(Originally written March 9th 2024 as my first e-mail newsletter)
Throughout December (2023) I was wondering what new resolution I’ll come up with and ultimately fail, as most people do.
Gym is too obvious. Writing is my passion and I’ve attempted plenty of resolutions to write so many words a day or post so many updates per week on my blog.
This year was different.
2023 was an awful year for me.
While writing this newsletter I began writing why exactly 2023 was so awful and it added up to almost 2,000 words. It just poured out of me. So I will release my year from hell in a separate newsletter within the next week.
A piece of advice that I wasn’t planning to give when I started writing this:
Write about your hard times.
Whether from the past or something you are currently going through.
Let it all out.
You will feel better.
Then read it all in your head, add more if needed. You will fell even better.
Then go back and read it out loud. You will feel better still.
Just reiterating to yourself what you have made it through will remind you how strong you are.
You are right to feel pride in surviving where many may not have come through the other side.
Now back to when I was trying to figure out my New Year’s resolution for 2024.
Inspired largely by the advice I saw on YouTube (mostly Dan Koe and Alex Hermozi) I decided my focus has to be building a personal brand. There are multiple products and services I am interested in and the chances of those being successful are much higher if I have a following that knows and appreciates me.
I decided in December that come January 1st I would join X and post at least once every day.
There are two red flags that immediately jump out at me and I assume you see them too?
Why not just join that day in December instead of waiting until January 1st ?
And how arrogant must I be to think a brand new account with zero followers could post once a day and build a following?
I made mistakes before I even started.
And then guess what happened. January 1st was a busy day and I never got round to joining X.
It wasn’t a priority yet and I could just do it tomorrow. Poor attitude.
I returned to work on January 2nd , at roughly 6pm I finished work and headed back to the hotel I would be staying in and then finally joined X.
I uploaded an old photo of me and, at 7:10pm I sent my first post.
Imagine my shock when I woke up the next morning and didn’t have 100,000 fans throwing money at me.
January 3rd I didn’t get around to posting. On the 4th I did. This level of inconsistency and low effort continued until February 14th when I got my first like. I’d only posted twice in the previous two weeks and decided I need to start taking this seriously.
February 15th I posted, reposted others work, commented on others posts and sent a few DM’s.
This got my first 7 followers.
The next day I did more of the same and got 8 more followers.
3 days later I had 49 followers.
3 days later I had 70.
It took another week to get to 100. First big milestone.
In 15 days of effort (around long days at work), by March 1st , I went from 0 followers to 100.
100 is not a big number in the grand scheme of things but when you’re stuck on zero for six weeks it feels monumental.
6 days later I hit 154. And in two more days since then (at the time of writing: 6pm) I’ve found myself on 170.
By Monday I aim to be on 200 followers. I may well fall short but I will hit that target soon. And then I’m on to the next goal.
Now I am almost at 200 followers it is time I level up.
Zero followers to 200 followers I have been largely figuring it out by myself what works while loosely following the advice I see on other’s posts.
From 200 to 500 I plan to deep dive in to the techniques used by larger accounts and stepping up my game.
This newsletter is my first step.
Consistently send my newsletter multiple times a week delivering entertainment, information, advice and the odd nugget of wisdom here and there.
I must admit I’m skeptical how many people will open a newsletter in their email and take the time to read it but it’s clearly a technique that works for others.
All I can do is be consistent and improve over time until my newsletter is the best around and people actively look forward to receiving it.
Next comes my first giveaway.
I have a great idea with a USP that bigger accounts have vetted and been impressed by.
Let’s hope it does well. Even if it doesn’t we continue on.
A couple of giveaways per month will supplement paid guides that go more in depth.
Then I’ll dust off my old whistle because Coach Mike will be entering the arena.
Exciting times ahead friends. I hope you will all stick around to enjoy it and more than that I sincerely hope I’m able to help you someday, directly or indirectly.
Thank you,
Mike
And remember;
You + Me = You+
(This is a tagline I‘m thinking of implementing, specifically for the coaching, let me know what you think)