For the past couple weeks, I've been diving head-first into cold outreach. It's something I shied away for a long time... Because I thought I didn't need to do it. I thought I could "reposition" myself on Twitter and warm inbound leads would come flooding in. Despite my efforts, that never happened. With my recent cold outreach efforts, I've had some good response so far (and I expect to get much more). Here are a few lessons I'm learning: 1/ Cold outreach works Anyone who says cold outreach...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
In this day and age, it's easier than ever to fall into the comparison trap... You know... that vicious cycle of comparing your low moments against other peoples' big wins. On their socials, most people are posting the best moments of their day... And if we see that kind of content when we're at a particularly low point — say, struggling with self-confidence or self-assuredness — it can be a downward spiral into despair. I'm pretty sure all of us are guilty of comparing ourselves to other...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
If you’ve ever read Naval’s story at the beginning of The Almanack, you know he had every right to play the victim card. Except he didn’t play it. Naval grew up poor. During his formative years, he had books as his companions. He spent lots of time reading. Eventually, his knowledge earned him the opportunity to get a world-class education. Now, Naval is one of the most-quoted and most successful businesspeople of the 21st century. He has inspired millions of people to pursue and succeed at...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
We were at Greenfield Village over the weekend taking in the beautiful Michigan spring. In one area of the Village, there's a soccer field. There was no one on the field. My son loves open fields... he's big into running, plus he's becoming a great soccer player. I told him to go down to the field and run around... because why not? As he was running to the field, I noticed a few geese on the sidelines. One of the geese stood up and started walking toward him. "Solomon," I shouted. "That geese...
3 months ago • 1 min read
After taking about four months away from personal branding and online business, I'm back at it. It has been a busy four months — my daughter was born in December, and between my 9-5, sleepless nights, and handling bureaucratic nonsense with health insurance (don't get me started), I didn't have much time to tend to my personal brand or online business. Thankfully, my little girl is mostly sleeping through the night and we're getting some decent rest. Welcome to all the new subscribers! I want...
3 months ago • 1 min read
For 42 years, Uncle Bill busted his rear working at the Chrysler Transmission plant in Kokomo, Indiana. Not a bad career... it was labor intensive and back-breaking work, but all-in-all, not a bad career. Uncle Bill was a smart guy. A history buff. Well-spoken. Could fix just about anything. He was a strong, masculine leader. He took great care of his wife (my aunt) and his kids (my cousins). He called me "The Bubble Gum Kid" — because during my childhood I went through a phase where I loved...
5 months ago • 2 min read
It has been about two decades since I was diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Shortly after I was diagnosed, my doctor prescribed some pills. They helped with focus, but they had some other side effects, including loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping, increased anti-social behavior, etc. I didn't take the pills for very long because I didn't like the way they made me feel. I continued struggling with focus and my parents gave me the task (at age 15) to find a holistic...
5 months ago • 3 min read
I dropped the ball on sending out an email last week about my LinkedIn progress, and it's primarily because life has been smacking me around lately and I haven't been able to invest the time I'd like to on the platform. Regardless, I've still been growing on LinkedIn (standing at 399 followers at the moment) and was issued a "Top Writing Voice" badge late last week! But the question still stands: Will I be able to hit 1,000 followers by the end of the month? So, here's the deal... I believe...
5 months ago • 1 min read
Happy February! Over the next four weeks, I’ll be breaking down the exact strategy I’ll use to grow on LinkedIn from ~340 followers to 1,000. My emails will come out once a a week and it’ll include thorough explanations behind my strategy as well as progress reports. I will be as transparent as possible, and if I don’t hit my goal of 1,000… Well... then I’ll change up my strategy and do what it takes to hit 1,000! I’ve watched valuable creators grow very quickly on LinkedIn and I believe I...
6 months ago • 1 min read