You might be reading from me occasionally so didn't notice, but ...

I was taking a Summer holiday break!

I stopped pressing the gas pedal. I traveled to Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City. I even explored a new dadhood project and quit! Which by the way, was an amazing way to recharge.

I highly recommend giving yourself a bit of room each year to mess with something completely different and new.

But if I'm being honest with you, I felt weird.

I didn't write many emails or social posts. You know that feeling when you wonder if people still remember you? I felt that.

My reach on X and Threads has been down. Make sense. For these platforms, if you don't interact with people, your posts don't get shown as much.

That's okay. Cause I can always send emails to the people who want to hear from me. So 3 weeks ago, I sent one email.

Just like everyone, you would think that fewer people would open or even react to this one email because they semi-forgot about me.

The reality?

Based on the stats, I have the best email written in the last few months!

What does this say?

An email list is still the most important asset for your business.

It is not just about selling through emails. It is about having direct access to the right people whenever you want to.

On the flip side, as an author of a Twitter/X book, I can say that social media is a tool for other objectives. You need to be okay with the ups and downs. It is more for a "burst" kind of effort, like when you have an exciting new project and you want to take a few months to build up the momentum.

But a common problem is that you don't have a big enough email list to write to. I've seen people who say "Tomorrow I'm sending all these amazing stuff to 164 subscribers, so subscribe now!"

Hold on! I'm not saying that's a terrible size. Everyone has to start small ("Small" School right?) It is just that it can get very frustrating when you are only growing 1-2 subscribers every week.

If you don't improve it, soon you'll feel like it is not worth your time and quit it. That's the sad reality. I feel that all the time with my YouTube channel.

So don't be like everyone else. They always focus on making the emails more valuable. But for you, you need to first solve the email subscriber acquisition problem.

Your content is fine. You don't have a content problem.

You don't have enough people coming in. That's an acquisition problem.

It's kind of like people who buy expensive gear and set up a fancy studio before they even record the first video. "Hey friend, no one is even watching your video, so why waste all the money and effort?"

About acquisition. This is where you might pull your hair out trying to create a brand new lead magnet. Ah, don't do this.

One, you absolutely don't need to create something from scratch. Two, if you always go to "creating a new lead magnet" by default to solve an acquisition problem, you are digging yourself into a hole.

I always see my friend, Josh Spector, reply to people on X saying something like — if you are not selling, a big reason is that you are not bringing in the right people.

When you jump around creating a lead magnet, you are likely attracting all kinds of people, not your ideal customers.

If your monetization strategy is to sell programs and courses like me, basically knowledge products, then you have to establish yourself as a teacher. (I know, you might not like the word teacher, but you are teaching.)

Reader, so what's the best kind of lead magnet to help you do that?

My favorite is a free email course.

You pitch a clear value to strangers so they are 10x more likely to subscribe. You show up and share every day for a week. You help them create a habit of reading your emails.

The best kind. Seriously.

When you have a signature email course that connects well to your low-ticket and premium products, you have a profitable business model.

I know so many people want to create a free email course but have been dragging it out for a long time.

Are you dragging it? This might help.​

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Cheers,
Kevon

So my friend brought me to this Bánh Mì place in Ho Chi Minh City and I was shocked by the long line of Grab drivers (see below). This is Momentum Marketing at its finest! Who doesn't want to try it now?

We were queuing for a good 25 minutes and we talked about how a shop like this always dies when it opens a new branch.

What's my "business lesson" to you? You go figure!

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