TLDR; Win one of my favorite books. Deadline Thursday, June 3, 2026 at 11:59 Eastern Time. Read anything good recently? Something that’s not very mainstream, but nonetheless entertained you, made you feel something, or taught you something. I don’t want recommendations for bestsellers or Kindle pirate werewolf romance smut. Whichever THREE people send me the best recommendations win a fantastic prize. 👉 I will mail you a copy of the most surprising and entertaining book on influence I’ve read in the past 10 years. (No, it’s not Influence by Cialdini. That would be lame.) You don’t need to be a marketer to get value out of this book—in fact, I believe it should be required reading for every business owner and digital entrepreneur. Let me have your recommendations—top three contestants by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on June 3 WIN. Drop a comment in this thread to participate (email replies don’t count):

Stealing this from a Reddit post I saw this morning—what’s the best money you ever made from a one-off thing? Like flipping something, hitting a trend at the right time, taking advantage of a loophole? I’ve got three off the top of my head: 1. Got paid $800 to fill out a questionnaire and click buttons on a computer for an hour. Clinical trial at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore, 2014. 2. Put $250 into a meme coin and flipped it for $2,000 the next morning. 2021. 3. Some of the Upwork gigs I had at the end of 2024 and beginning of 2025. First one that comes to mind is $1,000 for home page copy that took me 1.5 hours, but didn’t wind up turning into a long-term project…because the client got banned from Upwork. What about you?

I talk about traveling a lot. In fact, one of the biggest drivers for me to make money is so we can spend it on travel. What about you? Do you have any upcoming travel plans?

I don't freelance on Upwork anymore. Not because it stopped working. Because ONE proposal template worked so well it retired me. $147,000 in contracts (well, actually $159,000 now). From one basic structure that paid off over and over...so I rode that horse off into the sunset. Clients who hired me over 50+ other applicants. $12k retainers from people who'd never met me. Now, I hire people to push the buttons while I look at graphs and tell jokes on Zoom calls. In May, when we go to Japan for 2.5 weeks, other people will keep my machine running while I eat raw fish and nod at reports. This Friday, I'm sending over a proposal for another $5k to $15k retainer (depends) from an existing client--again, from Upwork--for 5 to 10 hours a week of extra work. All money from Upwork clients. Now... I've thought about how to sell this thing. I could bundle it into a course. Do a whole launch. But honestly? That sounds exhausting. And I realized most people don't WANT another course. So here's my dumb idea instead: A penny auction. Bids start at one cent. Bids can only go UP by one cent. If it sells for 31 cents, so be it. That's on all of you. Here's the thing though... I'm not doing this for just a handful of people. If I get enough PENNY comments below, we run it. If not, I'll find something else to do with my Tuesday. I'd rather go play on a plastic slide with my daughter than sit here like a sad sack waiting for comments to roll in. One more thing: The person who wins this isn't getting some dusty template from 2012. You're getting the exact proposal structure that pulled six figures out of a platform I no longer compete on. Which means ZERO competition from me using it. You're welcome. So here's what to do: You'd bid a penny? Drop PENNY below 👇 You think this is stupid? Drop BAN ME below 👇 Either way I wanna hear from you. Your acquaintance, Nick P.S. Is a penny auction stupid? We'll find out together.

Any bookworms in the house? What are you reading right now? I'm finishing up "Start With No" by Jim Camp. What about you?