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:

Have you ever stayed in a relationship longer than you should’ve?

You know what I mean. At first, it’s all fun and passion. You’re waking up excited, text messages flying, commissions rolling in. Then—bam—it starts to feel like work. Like grinding-your-teeth-at-night kind of work.

That’s exactly what it’s like when you’re deep in a niche that used to be fun, but now it just sucks the life outta you.

I’ve been there.

One time, I was doing great in a niche. Money was still good. But things started shifting—regulations changed, and suddenly every email I wrote felt like a tightrope walk over a legal pit of fire.

I wasn’t looking forward to the commissions anymore.

I was dreading the drama.

So I did what most people don’t do—I left.

But here’s the thing…

I didn’t just walk away cold turkey. That’s a rookie move. Like quitting your job before your side hustle earns more than Starbucks money.

Instead, I started building a backup niche on the side. Something small. Low risk. Just enough to test the waters and see if it could float.

Once that niche showed promise? Then I made the jump.

Because here’s the truth nobody talks about…

Building a new niche is a pain in the butt.
You’ve gotta build a list from scratch, learn a new audience, test new angles, maybe even change your voice.

Meanwhile, your old niche? That thing’s practically on autopilot. It knows you. You know it. You don’t need to make a hundred moves a day just to stay profitable. One email, one promo, boom—cash.

And that’s the tradeoff:
Comfort vs. excitement.
Profit vs. passion.
Autopilot vs. adventure.

Now, do I run multiple niches? Yeah, but barely. Two or three tops. Why?

Because I’ve got two kids in private school, investments to manage, and a business that still needs steering.

I’m a one-track-mind kinda guy.
Too many niches = burnt-out Igor.
And burnt-out Igor = bad business.

So if you’re thinking about jumping ship from your current niche, don’t just look at the stress.
Look at your backup plan.
If it’s not already making you money—or at least proving that it can—then you’re not ready to bounce.

Otherwise, you’ll go from stressed… to broke… to desperate.
And desperate people don’t make good decisions.

So next time your niche starts feeling like a dead-end relationship, ask yourself:

Is it really time to break up—or do you just need a little side hustle flirtation to keep things spicy?

There’s a moment when every trapped 9–5er realizes:
“I’m trading my life for crumbs… while others eat the feast.” I hit that wall. Then I built a $20M email system—and I wrote a book about it. The List Building Lifestyle (AI Edition) walks you through how I built an 8-figure biz using nothing but email… and how you can do the same, even if you’re starting from zero.

And now—with the help of smart, easy-to-use AI tools—it’s even faster and simpler to build your list, write emails, and automate your income. You can get my book free, and I’ll even throw in $3,251.88 worth of my best templates, emails, and traffic blueprints. Just cover shipping.

Let me ask you something:
Are we in a recession right now?

Depends on who you ask.

Turn on the news, and it’s all doom and gloom.
Gas is up, stocks are down, and people are crying in the aisles at Costco.
But step into a room full of top online marketers?
You’ll think we’re in the middle of a gold rush.

Same planet. Same economy. Different perspective.

See, most people are looking at their surroundings like they’re peering into an empty Coca-Cola bottle.

They’ve been sipping on some success, maybe they had a decent launch once, got a few good clients…
Then one day, boom—the bottle’s empty.
Panic mode activated.
“Where’s the next Coke gonna come from?!”

But here’s the shift:
The fridge is always full… if you believe there’s a fridge.

That’s not motivational fluff. That’s a business reality.
Because when you believe there’s more out there—more clients, more buyers, more cash—you start acting like it.

You don’t hesitate.
You don’t delay.
You don’t shrink into a corner and say, “Nobody’s buying right now.”

Instead, you walk into that metaphorical store and grab another damn bottle of Coke.

It’s all mindset.

Your environment isn’t just the economy or the industry.
It’s what you’re chLet me ask you something uncomfortable:

Are you the wealthiest, smartest, most ambitious person in your circle?

If so… that’s a massive problem.

See, we all live in what I call the “observable universe.”
And no, I’m not getting all astrophysics on you (though I did recently nerd out to a Neil deGrasse Tyson talk). I’m talking about your personal, financial universe—the bubble you live in.

For a long time, my bubble was broken.
Not just financially, but mentally.

I grew up in post-Soviet Ukraine, where the only people with money were criminals. So to me, money was always tied to something dirty, dangerous, or downright impossible. Honest work? That barely kept the lights on.

That was my observable universe.
No matter how hard I worked, my mind had a ceiling—because my world did.

Then I started traveling. Reading. Meeting people who weren’t just making money, but printing it in ways that seemed unreal to me.

I walked into rooms with guys who sold companies for $50 million while I was still hustling for five figures. And you know what I realized?

They weren’t smarter.
They weren’t better looking.
Half of them were socially awkward weirdos.

But they were living in a bigger universe.

A universe where making $1M/month wasn’t insane—it was Tuesday.

That shook me.

At first, my ego screamed, “Nah… they must be cheating.” Because admitting someone cracked a code I hadn’t? That stung. But after that emotional sting wore off, something more powerful took over: possibility.

I started asking better questions.
I started modeling smarter systems.
And most importantly—I stopped accepting my current level as “the top.”

You don’t need to be a genius.
You don’t need to build a unicorn startup.
But you do need to get in rooms with people who make you feel like a baby deer on rollerblades.

That discomfort is the sign you’re expanding.
That’s the universe stretching.

You want to 2X, 5X, or 10X your income?
Expand your world.
Get in proximity to people who’ve already done it.

Your future is out there.
But you’ll never reach it if you stay orbiting the same broke-ass moon.

What if the fastest path to authority isn’t years of experience, but the willingness to ship what others are too afraid to publish? 

In this episode, I sat down with Csaba Borzási, the copywriter who transformed from student to expert by breaking down legendary sales letters and teaching what he learned, proving that authority is claimed, not granted.

We dive deep into how Csaba built his authority through daily sales letter breakdowns, why he replaced 80% of his lead magnets with a single filtering book, and the neuroscience behind his “Belief Shifting Emails” that rewire subscribers' brains.

Plus, the truth about AI copywriting that most experts won’t reveal, and how Csaba leverages it without losing his human edge.

Let me be blunt:

Most people plan their weekends better than they plan their lives.

They’ve got dinner reservations, movie times, and laundry rotations on lock—but ask them what their intentions are for the next year, and they stare like a deer in a Tesla’s headlights.

That’s where this little gem of a book comes in.

The Intentional Year isn’t your typical fluff-filled “live your best life” manual. This book punches right through your fog of busy-ness and helps you stop reacting to life—and start directing it.

Holly and Glenn Packiam lay out a simple framework to reclaim your focus in four key areas: spiritual, relational, vocational, and restorative.
Think of it like setting GPS coordinates for your soul, your wallet, your calendar, and your sanity—all at once.

It’s honest.
It’s practical.
And it’ll smack you with some uncomfortable truths (the good kind that make you grow).

This isn’t about productivity hacks.
It’s about building a life that actually aligns with what matters.

Read it before another year flies by and you find yourself wondering what the hell happened between January and December.

You meet me once when money drops,

But judge me wrong, and growth just stops.

I stretch across the months and years,

The loyal spend, the silent cheers.

Who am I?

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