Joe Schrieffer runs things at Agora Financial Publishing. They’re one of the most successful paid newsletter companies on the planet. And he said something that stopped me cold. Because I’ve been there. Done that. Got the bestselling author badge on Substack. Hundreds of paid subscribers in three months. You know what I see constantly? Self-proclaimed…
Every course I’ve run since 2010. Fully booked. In-person courses sell out in days. Online workshops fully booked. I once had 1,300 members in a single membership site. Want to know the secret? It’s not complicated. I used my email list. An asset I own and control. Here’s what most people get wrong about email…
Social media wants metrics. I want your list growing. Every platform is designed to keep you moving. Swipe, scroll, click, consume. The algorithm rewards speed. Post three times daily. Engage constantly. Stay visible or disappear. You’re renting attention instead of owning relationships. People see your post. They might even like it. Then they’re gone, onto…
Most marketing is manipulative rubbish. You know it. I know it. Your audience definitely knows it. But here’s the thing…it doesn’t have to be. I call my approach open heart marketing. It’s exactly what it sounds like: promotion that’s transparent, respectful, and actually aligns with who you are. Different to the usual bollocks, right? When…
I bought something I shouldn’t have. A book about building a Substack newsletter. From someone who felt… off. Too much hype. Too much promise. But I was curious about the person, not the content. Big mistake. Here’s what happened next. Before I’d even opened the bloody thing, my inbox exploded. “Bonuses.” “Limited-time offers.” “Special deals…
Here’s the thing about Substack. They’re not playing for you. They’re playing for their private investors. And whilst you’re patting yourself on the back for building an audience, they’re taking 10% of everything you earn and quietly locking you inside their gilded cage. Independence? Freedom? Forget it. I learned this the hard way. Let me…
Here’s the thing about selling books. The harder I tried, the worse it got. So I refuse to use popups, countdown timers, fake scarcity theatre designed to panic people into buying. Instead, just honest work, offered quietly. And it works. Better than any hack I ever learnt. I call it Open Heart Marketing. OHM for…
Here’s what I’ve learned about writing. The biggest enemy isn’t a blank page. It’s your own brain. You type a sentence. Read it back. Delete half of it. Rewrite. Read again. Tinker. Overthink. And suddenly an hour’s gone and you’ve got three decent sentences to show for it. Sound familiar? That’s exactly why Do Not…