"Nobody ever asked." That's what she said when I asked if any restaurant had ever paid for referrals. 600 guests a month. Walking into a city they don't know. Hungry. Lost. Credit card ready. And the restaurant next door never thought to ask. I was just visiting family. My wife's aunt owns a 48-room hotel. She told me she wanted to grow the hotel, so I started asking questions. She told me guests would ask "where can I eat around here" every single day. That was my tell. I opened my laptop. Over the weekend, with beer and Claude, I built a local concierge page. She gives me credentials. I make it live. Deal I proposed: "I build it. I maintain it. You pay nothing. When partners start paying for placement - we split." She said yes before I finished. Here's why that structure works: I had zero leverage walking in. So I went in free. Delivered first. Now I negotiate from value proven, not value promised. She's not in the "room" business. She's in the "people distribution" business. I'm in the ACO business. One hotel = 2-3k/month, fully automated. My city alone has 58 more in the same category. You don't need to own the road. You need a toll position on a road that already has traffic. Nobody ever asked that restaurant. I just asked first. What's flowing right past you today that nobody's bothered to monetize? (If you do it too, I'm happy with a 10% cut :)

I'm discussing an auction with an email copywriter with a 4k person list and small but very active paid community. I'm stuck in a loop where because he's a copywriter he WANTS to write all of the posts and emails. But because of that, it's too much work for him to want to run the auction. Right. "I'm not really sure what you'd be doing since it seems like a lot of work for me." It's absolutely non-negotiable for me to do the posts and emails, so I don't even know if this is worth my time to negotiate. Thoughts?

Hi guys, Discussing a newsletter acquisition but they're at $0 revenue and want $2k. Stats: 5,700 subscribers 32% avg open rate 85% men, 30-50 Focus: Fitness/wellness/nutrition 4 sends/week I assume $0 revenue = run? Thanks.

I run a content marketing subreddit. It's a community of people who do content marketing for a living or are trying to. I'm opening up one or two partnership slots for people who have an offer that already converts with content marketers. What I mean by "already converts." - You have a tool, course, template, agency service, or product that you're actively selling. - You have numbers. - You know your close rate, your average order value, and what a good lead looks like for your business. - You're not testing an idea or hoping this works. - You're already generating revenue and you want more eyeballs from an audience that fits. What I'm not looking for. - Anything that needs me to explain why it's good. - Anything that's still in "maybe this could be something" stage. - Anything where the pitch depends on hype instead of the product doing the work. If your offer needs heavy convincing, this audience isn't the fit because they can smell it. If you have something that already converts and you want access to 33,400 content marketers who are active in the sub every week, DM me with what you're selling, who it's for, and your current conversion numbers. I'll ask a few questions to make sure the fit is right before we talk about how the partnership works.

Got this email today and it struck me how much 'Mojo' it included even though as far as I can tell, he's not a Ronan. Something we can test? _____________ SUBJECT: Off Market Traffic (read this one) Howdy, I am running a small experiment. I have a friend who has been driving converting traffic to any niche, any offer, starting at $50. He has been doing this since 2004. Carried him through 2008, through COVID, through every algorithm update that wiped out everyone building on borrowed platforms. His method is simple. He ignores the people who sell traffic for a living. He goes straight to micro-influencers — small audiences, warm, loyal, completely unmonetized. Almost zero competition. High buying intent. Pennies compared to Meta. I want to bundle his exact system as a free bonus inside Brand Engine. Before I do, I want to know if this is even something you even want. One condition though. Cheap traffic on a broken brand is just faster cash burning. The bonus only makes sense after you have fixed your positioning. Brand Engine handles that part. Fix what you are saying first, then find somewhere cheap to say it. Brand Engine plus my friend's complete traffic playbook, starting at $50 or less. Would you want this? 1. No. Meta and I have a great relationship. 2. Maybe. Tell me more about the traffic system. 3. Yes. I need both. A brand that converts and traffic I can afford. 4. Completely in. Hold me a spot. Reply with your number. Genuinely curious. Your brand philosopher, Shashank SN