Howdy Reader! Organization isn't my strong suit. As music director of our church, I'm responsible for getting the music schedule ready for each service. For months, the schedule would come out only a week in advance. Not much opportunity for others to plan. So our pastor brought someone else in to help, and now the schedule is filled out through the rest of the month. But what if you don't have help? In an organization, a corporation, whatever, there are team members. But what if it's just...
1 day ago • 1 min read
Howdy Reader! One of the creators I follow on Threads said that he has his Threads posts scheduled through October. Twenty-five posts a day for several weeks. That's a nice buffer! That puts him in the driver's seat and takes a lot of stress away. Something to aspire to! Let's grow and be productive together! ~ John When you're up for it, here are some other ways I can help you: Follow me on Threads and tag me there with a question about building your online presence Check out my other...
3 days ago • 1 min read
Howdy Reader! I don't watch many shows on Netflix. It swallows up time. Ironically, one of the main characters in my current show is all about time. Whiterose I'm halfway through Mr. Robot, the psychological, cyberpunk series starring Ravi Malek, Christian Slater, and others. Whiterose, the leader of a Chinese hacker group, wears a timepiece that chimes every minute. One thousand, four hundred forty times each day. The first meeting with Whiterose in the series was scheduled for three...
4 days ago • 1 min read
Howdy Reader! A quick one today: Not being hard on yourself is top-tier self-care. Let's grow and be productive together! ~ John When you're up for it, here are some other ways I can help you: Follow me on Threads and tag me there with a question about building your online presence Check out my other writing on my blog or on Medium Learn from my current side hustle challenges on Substack Note: Some links in this email may be affiliate links, and I may earn a commission at no additional cost...
5 days ago • 1 min read
Howdy Reader! I've been playing with Reddit a bit. My friend has gotten at least one, maybe two, coaching clients from Reddit. All he does is comment on posts close to his niche. He pays it forward. So I tried my hand at it I made a few comments, and chatted in a few DMs, offering a look at people's product pages. Mostly no upvotes or a small number of upvotes. No big deal, I'm doing it to build trust, not get likes. Then one comment has gotten 75 likes so far It was in r/SelfImprovement and...
6 days ago • 1 min read
Howdy Reader! I spent a few hours this weekend with a sales rep, being sold an add-on solar system. He's 29, is a high-up in his company, and owns nine rental properties. Quite successful already. He spoke of himself this way: "Wasting time is the biggest act of disrespect you can inflict on yourself." 29-year-old Ricky said this, and 53-year-old John winced. Time goes by once, and then it's gone, forever. Systems aren't working? Dig deeper. If even the simplest systems aren't doing what...
7 days ago • 1 min read
Howdy Reader! With content creation, consistency is so important. It's best treated like a marathon. Going all-out = burnout Most of my efforts until very recently have been a series of 120% sprints. Pound out things late at night, go, go, go ... ... and then collapse, exhausted. Recover, then go all-out again. I did it a bit again with my Threads posts. I set up auto-schedule slots in Publer to fill in a day's posts. I chose ten posts per day, and ran with it. It lasted a couple of days, and...
9 days ago • 1 min read
Howdy Reader! I've been posting on my side hustle income since the beginning of 2024. The report for August 2025 is here if you're interested: >>> Side Hustle Profit and Loss August 2025 Let's grow and be productive together! ~ John When you're up for it, here are some other ways I can help you: Follow me on Threads and tag me there with a question about building your online presence Check out my other writing on my blog or on Medium Learn from my current side hustle challenges on Substack...
10 days ago • 1 min read
Howdy Reader! A friend of mine is a six-figure freelancer. He makes his living with his words. Last night, completely unprompted, he tells me this: "[Y]ou are a very very good writer." Earlier in the week, another excellent writer I follow told me this: "Really dig how your writing is improving, my man. This is good stuff." Why, then, do I not tell myself the same thing? Often, my internal dialogue is the exact opposite of this. I don't tell myself that my writing is improving, or that I'm...
11 days ago • 1 min read