Welcome,
my name is Robin Good and my mission is one of supporting those who want to realize their entrepreneurial dreams without selling their soul to marketing and to profit for the sake of profit.

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 truly 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 (28 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

Compile the X

You may not like the content, but you have to recognize the value (at least for some people). Daily Dose of Internet is a YouTube channel that publishes under 5-min daily compilations of interesting short videos found online. For a great number of people seeking light, uncritical, snackable, entertaining content, this is evidently super.
*The guy behind it makes a ton of money through advertising and his personal story is very interesting and worth listening to.

Anthony Padilla - “I spent a Day with a Daily Dose of Internet” 

Find more projects like this inside Curation Monetized Premium

Help Others

Here are my three pillars for a good life:

1) adding value to the world on a daily basis, 

2) creating things that leave something memorable for others 

3) helping others do good.

This is what moves me.

“High vibrational people are in touch with their hearts and identify less with their egos. They transcend and put their ego in the back seat and allow their hearts to lead them.They have an intention of adding value to the world and that’s their very strong why. They understand that the more they help others reach their goals, the more they help themselves.”

Source: Kimberly Fosu - “3 Habits of High Vibrational People That Makes Them Successful”

Piss Them Off

“Some people will dissect your viewpoint, disagree with it completely, or even troll you. Not only does this come with the territory, but it’s also the path through which good writing emerges. If you never piss anyone off, you’re not saying anything.If you can’t tell/your/true stories and/your/truth, you can’t be a real writer. If your writing comes with no risk, you have nothing worth saying. The value is all in your viewpoint.”

Source: Ayodeji Awosika - “How To Become a Remarkable Writer”

2) How To Cultivate Relationships

Make No Agenda Calls

“One of my favorite habits is sending ideas to people without any expectations or agenda. Just last Saturday, I messaged the CEO of my favorite coffee house chain, the founder of a software I no longer use, and a guy whose blog post I really liked this week. Everyone replied.

What’s the point? 

*No agenda messages* are a breath of fresh air. By sending them, I’m doing something to bring into existence the kind of world I want to live in. But also each cold email I send increases my luck surface area a little bit.”

Source: Jakob Greenfeld - Brainstorms newsletter “No agenda cold emails…”

Check Outverse

For those looking for a community-building platform that has all of the basic features without costing an arm and a leg, I suggest giving a look to this new kid on the block: Outverse, is ideal for startups, indie entrepreneurs and creators looking for a smart and affordable alternative to Slack or Discord.

Key features include:

✅ - Offers public and private areas

✅ - Fully integrated searchable knowledge-base 

✅ - Import data from existing tools and platforms

Pricing: 100% free while in Beta (until Nov.'23). Free version supports up to 500 members.

Try it out now: Outverse

Find the Right Tools

Tools to build your community. 

Here’s a useful map of many community building apps, well organized into base categories (Membership, Forums, Chats, Messaging, Social media, eMail, Live Events, Audio Rooms, All-in-One, and more)

3) How To Communicate Effectively

Improve Your Storytelling

Ten practical suggestions to improve how you tell stories:

1) Begin with the end

2) Use “therefore” and “but” between beats

3) Use the word “not”

4) Create your own words

5) Combine different styles

Discover more in the full Gdoc edition.

Find Out Who He Is

“Until you figure out who you are speaking to, none of your messaging will work.” Great video by an interesting guy: Chris Do. The video stresses: 

• the importance of critical thinking and 

• not blindly following templates, and 

• encourages people to embrace their uniqueness 

• while not being afraid of standing out. 

Chris also emphasizes the importance of knowing your target market in order to create effective messaging.

Video: “Building Your Personal Brand”
(5’:54”)

Use Free Creative Tools

To produce good quality graphic design work, it is my opinion that you do not need to spend money on fancy tools and apps like most everyone does. Here are four free web-based tools that can be used by anyone, and which can produce pro-quality results.

1) Polotno
Graphic design editor ideal for producing social media posts and promos, YouTube and FB covers and more. 100% free.

2) Pablo
Just like Polotno, but much simpler and essential. 100% free. 

3) Flourish
Data visualization tool allows you to generate graphs, charts and diagrams that look modern and professional. 100% free.

4) Adobe Color Wheel
Color palette generator, makes it very easy to generate quality color combinations for branding, covers, ads, books and publications design. 100% free.

Find more free tools like these on Good Tools.

Robin Good

4) How To Market  Yourself

Be One, Not Many

To develop a strong personal brand, the key essential factor is to be consistent. Consistent both in the way you communicate (words, voice tone, style, vocabulary, etc.) as well as in WHEN you communicate. Letting loose these factors and letting oneself be driven by the spur of the moment leads nowhere, builds no brand, and leaves your audience with a feeling of emptiness / shallowness.  

Robin Good

Focus

The key to differentiation is rooted in our own ability to continuously improve our expertise in the path we have chosen to follow.  Specifically, the ability to:

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

so that what I dream to realize, materializes as I proceed. 

“Small, seemingly inconsistent steps completed consistently over time will create a radical difference.” 

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

Barcode Yourself

Barcodes key benefits are that they offer an easy bridge from physical reality to anything on the internet. Therefore if you have a business or activity that takes place in the physical world, it is a good idea to leverage the power of barcodes to give just-in-time access to useful info and resources to your clients. Here are two great free apps that help you create free personalized barcodes: 

Barcode.so

+

QR Generator by Mention

5) How To Get More Visibility

Avoid Blocklists

As time goes by it gets harder and harder to reach the main inbox of newsletter subscribers without being blocked by some blocklist. Here some practical advice to circumvent this important issue: 25 Ways to Keep Your Newsletter Off Blocklists.

Source: Yanna Torry-Aspraki - “25 Ways to Keep Your Newsletter Off Blocklists”

Do Audience Research

Three great little known tools to find relevant keywords to intercept (to be found for) in your niche market.

• Deap Market

  Get structured search insights about your customers by specifying a given keyword. 100% free.

• SuggestMachine
  Get a huge list of long-tail search queries and underlying search intents. Free.

• Keywords People Use
  Get instant insights into what people are searching for and what questions they ask online. Free for up to 20 searches / month.

Find Cross-Partners

Find newsletters who want to do cross-promotions.
Here’s the place: Lettergrowth

6) How To Monetize

Sell Your Sawdust 

Bulletin.fr is a French newsletter covering various topics. Each newsletter ends with a section called “The Final Word.” In 2022, Bulletin founder took the best editions of this section and turned them into a book, “The Dictionary of Extraordinary Words”. Since its launch Bulletin.fr has been able to sell nearly 4,000 copies of the book, at €20 each — an impressive profit (apx. $60,000) for a book featuring republished material. 

This is a good example of Daniel Vassallo’s “sell your sawdust” philosophy… Sell your sawdust (stuff you already created as a side-effect). Many times you can sell your sawdust for money with very little extra effort.

Source: Nihall Doherty - “French Newsletter Earns €60,000 from Republished Content” 

Create Online Courses

Predictions:

• More platforms will sponsor influential educators. 

• Influencers give platforms documentation and distribution. 

• Edutainers will be on the rise

Tactics:

1. Do your online course live, the first time.

2. Build feedback loops. Consult before making courses.

3. Build the curriculum from questions, real-world struggles and feedback.

4. Discover four more in the full Gdoc edition.

Source: Dru Riley - VC Trends - Online Courses 

Evaluate Models

Is it better to monetize through subscriptions or via one-time sales? Here’s the full breakdown of all the pros and cons.

Source: Indie Hackers - “Breaking Down The Subscription Vs One-Time Purchase Debate” 

7) How To Stay Ahead

Organize Your Info

There’s an explosion of new apps designed to help you efficiently organize notes, ideas and resources. The promise is not just the ability to easily find what you have saved but also the one of finding new interesting connections. Here’s a short-list of some of these new fascinating tools:

1) Anytype - cross-platform, local, custom objects, E2E.
Max privacy. Free.

2) Capacities - cloud-based, custom objects. Free version.

3) Mem.ai - cross-platform + cloud. Free version.

4) Deep Notes - cloud-based, infinite canvas, open-source, E2E. Free version.

5) Discover 6 more in the full Gdoc edition.

Source: Curation Monetized

Get Going

To stay ahead professionally the work you choose needs to have three qualities:

1. Natural Aptitude
   it has to be something you have a natural aptitude for,
   

2. Deep Interest
   that you have a deep interest in, and that
   

3. Great Work
   offers scope to do great work.

“…all you need to do is find something you have an aptitude for and great interest in. That sounds straightforward, but it's often quite difficult. When you're young you don't know what you're good at or what different kinds of work are like. …the way to figure out what to work on is by working. If you're not sure what to work on, guess. But pick something and get going. You'll probably guess wrong sometime, but that's fine.” 

*It's good to know about multiple things; some of the biggest discoveries come from noticing connections between different fields.

Source: Paul Graham - “How To Do Great Work”

Be Disciplined

1. Discipline is your ability to do hard things even when you don't want to.

2. Consistency is your ability to do these things for an inhuman amount of time.

3. Wisdom is knowing the long-term consequences of your actions.

Source: Visualize Tom - Twitter post

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From the Heart

Fame is The Enemy

Not being you, will destroy you.

“This is what I have personally found out. 

Popularity kills purpose. 

Don’t focus on it. 

Popularity is always a temporary thing. 

Plus you don’t want a host of fair-weather friends, 

you want real connections with great people. 

Thus: Don’t focus on being popular. 

Focus on helping others, and being missed when you’re gone.”

Source: Anthony Moore - “The Post Grad Survival Guide”

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

Read the Full Gdoc

If this newsletter did help or inspire you, please do let me know.(email me at robingood@substack.com)

If you like what I do, please consider supporting me.

Follow a path with a heart.

The time is NOW.

From sunny Holbox island,
Robin Good

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