
10 days ago • 1 min read
Howdy Reader! Here's a really simple trick to get out of a rut. Put something in its place. Anything. Finished a can of soda and the empty can is still on your desk? Toss it in the recycling. Then you'll see the pencil you got out that needs to go back in the cup on your desk. And that book that you were looking something up in for an article. Back on the bookshelf it goes. Now ... doesn't that feel a bit better? A little less environmental clutter? Maybe you can start on that article now....
11 days ago • 1 min read