If you’re online, it’s a near certainty that you are one of the most common forms of creator nowadays.
Knowledge Worker.
I’m going out on a limb and saying that you get paid more for what you know than what you can do.
If so, let me ask you: do you have a system for keeping track of what you know, what you’re learning, and what you’re doing with it all?
If not, what do you think that’s costing you?
The bad news is if you want to be a full time solo creator, then you need to be above average in every part of your business.
The good news is that the competition is so low that it’s a lot easier to level up your skills than you think.
Here’s where you should focus to set yourself up for success in the coming year.
How do you stand out from the rest? You sure don’t do it by explaining what you do. You do it by explaining exactly how you help your perfect clients get everything they want.
This is the heart of branding.
Once you have your messaging sharp, it’s time to broadcast it far and wide.
But not too wide; you want to spend your time showing up where your clients are looking.
This means you are a one person media company. It’s up to you to figure out what topics to cover, how you’re going to cover them, and to execute your content generation at a high level.
Now that you’ve gotten the attention of your perfect client, it’s time to talk business.
If you don’t have a rock solid system to follow, you’re going to miss out on a lot of huge opportunities that you should have won.
Don’t lose to someone less skilled just because they can brag better than you.
Now we are finally at the part where you do the thing that makes you special. If you’re an expert in linoleum prints for corporate invitations, then there’s not much I can teach you about your craft.
(If you’re a performer, public speaker, or painter then we can talk.)
The more you want to do Step 4, the better you need to get at Steps 1-3.
And I want to help you with those.
These are the exact topics that I covered when clients like BP, State Farm, United Airlines, and many others brought me in.
So I want run a few small group programs to help absolute beginners, intermediate, and high level creators make more money, have more control over what projects they say yes to, and have more time on their hands.
If that sounds good to you, hit reply and let me know you’re interested. I’m keeping a small list of people who I’ll work with; I think that should be you!
I’m thankful for a lot of things. My brand new daughter, a safe delivery, the safety & wellbeing of the entire family, and I could go on for hours.
And right up at the top of that list is you. I’m thankful to have you in my life. Whether it’s simply as a member of this super secret email digest, a client, potential client, or real-life friend; I couldn’t be where I am without you in my life.
I don’t believe in being shy about this stuff and that’s why I wanted to say directly: thank you!
Hope you have a great time on Thanksgiving; however you’re going to spend it.
OH! And! I wanted to get your thoughts on an idea real quick. I’m thinking about doing a 7 day challenge at the start of 2025. It will focus on helping you get yourself set up for success in the new year & be laser focused on the absolute easiest stuff that make a massive difference. Interested? Hit reply and let me know you’re in!
Ok. That’s it for now; catch you later!
Did you know I have a YouTube channel with 5,000+ subscribers who are all dedicated to leveling up their creator & entrepreneurship skills?
I post a lot of videos about a simple note taking program called “Obsidian” which is at the heart of my entire creative process (even for the visual stuff).
Recently, Obsidian released a new tool which is a “web clipper.” It’s a browser plugin that lets you highlight stuff you find online and then import it to your notes with a click of a button.
That description is accurate, but it can be difficult to appreciate just how powerful that feature is.
So take a bit to watch the video, and if you haven’t subscribed already, consider doing that so you can be the first to know about new episodes.
Before we all drop off the map for the upcoming holiday season, I wanted to put this on your radar.
In 2025 I’ll be running two new programs.
This is for anyone who has any kind of “how to” knowledge that people want to know.
How to use Photoshop. How to change a toilet flush assembly. How to develop leadership skills. How to make more money.
Whatever!
YouTube is the 2nd most visited website on the internet and most of those are people who are looking for the answers you have.
It’s one of the best places to build your authority because the opportunity is MASSIVE but your competition isn’t going to go through the hassle of setting up a channel and make videos.
You will, however, and I’d love to work with a handful of people to get that off the ground in a small group dynamic complete with 1:1 feedback, personal guidance, and more.
My sales system has transformed highly profitable agencies into hugely profitable agencies.
It is based on powerful psychological principles that bypass the usual “This guy is trying to sell me” resistance that you can get in a normal sales dynamic.
Plus, if you are any kind of creator and you don’t think you need sales skills, then this is required for you.
If you are even halfway interested in being part of either cohorts (or both!), then hit reply and let me know. I’d like to talk with you about what you want to get done in 2025 and if this can help you make that happen, then I’d love to bring you on board.
If I don’t think it’ll do anything for you, I want to send you in the right direction with any referrals or suggestions about where you should look next.
That’s it for now; looking forward to hearing from you.
As a trade show consultant I see so many companies making the same huge mistakes over and over.
A recent client told me they were regularly investing just under $100k for each trade show they exhibited at, and they couldn’t point to any new business from it.
Turns out they were making the same mistakes that I see planners make time and time again.
Here are the top 5 that do the most damage to their bottom line:
If you don’t see why these undermine success and you’re in charge of organizing your company’s exhibitions, then we have to talk before your next show.
I’ll explore these in more detail in the near future, but as we start looking to win big in 2025, we should talk sooner rather than later!
Oh, and if you don’t plan trade shows? How is this useful?
The One Big Secret™ is that the people responsible for planning the event are too close to their business to see it clearly.
How close are you to your problems? Too close? Maybe we should talk about getting you on the right track for 2025 and your big goals.
Click reply and say hi. I’m here.
Being wrong feels like being right.
Finding out you’re wrong feels awful.
And we’re in a particularly unique moment in history right now. There are millions of people who believed the world was “This Way,” and in just under 24 hours they found out that they world was indisputably “That Way.”
What’s fascinating to notice is just how few people are recognizing that their “idea of how things are” has nothing to do with how they actually are.
Most of the people who are experiencing the discomfort of discovering a nightmare reality are not adjusting their “explanatory model of reality.”
Instead, they are doubling down on the beliefs & value systems that led them so far away from accurately understanding the world.
It’s like they stubbed their toe in the darkness and then decided to keep the lights off AND take their shoes off AND run around in the dark faster.
But, again. There are a few people who are recognizing this as an opportunity to reevaluate how they think about the world.
“I totally thought the whole world was This Way, and I’m clearly wrong, and I’m so wrong that I have no idea where to even begin getting back to reality. What do I do?”
Those people are precious.
And, to sign off, what’s interesting is this email would still be relevant no matter which way the last week went. . .
Last week a massive storm decimated the Asheville area. I live by the Asheville airport and we lost power / cell / internet for 8 days. We were trapped in our development for several days before folks could hacked at them with chainsaws.
At that point we had to drive over downed power lines, queue up at the grocery store for 2+ hours just to grab whatever was left on the shelves, and figure out how we were going to make it.
In short, it was horrible.
That being said, we pulled together with our neighbors to share resources, look out for each other, and spend time getting to know each other.
Now that the lights are back on it’s easy to think everything is returning to normal, but it will take years for everything to get buttoned up. Plus, it will be a living memory for decades to come.
If you’ve heard about all this and you’d like to help, then there are three ways I’d personally suggest.
First. Red Cross. They’re legit and they know what they’re doing. That would be the best way if you want to help, in general.
Second. Buy one of my books. I released my brand new sales book a couple days before the storm hit, and I was unable to let the world know for more than a week. So, if you’d like to give it a bump in visibility, pick up a copy and leave a review.
Third. Sign up for one of my personal media training programs. We will go over branding, marketing, sales, systems, tools, and core mentality changes you’ll need to reach your goals. Buying a book is a small step in the right direction. Getting direct / ongoing guidance is a leap forward. If you’re curious about how this might help you, hit reply to this note and let me know you’re interested. We’ll put a call on the books so we can get on the same page.
In closing, I wanted to thank you for emailing, texting, posting online, or however else you reached out to me while I was in the thick of things. It made all the difference in the world. Thank you.
The book has been approved, and the listing is now active!
That means you can go buy a copy to read, a copy to give to your friends, and one copy for your grandkids in mint condition.
Also, once you’re done, if you could give to a solid review with your thoughts, that would mean the world to me.
Reviews are the #1 way that new & potential readers decide whether or not to pick up a new book like this. So if you let them know that it’s worth their time & it could transform their life, then that would be super helpful (to them).
Launch day is SO EXCITING! I’m going to go walk in circles a bit.
Best thoughts,
~Jonathan
This screenshot means we are no farther than 72 hours away from my new book becoming a reality!
If you are in the highly lucrative world of enterprise level sales, then this will be a HUGE help. If you’ve never thought about sales, then this is required reading.
The system I lay out in this book helped one of the country’s top-two marketing agencies increase their close rate, average order size, and shortened their sales cycle. That translated to millions of dollars in more revenue over the coming years.
Knowing what this system has done for me, and then seeing what it did for them and my private coaching clients, I knew I needed to share my system with the world.
That’s what this book is all about.
AND it’s just the first in a series of 4 or 5 books. This one is focused on the first conversation. Then the second book will cover what comes after that, and each book covers another step in the process until you have a signed deal.
YES, there’s that much to be said about getting new clients who are happy, loyal, and successful with your help!
For now, let’s just focus on the discovery call.
I’ll let you know when Amazon approves it for sale, and let’s launch this thing!
