Write for YOU (vulnerable story)

I’m gonna be a bit vulnerable here for a second… I haven’t felt like writing lately. I know I need to write. I want to write. But I don’t actually want to sit down and do the writing part. I’ve sent less emails to my list over the last month than ever before. As a writer who teaches people how to write, that's almost a bit embarrassing to admit. I have legit excuses if I want to use them. I filmed my first comedy special. The prep and event itself was a lot of energy. Since then I’ve spent hours upon hours editing the special. I’ve never worked this hard on something. But… I still have plenty of time to write a daily email. And I have energy. So it’s something deeper. There's no real excuse. I’ve gone through this feeling at different points in my life. A handful of times where I didn’t want to write…most of the time I’ve just kept writing anyways. Sometimes I’ve taken little breaks. But I had a big realization as to why that happens to me. Especially this time. There’s two reasons. Number one is that I stop writing for ME. I write for others. I write what I think other people want to read about. Or I focus on what offers I should be promoting for my business, rather than just telling stories and writing about what I’m interested in at the moment. My natural interests and daily experiences should inform what I’m promoting for the most part. Not the other way around. The irony is when I try to write what I think other people want me to write, everyone loses. I lose because I’m not writing about things are truly important or interesting to me in that moment. And my audience loses because my writing is never as good as when I’m writing about what I care about. It’s actually selfish for me to try to assume what others want me to write about. It steals from everyone involved. One of my favorite things I’ve ever heard is a story from Stan Lee. The Immortal Stan Lee (the comic book god and a massive reason why Marvel took over the world) once said: "Most writers, and I think it’s an unfortunate thing, they try to write something that they think a certain audience might enjoy. I’ve never been able to do that. Because I can’t put myself in the mind of other people. I only know what I enjoy, so every time I’ve written a story, I’ve always tried to write the sort of story that I myself would enjoy reading. A story that would interest me while I’m writing it. As I’m waiting to find out what happens next. And I can’t know what other people think, but I can know what I think. I feel I’m not that unusual, if there’s a type of story I like - there must be lots of people who like the same type of stories. Therefore, I have always written to please myself, not to please a certain type of audience. Because you can’t know the audience as well as you know yourself. And if I write a story that I’m enjoying while I’m writing it and I can’t wait to see what happens next. Then I’m hoping that a large proportion of the public will feel the same way and enjoy it too. So to sum it up: I have always tried to please myself. Not other people. And somehow it seems to have worked because I guess I’m not that different from other people." Whether you’re a writer or not, that’s profound advice. Every time I forget it, I pay the price. And so does my audience. Now, that doesn’t mean I’m gonna start writing emails about my thoughts on Liverpool’s recent soccer matches. Or something completely unrelated to why you opted in to this list… But it does mean I’m gonna get back to my roots of storytelling and sharing my thoughts about things I’m doing in my life. I’ll almost always relate them back to something you care about, don’t worry. Some of the best email lists are curated public diaries of the email list owner’s life, interests, and beliefs. They’re autobiographies that teach lessons, entertain, and sell products that change people’s lives. My goal in sharing this is twofold: 1. To remind myself that I built this audience and business by writing about what I’m interested in. It just so happens that tens of thousands of other people are interested in that. And they are more than happy to give me money in return for helping improve their lives in some way. 2. To tell you that you should write for yourself. To remind you that someone else is interested in what you’re interested in. Even if you write for other people, you can find things you’re interested in within that realm. That’s all for today. It feels good to have written. No one likes writing all the time. But almost everyone loves having written. I’m glad I forced myself to punch these keys even though I didn’t want to. It feels damn good. Tomorrow I'll tell you the second reason I stop writing sometimes. Talk soon, Ian "write for YOU" Stanley P.S. Even if you write an email about something that doesn’t sell anything…you can use this PS section to sell stuff…like I’m about to do in the P.P.S below. P.P.S. I’m still running my massive consulting discount until Sunday night. As long as you email me before then…you’ll be able to take advantage of the savings. Here's the email I sent the other day... Do you want to work with me one-on-one? If not, just skip this email... Still here? This will be the best offer I've ever made on my one-on-one coaching and consulting services. Why? For the early part of this year and most of last year I had a consulting client that was paying me $25,000 per month for one call a week. They mainly paid me for my thoughts but I occasionally did some writing and directing for them as well. They made tens of millions from what I helped them with so it was well worth it. We worked together for a year and I loved damn near every minute of it. After we wrapped things up I decided not to consult for anyone just cuz I was focused on my business and comedy career. But I've realized I miss it. I love working with high level people who actually DO stuff I tell them to do. So I'm doing a crazy deal through Wednesday night just for one-on-one consulting and coaching. I know it's super expensive and outside of the reach of most people to pay for so if you don't care about this deal you can [click here]( and you won't receive any more emails about this offer. If you are interested, here's the deal... -I only take on one "full-on" consulting client at a time. You pay $25,000 per month for one call a week. Text and email access to me. And some writing and/or video filming and directing for certain projects. This includes an in-person day three times a year as well. -You can pay $10,000 to come meet with me in person in Boise for a full day of consulting. Or $6,000 for a half day. Last year a company paid me for two full days. They only used one half day. They made over $24,000,000 from those 4 hours. -You can pay $10,000 per month for 2 one-on-one calls per month plus email and text access. This includes some rewriting of leads for sales pages or small sections of copy. Calls can also be used to train your copywriters. -Or you can pay $2,000 for a one off consulting call. (You can only buy one at this price.) Those are the prices. However, until Sunday night you can get 25% off anything above... Or you can get 50% off if you pay in crypto. (That will only apply to the first month for the ongoing consulting. Then it's 25% off for the following months if you lock it in this week.) I'm only taking one client for the full-on consulting. And two clients for the $10,000 per month option. The first people to apply get first dibs. Here's the breakdown in case you want me to do the math for you... Full-on consulting - Normally $25,000 per month - $18,750 cash or credit - $12,500 crypto. Only 1 available. Semi full-on consulting - Normally $10,000 per month - $7,500 cash or credit. $5,000 crypto. Only 2 available. (Just one now.) In-person consulting full day - Normally $10,000 - $7,500 cash or credit - $5,000 crypto. In-person consulting half day - Normally $6,000 - $4,500 cash or credit - $3,000 crypto. One hour of consulting - Normally $2,000 - $1,500 cash or credit - $1,000 crypto. Only 5 available. If you're interested in any of the above... 1. You can reply to this email and tell me what you're interested in. I'll give you instructions on how to pay if you're a good fit. If we need to hop on a call, we will. That's all for today. If you have any questions at all, feel free to reply to this email. Sent to: {EMAIL} [Unsubscribe]( Almost Passive Income, 3000 Mountain Shadow Rd, Boise, ID 83702, United States