I'm hearing whispers in my head, telling me nobody will show up for my auction, and nobody will bid more than $2... The woe is REAL. I don't think I'll be sleeping tonight. BUT! Maybe you can help distract me... with... direct mail! The other day, on a whim, I bought a $9 ebook off Instagram of all places... from a dude I know nothing about... about direct mail marketing with ugly postcards 🙃 I know folks who do some cool stuff. @Lex Roman, for example, sends stickers and postcards to their new Legends (paid subscribers). I wanna do something similar, too, to acknowledge my Vault members. But as far as marketing goes... does anyone have any thoughts? Especially for online businesses? Like, would you or would you not hate me if I sent you a postcard with a QR code to my Vault membership? Or maybe it needs to link to a lead magnet instead.... I loved getting Lex's stickers, also got a postcard from @John Bejakovic once, loved that too (though Spaniard mail is no joke)... but those are not marketing mails... So yeah... anyway... thoughts? Also, just realized Lawrence Bernstein has a direct mail marketing mini guide here (I think I prefer Airmails over ugly postcards...): https://admoneymachine.com/2020/05/25/greatest-money-making-loophole/

Sometimes, emails from random subscribers make for great entertainment fodder... although a part of you wants to cry, too. Like this one... ----- Good afternoon, Side Blogger staff, I keep receiving your emails, but I don't understand what you actually do or what value they add to anyone's life. Once again, you are like a lot of other text people who put stuff around, who assume everybody is a computer geek and understands all of the nuances the computer language people use. I am interested in an open discussion space where I can discuss issues with people, but with a level of security that ensures plenty of scrupulous people around, seeking to get access to my computer for malicious reasons. So, unless I can understand what it means, I think I'm left to try to kill it off, as it comes across my computer very regularly. ----- This came from a person (or persons, because they signed off as Name & Name) who subscribed to my list 4 months ago and has opened almost every email... according to Kit, anyway... Like... what am I to make of this...? 🫠 Anyway... what's making you laugh and cry at the same time, these days? Share away!

- Thought nobody would notice that I didn't offer a bonus... but some people did... and asked about it 🫣 (Speaking of, I assumed the course, given how good it is, wouldn't require a bribe... but I forgot, nobody knows how good the course is except for me... an embarrassing oversight) - The two emails that brought the most sales: 1) the one where I admitted my sales were performing poorly, and 2) the last-call email (Last call emails are always the most popular... but didn't expect admission of failure to be popular, too... likely a one-time fluke rather than a repeatable strategy) - 100% of the buyers were previous buyers. Buyers make the best buyers... I have to re-learn this over and over in my business... Anyway... hope y'all get something out of this...

I've been in a daze these last few days... what's with coming out the other end of the auction tunnel much better off than I imagined I'd be... I honestly didn't think anyone would bid, but some did, and the winning bid ended up being a nice $1,029 from @Aor Thitaram of By 50 Journey. Now that I'm finally thinking straight again... Here are 7 of my preliminary observations: ----- 1️⃣ Auctions are, by their nature... quite fun! I noticed it first when John Bejakovic ran his auction in his group (to a whopping $31k winning bid from Nick Bandy). And I saw a similar energy reflected in my auction as well. Some people do not engage at all, and that's fine, but those who do end up enjoying themselves... the winner, and even the non-winners ;) My community is usually pretty dead (that's on me), but even so, the 2-hour auction thread has 250 comments! 💡Lesson: Nothing makes your community come alive quite like an auction! ----- 2️⃣ Auctions are stressful for the person running them. You almost always end up needing some type of support. My auction wouldn't have gone as well as it did had it not been for quite a few active and passive supporters. John was pretty much the backbone and without him I would have fallen flat on my face. He told me exactly what to do, when, and how. Chris Dyson chimed in over DMs several times with his auction wisdom. Both of them helped the chat going while I was away for lunch. And some others kept the bidding moving along when things felt a bit dead. I felt supported the whole way! 💡 Lesson: Your network matters, so so much! ----- 3️⃣ It's probably best if you have a plan in place 😅 I had zero. I literally wasn't thinking straight when I decided to run the auction, and aside from what was up for the auction, I had no idea what else to offer as bonuses, special perks, etc. Another reason I'm extra thankful to both John and Chris for their help with those. 💡 Lesson: Don't do what I did... maybe. Spend a bit of time (or a lot) planning how you'd run the auction.

ALRIGHT FOLKS! Grab your shovels and pickaxes and spades (or just bring your claws if that's how you roll)... we're digging a hole in my landlord's backyard, under his hammock, for if and when this auction goes sideways, and I'm stuck with, say, a literal $3.56 solo bid... In any case... Whether I end up making $1 today or... $67 or $69... Let's try and have some fun :) Hole digging can be fun, no? Bidding starts at $1. You can bid any amount that's $1 or more than $1. Remember, the auction is for selling rights to my course, Side Income With Canva Templates: And also all of my Canva templates. You must sell the course for at least $149, or more (currently, I sell it for $199). And you keep all the money! You can also bundle this course with other courses or offers, as long as the entire bundle is worth $149 or more, you're good. You only need 5-6 sales to make an extra $1,000 per month, just sayin'. So... will you bid $1? Please bid $1... I'll have bonus! 🤑