Welcome,
my name is Robin Good and my mission is one of inspiring and giving wings to those who want to realize their entrepreneurial dreams without selling their soul to profits.

I like to help those who want to open and explore new roads, experiment and discover alternative paths, those who want to leave a mark of their passage while helping others along the way.

N.B.: There are two language editions of this newsletter:
The original English language edition and the Italian version.

There are also two formats:
a) the short synthetic version published on Substack you are reading now 
b) the full uncut version (30 pages) - inside a Google Document.

To unsubscribe click here.

To get in touch with me, Robin Good, just email me at:
RobinGood@substack.com 

I am here to make friends.

Follow a path with a heart.
The time is NOW.

Robin Good

Read the Full Edition Gdoc

1) How To Create Real Value

Iterate

More often than note the better way to create value is to take up and refine / improve an existing idea. Not trying to create something altogether new. “When you are dealing with a complex problem, it is usually better to build on top of what already works. Any idea that is currently working has passed a lot of tests. Old ideas are a secret weapon because they have already managed to survive in a complex world. Iterate, don’t originate.”

Source: James Clear - “Don’t Start From Scratch: How Innovative Ideas Arise”

Create Context

“There are lots of (great!) sites that cover the day-to-day. And there are some fantastic writers who divine what it all means. But I think there might be a niche for context. What is the historical angle on today’s news? Where is value being created? How does this translate to normals?There's value in creating context and looking at history, business, interpretation and application.”

Source: Ben Thompson - “ChatGPT Gets a Computer”

Make It Findable

“When there are millions of books, millions of songs, millions of films, millions of applications, millions of everything requesting our attention — and most of it free — being found is valuable.… This is why publishers, studios, and labels will never disappear. Rather they are needed for the distribution of the users’ attention back to the works. There is money to be made (indirectly for the creatives) by finding talent.”

Source: Kevin Kelly - “Better Than Free”

2) How To Cultivate Relationships

Challenge Your Friends

The idea is: nobody has greater impact on challenging someone’s desire to do something than a kind request from a friend. “…individuals can challenge and encourage each other to dream bigger, in a way that’s not as easy to do independently. Read Tyler Cowen: the high return of raising others’ aspirations. Challenge your friends.”

Source: Visakan Veerasamy - “50 Year Plan for Global Nerd Network"

Be a Focus Hub

Forget social media. Think about interest-based social networks. Subscription networks represent a step forward from social networks.While social networks are associated with advertising and attention, subscription networks are about direct payments and trust. While social networks facilitate shallow connections, subscription networks foster deep relationships. 

Source: WeFunder - “Invest in Substack: The Subscription Network for Independent Writers and Creators”

Give

“The more talented ones realize that “cultivating relationships” it’s largely about giving. Making introductions, offering to help, providing feedback and advice. Give, give, give. [Those who understand this give-first approach] avoid the tit-for-tat mentally and in the process build up so much goodwill that it comes back to them in waves.”

Source: Sean Johnson - “How To Be a Better Networker”

3) How To Communicate Effectively

Learn From Writers

Improving our writing is a process that never ends. But which are good books one can read to get inspired and guided in this long and challenging path? Here’s a good selection of quality books on the art of writing.

Source: Leah Schnelbach - “18 of Our Favorite Books About the Craft of Writing”

Inform Not Manipulate

To show up online as a reliable, trusted advisor in your niche, it is important to inform honestly and not by imitating mass media wide use of propaganda techniques designed to manipulate the masses. To learn and understand these propaganda techniques is the first step to start avoiding using them without even realizing it.

Source: Chris Meyer - “10 Propaganda Techniques: How to Manipulate the Masses (Part 1)”

Make Titles as Doors

Think of titles as doors that can open a view on something fascinating. What would you write on the door to make sure that your friends wouldn’t miss opening it? "I’ve always found doors fascinating inventions. They hold the entry to unlimited imagination.They serve as the connecting link to new possibilities on the other side.”

Source: Miguel Ferreira - “How To Write Magnetic Headlines” 

Read the Full Edition Gdoc

4) How To Market  Yourself

Specialize 

When it comes to network building, most indie entrepreneurs make the mistake of focusing on brand awareness (presence on social, personal branding, blogging, etc.), instead of investing in increasing their expertise. In 99% of cases, people don’t need to grow their network as much as they need to elevate how highly their existing network thinks about them — by developing rare & valuable knowledge & skills.

Source: Erik Torenberg - “See Your Career as a Product”

Start With “I”

The personal branding communication strategy I suggest to use is one in which you stop placing your company name and the "we" in front of everything you write, and you start to use the "I" and "you" as much as possible. Personal branding is about placing your name and face behind your content, products and offers not to show how cool you are but to engage on a more direct level with your customers.

Source: Robin Good 

Build Trust

Price can be beaten. Trust can’t. When you trust a product and a supplier, you don’t go searching for alternatives, even when they are cheaper. Trust beats price. Always. "Whatever product or service you must say grace over, there's somebody out there with the same thing - only cheaper. But they can't discount the trust you develop with your potential customers. …trust is the currency of the next media economy."

Source: Chris Baskind  - “ The Only Workable Revenue Model for the Web Is Trust”

5) How To Get More Visibility

Focus on Few

When you are starting out with your new online project, “don't seek to engage the largest possible audience”.  a) Focus on creating a small group of people who love and believe in what you do. b) When you're focused on this small group then you will be in a better position to find your unique positioning and your audience's real needs. c) When you do this -- word will spread because participants will tell others.

Source: Seth Godin via Alex Garcia

Invite More Luck 

One simple but powerful way to invite more luck into your life is to increase your “surface area” for opportunities.” (*serendipity) Here is the formula: “The amount of serendipity in your life is directly proportional  to the degree to which you do something you’re passionate about, combined with the total number of people to whom you communicate your ideas.”

Source: Chuck Frey - “How Can You Increase Your Surface Area for Serendipity”

Build Tools

This is what I recommend to anyone wishing to leap above and beyond what competitors do to market themselves online: stop writing, start creating useful tools. A great example of this approach-strategy is the story of Kapwing, a video service, which, over time, has released many basic video utilities that have earned it huge exposure, blog and magazine articles and thousands of quality backlinks before even launching.

Source: Harry Dry - “SEO Project Marketing”

6) How To Monetize

Get Better Sponsorships

To monetize a newsletter via ads and sponsorships it takes more than having a large number of subscribers. Four key activities that can have a positive impact on gaining and retaining newsletter sponsorships are: a) Deliver high-quality content consistently. b) Update your advertising card and stats monthly. c) Check your social media direct messages (and email). d) Invest in every sponsorship. Build  relationships.

Source: Dan Kulkow - “How To Get Better Sponsorship Offers for Your Newsletter”

Set The Right Price

The newsletter ad calculator is a simple 100% free tool that allows you to estimate how much you could charge for an ad/sponsorship depending on the size of your audience and your open and ad click rates.

Try it out: WhoSponsorsStuff Ad Calculato

Compare Payment Providers

Compare fees and features from nearly all of the major platforms that let creators sell products and services online. 40 different platforms compared (including all their different plans) across several criteria. Payment Providers Comparison Table.

Source: Thomas Frank

7) How To Stay Ahead

Show Up Daily

Don’t look for inspiration. Forget motivation. They are consequences. Do what you want to do. Systematically. No matter what. Doing it even when it appears difficult or results aren’t that great, is the strategy that allows you to reach just about any goal, no matter how big or ambitious it is. Showing up every day. “Motivation will only come once we have started a task or behavior, not before we get going.”

Source: Dr. Hannah Rose - “The Science of Motivation: How To Get and Stay Motivated”

Walk

"With a bike, I can go faster and take less time, but walking gives me an infinite wealth of moments and people to discover, and I wouldn't trade one for the other for any reason in the world." Even now that I have a bike, I admire it from the window of my room while she, as turquoise as always, enjoys the breeze in the shade of a beautiful palm tree.

Source: Robin Good Podcast “da Brand a Friend” - #266 “Camminare” (in Italian)

Inspired by: Sahil Bloom - "The Single Greatest Habit You Can Build"

Focus

In my view the top three essential keys to make sure that what I dream to realize, materializes are: a) reduce drastically the amount of daily distractions - b) increase the discipline level in adopting small but constant changes - c) take full responsibility for everything that happens.  

Source: Anthony Moore - “Here’s How To Reprogram Your Brain To Achieve More Focus On Your Goals”

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Personal Branding Tools

Discover 50+ zero-cost tools to make your personal brand shine, visible and appreciated.

Save time and hundreds of dollars of app subscriptions.

The free tools newsletter for indie entrepreneurs.

In the last issue - on Personal Branding - find the best free tools to create:

• Personal Profile Pages

• Personal Portfolios

• CV and Resumes

• One-Page Websites

• Personal Logos

• Professional Email Signature

• Avatar Picture

• Personal Brand Monitoring

• Online Publishing

Subscribe now.

From the Heart

Love First

“Surround yourself with people who love you and who are loved by you. 

It is very important to understand that this is primary. 

After that is achieved find those who set higher standards. 

Remember Maslow’s hierarchy. 

First love, then success. 

It won’t work vice versa.”

Source: Benjamin Hardy  - “Surround Yourself with People Who Hold You To a Higher Standard than You Hold Yourself” 

Read more on these topics by checking out the extended edition of this newsletter.

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Thanks for reading.

Follow a path with a heart.

The time is NOW.

From sunny Holbox,
Robin Good

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