Welcome to another issue of the no-BS newsletter dedicated to demystifying the world of passive income, where we share practical, reliable strategies to build and sustain income streams that work for you.

If you want to help someone else make money while they sleep, forward this email to them.

In today's issue:

Let me take you back to a time when I was getting my butt kicked by a… book.

Not someone else’s book. My own book.

Yeah, the one many of you have read—The List Building Lifestyle: Confessions of an Email Millionaire—almost didn’t happen. And I’m not talking about a lack of ideas. Hell, I was drowning in content. I had webinars, blog posts, thousands of emails… I could write in my sleep.

But I couldn’t write the damn book.

The problem wasn’t time. I told myself it was, but that was a lie I fed myself to feel better about procrastinating. The real issue? I hadn’t made it a priority.

That’s when I stumbled on a tiny little book by Craig Ballantyne called The Perfect Day Formula. It introduced me to something deceptively simple but utterly game-changing:

– The First Hour Rule.

It’s this: Whatever your most important goal is—give it the first hour of every single day. Not your second. Not “after I check emails.” Not “once I’m caffeinated and inspired.” First. Freaking. Hour.

So I tried it. I carved out that hour. No distractions. No “urgent fires.” Just me and the manuscript.

Within 21 days, the book was done.

Okay, okay… the first draft was done. It was basically a user manual for building an email list—dry as toast and twice as boring. But the key takeaway? I finished something I’d been stuck on for months.

That’s the power of the first hour.

I later rewrote the book in 12 days. Why? Same strategy. First hour, every day, no excuses.

Since then, I’ve passed this rule on to my team. One woman in particular—smart, talented, competent—struggled with momentum. She’d crush it one week and totally flake the next. I showed her the first hour principle, and BAM—consistency. Projects started flowing. Results followed. Confidence soared.

Now, don’t get me wrong. We all have off weeks. We’re not robots. But this little habit? It smooths out the highs and lows. It makes progress predictable.

Here’s the kicker:

You don’t need more hours in the day. You need to give your best hour to what matters most.

Stop lying to yourself about “not having time.” You have the time. You’re just feeding it to TikTok, email pings, and that shiny new software that promises to automate your life but actually just sucks up your brainpower.

You want to finally build that list? Write that book? Launch that product?

First. Hour. Every. Day.

Your future self will thank you.

There’s a window in every online entrepreneur’s life where they ask:

“Why the hell am I working so hard… and still not making real money?”

I hit that wall years ago. Then I built something that flipped the script.

I wrote this short book to show you exactly what I did — the system I still use today to turn emails into income, without chasing trends or dancing for clicks.

And yeah — it costs less than gas to get to work.

But don’t let the price fool you.

This isn’t a book you buy. It’s a fork in the road.

Let’s talk about something seductive.
And dangerous.
And stupidly deceptive.

Giveaways.

Yeah, those magical little list-building unicorns that promise you floods of subscribers in exchange for… well, giving away stuff.

Sounds like a win-win, right?
You give people free goodies, they give you their email address, everyone high-fives and skips into six-figure happiness.

Except they don’t.

Because there’s something no one tells you about giveaways until it’s too late.

They don’t just attract subscribers.
They attract the worst kind of subscribers.

Freebie zombies.

People who have zero intention of buying, clicking, or even reading your stuff. They’re just in it for the loot. And once you’ve got 10,000 of those soul-sucking leads on your list, guess what?

You don’t have a business.

You’ve got a dumpster fire that costs you money and slowly eats away at your motivation.

Ask me how I know.

I ran giveaways. I hustled, I mailed, I played the game. And you know what I got?
A list full of broke browsers, click-happy freeloaders, and inbox overload.

My autoresponder bill went up.
My open rates tanked.
And worse? I pissed off my actual loyal subscribers by flooding their inboxes with noise.

All because I fell for the quick-fix fantasy.

And this right here—that’s the mindset trap.

Thinking shortcuts = smart.

They don’t.
Shortcuts make you lazy. They make you dependent. And worst of all, they blur your vision from what actually works:

The truth? A small, responsive list will always crush a bloated, zombie-filled one.
Giveaways may look like a clever growth hack, but they’re really a growth trap in disguise.

So next time you’re tempted by “fast and easy,” remember this:

If it’s easy to get, it’s probably not worth having.

Think long term. Think high quality.
And most importantly—don’t build your business on the backs of freeloaders.

In today’s fast-paced world of media buying, the key to success lies in collaboration, strategy, and long-term commitment. 

In this episode, media buying expert David Schloss from Convert ROI shares his wealth of knowledge on how to effectively scale your advertising campaigns. From working closely with your media buyers to tracking results and making data-driven decisions, David walks us through the essential steps for success. 

Learn how to set yourself up for growth, avoid common pitfalls, and build lasting partnerships that deliver results. If you’re ready to take your ads to the next level, this episode is for you!

If you’ve ever wondered why some people seem to attract wealth like it’s a damn magnet, while others grind for decades and barely scrape by, The Algebra of Wealth gives you a blunt—but brilliant—answer.

Scott Galloway doesn’t coddle. He doesn’t preach hustle porn. He slices through the B.S. and gives you a cold, clear formula for getting rich—not just in dollars, but in freedom.

This isn’t some rags-to-riches fantasy or “manifest your millions” fluff. It’s about four things: discipline, stoicism, time, and diversification. And it hits hard—especially if you’ve been confusing “being busy” with “getting ahead.”

Expect uncomfortable truths. Expect some ego bruising. But also? Expect clarity like you’ve never had before on what it really takes to build wealth—and why most people blow it by chasing the wrong things.

Galloway drops truth bombs about:

This book won’t hype you up. It’ll wake you up.

They arrive, they peek, then off they flee,

Spending no time with your CTAs or me.

I’m not a rejection, not quite a fight,

But I measure if your content feels right. 

What am I?

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