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December 2025
How To Build A List Systematically And Without The Fluff
📅 December 30, 2025 | View in Gmail
(And Get Clients To Buy From You Repeatedly)
Psychotactics
https://www.psychotactics.com/
How To Build A List Systematically
(And Get Clients To Buy From You Repeatedly)
Load the images to see the cartoon. It works!
https://www.psychotactics.com/list-building-strategy/
(This email contains the complete article. However, you can also read or listen to it at these links: Read
https://www.psychotactics.com/list-building-strategy/
| iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1WUp0pFpKQrMCrytOXLAVv?si=hGLmuPAlS5iZnM_H1B2a_w | ). When we start to build a list, we think of followers or fans, but all of these potential clients are elsewhere on YouTube, or Instagram or Facebook.
We can’t wait for the fans to swell up in number. Instead, you need to move quickly. Even if you have just four or five fans, you need to get them over to YOUR list, your website.
—How can you go about that task effectively? —And how do you then get them to the very next stage, which is to buy something?
List building isn’t complex, but without these fundamentals in place, it’s can be a massively wasted exercise. Let’s out how to avoid the pitfalls that a lot of people drop into and never seem to recover.
We will tackle two tiny parts—
- Why you need to drive clients from Point A to Point B (if you ever want them on your list).
- Why you need to sell something to those clients (or risk losing them forever). 1—Why you need to drive clients from Point A to Point B (if you ever want them on your list).
If you were advertising your product or service, what would be the goal of your ad?
It’s not a very complicated goal, is it?
You’d want the person who clicked on the ad to show up and either sign up to a list or buy something. When it comes to content marketing, however, the rules seem to change. Or do they?
What if you paid no attention to those rules and decided to operate as though every view was truly costing you money and time? How would your strategy be different?
Let’s take Instagram for instance
Let’s say you decided to go for something like Instagram, because it doesn’t need as much time as writing an article or creating a video. You start your channel and you get one follower.
In time two more show up. Maybe ten days later, you’re solidly on double figures. What should you do at this stage? The answer would have been different back in the year 2000.
When the internet was brand new, it was more like an encyclopaedia than a market place
The initial concept of the Internet was merely to communicate and inform. Somehow, two+ decades later, the same idea of “information” seems to pervade. You’re likely to find hundreds of content creators who still rely inform, in the hope that someday their list will grow, and then they’ll be in a position to sell.
However, the time to move people over to your list is today—and possibly four days from today
When you’re on another channel, whether YouTube, Medium, Instagram or any other group, you already know they’re calling the shots. Which means they make their own rules, have their own algorithm parties, but most of all, you have no way to communicate with your followers. You may post something on a medium and despite the value of the information, their algorithm may bury the information. Hence, no one sees it.
The only way—and it is the only way—is to get people to your side of the fence on a constant basis
You may not have a website. You may have just a web page. Well, get them there. You may not even have a web page, but just a form. It’s imperative that you get the followers to that page and get them on an e-mail list.
What’s important is that you do this activity on a recurring basis
One of my friends has an Instagram following of 1.5 million or more (these numbers change all the time). His posts are mostly “feel good” phrases.
However, every four or five posts, he gets the followers he has to move across to get a free copy of his magazine. The reality is that people are following you for a reason.
I take street photos, for example
And people find it intimidating to take pictures of others. They would like nothing better than to learn how to approach a stranger and take a really warm, intimate picture.
If you were following the Instagram feed and found there was a way to take pictures of strangers, would you follow that link? It’s more than likely you would. And even if 90% of your followers or viewers ignore your offering, it’s still worth chipping away at 10% of the time.
Yes, it’s work to create content
But you don’t need to create endless amounts of content. You can see which topics really get people’s attention. And you can make a video, or PDF that explains topics like “how to approach strangers”, “how to get invited to insider tours”, “how to shoot in almost complete darkness”, and so on.
At first, it would be a lot of work to create a bunch of content. Work on one project a week if you can, and create small pieces of content that are seen to be valuable. Then it’s time to get that teaser to show up somewhere in your article, Facebook, Instagram feed, YouTube etc. And that’s what draws the viewer to your site.
It’s not a one time thing. It’s recurring.
Once again, this isn’t some magic trick.
It’s management of your time and resources. If you don’t have a calendar and don’t stick to it, the chances of people moving from A to B are bleak to none. Followers don’t automatically move from one place to the other. They don’t wander across to websites and forms.
They don’t sign up unless you have something worth their time.
You have to do the ground work and no “push button” course is going to help you get there. Hence, you have the second batch of things that you have to do. And there’s little choice. At this stage, you will need to:
1- Work out how often you’re going to have some goodies. 2- The topics you’re going to cover 3- Have a form with an e-mail list. A website is best, but work with what you have.
2— Why you need to sell something to those clients (or risk losing them forever).
This part isn’t hard. If anything, it’s remarkably similar to the first part, except that you are asking your follower or subscriber to buy something.
Which isn’t to say that they haven’t already bought into what you have to offer. One of the primary reasons why someone would get follow you, and then get on your list, is because they found your work to be different in some way.
Given a chance, they would buy something from you.
And more importantly, you need to sell something to them because as the title says, you risk losing them forever. Let’s take a few examples at this point, that involve both services and products.
Let’s say a subscriber is really interested in origami, and you’re perceived to be the origami expert. Once they’ve begun their journey, they want to learn more. They’re already on your subscriber list, and get some sort of newsletter or notifications from you from time to time.
However, the subscriber knows that all the YouTube videos in the world aren’t quite as good as a step by step dedicated system. They’re not buying a how-to, but they’re buying your experience, your workflow.
They’re eager to move their skills up several notches. At this point in time, if you don’t get them to buy something from you, they aren’t likely to put their money under a blanket. The client simply moves on to someone who will sell them a system.
When you’re dealing with products, it’s not much different.
Let’s say you have a store and sell tyres, or coffee, or bread. Your clients somehow need to be told explicitly to buy a product. Their world is already busy and when you send out an e-mail or notification about an offer, they pay attention.
If you’ve been on the Psychotactics list long enough you’re likely to have noticed two kinds of e-mails.
The first type of e-mail contains the article and there are some info-products and courses mentioned at the bottom. Those mentions get a small percentage of clickthroughs.
People do buy, but in very small numbers because their focus is very much on the contents of the article. Which isn’t to suggest that the mention of the info-products and courses are a waste.
They perform the crucial role of branding because people see a product or service for weeks and months before they decide to buy. Most clients buy when you send a sales-only e-mail.
Which is to say, if you’re selling coffee, you stop talking about the coffee and tell them why they should buy a special coffee, in the next three days. Or if you’re into the shoe business, why you’re getting those exquisite red shoes that everyone’s been lusting over.
When you tell, you’re telling. When you sell, you’re selling. In short, you have these combinations of e-mails or notifications that play specific roles.
However, getting the client to buy starts a relationship going
When we first sold The Brain Audit, it was a measly 20 page book. We didn’t know any better, so we continued to sell on a regular basis. However, in time we wrote a second version. Guess who bought the second version? New clients as well as existing clients.
The same applied to a series like Website components. We released the first series back in 2013, then Version 2.0 seven years later. Once again, who buys the product? Both existing and new clients step up to buy because they know that there’s value in the relationship or they wouldn’t be around in the first place.
A buying sequence is a lot like dinner
You could go right to the mains, but usually you and I don’t. We dawdle over the appetiser, the wine, and the soup before heading to the big meal. And then when we’re done, we have coffee and dessert.
Hence when we sell a client a product like the “Outlining” series, they are likely to come back for even more. They do the headlines course, buy the storytelling series, do the Article Writing Course and possibly the First Fifty Words course as well.
All of this buying is not one-sided. The client continues to buy because they’re getting good value from you. And this value applies to shoes, coffee as much as it does to any services or training.
If you don’t get the client to buy, you’re gifting this entire sequence to someone else. Maybe it’s your immediate competitor, or someone you don’t even know. However, it’s certainly not you. All of that list building exercise; the moving of the client from A to B; all of that is likely to be pointless if you don’t get the subscriber to buy.
Which isn’t to say EVERY subscriber will buy
Most of your audience isn’t likely to buy anything. They’re likely to open up e-mails infrequently. Don’t let that bother you very much. We’ve had subscribers on our list for 7-8 years or longer.
They chose not to buy anything for that duration. When the moment presents itself, they open their e-mail. If the offer is tempting enough, they buy. Our job is to do the best we can to keep the entire cycle going so that the list builds systematically and steadily.
All that stuff you hear about people getting 10,000 downloads isn’t necessarily untrue
It’s possible that it happened to one person and that person alone. Tens of thousands of people may have been so enamoured by the thought of achieving the same, that they bought into the idea.
However, there’s no big idea at all. All it really is, is a bunch of steps done over and over and over again. If you like you can go buy yet another course on list building but it’s just a waste of money.
To be, or not to be. That is the question.
If you want to be, then go ahead and create a step by step plan. Make sure it’s going well into the future, even though the future changes all the time. If you want to be, you have work to do.
Thank you for being a subscriber. If you’ve enjoyed reading this article, please consider sending it or recommending it to a few friends. I would love it!
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Why Learning Is So Tiresome (And How To Identify And Overcome The Barriers)
📅 December 27, 2025 | View in Gmail
Is talent is an illusion?
Why Learning Is So Tiresome (And How To Identify And Overcome The Barriers)
https://www.psychotactics.com/learning-tiresome/
We believe that we're talented in some areas and not talented in others.
However, a lot of this understanding of talent is an illusion. It’s based on what we have been told and also our current behaviour.
How can we overcome these barriers and become better learners? Let’s find out.
Three trending podcasts
(There are transcripts too)
https://www.psychotactics.com/podcast/
How To Create Intensely Catchy Book Names (Without Too Much Of A Struggle) Read
https://www.psychotactics.com/create-book-names/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2uzxNXAV9y6jn83kJyk5S2 |
How I Cope With My Information Overload (And Manage To Keep Sane) Read
https://www.psychotactics.com/information-overload/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1yXtd3fd5JU9fcmU7wVN0e |
Why “Write Every Day” Is Seriously Misunderstood (And Why It Prevents Us From Writing Every Day) Read
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The Mick Jagger Moment: How To Transition from Task To Task (And Avoid Getting Distracted In The Switchover)
📅 December 23, 2025 | View in Gmail
How to finding your energy black holes and reclaim your time
Psychotactics
https://www.psychotactics.com/
The Mick Jagger Moment:
How To Transition From Task To Task (And Avoid Getting Distracted In The Switchover)
Load the images to see the cartoon. It works!
https://www.psychotactics.com/energy-management/
(From the archives: One of the most read articles. You can also read or listen to the article at these links: Read
https://www.psychotactics.com/energy-management/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4CPOi0bjoV7q9pIawk2RJC |). What’s the difference between 4 am and 4 pm?
If you ask me, personally, it’s a world of difference. At 4 am, I’m raring to go. I can write an article, draw cartoons, or write “War and Peace”, if I put my mind to it. At 4 pm, I’m a shadow of my 4 am self.
I’m distracted, bored, and bouncing from Facebook to Pinterest and randomly checking e-mail in between. You know exactly where I’m going with this example, don’t you?
When we look at our world, we treat every hour exactly the same—and it’s not.
I’m like a vegetable right after lunch. Which means that from around noon to well past 4 pm, I’m better off going to the cafe, taking a nap or doing something that most people would consider to be unproductive. Yet, the reason why those unproductive hours can exist is because they’re energy black holes.
You and I need to know our energy black holes so that we can waste time effectively
Wasting time randomly doesn’t bring us joy and warmth. But if we’ve diligently go out for a coffee, or take a nap, that’s pure strategy. Learning to recognise when you’re hopeless at doing stuff is the key to getting stuff done and switching back to high gear.
And most of your day is going to consist of terrible energy hours, not-so-terrible and finally, those hours when you’re like Mick Jagger prancing on the stage.
Which are your Mick Jagger moments?
Do you have zones every single day that work well for you? We all do, don’t we? My 4 am is my wife Renuka’s 8 am, and yours maybe 11 pm. But we all know when we can be superduperfragillisticexpealidocous.
This means that we have to get most of our work done in those zones. Whether it’s creating a new presentation or writing an article, we need a full charge for those activities as they’re far more power-hungry.
Yet, we struggle and get distracted, even when we’re in the right zone and ready to go.
A big chunk of the blame must go to a lack of preparation. If you’re about to write an article, you’ve got to have the outline in place. Do you have the opening story ready? What about any research you need to put in the piece?
If the prep work isn’t in place, it’s natural to start digging for a story or doing slightly pointless research. Your energy level is now steadily burning out on a low energy task. All of the mind-numbing stuff should have been kept for the times when your energy is low, and you couldn’t care less if you found the right information or not.
When you use high-quality octane to drive a bullock cart process, you’re not making the bullock cart faster. But you sure are wasting the octane.
Time management is a slightly stupid concept
Time management works well if every hour were identical in terms of energy. The way to work with your energy is to make sure you know your black holes of energy. Use them to recharge, either by napping, or taking a walk or simply doing low level, mindless tasks.
The middle ground is where your energy is not so great and you can handle tasks that don’t suck up all that octane. And that leaves us with the high energy zones, which if you waste, are just lost. And it makes you feel crappy, which creates its own doom loop of lower energy.
Be aware that at the core of all of these energy zones lies a planning strategy
I spend a good chunk of my time in planning. Maybe I’m planning for a webinar, or a podcast series, or just the strategy for our business. I have to fit in all that, as well as make sure I get my watercolours done, cook breakfast and lunch and upload my photos to the photo book I’m creating.
I like to wing my way through the day, and sometimes that randomness works. However, if I’m going to get real work—and play done—I have to plan. Most of the planning is done usually at the cafe, in my low energy zone. The black holes of energy, it seems, aren’t as bad for productivity. They’re just different.
As a first step, however, get to know your black holes.
Even if you nap, or whittle away the time it’s a good use of time. However, it’s in the black hole zone that you can also put together the plan and do the preparation work. And then when your high energy kicks in, you’re off like a rocket, finishing work in a fraction of the time.
And now, you have time to waste :)
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Announcing the launch of Wonky Logic: 12 Questions to Stretch Your Mind and Your Life.
📅 December 20, 2025 | View in Gmail
(Special Early Bird Price)
Announcing the launch of 'Wonky Logic'
12 Questions to Stretch Your Mind and Your Life. (Early Bird Special)
Ever wonder why you do what you do—even when it doesn't excite you anymore? Or why life sometimes feels… empty, even when everything seems perfect?
Over the years, we’ve found that the right questions matter more than the right answers.
That’s why in ‘Wonky Logic’, we explore 12 questions that have guided us, challenged us, and sometimes even scared us—but always helped us move forward.
And what are the 12 Questions in ‘Wonky Logic’?
Here they are:
Section I — The Beginning: Why We Begin
- Why did I start this business?
- Who am I really serving?
- What is enough?
Section II — The Middle: The Pull and the Strain 4. How long can I last? 5. Do I have time to waste? 6. How do I deal with envy? 7. What do you do when you want to give up? 8. How do I keep motivating myself?
Section III— The Shift: Knowing When to Pause 09. What does my family think? 10. What am I willing to give up? 11. When do I stop? 12. How do I know this is the right path?
Each question comes with a slightly wonky, very practical answer—stories from our own lives.
Next Step: How do you get the book at the early bird special? The e-book launches Feb 2, 2026; however, you can get the super-early-bird price of just $11.99 now.
Reserve Your Copy at the special price of $11.99
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Warm regards from a New Zealand summer, Sean D’Souza P.S. Yes, you can purchase multiple copies. Simply click the quantity field in the payment link above and enter the number you want. I’ll take care of the rest.
P.P S. Like all our products, this comes with a guarantee. If you don’t like it, just say so—and we’ll refund your money.
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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Introducing: Wonky Logic: 12 Questions to Stretch Your Mind & Your Life
📅 December 16, 2025 | View in Gmail
(Early Bird Special)
Introducing: Wonky Logic: 12 Questions to Stretch Your Mind & Your Life
(Early Bird Special)
Why do we keep doing what we do—even when it doesn’t excite us anymore? Why do we sometimes feel empty, even when everything is going well? And how do we bounce back when life knocks us sideways?
In life, the right questions matter more than the correct answers.
People keep asking, “How come you run your business and life so differently from others?” I think it’s the questions we ask ourselves and also the slight madness in the answers.
That’s why the book is called “Wonky Logic”.
Introducing: Wonky Logic: 12 Questions to Stretch Your Mind & Your Life
Wonky Logic isn’t about fluff or theory.
It’s about seeing your life from a slightly different angle, and finding small, practical ways to keep moving forward. These questions—and the slightly crazy answers will entertain you, but mostly help you move through the world differently.
This book will be released on February 2, 2026.
Next Step: How to get the book at a Special Early Bird Price To get a super early bird price of just $11.99, you can place your order today.
Super Early Bird Special Price: $11.99
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Warm regards from a New Zealand summer, Sean P.S. Yes, like all our products, this e-book has a guarantee. If you don’t like it, just say so, and we’ll send you your money back.
P.P.S. Yes, you can purchase multiple copies. Simply click the quantity field in the payment link above and enter the number you want. I’ll take care of the rest.
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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How To Explain Concepts Elegantly (And Keep The Attention Of Your Audience)
📅 December 13, 2025 | View in Gmail
No matter how much stuff is churned out, your voice can still be heard. Here is how to do it.
How To Explain Concepts Elegantly (And Keep The Attention Of Your Audience)
https://www.psychotactics.com/explain-concepts/
We all seem to believe that there's nothing left to explain.
There are millions of articles, books and stories out there.Yet, there’s always a way to cut through the clutter.
No matter how much information exists, some people are still able to communicate in a way that gets and keeps your attention.
Your voice can still be heard and here is how to do it. Read
https://www.psychotactics.com/explain-concepts/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1UIhGXhNoYmjSGPWf0gSLi?si=wtHkbqvfRp6iYq3Vz_xP_A
Three binge-worthy podcasts on
‘information products’
https://www.psychotactics.com/podcast/
- Effective Sales Tactics: How To Create Bonuses For Your Products Or Services Read
https://www.psychotactics.com/create-bonuses/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4D0E6mCUaI2PH2jtFsoNu1?si=buZhFJRiSByOnwixawBywQ |
- Why Mundane Topics Get You Noticed By Clients (And How To Exploit The Power Of Mundanity) Read
https://www.psychotactics.com/mundane-topics/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0DgsYd2VEi6LNcvRWV9h0K |
- Why “Elegance”, Not “Information”, Creates An Addictive Business Model Read
https://www.psychotactics.com/elegance-addictive-business-model/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2DITtMAA1q8w0DCZZDdAGf |
Warm regards
Sean P.S. If you enjoyed the podcast/article do share it with one friend? You can cut and paste the links in your WhatsApp Group, Facebook Groups, LinkedIn or even forward this email.
How To Explain Concepts Elegantly (And Keep The Attention Of Your Audience) Read
https://www.psychotactics.com/explain-concepts/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1UIhGXhNoYmjSGPWf0gSLi?si=wtHkbqvfRp6iYq3Vz_xP_A
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How To Know If Your Article is Exciting Enough for The Reader
📅 December 09, 2025 | View in Gmail
How do you know if your article works? How To Know If Your Article Is Exciting Enough For The Reader (You can also read this article on the website : Read online )-----------When you complete an article, you always have one of two reactions.You think it rocks. Or you think it sucks.And you may be wrong on both fronts. You may think your article rocks, when in fact it sucks. And vice versa.So how do you know if your article works?You would think you needed to read your article from start to finish, don’t you?Quite the contrary: You don’t read the article at all. You simply scan the article. And when you’re scanning, here’s what you’re looking for:1) The headline.2) The first fifty words.3) The sub-headlines.4) The ending.That’s it.If you can see a flow from headline through the sub-headlines down to the ending, you know your article is working.And the reason why it works is because it’s answering all the questions that a reader would possibly ask. Now the only question is: When do you do this audit? Before or after you write the article?That’s a toughie, because your situation determines how you write an article.On some days will write an article from start to finish based on a ‘response’. So if you’re in a forum or a blog, and someone posts something, you’ll find yourself all fired up and you’ll write a detailed answer.In many cases, your answer will have all the power and completeness of a finished article because you’re trying to make sure you cover all the points. In such a situation, all you need to do is make the sub-headlines bold (if you don’t have sub-headlines, invent them for the sake of the exercise). Then audit the article for flow. A touch here, a move there, and your article will be ready.What if you’re starting up from the ground up?If you are starting up from ground zero, you need structure. The structure comprises of the headline, the first fifty words, the sub-headlines that answer the questions ‘What? How? Why? When? Can you give me proof? Can you give me an example?’ And then the ending paragraph of the article. If you follow this systematic approach, your article will flow a lot better than most written material.But let’s take an example using an actual article -----------------Headline: Power of Connectors in CopywritingFirst fifty words: You’ve started reading a newsletter. And before you know it, you’re at 500 words. Then at 750 words. And hurtling past 1000 words. How on earth did you end up reading so much, when all you wanted to do was skim through the article? The answer is in the connectors in copywriting.The sub-headlines:– So what are the connectors in copywriting?– Do you see what’s happening?– A connection is like a bridge– Why is this slip-sliding so very important?– Example, Example:– Personal Experience:Ending: If you noticed, the content in this piece didn’t have enormous style. It lacked stories. It lacked metaphors. And yet it made a distinct point. It taught you something very powerful. Of course, the biggest reason you continued to read, was because of the connectors. Every movie, article or sales letter that’s brilliant always has a connection. Create the connection and your reader will read from start to finish!-----------------See the flow in that article?Once you have flow in the sub-headlines, what you have is solid structure. And that’s what makes an article exciting: the ability to answer all the questions of the reader in a systematic, easy flowing manner.That’s your internal audit system. That’s how you know if your article really rocks. Or sucks.Way better than just ‘wondering’ if it rocks. Or sucks. I would love if you hare the article with one person: Top-Selling Products: Find out what you have missed Under $50From $200-$300Home Study Access to Sean all year. Resource we use and recommendFor all our design, development and maintenance of websites we use Audrey at StressLessWeb Important: You are subscribed to the Free Psychotactics Newsletter. If you un-subscribe from this letter, you won’t receive any goodies, offers, or newsletters in future. If you’re getting duplicate newsletters, email us and we’ll make sure you get just one copy. Email renuka@psychotactics.com Privacy and Spam Policy I don’t rent, trade or sell my email list to anyone for any reason whatsoever. You’ll not get an unsolicited email from a stranger as a result of joining this list.
How A Slight “Problem-Change” Can Dramatically Make A Massive Difference To Your Business Model?
📅 December 06, 2025 | View in Gmail
What if the secret to growing your business isn’t changing your product?
How A Slight “Problem-Change” Can Dramatically Make A Massive Difference To Your Business Model?
https://www.psychotactics.com/problem-change/
What if the secret to growing your business isn’t changing your product, but changing the problem it solves?
This article takes you on a surprising journey from airport walkways to creative entrepreneurs, revealing how a simple shift in perspective can unlock untapped markets and breathe new life into what you offer.
With real-world success stories and a healthy dose of marketing wisdom, you’ll discover why the path to innovation might be as easy as seeing your product—and your audience—in a whole new light.
Read to unlock your untapped market? Read
https://www.psychotactics.com/problem-change/ | Apple
https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-three-month-vacation-podcast/id946996410?i=1000737854304 | Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2o1egJRRxhYPH01AVjl3lh?si=0MU_4WlvRj2hHd2ict8XpQ
Three Trending Podcasts
(your can read them too)
https://www.psychotactics.com/grumpy-uniqueness/
How To Explain Concepts Elegantly (And Keep The Attention Of Your Audience) Read
https://www.psychotactics.com/explain-concepts/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1UIhGXhNoYmjSGPWf0gSLi?si=wtHkbqvfRp6iYq3Vz_xP_A
Why Habits Can Be Temporary And Environment Matters More, Instead? Read
https://www.psychotactics.com/environment-matters/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4wXJFCRPCnUe5suCdZg6W0?si=P1mgsCD4RhO3w18km6TOjA
How To Use Grumpy People To Find Your Uniqueness Read
https://www.psychotactics.com/grumpy-uniqueness/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1mMYjpZe5I4kYiyTWv5lbN?si=NUCeJKt-Sxi1VNVYK4C1Cw
https://www.psychotactics.com/general/will-tell-friend-podcast/
Warm regards
Sean P.S. If you enjoyed the podcast do share it with one friend, please. You can cut and paste the links in your WhatsApp Group, Facebook Groups, LinkedIn or even forward this email.
How A Slight “Problem-Change” Can Dramatically Make A Massive Difference To Your Business Model? Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/problem-change/ | Apple
https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-three-month-vacation-podcast/id946996410?i=1000737854304 | Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2o1egJRRxhYPH01AVjl3lh?si=0MU_4WlvRj2hHd2ict8XpQ
PO Box 36461 Auckland Auckland 1330 NEW ZEALAND
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How To Stand Out From Your Competition – Reframing Your Business With A Contrarian System
📅 December 02, 2025 | View in Gmail
(And How To Use It For Your Business and Your Life)
Psychotactics
https://www.psychotactics.com/
How To Stand Out From Your Competition – Reframing Your Business With A Contrarian System
Load the images to see the cartoon. It works!
https://www.psychotactics.com/standout-competition/
(This email contains the complete article. However, you can also read or listen to it at these links: Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/standout-competition/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5b4Uu0junDfH4oKVK704dH |)
Which of these word sounds better to your ears? “Contrarian” or “Reframe?”
Contrarian almost always a bit combative, doesn’t it? It sounds like everyone is going one way, and you are the fusspot trying to go the other. On the other hand, the term “reframe” sounds so very polished.
Hence if you don’t particularly care for the term “contrarian”, let’s call it “reframe” and use it for your business and life.
Roughly speaking, a “reframe” would fall into two categories.
Category 1: Structure Category 2: Concept
Let’s start with Category 1: Structure
Almost any product, service or training has a form of structure. A book with 200 pages is a form of structure as is a workshop that starts at 9 am and ends at 4 pm in the evening.
A desk is a desk with a chair to go with it.
Until, of course, things get reframed. At that point, we are likely to find ourselves a standing desk, without any chair in sight.
Or a workshop that ends early, if everyone finishes their assignments.
And we’ve already worked out that a book needn’t be 200 pages long, or even have chapters. “The War of the Art” by Steven Pressfield is a little over 150 pages long, but most filled with very long paragraphs, instead of traditional chapters.
When you reframe the structure, you are likely to get a slightly different method of going about things.
Almost all innovation around you is merely a method of breaking apart the structure.
The way of breaking that structure, and getting a little contrarian, is to make a list of what you do, and then re-jigging the method.
Here’s an example of what we do at Psychotactics
Workshop structure
When we started our earliest workshops, the structure was as rigid as everyone else’s system. We’d start at 8:32 am (well, not quite like everyone) and go until about 4:30 pm. We’d have small breaks, big lunch breaks and I’d talk almost endlessly.
Very early in the process, I noticed people looking towards the door—and the EXIT sign. If clients were so intent on leaving the room, how about breaking the structure and conducting most of the workshop outside the room?
Today, if you get to a Psychotactics workshop, the slide material and explanation is only enough to cover a single day, yet the workshop goes on for three days.
The clients are given most of the time to work through their work in progressive phases.
Instead of the work mostly being done indoors, they are free to go for a walk, head next to the pool or do whatever they please, as long as they return back at a prearranged time. Even the timings are not exactly fixed.
On the first day, the breaks are generous, but as clients tire on day three, their breaks are extended even further. Oh, and we also send all the notes and audio a month in advance so that clients are prepared well before they arrive.
The result? If you were a client, what would you prefer?
To sit in a room from morning to evening as someone drones on? Would you prefer endless information, or the chance to work on the learning, make mistakes and fix them before you go home?
It’s not like we got all of these contrarian systems in place right from the very start
We fully intended to have 150 people at our first US “workshop” in Los Angeles. We managed to get only 35 people, and that seemed so much more manageable. We stayed at 35, content that was our magic number until we hosted two back to back workshops in Nashville and then Amsterdam in Europe.
The events were held close to Christmas and only 15 people each, showed up at both venues. That was such an amazing experience that our numbers are now just 15—well, 16, just to keep things a bit even.
In your business too, you’ll get a chance to break the structure a bit and sometimes things will seem chaotic, but they’re probably helping you to see a different way of doing things.
Even so, that contrarian behaviour can be taken across to another realm as well, namely, the concept.
Let’s find out how to roll out a reframe when it comes to “concepts”. Click here to continue reading: Why Contrarian Concepts Don’t Make Sense At First.
https://www.psychotactics.com/contrarian-concepts/
Did you enjoy this article? Please do share it with one person or you can forward this email too.
Click here to share it:
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Product Offers: Links you should visit
Image
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/under-50/
http://www.psychotactics.com/products/websites-that-workinternet-marketing-psychological-secrets/ Top-Selling Products Under $50
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/under-50/
From $200-$300
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/marketing-business-books-e-books-hard-copy/
Home Study
https://www.psychotactics.com/home-study/small-business-marketing-home-study-business-courses/
Access to Sean all year.
Free Reports
Report: The Brain Audit Excerpt: Why Clients Buy (And Why They Don't)
https://www.psychotactics.com/free/brain-audit-excerpt/
Report: Yes-Yes Pricing System: How to raise your prices without losing customers
https://www.psychotactics.com/pricing-yes-yes/
I would love if you would tell one friend about Psychotactics or The Three Month Vacation. Here are the links. Psychotactics:
https://www.psychotactics.com/tell-a-friend
Three Month Vacation: https://www.psychotactics.com/general/podcast-friend
https://www.psychotactics.com/general/podcast-friend/
Important: You are subscribed to the Free Psychotactics Newsletter. If you un-subscribe from this letter, you won’t receive any goodies, offers, or newsletters in future. If you’re getting duplicate newsletters, email us and we’ll make sure you get just one copy. Email renuka@psychotactics.com
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I don't rent, trade or sell my email list to anyone for any reason whatsoever. You'll not get an unsolicited email from a stranger as a result of joining this list.
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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November 2025
(New) Announcing: Suddenly Talented (How to avoid the “I’m not talented” statement by understanding energy)
📅 November 29, 2025 | View in Gmail
(Does it take 10,000 hours to get really good at something)
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/suddenly-talented/
We’ve all grown up with one mantra: you either have the skill, or you don’t. You’re either born with it or not.
When we looked around at the “talented kids” at school, that logic seemed to work. They appeared to be good at drawing, writing, maths and a whole lot of things we were just average at doing.
But what if that logic of “inborn talent” has a lot of holes in it?
Over the years, at Psychotactics, we’ve trained people who say they can’t draw. In a few weeks—and sometimes often in the first week itself—they realise they are already drawing exceedingly well. The same applies to writing, speaking, creating products, etc.
In short, all of these people are developing talents they never had and talents they were told they should have been born with.
The problem with the logic of “inborn talent” is that it’s a prison.
If you have a fixed number of talents, then you can NEVER get any more. You’re stuck in that jail and can never get out!
And yet, there’s a reason why some people are vastly more talented than others
Rarely does it have to do with any good fortune of birth. Instead, they have learned that what it takes to become talented is remarkably simple.
What if you don’t have to struggle with learning a new skill?
Introducing—Suddenly Talented
(Ebook, audio and paperback)
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/suddenly-talented/
Understanding why one person is so very talented and the other is just mediocre at almost everything is the key to “Suddenly Talented”.
It’s interesting because the ideas finally fall into place. How by understanding what’s happening in the background enables you to stop feeling stuck and move ahead.
It’s all here in”Suddenly Talented”. Here are two options for you: Option 1: Ebook, audio and WhatAppGroup
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/suddenly-talented/
Option 2:Paperback book on Amazon.
https://mybook.to/suddenly-talent
Warm regards Sean
P.S. It's magical when you realise how you've gotten slightly misplaced advice for so long and that talent is comfortably within your reach.
Ebook and audio from our website|
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/suddenly-talented/ Paperback book and audio on Amazon.
https://mybook.to/suddenly-talent
What people say:
"It usually takes me months if not years to finish a book. I finished Suddenly Talented in 2 days. It's hard to put down."
The flow of words makes it extremely calming to read; so much so you’re learning without the exhaustion. Just enough nuggets of information to gain knowledge without trying to overload you with words & ultimate confusion.
"Ce livre est passionnant et remarquablement bien écrit."
Sean a ce talent très particulier : il est capable d’approfondir un sujet apparament banal et d’en tirer des conséquence pratiques extrêmement intéressante. Je le recommande à tous ceux qui sont intéressé par la formation et l’enseignement.
"The book shatters a lot of misconceptions about the learning process."
We have a limiting belief about our ability to learn, and Sean guides how we can deal with limitations. Reading this book is fun and joyful. Why? It’s filled with a lot of examples and analogies. It’s full of cool cartoons made by Sean. This is the best book you can read and implement. This book will help you in becoming talented. Try it out.
Curious? Have a look here.
Ebook and audio from our website
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/suddenly-talented/ | Paperback and audio book on Amazon.
https://mybook.to/suddenly-talent
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0bAzMDJyczMw=
(New) Announcing: Suddenly Talented (Now in Paperback, too)
📅 November 25, 2025 | View in Gmail
Is inborn talent a myth?
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/suddenly-talented/
We’ve all grown up with one mantra: you either have the skill, or you don’t. You’re either born with it or not.
When we looked around at the “talented kids” at school, that logic seemed to work. They appeared to be good at drawing, writing, maths and a whole lot of things we were just average at doing.
But what if that logic of “inborn talent” has a lot of holes in it?
Over the years, at Psychotactics, we’ve trained people who say they can’t draw. In a few weeks—and sometimes often in the first week itself—they realise they are already drawing exceedingly well. The same applies to writing, speaking, creating products, etc.
In short, all of these people are developing talents they never had and talents they were told they should have been born with.
The problem with the logic of “inborn talent” is that it’s a prison.
If you have a fixed number of talents, then you can NEVER get any more. You’re stuck in that jail and can never get out!
And yet, there’s a reason why some people are vastly more talented than others
Rarely does it have to do with any good fortune of birth. Instead, they have learned that what it takes to become talented is remarkably simple.
What if you don’t have to struggle with learning a new skill?
Introducing—Suddenly Talented
(Ebook, audio and paperback)
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/suddenly-talented/
Understanding why one person is so very talented and the other is just mediocre at almost everything is the key to “Suddenly Talented”.
It’s interesting because the ideas finally fall into place. How by understanding what’s happening in the background enables you to stop feeling stuck and move ahead.
It’s all here in”Suddenly Talented”. Here are two options for you: Option 1: Ebook, audio and WhatAppGroup
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/suddenly-talented/
Option 2:Paperback book on Amazon.
https://mybook.to/suddenly-talent
Warm regards Sean
P.S. It's magical when you realise how you've gotten slightly misplaced advice for so long and that talent is comfortably within your reach.
Ebook, audio and WhatAppGroup
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/suddenly-talented/ | Paperback book on Amazon.
https://mybook.to/suddenly-talent
What people have to say:
"It usually takes me months if not years to finish a book. I finished Suddenly Talented in 2 days. It's hard to put down."
The flow of words makes it extremely calming to read; so much so you’re learning without the exhaustion. Just enough nuggets of information to gain knowledge without trying to overload you with words & ultimate confusion. Gayle
"Ce livre est passionnant et remarquablement bien écrit."
Sean a ce talent très particulier : il est capable d’approfondir un sujet apparament banal et d’en tirer des conséquence pratiques extrêmement intéressante. Je le recommande à tous ceux qui sont intéressé par la formation et l’enseignement.
"The book shatters a lot of misconceptions about the learning process."
We have a limiting belief about our ability to learn, and Sean guides how we can deal with limitations. Reading this book is fun and joyful. Why? It’s filled with a lot of examples and analogies. It’s full of cool cartoons made by Sean. This is the best book you can read and implement. This book will help you in becoming talented. Try it out. Mayur Bardolia
Curious? Have a look here
Ebook, audio and WhatAppGroup
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/suddenly-talented/ | Paperback book on Amazon.
https://mybook.to/suddenly-talent
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0bAzMDJycTEw=
How To Use Grumpy People To Find Your Uniqueness
📅 November 22, 2025 | View in Gmail
(Why you need to harness the grumbles to your benefit).
https://www.psychotactics.com/grumpy-uniqueness/
You and I avoid grumpy people, if we can.
However, when those grumps happen to be your prospects or clients, you’d better pay close attention.
Why?
Because they’re they are key to finding out your uniqueness for your products and services. Uniqueness seems so hard to find, but grumpy people are everywhere.
Here’s how you harness the grumbles to your benefit. Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/grumpy-uniqueness/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1mMYjpZe5I4kYiyTWv5lbN?si=NUCeJKt-Sxi1VNVYK4C1Cw |
Two binge-worthy podcasts on learning
(Yes there are transcripts)
https://www.psychotactics.com/focus-reason/
Why Learning Is So Tiresome (And How To Identify And Overcome The Barriers) Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/learning-tiresome/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6T9FkFRiSmRNunQ61yJSMH?si=wPdBBkOyR72CXRP0imUt1g |
The Reason You Can’t Focus (Why “Distraction” Has Nothing To Do With Focus) Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/focus-reason/ | Apple
https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-three-month-vacation-podcast/id946996410?i=1000727585613 | Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1sW9C491sy6wAkpaSCRM6m?si=c7e7afef8fae452c |
https://www.psychotactics.com/grumpy-uniqueness/
Warm regards Sean P.S. If you enjoyed the podcast do share it with one friend, please. You can cut and paste the links in your WhatsApp Group, Facebook Groups, LinkedIn or even forward this email.
How To Use Grumpy People To Find Your Uniqueness Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/grumpy-uniqueness/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1mMYjpZe5I4kYiyTWv5lbN?si=NUCeJKt-Sxi1VNVYK4C1Cw |
PO Box 36461 Auckland Auckland 1330 NEW ZEALAND
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Announcing: How To Get Customers To Buy, Long before They Pay
📅 November 18, 2025 | View in Gmail
(Why you don’t need hype or a big audience to get results)
There is a cartoon here. :)
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/pre-sell-goodies/
In the year 2009, we tried selling our copywriting course. We gave away a ton of goodies, marketed it for weeks, and guess what? Even though we had a pretty large list and a rock-solid reputation, we sold just four seats.
Four seats? Yup, just four.
And yet when we ran the very same course in 2013, every single seat was taken in under 25 minutes.
Sounds like a fluke? • Every workshop since 2009 has sold out in record time (often in under a week). • Every course since 2009 has sold out in a few weeks. • Products that didn’t move at all for weeks, flew off the shelf (yup, since 2009). Obviously something happened in 2009, right? That something is called “Pre-Sell”. It’s the understanding of how to get your customers to buy, long before they pay. And no matter whether you’re selling products, services or training, the concepts still apply today.
And we’ve not had to sell our soul to get results If you look around you’ll see that you’re told to do more joint ventures, do more advertising, spend a bundle on adwords, Facebook marketing etc.
The louder you scream, it seems, the better the chances that you’ll get results.
And we’ve gone a lot quieter. Most of the above results were achieved with a tiny group.
Makes you wonder, will this work in today’s world? Well, wonder no more. Because now you can learn what we figured out in the year 2009. You too can learn how to pre-sell a product/service.
And you don’t need all that hype or a big audience to get results.
Presenting: Pre-Sell Free Goodies: How To Sell Your Product Time And Time Again Read the report and see how you can take your products and make them stand out repeatedly using the pre-sell method. Click here to get the goodie.
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/pre-sell-goodies/
Sean DSouza Image
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/pre-sell-goodies/
Warm regards Sean P.S. On 29 November, ‘The Art Of Pre-Sell: How To Get Customers To Buy, Long Before They Pay’ will be on sale. Find out how to get on the waiting list.
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/presell/
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0bAzMDJzs7Cw=
Presenting Pre-Sell Goodies: How To Get Customers To Buy, Long Before They Pay
📅 November 15, 2025 | View in Gmail
How to Sell Without the Hype or A Big Audience
There is a cartoon here. :)
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/pre-sell-goodies/
In the year 2009, we tried selling our copywriting course. We gave away a ton of goodies, marketed it for weeks, and guess what? Even though we had a pretty large list and a rock-solid reputation, we sold just four seats.
Four seats? Yup, just four.
And yet when we ran the very same course in 2013, every single seat was taken in under 25 minutes.
Sounds like a fluke? • Every workshop since 2009 has sold out in record time (often in under a week). • Every course since 2009 has sold out in a few weeks. • Products that didn’t move at all for weeks, flew off the shelf (yup, since 2009).
Obviously something happened in 2009, right? That something is called “Pre-Sell”. It’s the understanding of how to get your customers to buy, long before they pay. And no matter whether you’re selling products, services or training, the concepts still apply today.
And we’ve not had to sell our soul to get results If you look around you’ll see that you’re told to do more joint ventures, do more advertising, spend a bundle on adwords, Facebook marketing etc.
The louder you scream, it seems, the better the chances that you’ll get results.
And we’ve done the opposite—we’ve gone a lot quieter. Most of the above results were achieved with a tiny group.
Makes you wonder, will this work in today’s world? Well, wonder no more. Because now you can learn what we figured out in the year 2009. You too can learn how to pre-sell a product/service.
And you don’t need all that hype or a big audience to get results.
Presenting: Pre-Sell Special Free Goodies: How To Sell Your Product Time And Time Again Read the report and see how you can take your products and make them stand out repeatedly using the pre-sell method. Click here to get the goodie.
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/pre-sell-goodies/
Warm regards Sean
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0bAzMDJzsbKw=
Pre-Sell Strategy: How To Strategically Tackle Promotion of Products And Services
📅 November 12, 2025 | View in Gmail
Do you need to created a “separate section” for each of your vital products/services?
Psychotactics
https://www.psychotactics.com/pre-sell-strategy/
Pre-Sell Strategy: How To Strategically Tackle Promotion of Products and Services
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https://www.psychotactics.com/pre-sell-strategy/
(This email contains the complete article. However, you can also read or listen to it at these links: Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/pre-sell-strategy/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5H7WQ2WbPLkdyv0xF813me |). How do you introduce the concept of roundabouts to motorists?
The concept of the roundabout was a French idea, but it was the British who made the most use of it. But the roundabout was still a bit klutzy until 1969. In the year, traffic engineer, Frank Blackmore, who invented the modern roundabout, helped introduce the new idea to motorists. He would park himself on a traffic island and shout out instructions through a megaphone-like-device.
It was because of Blackmore’s simple plan that made the roundabout work
His idea was that entering vehicles had to give way to traffic that was already moving on the roundabout. And if you’ve ever been on a roundabout, you know that it’s such a delightful invention. Unless, of course, it’s a huge roundabout and there’s loads of traffic. That’s when it becomes a bit of a nightmare.
Similarly, when you’ve got just one or two products or services to pre-sell, it’s not hard to get a sequence together and get the sequence going. But when you’ve got three or four, or like us almost 17 different products and services, it seems like a logistical nightmare.
And yet you can pre-sell your product or services, and yes, there is a bit of complexity involved.
Let’s find out what’s involved and how you can systematically manage the pre-sell.
Stage 1: Which products are the most important? Which are not? Stage 2: Have we created a “separate section” for each of the vital products/services? Stage 3: How can we create urgency and scarcity?
Stage 1: Which products are the most important? Which are not?
The term “important” is probably too vague. The importance of a product or service is dependent solely on your strategy. Let’s say you have a product that’s priced at just $20. Is it more important than a product that’s priced at $2000? The answer depends on your strategy. Let’s say I have a book that you’re writing at this point.
It might be personally relevant for you to get the book into the hands of as many clients as possible. In such a case, the $20 would outweigh the $2000. In which case, you’d start with the book pre-sell right now, and then work out a sequence that would head directly to the launch. Later in the year, you might have a $2000 product that, if sold to 40 people, would generate $80k, then that’s the most important.
In the case of Psychotactics, you’ll notice that not all the products or services are in a pre-sell sequence
Take the example of products like “Outlining” or “Chaos Planning”. And it may seem like their lower price point is what relegates them to this non-pre-sell bracket. But even higher priced products like the “Copywriting Course” aren’t in any pre-sell sequence, because we’ve only wanted a few products to have on pre-sell.
And in time, things may change.
Some don’t even have a sequence, e.g. Psychotactics workshops
Many of the workshops in the past few years have filled up without needing to go to a list at all. Is there a pre-sell of sorts? Yes, there is. But it’s not done through e-mail or any reminder system. We have other groups that we run separately in WhatsApp.
When the workshop is ready to roll, we merely let those groups know, and it’s not unusual to have 70% or more of the workshop filled through that backchannel. The remaining 30% fills up without too much of a bother.
Which, of course, means that the first stage would be to figure out what’s important, and why it’s important to you at this very moment. And as that situation changes, why the next product is essential, and so on. The importance will determine why you’re pre-selling one series of product or services and not the other.
Be aware that you can put every product in a pre-sell sequence
But it’s a heck of a lot of work to set it up and then to monitor the sequence. Sanity calls for fewer, more strategic moves to be made so that you achieve the goals you need to meet.
Which takes us to the second bit. Stage 2: Have we created a “separate section” for each of the important products/services?
Stage 2: Have we created a “separate section” for each of the important products/services?
Having determined what we’re going to promote and pre-sell, we have to create silos. When we decided to launch “Suddenly Talented” we make announcements, create snippets and give out samples and this was already a good strategy.
However, it’s far better to create a separate area in advance before you launch the product and that is what we did. We created a silo/a separate list:
What is that separation creating?
It’s getting clients to opt-in to a specific channel. They’re interested in the information that is likely to follow before the launch of the product. And if I were to do this task correctly, I’d have to find myself a good barista, order a coffee and work out what goodies I’m going to send that list and how often.
Because it’s an explicit opt-in, they’re likely to be more eager to receive goodies. And to be clear, information and announcements are fine, but goodies are the best. What we’d need to do, is create enough excitement, enough enticement, so that the final launch isn’t this last minute “buy my book” scenario.
We have silos for the Article Writing Course, the Info-Product Course and others
Yet, there’s still a problem in place, isn’t there? Just because someone has signed up for the book on talent, doesn’t mean she won’t sign up for the Article Writing Course. And if this client is super-eager, she might sign up to quite a few others.
As you can tell, it feels a bit like an asteroid belt where one e-mail could clash with the other at any point. It seems like there’s a good chance that the client could wake up one morning and find five different sets of goodies all from Psychotactics.
And yet that situation never occurs
It’s because the goodies go out with a higher frequency in the run-up to an event. Which means that through most of this year, you’re likely to get a few e-mails or podcast announcements. Nothing over the top, just a few to keep you abreast of what’s happening.
A set of goodies may be slipped under your door too, but just enough to keep thing moving along. The only time you’re going to see a step up in activity is between 8-16 weeks before the actual launch date. At which point, all the other pre-sell volume gets turned to low. The focus becomes one product or one service.
And yet, you may never need to turn down the volume if you use editorial well.
Think of all the articles, all the presentations, every webinar, seminar, audio, video—every single piece of editorial that is being put out from now until the launch. If you include your product or service as an example, you are already pre-selling.
There’s an added advantage too
Because it’s editorial, I don’t have to scamper through the information, and neither do you. In one presentation on pricing which we call the “Yes-Yes” presentation, we spend over fifteen minutes going over every point of the Article Writing Course. Is the audience offended? Are they mad at us for taking up their time?
They would be if it were merely a pitch. But if you watch the video, you’ll notice that it’s helping the audience structure their price sequences. It’s helping them get an additional 10-15% per year if they put the advice in place. They know you’re pre-selling some other product, but as long as you’re helping, they’re happy to listen, watch or read.
There is a caveat, though
If you’re going to make three passing comments, you may not need to have other examples in your editorial. However, the moment you’re taking up a sizeable amount of the editorial content, you’ll need other examples as well.
While the video does talk about the Article Writing Course, it also has other examples, like the IceBreaker t-shirt, a real estate company and other examples.
It’s a bit of a balancing act, and if you’re going to drone on about your own product or products, it’s irritating. There’s no formula for how much of the other examples are needed, but slipping even one or two removes the lopsidedness.
You can create separate sections for pre-sell, but you also don’t want to miss out on the almost limitless editorial opportunity. If you play it right and increase the volume of pre-sell closer to the date of launch, you’re unlikely to get too much of an asteroid-like-clash.
However, if you want to achieve a consistent, almost recurring levels of sales, you’ll also need one very obvious set of tools. They’re called: scarcity and urgency.
Stage 3: How can we create urgency and scarcity?
“Why don’t you have the Article Writing Course every more frequently?” said a client to me.
“Good question. Because the course is like jumping from the frying pan into the fire,” I said. And then I went on about how intense the course can be both for the clients—but also for the teacher. And yet, that wasn’t the complete answer to her question. The more significant reason for not having the course every year was, scarcity.
“If the course were held more often,” I said, “doesn’t create scarcity”.
At the back of my mind, I was holding firm to the story of the late Gary Halbert. Halbert was considered to be one of the most in-demand copywriters on the planet at one point in time. And he decided to cash into his fame by hosting a series of workshops. Almost instantly, the workshop was filled, so he announced a second and a third. And then yet another.
Do you see where this story is going?
Of course, you do. You and I depend on a lack of scarcity when we go shopping for just about anything. If we head to the supermarket, we expect to find beans, chocolate, ice cream, and bread.
The moment we realise that an item is scarce, we want it more than ever before. This scarcity mentality applies not just to the “essentials” like chocolate, but also to something pretty random like a special fountain pen you’ve wanted to buy. Or even the seat at the restaurant that looks out onto the harbour.
Halbert’s fourth workshop, as the story goes, was a bit of a dud
Which is precisely the reason why we make products and services scarce on Psychotactics. Making products rare are a superior form of marketing, provided certain conditions exist. We’ll get into the conditions shortly, but let’s look at how scarcity works in our favour.
1: It created urgency.
Most courses, products, workshops etc. on the Internet have primarily depended on affiliates at one level, but there’s almost a stampede towards advertising. How do you tone down or even eliminate the need for any external source? If you’ve tried to sign for most Psychotactics courses, even 24 hours later, you’re likely to have realised that it’s every seat has gone.
It’s essential to have the course fill up, or the product sold out
It’s a clear cut case of revenue, but there’s also the other, more serious side to creating this scarcity and urgency. Because you sell out quickly, you don’t need to waste weeks, and possibly months, in trying to sell your product or service. If you’re a diligent teacher, you now have time to celebrate, as well as create valuable resources for your clients.
The energy that would have needlessly gone into writing more promotions, two dozen e-mails, and motivating all your affiliates is slightly unnecessary. The products that have a lesser priority in our schedule require more promotion and ironically, the more important ones, require less.
Interesting, isn’t it?
It means that you don’t have to be like a maniac, trying to push everything to your audience, year round. You selectively pick the product or services that work for you, either from a revenue point of view or from a client acquisition/retention. When courses or products sell quickly, we can get on with the job of making it even better for the client.
Not surprisingly, this act of making the experience richer and more in-depth for the client brings them back repeatedly. Which then creates a vortex of scarcity in your favour. The first advantage of scarcity is additional time and lots more energy.
The second reason is a spike in revenue
It makes perfect sense to a client when 16 seats sell out at a workshop. Or if 25 seats sell out for the cartooning course. It’s a training scenario and to ensure a high standard, you have to have a fixed availability. What seems to perplex clients a lot, is when digital courses like the article writing course or the info-products course have a fixed number of copies.
This change boosted our revenue by around 500%
In our case, it went from approximately $30,000 per annum in 2016 to about $130,000 per annum by 2018. Notice that they were the same products, and had an identical sales page and even e-mail sequence.
Just the factor of scarcity changed. The limit of 25 or 16, or 35 is what causes clients to avoid procrastination and to make their decision immediately. It’s not uncommon for Psychotactics clients to put a real alarm on their phones.
The revenue figures for 2016 were based on pre-sell but not on scarcity
A client could come in any time during three days and buy the product. It’s still the same pre-sell sequence. The results are dramatically different. The smaller window of opportunity has worked a lot better for us and consistently continues to do so. The additional revenue we earn isn’t necessarily padding our bank accounts.
We make approximately the same sum every year and have tried to keep the revenue to about 3x of our expenses. The scarcity boosts the revenue, and as a result, we can spend more time answering questions in detail in 5000bc or spending more time helping clients. There’s no need to have to rush out and start yet another promotion because the additional revenue acts as a wonderful buffer.
Pre-sell itself can work. Creating silos also works.
But it’s scarcity that creates urgency. And that is easy to overlook. There are many ways to create scarcity, of course, but just for the sake of simplicity, reduce the number of seats.
Which takes us to an important point: How do you design scarcity?
It’s not uncommon to wildly be off base when predicting how well your promotion will do. Some of us are too modest, and some expect a lot. However, pre-sell works on the simple, yet frustrating game of “musical chairs”. If there are many people in the room, you put out just a few chairs.
The greater the number of chairs, the less likely the results will work in your favour. Notice that at Psychotactics, we have several tens of thousands of clients on our list. How many seats do we offer at our workshops? The answer is 16.
How many are allowed to come to a meetup? Just 15. Even online courses are restricted to a tiny figure of between 20-30, depending on the course itself.
It’s an extreme version of musical chairs, and it works. And with a little luck and lots of planning, will continue to work. When you’re designing your set of musical chairs, err on the side of scarcity.
Scarcity creates urgency, and if the chairs fill up, you can add another chair, but slowly, and one at a time. Until of course, you reach a limit.
Gary Halbert must have learned from his experience of trying to sell too many workshops and not creating enough scarcity, which is likely how we know the story.
It’s an excellent story to keep in mind alongside these three points.
Stage 1: Which products are the most important? Which are not? Stage 2: Have we created a “separate section” for each of the important products/services? Stage 3: How can we create urgency and scarcity?
And even if your product launches seem a bit chaotic, like on a big roundabout, you can manage them and still keep every launch rolling as smoothly as possible.
Presenting Pre-Sell : How To Get Customers To Buy, Long Before They Pay (Learn the bite-size, non-pushy method of Pre-Sell).
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/pre-sell-goodies/
Special Free Bonuses: Learn the five stages to making your product sell time and time again using pre-sell.
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How to join the waiting list: The bite-size, non-pushy method of Pre-Sell.
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/presell/
Product Offers: Links you should visit
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Top-Selling Products Under $50
Story Telling Series How to have that zing in your articles—to catch the attention of the reader and keep them interested?
http://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
The Brain Audit : Audio, ebook, physical book and workshop (Over 800+ testimonials on the Psychotactics website and over 100+ testimonials on Amazon) Find out how you can market in a way that is respectful to your customers, yet powerfully compelling.
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https://www.psychotactics.com/products/websites-that-workinternet-marketing-psychological-secrets/
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How To Outsmart Procrastination With The 9/10 Principle
📅 November 08, 2025 | View in Gmail
https://www.psychotactics.com/outsmart-procrastination/
We think procrastination means laziness.
But often it’s just the first step that feels impossible.
How do you make your clients move ahead quickly and recommend you more often than ever before?
Let’s find out how this principle works. Read
https://www.psychotactics.com/outsmart-procrastination/ | Apple
https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-three-month-vacation-podcast/id946996410?i=1000728643325 | Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4glIWpValDfaAcrnMmvsXJ?si=ac5b6465ac8e43cb |
Two binge-worthy quick tips podcasts
(There are transcripts too)
https://www.psychotactics.com/storytelling-how-to/
How To Use Simple Stories To Pre-sell Your Products And Services Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/pre-selling-products/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5zTc7N5i1gflMEKPImrSuL |
Why Storytelling Needs The Thumpity-Thump-Thump-Thump-Thump Read
https://www.psychotactics.com/storytelling-how-to/ | Apple
https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-three-month-vacation-podcast/id946996410?i=1000722151925 | Spotify
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https://www.psychotactics.com/general/will-tell-friend-podcast/
Warm regards Sean P.S. May I ask a tiny favour? Would you mind sharing this podcast/article with one person? I would love it. Thank you.
How To Outsmart Procrastination With The 9/10 Principle Read
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https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-three-month-vacation-podcast/id946996410?i=1000728643325 | Spotify
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Burnout: Why Friends And Family Are More Likely To Be Early Warning Systems To Avoid Overwork
📅 November 04, 2025 | View in Gmail
We have been told that for us to be successful, we must put in the hours, is that right?
Psychotactics
https://www.psychotactics.com/
Burnout: Why Friends And Family Are More Likely To Be Early Warning Systems To Avoid Overwork
Load the images to see the cartoon. It works!
https://www.psychotactics.com/burnout-clues/
(This email contains the complete article. However, you can also read or listen to it at these links: Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/burnout-clues/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0U7vI6a6Z8vsjoEIuhWywg?si=OEqpxqMhRIesEdcCx-RnGw
). It was the 25th anniversary of the advertising agency I was a part of.
The CEO stood before the room, with around 200 employees listening to his every word. He gave a speech and said that he had to make sacrifices and that somewhere along the way, he also mentioned how he had to sacrifice part of his family life.
His daughter stood beside me, raised her eyebrows, and said slightly sarcastically, “Yes, that’s right.”
Was she being sarcastic? Or was her feedback simply ignored?
As we go through life, we want to succeed. Yet, often, this so-called success comes at a high price. It’s at times like this that we get feedback. This feedback is from a very reliable source: your family.
That feedback is an almost foolproof method to know if you’re overworking and needing to pull back. And age doesn’t matter because the input can often come from the tiniest member of your family.
I have a friend who lives in Eastern Europe, and we were on holiday with his family when his seven-year-old daughter said she wanted to tell us something.
She said: “Papa drives me to school every day, but I never get to speak to him. He’s always on the phone talking to some client”. This is the feedback the parent never heard from that seven-year-old, or maybe he did —but didn’t pay attention.
We don’t always pay attention to this kind of input because we feel we are working hard.
We have been told that for us to be successful, we must put in the hours, so we do our best to reach our pre-determined goals. Those goals also earn us a reasonable income. This, in turn, enables us to put the kids in a good school, travel and live a more comfortable life.
If someone suggests that we’re working too hard, we push back against feedback. However, the feedback keeps trying to get through our defences. However, sometimes, that feedback can come without warning.
Many years ago, when my niece Keira was just five, she played in the house with my other niece, Marsha.
They were both very young and high-spirited. I didn’t need to participate in their crazy games and decided to lie on the sofa.
Keira suddenly stopped her game and came across to the sofa. She took a long look at me and said, “Seanny’s always tired”. Then, without hesitation, she turned around and continued her game. However, her words struck me like a thunderbolt.
Was I always tired?
Even at the age of five or seven, a child can tell you that you are overworking. If you pay attention, you’ll hear the feedback from others, too. Your partner, your parents—they all know when you’re overdoing something.
The family becomes the most significant source of feedback.
However, it’s not just work that gets your family’s attention. It could also be a hobby that’s taking up too much of your attention. Recently, Renuka told me I had been spending too much time with French.
She said I had been talking in French in my sleep and that one day, I said, “Oh, I don’t know how to say that in French” while asleep.
I didn’t take it as feedback since she just mentioned these incidents in passing. But then, one Wednesday, I started to get a slight headache, which seemed to grow daily. I wasn’t sleeping very well and waking up tired.
When Renuka touched my head, she said it was hot.
Usually, my head only gets this hot when I conduct intense courses like the article writing course, where I have to put in a lot of time and energy. So it was a bit worrying that my head was heating up so much. Clearly, I had been spending an enormous amount of time learning French.
I wasn’t just learning the language early in the morning and in the middle of the day. I was at it when I was driving, walking and then chatting with AI in French in the evenings. When Renuka said I was probably overdoing my French, I did what many of us do. I gave an avalanche of logical reasons why I needed to put in much effort.
I discounted the advice and focused on the task at hand. After all, how was I to achieve any sort of success with a half-hearted attempt?
However, there’s a difference between half-hearted and something that’s over the top.
When trying to reach a goal, we are keen to make it work. At first, we tend to get encouragement from our friends and relatives. But it’s the closest family that has a good handle on the pulse of your activity.
They seem to know when you’re doing too little, just enough or too much. When it’s too little, they will let you know. However, when the complaints’ frequency increases, we automatically get defensive.
However, too much is always too much.
In the case of the ad-agency person, his daughter signalled that her father was absent for most of her childhood. In the case of my friend from Europe, once again, the daughter seemed to complain about her father constantly on the phone.
In my case, it was my niece, Keira, who clearly thought sleeping on the sofa was only for “tired people”. And finally, Renuka has had to slow me down time and time again, and it takes time for me to pay attention.
If your family members are giving you feedback, it’s time to listen.
It’s almost sure you’re doing too much for too long, and it’s time to change course. It’s okay to be relentless. Sometimes, however, just “less” will do.
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Announcing: The Art of Pre-Sell: On sale 29 November
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Announcing: How John Forde (And Sean D’Souza) Got Me to Write Articles
📅 November 01, 2025 | View in Gmail
Start. Stop. Start. Stop. The Biggest Frustration With Writing is it drives you Crazy. Before I start, let me make one thing clear.John Forde is a copywriter who lives in Paris. And a good friend with a great newsletter. And me, I’m Sean D’Souza. Which of course makes it really weird when I say I used myself for inspiration.It sounds a lot more than weird, actually. It sounds egocentric.Let me assure it’s got nothing to do with ego. And everything to do with desperation You see when I started writing articles for my website back in about 2001, I was at best a cartoonist. If you asked me to draw something, you had a bouncy volunteer right besides you.But when you asked me to write, the bounciness would sure fade away pretty rapidly. You see not only did I consider myself an average writer, but I had enough reason to be afraid of writing.And the reason I was afraid was because of girl named Clare.I remember writing an article way back in the year 1990-91 . I wanted to be a copywriter and in one of my diverse moods I decided to “make some money” writing for the newspapers as well. So I met up with this guy called CY Gopinath, who ran this writing agency. Well CY gave me an assignment, and I wrote about it.And Clare, who worked with him, edited my assignment. And when Clare was done I couldn’t recognise the darned thing at all. There was so much edited; so much added; so much removed that it seemed to me not my work at all. Today I can’t even remember the subject of the article.But I remember the memory of frustration I remember that I didn’t want to be a writer.Well who cares about writing articles anyway? I could be a cartoonist instead. I could write ad copy. Clare wouldn’t be around to edit my stuff. And who died and made Clare queen anyway? And there I was, ten years into the future, and Clare was still bothering me.In fact most months, article writing was a drudgery I wrote articles because I was forced to do so. I knew I was supposed to update my website. I knew that one of our alliances, Allen Weiss (from MarketingProfs.com) would be asking me whether I’d completed my article. Somehow I had to banish Clare from my head and take away the fear of writing.Article writing was intense drudgery I hated every bit of article writing. I hated the start, the middle, and I couldn’t be sure of the end. If I completed an article in one working day, I’d be ecstatic. Most days it would take me two days.Two whole days and I couldn’t honestly tell you if the article wouldn’t end up in this article graveyard. Thankfully it was only two days in the whole month (Yup, I’d write once a month).And then I decided to get inspiration from my own articles I started looking back at the ones I’d completed, and felt this immense sense of satisfaction. Even inspiration. And so before writing, I’d look at my previous headlines. I’d read my own articles. And feel a sense of accomplishment. That put in a little juice in my reserve tank. That propelled me off the starting point.And I coughed and sputtered, but at least I was writing a new article. It didn’t make things any better. I was still a foul person to be around on article writing days. So I had to search for inspiration. And inspiration came in the form of a guy named John Forde I loved the way John wrote. His writing was always so effortless. He seemed to be having so much fun. And he knew his topic (unlike me who mostly knew about cartooning).And so I’d read many of John’s article. At one point, after getting to know him, I even asked him for an archive of sorts. Just so I could read and be inspired.John’s writing and mine: They both nudged me on And while I got a lot better over the years, there was a moment in time when I got radically better. That moment was when I promised my members that I would write 5 articles a week. No one paid attention of course, but I had promised 5000bc members that they’d get this wealth of information week after week.And there I was trapped—in a way. I had to write those articles. If you thought writing one is hard, five must be pure agony.Actually I found quite the opposite The moment I started writing five-six articles a week, something changed rapidly. Not all at once, of course, but in a few months I found that I could literally sit down at my computer and turn out five articles in the course of the day. At first this spurt of writing seems like a flukeI was sure I’d run out of ideas in a few weeks. But the weeks turned to months. And months to years. The dread that I’d been feeling seemed to disappear, slowly at first, but the evidence was clear. I was never going to run out of ideas.What’s more interesting, is that I got faster, which allowed me to move from writing 800 word articles to 3000 word articles—often in a day or two, but also sometimes in a single morning. When you get through that much, and do so, so quickly, it’s not a big leap of imagination to figure out you can write booklets, then books.At first, the steps were halting, almost like someone was about to tap me on the shoulder and say “ok, you’ve run out of luck”, but in time, I realised that tap was never going to come. I’d earned myself that skill, fair and square and it was getting better all the time.And when you see all of this from the outside, it’s easy to think: This Sean is a genius. Or a mad man.I don’t see the same Sean as you do I see the Sean who struggled with Clare’s edit (she was only doing her job well). I see the plod, the drudgery of writing articles for MarketingProfs in the early days (I wrote almost 50 articles for them). I see the fear in my eyes when I promised to write five articles a week in a moment of madness. And I know that anyone can do it. Anyone .I don’t care who you are. I don’t care what your education. I don’t care if you can even read—or write. The best part is that you don’t need to slave for almost ten years like I did. Or if you go back in time to Clare, twenty years. You can do it in three-six months. It’s still going to be a slog, but you can do it.And then there are going to be times when you’re super frustrated And the only inspiration you have is yourself. Or someone like John Forde. And if you persist, something magical will happen. You’ll get enormously better at writing.And you’ll be an inspiration to others. Imagine that! One Announcement For Today Start. Stop. Start. Stop. The biggest frustration with writing is it drives you crazy. Yet writing is a “language” like everything else. Learn the structure and you can learn to write without the frustration and faster than ever before. Click here for Five Free Goodies: How to create expertise through article writing Click here to read about: The Article Writing Self Study Course (On sale today—You will be sent a special link once you join the waiting list)
October 2025
Last day: Special Bonus: Website Strategy Masterclass: (Free When You Join 5000bc)
📅 October 29, 2025 | View in Gmail
How to Create a Website that not only attracts more customers but actually gets them back
Today is the last day to get the Special Bonus: Website Strategy Masterclass when you join 5000bc.
You’ve been around the Psychotactics site for a while. And you’ve probably even sneaked a peek at 5000bc.
So what is 5000bc, and what is the Special Bonus—Website Strategy Masterclass about?
Let’s have a look.
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In 2006 we conducted the website strategy masterclass. It was based on the precise steps involved in attraction, conversion and consumption. The specific psychological factors that every website must have–and without which you're just wasting your time and money.
Even today in 2025 we are still using the same strategy successfully. And will continue to use it. • Yes, technology has changed. • Yes, we have new media to communicate our message. • Yes, our website design has changed over time.
Yes, the strategy continues to work!
Websites fail because you don’t understand the core of what drives business For clients to keep coming back to your ‘restaurant’, and keep eating the ‘meals’ regularly, you need to have a powerful strategy in place. A strategy that guarantees the return of the customer. That will not only get the customer back but over time, the customer will buy more from you and buy at higher prices.
And how do you create a website that not only attracts more customers but actually gets customers to keep coming back?
Presenting the Website Strategy Masterclass Home Study Course
(Free for 5000bc Members)
The Website Masterclass is not some quick system This Home Study Course is about a simple, step-by-step system that we’ve used ourselves to grow Psychotactics over the years to the point where it pays us a handsome return and affords us a comfortable lifestyle. This information is not meant to impress you. It’s just to show you that if you use the right strategy, you too can achieve what we’ve achieved in a reasonable time frame.
Ready to join 5000bc and get the entire workshop, notes and bonuses? Click here to get this offer
Warm regards Sean D’Souza P.S. This offer expires on 29 October 2025 (11:59 pm New York, Eastern USA).
P.P.S. And what else has 5000bc got to offer you?
If you’re a business owner, you know how lonely it can be in your world. And now, like most people on the planet, we’re unsure where to go or what to do. We’re stuck in our homes, and it seems odd to want to start up a project or do something.
The volume of chaos is so great that it’s hard to focus Yet, it’s also the precise time that will give you the time to ask questions, get answers and finally get that project going. We all complain about having no time, and time is still a premium, but we do seem to have just a smidgen more of time these days.
It’s like a Yoda quote: There is no try, Luke. There’s do. And there’s don’t.
If you’re in the “do” category, I’m in 5000bc, ten or twenty times a day answering questions and helping you move forward. And there are members who are just as knowledgeable who can help you too.
You can ask questions and get an unending number of answers. And often so quickly that it seems like consulting. Not consulting once a week or once a month, but every day, or ten times a day if you like.
The motto of 5000bc is: be kind, be helpful, or begone. If you are looking for a community that simply slap each other on the back, are always promoting themselves, then 5000bc is not for you.
What you’ll find in 5000bc is solid information, but more importantly, solid help. Help from me (yes, I’m around 20-30 times a day, answering questions in great detail) and other members who pitch in and help. And having a community to talk to, to work with and bounce your ideas off, is incredibly valuable.
There’s an old African saying: If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go with a group. And yes, if you go with a helpful group, you enjoy the journey.
Yes, it’s the last day to join before the waiting list goes up, so get in the community and let’s go far.
Here is the link
Warm regards, Sean P.S. See you in 5000bc. This offer expires on 29 October 2025 (11:59 pm New York, Eastern USA).
Here is what Monica Stapleton has to say about 5000bc
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I've pretty much stopped following all other business marketing and strategy mentors. 5000bc is where I feel I'm going to get the answers I need, personally.
What I like about 5000bc—My list so far:
1. The "safe" zone of 5000bc is an unbelievable "find" in this world. So rare, and so valuable. With every other group I've been a part of, whether it's a mentor or a writing group, there is also a stressful environment of pressure to be a certain kind of person or do things I'm not comfortable with, or measure up somehow.
2. Sean's quick, personal, supportive responses to my emails have surprised me and they set the tone for everyone else in the group.
3. The supportive group there is amazing. I'm not used to being a part of such a supportive, positive group, and it's taking a little getting used to.
4. I value vulnerability and humility, and I finally feel like I've found a place where I belong. It's incredible. I feel that making a place where introverts have the necessary space to grow is an unbelievably rare find.
5. Along with all that, Sean still manage to produce the right motivational "pressure" or encouragement to do it right and get good results in a way that actually makes logical, real sense.
6. While I know everyone is going through the same challenges, I do sort of have a unique set of fears, and I think I really need the space 5000bc creates in order to spread my wings. I'm really not made for a dog-eat-dog world, and I don't do well in that environment. I'm sorting that problem out. In every other group I tend to go undercover very quickly, and I don't make headway.
7. Renuka's encouragement when I first started with 5000bc to get started with my first TAP (Taking Action Plan) was PERFECT.
8. The TAP (Taking Action Plan) experience was one of the most meaningful experiences in my lifetime. I made such huge headway in my personal health, and felt extremely encouraged by the few people that took the time to go on my thread and say encouraging things to me. I can't tell you how much that meant to me. I broke through a ceiling I've been hitting for the last ten years, or more. I figured out a few clues that I'm still following and continue to have more breakthroughs as a result of the headway I made in that three week TAP. I'm still in shock about how important that was, and all that I discovered. I can't wait to take on another TAP with business goals and break through more ceilings in these other areas.
9. Sean really listen. That might need to be placed higher up on this list. The experience in 5000bc is so personal that I have no desire to go back to any of the other groups where I have felt distant and detached, and I wonder about the advice given, which is painted with such a broad-brushed stroke it doesn't have any bearing on my personal life at all. In two other groups where I did reach out for some help, I felt like a child being scolded on the receiving end. Even knowing I had to keep pushing forward, it made me cautious about what I would put out there in those groups. Now I don't want to go back to them at all.
10. You've won me over with the support of this group, and I think the group Sean managed to create is the thing I want to emulate in any health coaching practice I create in the future. The value of the group dynamic is probably more important than anything else, and since I want to involve people in personal change and growth I think that's an important piece that other models are completely missing. All the marketing strategies in the world that involve just getting your story out there can't make up for the problem of the impersonal, one-size-fits-all approach.
11. Sean and 5000bc insights are incredibly deep and wise. There is no other resource that I know of, that makes such great sense out of the psychology of marketing and writing. Your approach feels right to me in every way. I have yet to read anything you've written and think it didn't apply, or wasn't that important.
12. There is so much value in 5000bc that I have enough information just by belonging to the group, to keep growing as long as I want to.
13. I've made more personal headway in the few months I've been following you than I ever did in other groups. It's the combination of truly understanding the psychology behind marketing and the safe zone for personal growth that is an amazingly powerful combination.
Monica Stapleton
FL, USA
Join us:
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0bAxMzKzMzMw=
Special Bonus: Website Strategy Masterclass: (Free When You Join 5000bc before 29 October 2025)
📅 October 27, 2025 | View in Gmail
Find Out How To Create A Website that not only attracts more customers but actually gets them back
In 2006 we conducted the website strategy masterclass. It was based on the precise steps involved in attraction, conversion and consumption. The specific psychological factors that every website must have–and without which you're just wasting your time and money.
Even today in 2025 we are still using the same strategy successfully. And will continue to use it. • Yes, technology has changed. • Yes, we have new media to communicate our message. • Yes, our website design has changed over time.
However the strategy continues to work!
Websites fail because you don’t understand the core of what drives business For clients to keep coming back to your ‘restaurant’, and keep eating the ‘meals’ regularly, you need to have a powerful strategy in place. A strategy that guarantees the return of the customer. That will not only get the customer back but over time, the customer will buy more from you and buy at higher prices.
And how do you create a website that not only attracts more customers but actually gets customers to keep coming back?
Presenting the Website Strategy Masterclass Home Study Course
(Free for 5000bc Members)
Image
The Website Masterclass is not some quick system This Home Study Course is about a simple, step-by-step system that we’ve used ourselves to grow Psychotactics over the years to the point where it pays us a handsome return and affords us a comfortable lifestyle.
This information is not meant to impress you. It’s just to show you that if you use the right strategy, you too can achieve what we’ve achieved in a reasonable time frame.
Ready to join 5000bc and get the entire workshop, notes and bonuses? Click here to get this offer
Warm regards Sean D’Souza P.S. This offer expires on 29 October 2025 (11:59 pm New York, Eastern USA).
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0bAxMzCyMHIw=
Announcing: How To Join 5000bc (But How Do You Know if 5000bc Is The Place For You?)
📅 October 25, 2025 | View in Gmail
You’re a business owner, and you know how lonely it can be in your world.
About 5000bc
You’ve been around the Psychotactics site for a while. And you’ve probably even sneaked a peek at 5000bc (our membership site) and seen that there’s a waiting list.
For the next four days we’re bringing down that wall: From 25 October to 29 October 2025, you get the chance to join (without being on the waiting list).
But how do you know if 5000bc is the place for you?
If you’re a business owner, you know how lonely it can be in your world. And now, like most people on the planet, we’re unsure where to go or what to do. We’re stuck in our homes, and it seems odd to want to start up a project or do something.
The volume of chaos is so great that it’s hard to focus Yet, it’s also the precise time that will give you the time to ask questions, get answers and finally get that project going. We all complain about having no time, and time is still a premium, but we do seem to have just a smidgen more of time these days.
It’s like a Yoda quote: There is no try, Luke. There’s do. And there’s don’t.
If you’re in the “do” category, I’m in 5000bc, ten or twenty times a day answering questions and helping you move forward. And there are members who are just as knowledgeable who can help you too.
Where can you get consulting for $298 year? As a 5000bc member, you can ask questions and get an unending number of answers. And often so quickly that it seems like consulting. Not consulting once a week or once a month, but every day, or ten times a day if you like.
The motto of 5000bc is: be kind, be helpful, or begone. If you are looking for a community that simply slap each other on the back, are always promoting themselves, then 5000bc is not for you.
What you’ll find in 5000bc is solid information, but more importantly, solid help. Help from me (yes, I’m around 20-30 times a day, answering questions in great detail) and other members who pitch in and help. And having a community to talk to, to work with and bounce your ideas off, is incredibly valuable.
There’s an old African saying: If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go with a group. And yes, if you go with a helpful group, you enjoy the journey.
You have to judge for yourself. It’s up to you. Starting up is hard, but we don’t know where this story is going to end. Use the resources you have (we have a lot of articles too) and the consulting. • Get to 5000bc and let’s get your project on the road. • Get answers and get ahead.
So take a look at 5000bc right away.
We’d love to have you there.
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Warm regards, Sean P.S. Make a decision today based on what you see.
P.P.S. Here is what members say:
"My first thought was that it would be like most other communities - no teacher present. And group with the blind leading the blind, at best or at worst, your posts sit empty with no response."
Once I joined: I found a community with a present teacher who responds to my questions, who makes me think, who teaches me things about my own expertise that I didn’t know I didn’t know and a group of peers who are pro-actively helpful; who have helped me get over bumps. I’ve finally made progress in how to attract the people whom I can best serve. I don’t feel lost any more. I know exactly what to do next. I’m grateful that such a space exists in the world. Every small business owner should have such a place.
“Internet marketing can be lonely.” There’s lots of gurus telling you to do this or do that – you can become quickly overwhelmed or burned out or just not in action because it doesn’t feel authentic. 5000bc is a group of like minded people who are taking action and building their businesses and cheering each other on. And using a process to do it.
“Sean really listen.” The experience in 5000bc is so personal that I have no desire to go back to any of the other groups where I have felt distant and detached, and I wonder about the advice given, which is painted with such a broad-brushed stroke it doesn’t have any bearing on my personal life at all.
“The uniqueness of 5000bc is that Sean sticks around” He’s around 20 or 30 times a day. And when you ask a question, you will be amazed at the richness and detail in the answer. Sometimes he’ll write a whole series, just for you–just to answer your question. That’s what makes 5000bc utterly unique.
“The “safe” zone of 5000bc is an unbelievable “find” in this world” So rare, and so valuable. With every other group I’ve been a part of, whether it’s a mentor or a writing group, there is also a stressful environment of pressure to be a certain kind of person or do things I’m not comfortable with, or measure up somehow.
“I value vulnerability and humility” And I finally feel like I’ve found a place where I belong. It’s incredible. I feel that making a place where introverts have the necessary space to grow is an unbelievably rare find.
“Sean and Renuka actual care about you” I think the invisible factor is often the relationships. And what I mean by that is how you feel when the person you are learning from treats you like an individual that they care about. For example by responding personally to your emails or other communication. I could see that they not only had fantastic information but they actually cared.
Come join us in 5000bc. We are a friendly bunch of caring people.
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0bAxMzCyMLIw=
Announcing! How To Become An Expert In Your Industry
📅 October 21, 2025 | View in Gmail
The Biggest Frustration With Writing is it Drives you Crazy. Yet writing is a “language”.
Article Writing Goodies
Imagine you had a fairy godmother.
And she gave you one wish: The wish of ‘perceived expertise’. This ‘perceived expertise’, means that your customers would look at you and say: “There goes the expert in the field. I only want to work with her/him.”
I had such a godmother. And I got a wish from that fairy godmother in the year 2002.
You see I’d just started up my consultancy in marketing I’d moved from India to New Zealand. No one knew me in these parts. No one knew if I was good at what I did. Or just plain useless. And what was worse, was I wasn’t quite sure either.
Then one day, that fairy godmother whizzed into the room “Write articles,” she said. “Write articles?” I echoed. “What good are articles going to do for me?” I thought condescendingly.
But as fairy godmothers go, they can read your thoughts And so there I was, um, writing articles. And remember, I didn’t even know my subject well enough. To me, marketing was a whole new world.
But then something magical happened. Something I just didn’t expect. When I sat down to write, I started to get ideas. Ideas that I didn’t know existed in my head. And as I read more books (both business and non-business books), I got even more ideas.
When I put those ideas on my website, and put up a little ‘Subscribe’ link right at the very bottom—I started getting subscribers.
I wasn’t even selling anything online (or offline for that matter) And there I was..ahem…building an audience. An audience that wanted to listen what I had to say. An audience that went from just friends and family, to a chunky hundred people. Then a thousand. And it kept growing.
I wasn’t doing any advertising No publicity. Heck, I barely knew how to do my own marketing. Yet these articles were like a magnet.
They pulled people from every part of the world to my…um…pretty crappy website (you should have seen it in the year 2002).
And offline, I was starting to get inquiries too.
“Can you give us some advice on these marketing matters?” they said “Can you train our staff?” they said. Can you do this, and can you do that. And on and on it went.
But articles were hard work for me It would take me two days to write a single article. And I’d curse and struggle. And to write one article a month was a big achievement for me.
But hey, I did have a fairy godmother And fairy godmothers grant wishes, so I took her up on the wish. “Make me write great articles that captivate. And show me how to write them at high speed (so I don’t have to spend two days over a single article)” I said to her.
“Article writing is about structure”, she said “Structure and drama,” she continued. “Structure and drama and the ‘next step’,” she crescendoed. “Drama pulls you in. Structure keeps you there. And then the next action gets your client to move to the next step.”
And just like that I learned how to write articles. And now it’s your turn.
Will you let me be your fairy um…godmother? Do you want to learn how to spot drama? Learn how to spot structure? And understand how to use the power of the next step?
Well, ask and you shall receive. But hey, there are no magic wands here. You’ve actually got to go to the link below. And there you’ll be taken to a page with instructions. Instructions on how to get some free goodies. Goodies to drama, structure, and the next step.
So, tah-dah, here’s the link: Free Goodies: Article Writing
See you on the other side! :) Sean P.S. The goodies are free.
P.P.S. Start. Stop. Start. Stop. The biggest frustration with writing is it drives you crazy. Yet writing is a “language” like everything else.
Learn the structure and you can learn to write without the frustration. Article Writing Self Study Details
(On sale 1 November 2025 to those on the waiting list)
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0bAxMTAysTOw=
Announcing: How To Become An Expert (In Your Customer’s Eyes)
📅 October 18, 2025 | View in Gmail
How Do You Write So that your Clients actually Read Your Articles above all that Noise?
Article Writing Image
How do you become an expert in your customer’s eyes? How do you become the person the customer most wants to work with? How do you then increase prices 500% and still have customers wanting to work with you?
To understand how this unusual situation occurs, let me tell you a story I was a cartoonist by profession. Then one fine day, I decided to get into ‘marketing.’
Now tell me honestly Would you hire a cartoonist to show you how to attract customers? Would you hire a cartoonist to show you how to improve your website? Would you hire a cartoonist for anything—but—to draw cartoons?
Why would you? I wouldn’t.
And that was the uphill battle I faced: No one knew me as an expert. Now it didn’t matter how many times I looked in the mirror and called myself an expert.
I still wasn’t getting any respect, let alone pesos in the bank. And it drove me crazy.
But there’s always a way out of crazy-land So here’s what I did. I started writing articles. And it was painful writing those articles. I’d write one article after slaving over it for two days. And then sometimes after two days, I’d trash the article and start all over again.
Did I say there’s a way out of crazy-land? Well, it sure didn’t seem so, because this article-writing-jazz was driving me loco.
But here’s what I found too. That there were systems. And techniques. Techniques that enabled me to write faster. That enabled me to make an article almost like a movie. That enabled me to see a pattern as to which articles would go down the gurgler, and which articles would get lapped up by the readers.
That there were certain articles, when published, that got customers to my website in droves. I’d wake up, and suddenly there were fifty, or a hundred new subscribers.
Sometimes as many as two hundred or more.
And then as the weeks and months passed, I started getting calls Calls to help customers with their website (um, after I wrote a website-based article).
And then emails. To help customers to help them attract clients (um, again, it was an article that did the job).
You’re guessing what crossed my mind, eh? Not only were the articles pulling in customers to the Psychotactics website, but these customers were asking me to work with them.
Me, a cartoonist, work with them?
I have to say, I was scared out my wits. (For two whole years actually). But after two years of writing articles (and I just wrote about 20 articles in the first two years), even I began to see a trend.
I figured I could go nuts and cold-call Or I could sit at my computer and write an article. And have a customer call. (Ooh, I did like the sound of that phone ringing).
But you have to remember this was back in the year 2002-2004. Back then, the Internet was a bit of a novelty. People doled out their email addresses like peanuts.
Today it’s not that easy to have two hundred people stream through your website. Which means that it’s not enough to just write an article.
There are squillions of articles on the Internet today And those articles are competing with audio. And video. And heck knows what else.
So the questions do cross your mind
- How do I write so that my clients actually read my articles above all that noise?
- How do I write, if I struggle to put a paragraph together?
- Is there a ticket out of crazy-land? Can I really become an expert in my client’s eyes?
There indeed is a ticket And if you’ve been putting off writing, because you think it’s hard, well, it’s time to get that ticket out of crazy-land.
Information (um, Article Writing) creates expertise Ask every author on Amazon.com Ask every top consultant. Ask every top trainer. And ask a cartoonist.
Free Goodies: Don’t take my word for it. Judge for yourself. Get some solid methods to write better articles at this link. Don’t wait. This link won’t stay up forever. :) Free Goodies: Article Writing
Sean P.S. The goodies are free.
P.P.S. Start. Stop. Start. Stop. The biggest frustration with writing is it drives you crazy. Yet writing is a “language” like everything else.
Learn the structure and you can learn to write without the frustration. Article Writing Self Study Details
(The limited-edition, self-study course will be available on 1 November 2025 to those on the waiting list).
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0bAxMjIysrKw=
U-turns: Why Almost Every Article Needs One To Create Drama
📅 October 14, 2025 | View in Gmail
Tiny piece of advice and how it adds drama.
Psychotactics
https://www.psychotactics.com/
U-turns: Why Almost Every Article Needs One To Create Drama
Load the images to see the cartoon. It works!
https://www.psychotactics.com/article-drama-create/
(This email contains the complete article. However, you can also read or listen to it at these links: Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/article-drama-create/ | iTunes
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/u-turn/id946996410?i=1000552265720 | Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0aK92Uqaa9U1nZPwASty71?si=pnCpELzUS5q7iy570ArsBA |). I once wrote an article saying I listened to podcasts while walking. Almost as soon as the e-mail went out, a client wrote back.
She didn’t agree with me, either. “I like to enjoy the sounds of nature”, her e-mail started. “I don’t fancy listening to anything, not podcasts, not music when I go for my walk.”
The moment I read that note, I realised I’d made a fundamental mistake with my writing. I’d also missed the opportunity to bring in the drama.
When an article doesn’t make a U-turn, it’s less of an article and more of a monologue.
What’s a U-turn anyway?
When someone says: You should drink eight glasses of water a day, surely you have a slightly different opinion. Maybe you think ten glasses are better. Or instead, six are more than enough.
Whatever the final thought, most of us never simply accept information without having some sort of objection in place.
When we purchase a product or service, we have an objection or two —or six. When we’re faced with an idea, there’s no reason why we should buy into it without questioning it just a little bit.
This is why the U-turn is so crucial.
When you put in a U-turn, you prove to your audience that you’ve covered both sides of the argument. It gives added heft to your article, which is not the case if you go prattling off in one direction.
It also adds much-needed contrast when you brake and suddenly go off in another direction, only to make another U-turn down the road and come back the same way.
However, the moment you contradict yourself in a meaningful way, you can deconstruct the objections that may pop up from your reader or listener.
But surely not all articles need to have a U-turn.
A U-turn doesn’t mean you have to destroy the facts (or the science). Instead, it’s just taking the view of the reader or listener.
Objections matter. You’re looking into what the client might object to, and then you’re carefully deconstructing that objection.
Just keep it to one or two U-turns.
Otherwise everyone gets a bit dizzy. It’s a tiny piece of advice. Yet it adds drama. Try it.
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The Reason You Can’t Focus (Why “Distraction” Has Nothing To Do With Focus)
📅 October 11, 2025 | View in Gmail
But are we really distracted? Or is it congestion, instead?
The Reason You Can’t Focus (Why “Distraction” Has Nothing To Do With Focus)
https://www.psychotactics.com/focus-reason/
If you ask someone why they can’t focus, they usually say they’re very distracted.
But are we really distracted? Or is it congestion, instead?
Let’s dig deeper into this slight nuance and find out if distraction may be a good thing after all. Read
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Three binge-worthy podcasts 'On Article Writing'
(Yes, there are transcripts too)
https://www.psychotactics.com/reduce-anxiety/
Why Writing Down What Delights You Can Help Reduce Anxiety And Stress Read
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Why Storytelling Needs The Thumpity-Thump-Thump-Thump-Thump Read
https://www.psychotactics.com/storytelling-how-to/ | Apple
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Why We Write (And The Difference Between Thinking Vs Writing) Read
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Warm regards Sean P.S. Opening on 1 Nov. 2025: Article Writing Self-Study Course Free Goodies
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Last Day For Special Offer: (New!) Website Components 2.0-How To Create Compelling Pages on Your Website
📅 October 08, 2025 | View in Gmail
Do you often wonder if your home page, about us page or client acquisition page is working
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/websites-that-workinternet-marketing-psychological-secrets/
When you buy Website Components 2.0-How To Create Compelling Pages On Your Website from the 4 - 7 October 2025 you'll also get a Special Bonus - 'How To Maximise The Power Of Bonuses' (worth $45) absolutely free.
Do you often wonder if your home page, about us page or client acquisition page is working at less than its full potential?
These three pages are critical to any website, and yet we often put the content together on these pages hurriedly.
Well, “hurriedly” is the wrong word to use.
Instead we spend hours trying to get just the right content; just the right look. And then, after hours, maybe days of frustration, we put together something that seems right.
But is it really compelling?
Can it be more compelling? What’s really missing? And is there a simple way to fix it—while retaining your own voice, your own personality?
Introducing: The Website Component Series
Find out for yourself how you can spruce up the home page, about us page and the sign up page. We deconstruct existing pages and then in true Psychotactics-fashion reconstruct them step-by-step.
And the Special Bonus: How To Maximise The Power Of Bonuses
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The Psychology of Bonuses How to Find your Bonuses How to Create a One-Of-A-Kind Bonus How to Avoid the Bonus Trap and More Why Unbundling Makes a Big Difference to How your Product is Perceived.
Judge for yourself at: Website Component 2.0 Special Offer
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Warm regards,
Sean P.S. This product is very critical if you’re just sitting down to write your pages, but it’s even more critical if you have these pages up, and you’ll like to improve them to help you convert more traffic. Judge for yourself at Website Component 2.0 Special Offer
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P.P.S. This special offer is only valid until 7 October 2025. Have a look and make a decision based on what you read. Website Component 2.0 Special Offer
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Announcing (New!): How To Create Compelling Pages On Your Website + Special Bonus (Valued At $45)
📅 October 04, 2025 | View in Gmail
Special Bonus—‘How To Maximise The Power Of Bonuses’
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/websites-that-workinternet-marketing-psychological-secrets/
When you buy Website Components 2.0-How To Create Compelling Pages On Your Website from 4 - 7 October 2025 you’ll also get a Special Bonus - ‘How To Maximise The Power Of Bonuses’ (worth $45) absolutely free.
Do you often wonder if your home page, about us page or client acquisition page is working at less than its full potential?
These three pages are critical to any website, and yet we often put the content together on these pages hurriedly.
Well, “hurriedly” is the wrong word to use.
Instead we spend hours trying to get just the right content; just the right look. And then, after hours, maybe days of frustration, we put together something that seems right.
But is it really compelling? Can it be more compelling?
What’s really missing? And is there a simple way to fix it—while retaining your own voice, your own personality?
Introducing: The Website Component Series
Find out for yourself how you can spruce up the home page, about us page and the sign up page. We deconstruct existing pages and then in true Psychotactics-fashion reconstruct them step-by-step.
And the Special Bonus: How To Maximise The Power Of Bonuses
In this 40 page booklet you will learn: The psychology of bonuses How to find your bonuses How to create a One-Of-A-Kind bonus Why unbundling makes a big difference to how your product is perceived. How to avoid the bonus trap—and much more.
Judge for yourself at: Website Component 2.0 Special Offer
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/websites-that-workinternet-marketing-psychological-secrets/
Warm regards, Sean P.S. This product is very critical if you’re just sitting down to write your pages, but it’s even more critical if you have these pages up, and you’ll like to improve them to help you convert more traffic. Website Component 2.0 Special Offer
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/websites-that-workinternet-marketing-psychological-secrets/
P.P.S. This special offer (including the free bonus) is only valid until 7 October 2025 Have a look and make a decision based on what you read.
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September 2025
How To Create a Uniqueness That’s Difficult For Competition To Replicate
📅 September 30, 2025 | View in Gmail
Can others easily replicate your uniqueness? What can you do to be different?
Psychotactics
https://www.psychotactics.com/
How To Create A Uniqueness That’s Difficult For Competition To Replicate
https://www.psychotactics.com/uniqueness-replicate/
(This email contains the complete article. However, you can also read or listen to it at these links: Read
https://www.psychotactics.com/uniqueness-replicate/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6EB6PULrSiebOlncP3ZC8c )
Imagine for a second that you didn’t want to buy a notebook.
I know I didn’t.
Like you, I have quite a few notebooks lying around. I also have a lot of paper. And let’s not forget that I can take notes on my computer and the iPad. In short, who really needs a notebook?
Well, the guys at Studio Neat totally ignored this lack of need and decided to put out a notebook called Panobook. One look at Panobook and you suddenly feel the need for a notebook. And like any product or service, this notebook has many many features and benefits.
Which is where the root of all uniqueness trouble lies, doesn’t it?
Whether you set out to write a book, create a course, or manufacture a notebook, your offering is going to have many features and benefits. And marketing tells us repeatedly that we need to create a factor of uniqueness, because it’s the uniqueness that makes a product or service stand out. But how do we create uniqueness that can’t be easily ripped off?
For this we have to start by looking at the features and benefits of the Panobook.
-
The page size is panoramic at 11.34 x 6.30 inches. That’s approximately the same size as a small sized keyboard.
-
It has a subtle dot grid. The grid enables you to draw shapes on a page, almost perfectly without the need of a ruler.
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Guide markers (again subtle) that that make it easy to quickly draw three rectangles on the page, sized ideally for smartphone UI design or storyboarding.
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You can write on them with many different types of pens, without smudging or bleeding.
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Made robust wire-o binding, which allows the notebook to sit flat when opened. But also you can tear out a page, if you don’t like how it looks.
-
Panobook comes with a slip case, which is meant to be the final resting place for your notebook. You can write on the spine to catalogue the notebook.
This list of six prominent features and benefits means we have six potential uniqueness elements in place
But will these benefits and features assure the creators of the product a high level of success? If it’s relatively easy to copy the product or service, a competitor would step in and take away your high vantage point. But can we make it a bit difficult for those nasty buggers? Let’s take a look and see what’s possible.
We need to evaluate how “difficult it will be for the competition to copy” your idea What’s impossible, or seemingly impossible in your field? Or if you’re dealing with a product or service, what seems to be out of the reach of most of your both you, or your competition?
Most of us know how Domino’s Pizza came to dominate the pizza industry.
Their slogan of “30 minutes or it’s free” was a level of difficulty that was almost impossible for the competition to quickly overcome. The same kind of uniqueness seems to be inbuilt into a Tesla car or truck.
The Tesla Roadster quickly put the brakes on the competition because of the range: it can go about 400 miles without needing to charge. The long range trucks can go 500 miles, which means that (at least in the U.S) a truck can go to their destination and back, without needing to stop for a charge.
Which is all very fine for a big company like Domino’s and Tesla, but what about you and me?
A few years ago, we realised that our goal at Psychotactics wasn’t necessarily to give the client more information. We noticed that we were able to give them skills, instead. This immediately ramped up the level of difficulty on two fronts.
First, we promised that every course or workshop wouldn’t focus just on information, but solely on skill. That once you finished the cartooning course, you’d have the skill to cartoon.
If you went through the information products course, you’d be able to create not just any information product, but one that clients would be eager to consume. Making such a seemingly ridiculous claim makes it very difficult for the competition to follow.
However, in many cases you don’t need to go out on a limb
Most products or services tend to be fairly similar. A course, a membership site, a book, a law service—they’re all similar. However, if you reduce the number of components, you can almost always guarantee a specific result. Take for instance the Headlines Report on the home page of the Psychotactics site.
When you sign up for the newsletter, you get the report. But what does the report guarantee? It guarantees that in under 10 minutes, you’ll be able to write three different types of headlines. Now that kind of promise isn’t hard for the competition to copy, but even so, they may not be in a position to do so right away.
When Domino’s Pizza made their offer, no one was able to get their pizza across in record time. Today, it would be possible to create a system that allows for competition to deliver a speedy pizza.
Nonetheless, it allowed Domino’s to enjoy a huge honeymoon period even as the competition tried to catch up—if they tried to catch up at all.
The Panobook is an example of many features and benefits, but what’s the difficulty factor?
It’s panoramic, has this extremely useful dot grid, doesn’t smudge or bleed because of the great paper quality, can site flat when opened, and has a slip case to catalogue the book. But where’s the difficulty factor?
What if the competition decided to copy the very same kind of book? If I were the creator of the book, I’d pick the “blotting factor”. So many of us use different types of pens, that you’d want a book that can take almost any pen.
I have almost no problem with the Panobooks (and good thing too because I think I bought about 15 of them) but if you look at the reviews online, people like the books, but have a problem with the smudging.
What can you do today to create a level of difficulty?
What seems impossibly difficult in your field? Can you make a list? And what if you tried to solve that problem by making it your uniqueness? That’s what you and I need to do whenever we’re creating a product or service.
Your steps would be:
Step 1: List your product/service Step 2: What’s seemingly impossible? Step 3: How do you make it possible? Step 4: Can others easily replicate this uniqueness? Step 5: How do you get the word out?
Let’s take an example before we come to the end of this article. Let’s take 5000bc for instance.
Step 1: The name of the product is 5000bc.
Step 2: The factor that’s impossible is for you, the client to get an answer, or even better a detailed answer from the owner of the site, when you need it.
Step 3: What makes it possible? I, as the owner of the site, need to be available to answer the questions on a consistent basis.
Step 4: Can others easily replicate this uniqueness? Not at all. In fact, owners are too busy on other projects. For them to replicate this uniqueness they’d have to change their entire business model and time allocation plans.
Step 5: We get the word out through articles, through podcasts and through presentations.
And there you have it.
The difficulty factor of creating uniqueness.
Wasn’t so very hard, was it?
Try it and let me know how you go.
Thank you for being a subscriber. If you’ve enjoyed reading this article, please consider sending it or recommending it to a few friends. I would love it!
P.S. On sale on 8 October 2025 How do you create your uniqueness that stands the test of time? Free Goodies: Uniqueness—Biggest mistakes and how to avoid them
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- The five stages to making your product sell time and time again Find out why you need to avoid greed.
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A Tiny Request This Saturday
📅 September 27, 2025 | View in Gmail
If you know someone who would enjoy what we do, would you consider telling just one friend about Psychotactics? Sean here, and I have a tiny request to ask you this Saturday. Over the years, some of our most wonderful clients have come from referrals.
Announcing: How To Increase Your Web Conversion Rate (With Client Attractors)
📅 September 24, 2025 | View in Gmail
Plus Premium Bonus: How To Structure Your Sales Page
Client Attractors https://www.psychotactics.com/products/client-attractors/ I’m pretty sure you’ve heard the poem, “I am a teapot”. It’s pretty short—and has just four lines. It goes like this: I am a teapot, short and stout. This is my handle; this is my spout. When the water boils, hear my shout. Lift me up and pour me out. Now let’s say you’re in the market for buying a teapot Most of us would simply run into the features. - Fat and stout - Handle and spout - Notification mechanism - Pouring ability. That’s not enough to get clients interested. Instead, what’s needed are features and benefits. - Fat and stout: Retains heat at 60-80% for over 30 minutes. - Handle: Stays cool even as the main teapot stays hot. - Spout: No drippy-irritating, runny spout. The pouring ability is flawless every time. - Shout: Loud notification mechanism to save needless boiling and energy wastage. The teapot hasn’t changed, but how you approach the sales page has made a huge difference. And all of this information is buried in the features and benefits—as well as the bullets. When the client skims—and we all do—they stop at a certain point. This specific point on the sales page is often where we decide to buy or just move on. Yes, the headline is essential, and so is the main problem. However, when the client hits the brakes, you want to showcase your product or service in the most compelling manner. The teapot is a simple example, but you can create as many as 30-60 features and benefits for many products and services. What’s better is that you can make every one of them as powerful as the headline on your page. Find out more details at this page and judge for yourself! (But read the testimonials below as well, before you click) https://psychotactics.com/products/client-attractors Warm regards, Sean P.S. The bonus on this product is really worth having. It will really give you an insight into sales pages like never before. Check out the bonus :) https://psychotactics.com/products/client-attractors P.P.S. Here is what people say about Client Attractors. About Client Attractors https://www.psychotactics.com/products/client-attractors/ “We are in an extremely tough market with lots of competition and the information helped us see how our product is different than all the rest.” Sue Elliott, USA https://www.psychotactics.com/products/client-attractors/ The biggest benefit was the formula to create truly attention grabbing bullets. I tried it, and it worked. After reading a few copywriting books, I wondered what else you could possibly teach about writing copy that focuses on benefits and features. It turns out you were able to not only teach me new things but in a way that made intuitive sense. I truly appreciated how you broke down the process of writing both benefits and bullets into a formulaic process. It truly takes someone with exceptional skill and knowledge to simplify and teach in a way that enables you to immediately grasp core concepts. Ankur Shah, UAE https://www.psychotactics.com/products/client-attractors/ A small business is very stingy with its own budget, and I always have this mentality of “I could learn stuff first-hand by myself”. I started implementing Sean’s system, and I felt like I had hit a jackpot. Not only did the audience remember all the major features (that I selected), but the interaction increased dramatically. Marlon Cruz, New Zealand Judge for yourself: Client Attractors https://www.psychotactics.com/products/client-attractors/ Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0bAyMDExMLOw=
Announcing! How To Speed Up Your Sales with Client Attractors
📅 September 20, 2025 | View in Gmail
How to quickly improve your conversion by 20% Client Attractors Book https://www.psychotactics.com/products/client-attractors/ You already know that 80% of a sales letter depends on your headline And therefore it’s not uncommon to see writers spend many hours testing and re-testing their headline. But what happens once your customer goes past the headline into the rest of the copy? Which are the elements that cause customers to feel an urge to buy your product or service? The remaining 20% is what causes customers to buy • In order to take customers to the next stage, you have to have a rock-solid system to help structure your sales page. • You have to know and understand the elements so that customers respond to your offer. So isn’t it time to find out what the remaining 20% is all about? Find out how you can quickly learn and implement that 20% to improve results immediately. https://psychotactics.com/products/client-attractors Warm regards, Sean P.S. The bonus on this product is really worth having. It will really give you an insight into sales pages like never before. Check out the bonus :) https://psychotactics.com/products/client-attractors Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0bAyMDExMTJw=
Three Tips on How To Keep Writing (Against all Odds)
📅 September 16, 2025 | View in Gmail
And how to take less time to write an article.
Psychotactics
https://www.psychotactics.com/
Three Tips On How To Keep Writing (Against All Odds)
Load the images to see the cartoon. It works!
https://www.psychotactics.com/writing-tips/
(This email contains the complete article. However, you can also read or listen to it at these links: Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/writing-tips/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3iKcOXn0gsOOpTspMeRTQJ?si=Cv2HCZiGRzOxTUfEnCY76g | ).
I wasn’t a writer. I didn’t like writing. Some days, I’m not even sure I do.
I do like finishing, though. I’m the crazy guy jumping on the lawn when I’m done with a book, a course—sometimes even an article. The question that arises in most of our heads is: Is it as miserable as it seems? For some it’s not.
But for most people, writing can be hard work even after many years. The way I solve the problem is by using these three small methods.
Writing Tip 1: Have a timer
I know I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it a thousand times. Without a timer, you’re always going to get exhausted. You’ll take ages to write, then another three centuries to edit. And if you thought writing is miserable, well, a lot of misery comes from this act of “writing forever and ever—and then editing for even longer”.
You may hate the timer.
You may not like this overbearing Damocles Sword of tick, tick, tick hanging over your head. Dump your preferences and use the timer.
In every article writing course we’ve ever had, the writers always believe they can do better with more time. It’s not true. They do worse. They get tired, they get fed up and it’s all because they stubbornly want to avoid the timer.
On a course, I’m more stubborn than they are, so we get them to use a timer. Since I’m not sitting alongside you in your own writing space, I can’t bring that stubbornness over to you.
However, I can tell you that most people reach about 95% of their capacity in the first pass. Then, with a little editing, they reach a 100% of their ability.
Spending more time doesn’t improve their work, or their sleep.
Your work will get better if you turn out more articles, not fewer. You may believe that less is more. Well, yes it is.
Less time taken to write an article is definitely better for you. Hence, start with the timer and write more. Write daily, or twice-weekly, but use that darned timer.
Writing Tip 2: Have a fan
You thought you need a thousand fans, right?
Well, you don’t. You need un gran admirador. That’s it. That one person who reads your stuff, and probably says nothing much.
They’re not around to edit or even give you feedback. It’s nice if they come back and say “ooh, I love that paragraph” or “Hey, I had a similar experience”. Sometimes, maybe they might say “I don’t understand a word on this page”.
In either case, having a fan really helps things. I tend to use this fan system in quite another manner. I explain things to people before I write. Hence, I’ll probably be on a webinar and someone will ask a question.
I’ll answer that question in a lot of detail and that becomes the basis for writing the article. I’ll then follow up with the person, making sure I’ve covered their objections and by the end of it all, I have an article.
Hence, I tend to have a bunch of people that I would consider to be individual fans. Well, I’m not exactly happy with the term “fan” but you get what I mean.
And then there are times when I just think out aloud when Renuka and I go on our walk. That gets me to work through the article ideas. In short, I know that someone real has not only heard my thoughts, but respond to them.
I did this yesterday when we went to the beach. I had an idea about “the stuff I’ve learned from children” and it seemed like a really weird article to write. I ran it past Renuka and she thought it was a great idea.
There you have it in a nutshell. Having that one person who responds to you, is all you’re ever going to need.
Believe me, I’ve been writing since the year 2000. It’s a system that works and works well.
Writing Tip 3: Aim to write an article over a week
Most people tend to sit down and work through the article from start to finish. That’s often a self-defeating task. It takes too much work to think up the ideas, put it down, edit it, do even the least amount of research needed, etc.
If you’re writing three quick tips like I’m doing here, well, maybe it’s not so bad. However, in most cases, writing an article takes so much thought that you’d be crazy to try and finish it in one day. Instead, start with the idea on Monday, the headline on Tuesday (that you’ll change on Friday).
Then move to the points you will cover. By Thursday, flesh out a point or two. By Friday, you can change your headline if needed and finish off the rest of the article. And keep 30 minutes of editing time.
Yes, the article takes all week, but I often have two or three articles on the go, during that week. Which, as you can tell makes for a very productive week, after week, month after month, and decade after decade.
If you want to be a flash in the pan, there are many ways to burn out. If you want to go the distance with writing, you have to have a system. And three of these tips are probably what will keep you going.
And yes, I’m done. Time to do dance on the lawn even though it’s just 5 am. Um, not really.
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Have you tried to create your uniqueness and failed?
It’s more than likely that you’ve tried to create uniqueness before. Yet, it seems a bit of a pain because it sounds so trite.
Well, how about we look at uniqueness from a “construction” point of view?
Instead of just trying to dream up the uniqueness, how about we look at it with “guardrails” so that we hit the target every time? Let’s give it a shot because one—or two of these methods—will certainly work for you. Read online
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The “Pain Map Of Learning”: How Trainers Can Make Learning Fun Again
📅 September 09, 2025 | View in Gmail
Here are 3 elements you can use to make learning fun again.
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My wife, Renuka, has always loved the rain. Not so much any more.
It all came down to a single event. In the summer of 2023 we had been through almost seven months of nonstop rain. We were in the dry season but it was still bucketing down in torrents.
However, this particular storm wasn’t just passing through. It lingered overhead for hours. At first, as the water accumulated in the garden, we were excited. We took pictures, even some videos. However, as the water level kept rising, we started to worry.
After an hour, the garden filled with water.
It rose to the level of the steps, then above that level, and finally, it was like we were marooned in our own house. There was a moat around us, and we had no idea when or whether it would stop raining.
This event caused Renuka to fear a significant amount of anxiety. This particular storm had left such a scary imprint that even the smallest amount of precipitation would give her the jitters.
It’s been a year and a bit since that storm.
Renuka no longer has anxiety about the rain. The pain that she felt has been minimised. Because the storms didn’t recur, it wasn’t an ongoing pain. Once that pain had enough time to heal, it disappeared. The excitement of a rainy day is back.
Something similar happens when we initiate the learning process for our clients.
Clients start most learning with excitement. Then, they hit the first storm and feel stressed out. Suddenly, the learning experience has turned into a series of storms. These storms recur with furious intensity, creating a permanent pain map in the learner’s brain.
Learning then becomes an edgy experience.
It rattles the learners, and they feel unsafe and unconfident a lot of the time. However, learning shouldn’t be this way. It should be a fun experience and never painful.
What causes this pain map, and how can we (as trainers) overcome these stormy situations? Let’s look at three slightly unusual areas that cause pain and how we, as teachers, can prevent the pain map from occurring at all.
The three elements we’re going to cover are:
-
The loneliness of learning
-
Why deconstruction is more crucial than just another assignment.
-
Why it’s crucial to pace learning
-
The loneliness of learning
“Everyone is better than me!”
I was in Spain, participating in a watercolour workshop and I looked around the room. Everyone seemed to know what to do with their easel. They knew how to prime their paper, and all of them seemed to have an array of brushes. Me, I was just standing around looking like a royal doofus.
This feeling of being inadequate is common among all learners.
The primary reason why we go to a class, or do a course is because we need to improve our skill. We also need to feel confident that we can not only understand, but apply our learning to some degree. Yet, the moment we step into a learning situation, it feels like going back to school.
What’s so bad about school, you may ask?
Think about how you did any test or exam at school. You were given the questions and had to answer them to the best of your ability.
So far, so good, but if you didn’t know a lot about the subject matter, it would feel like everyone else was somehow confident and skilled, while you were the doofus. Not just a doofus, but a royal one, too.
That’s when things went from bad to worse.
You submitted your test, and only the teacher was allowed to see what you’d submitted. You weren’t allowed to look at how the others tackled the very same assignment. How could you? Every student is treated like an island.
No one gets to see the work of others, or learn from another. Your doofus level reaches a pain situation. It makes you feel like you’re doing something wrong, when in reality it’s the system that’s all out of whack. This is why one of the most important goals is to create a learning safe space.
How do you go about creating a safe space?
You take the loneliness out of learning by creating a group. This “group” isn’t just some new-fangled “cohort learning”. You’re not lumping a whole bunch of people together to fend for themselves. Instead, your job as a trainer is to get about 5-7 people to know each other very well.
In a live workshop, this may take a fair amount of time.
You may need to have a meet and greet the night before and go to dinner. Then, the next day, you may need to spend at least two hours in some activity that has absolutely nothing to do with what you’re planning to teach.
In an online course, you might need to have low-risk, super easy assignments for an entire week. This allows the group to quickly finish their work and then go around getting to know each other.
In fact, part of your job as a trainer is to get them to mingle so that they feel comfortable in the group. They get to understand each other’s personality, tone etc, and learn a bit about what the other person does for a living.
None of this activity is focused on the skill itself.
No matter whether you’re teaching cooking or copywriting, the goal should always be to create little group silos. In a Psychotactics course or workshop, for example, we may start out with 20 clients, but then we further segregate them into smaller groups of four or five.
It’s not as if we always followed this method. At one point, early in our teaching journey, we were happy to call it a group and throw everyone together in one big crowd.
Of course, the bigger the crowd, the more lonely and terrified you’re likely to feel. You can’t get to know everyone, and because there’s no clear silo, you stay isolated.
Learning is about being in a safe space–first and last.
If I were in a small group in the watercolour class, and I’d spent the night before drinking sangria and eating tapas, I might have acted differently. Instead of being like a deer in the headlights, I would have turned to a “friend” and instantly been able to move ahead.
Furthermore, when the group started to work on a project, it would not end up being a state secret. I would be able to see how the others tackled the assignment, and that would get me quickly out of my funk zone.
Most importantly, I’d have realised that everyone was in the same leaky boat. That were were indeed all beginners, learning the skill, and I’d have not felt the doofus halo on my head.
When we learn, we build a map of pain.
If we progress quickly through the early stages, we feel emboldened. However, if we are alone and expected to figure out our journey, we almost certainly fall into the gutter. And why not? We join a course because we are hopeless at something.
We don’t join because we’re already spectacular at the skill. Which is why the group must be put together, and the group must be small, and well selected.
Instead of a pain map, what we develop is a fun map.
We feel like coming back to learn, and feel excited by the progress we’re making.Which means that creating and getting the group members to work together is the starting point of any learning program. It’s time to move forward into the deep end, right?
Not really. Learning doesn’t have to be hard, and shouldn’t be, especially at the very beginning. You can learn a lot from doing not a lot. This takes us to the second point of the early learning process. A concept called “deconstruction”.
- Why deconstruction is superior to rushing into assignments
“I’m writing a novel,” said the woman sitting beside me in the restaurant.
We were on holiday and at breakfast when we started talking to the guests at an adjoining table. “I’m writing a book”, said the woman. I nodded and asked her about the book and if she had a “villain”.
What’s a villain? she asked.
I explained that a novel—or any story—doesn’t have legs unless it runs into a problem. Hence, if there’s a hero to the story, there needs to be a villain. Once she heard my comment, she was pretty energised. “I’m going back to my room and add a villain,” she said.
“I think that’s a bad idea”, I said softly.
I told her that her next step would be to read 10 or 20 books and look for the villain. When does the villain show up? How much damage does he create? How does the hero overcome the problem? “Your next task isn’t to write, but instead to read.
In other words, her brief was to deconstruct.
As trainers, one of our main tasks is getting people to complete an assignment. If you’re teaching someone how to cook, you may want them to immediately start the dish.
Yet, everyone who learns something new is completely at sea. Just like I was unsure what to do in that watercolour class in Spain, the learner isn’t sure what move to make next.
The next move shouldn’t be to build anything but to take things apart.
The woman who was writing the novel didn’t need to write anything at all. Instead, she needed to read, listen, or watch. She needed a very low-stress activity and still felt like she was making progress. This low-stress deconstruction activity is crucial because it helps avoid a pain map.
When learning just about anything, we create a series of pain points.
We stumble over the most minor hurdle and see ourselves as not good enough. We primarily join a course, train, or even ask for help because we need a system. Yet, the system is often poorly designed. Instead of getting the learner to do something, we must first get them to recognise and deconstruct.
In the storytelling course at Psychotactics, the clients don’t necessarily launch into writing stories.
Instead, they’re given a concept: “ups and downs”. They’re told that a story isn’t a story until it has challenges and possibly some winning moments. Then, instead of writing stories, they simply read a story or watch a short video.
They’re in deconstruction mode.
They get to see the pattern and analyse when things are going well and when they’re not. However, there’s little or no pain involved in the assignment. Without pain, the pain map doesn’t increase.
On the other hand, if they’re instantly thrown into the deep end of writing stories, they experience an instant feeling of anxiety. The pain map, it seems, isn’t so hard to create, and the joy of learning is ripped apart and replaced with fear.
Deconstruction is the way to go, isn’t it?
Not only is the client doing a relatively pain-free task, but they’re also not alone. They’re in a group of 5-7 people they already know well. They can see what the others have done and comment on or praise the work of their group mates.
Suddenly, we have reduced two big points of pain: the pain of working “alone” and the nuisance of having to take a giant step and get an assignment done. Deconstruction has given them the necessary momentum, but that’s not enough.
At this point, things need to slow down considerably. This is where pacing comes into play.
- Why it’s crucial to pace learning
I once heard a fascinating bit of information from a neuroscientist.
According to her research, we can only absorb a limited amount of information per day. This information is stored in our short-term memory, which is then transferred into long-term memory.
Even the transfer itself is fraught with hurdles. If we don’t sleep well enough or long enough, there is a fair bit of dropout in the transfer process.
When a client learns something, there’s a good chance that they have a high dropout rate.
Because it’s impossible to measure dropout of any kind, let’s adopt an irrationally high figure. Let’s say the client has transferred 10% of the information. If we move at a snail’s pace, the client will have roughly 50% of the information in place.
It’s when we should be moving to the next concept in the learning, right?
Surely 50% is high enough. Who cares about the rest of the 50%? Isn’t it more important to focus on the syllabus instead? So much to do, so little time, blah, blah. Just reading the last few lines alone would have created a pain in your brain.
When your learning is incomplete, you have the feeling of always being lost. There’s an uneasy sensation of being in catch-up mode. The pain map continues to expand, and you reach for the dunce cap, assuring yourself that you were never talented in the first place.
When you feel pain, you want to get rid of the feeling.
Yet, this problem can be eased if pace is integral to the teaching process. When conducting courses, we find that clients may struggle a bit as the week progresses. Saturday drops, and so does Sunday.
When they come back and tackle a second week, they seem to be moving ahead more briskly. It’s not like any instruction was given on the weekend. No extra homework or reading is allocated. Instead, what’s taken into consideration is the advice of the neuroscientist.
Day after day, the client can transfer chunks of learning to long-term memory.
By the time the weekend shows up, the learner may have a grasp of over 50% of the information—or maybe even less. Nonetheless, the brain relaxes, and the following week allows the learner to start not at 0% but instead at 25 or even 50%.
Yes, they still have a long way to go because it’s possible that even with another week allocated to the concept, they may still progress slowly.
It’s not the syllabus that’s a problem; it’s the instructional design that’s out of whack.
If your design considers that people don’t remember most of what they learn, you will assume they get to 50% or lower within a week. You will also understand that no one will make it to 100% by the end of the second week, but the additional space will keep them in a safe zone.
Shouldn’t you then allocate a third week to learn the concept altogether?
Much of what you’re teaching depends on the time you have at your disposal. Plus, a third week of doing the same task can lead to a different kind of pain, namely boredom.
It’s not like you’ve completely dropped the concept, either. You can add it as a layer for the following week. For instance, let’s look at the progress using the alphabet.
Week 1: A1 Week 2: A2 Week 3: A1 + A2 + B1 Week 4: A1 + A2 + B1 + B2
When learning is built in this paced method, there’s also a sort of layering that occurs.
The learner may finally get to 100% of A by the end of Week 4. However, because there’s a lot of space to let the concepts sink in, the client is better placed to understand and implement the idea.
More importantly, they don’t feel as much pain. They believe they can be talented in almost any field, provided the instructional design is well executed.
It’s important to understand that all pain is real.
Even if the pain is in your head, the brain seems to make no distinction between structural pain and any other pain. However, most of our learning problems occur from terrible teaching structures.
It’s why we buy one course, then jump to another and another. It’s not that we have the attention span of a butterfly. Instead, all of this jumping around is because the instructional design is based on an information dump.
Instead of paying attention to how the brain processes and implements things, we are simply faced with endless information.
Information is painful. Tiring too!
This is why your kid isn’t always a fan of learning, and it’s why clients struggle through most learning as well. Pain can be reduced, especially at the starting stage, which is the most difficult of all.
Are these the only ways to reduce the pain map of learning?
Not at all. Many steps are needed to make the journey more fun for the learner. However, these three steps alone will make a considerable difference in reducing the pain of learning.
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Announcing Special Offer: Why Customers Buy (And Why They Don’t)
📅 September 02, 2025 | View in Gmail
A System to Get and Keep your Customer’s Attention every time. You’ve seen it beforeYou’re about to get a customer to sign on the dotted line. And then they suddenly back away. What causes them to back away? What causes a sure sale to fall apart? When a sale falls apart, it’s extremely frustrating!And what’s frustrating is the fact that you don’t know at which point the sale fell apart. What you do know is that your product or service is really good for your customer. And that you’ve done everything to get them interested and ready to buy. Announcing: The Brain Audit Special: Why Clients Buy (And Why They Don’t)Marketing provides thousands of ways to get and keep your customer’s attention But you don’t want thousands of ways:You want a simple system that’s effective.A system that has been tested right across the planet, from big markets to absolutely atom-sized markets. A system that has been tested for over 18 years and got results.A system that has over 967 testimonials.A system that has got results across all media from websites to presentations, to one-on-one selling and sales through brochures/booklets etc.And most importantly a system that you don’t have to pull up a 675-page manual to even work out.The Brain Audit is the book that gives you a system The Brain Audit is a step-by-step system that enables you to understand what’s going on in the brain of your customer. It’s a system that is based on a deep understanding of how our mind works, and why we do what do. • How the brain responds to specific psychological triggers. • How to speed up the sales process, without the need to be pushy. • How do you stop your brand from being a commodity? When you buy the The Brain Audit from 2 September to 6 September 2025 you’ll also get the bonus goodie ‘How To Identify The Right Target Audience For Your Business’. Special Goodie: How To Identify The Right Target Profile For Your BusinessThis book will give you an instant understanding on:How You Can Get Target Audience WrongHow Target Profile WorksPersona Vs Person and more Have a look and judge for yourself here:(This offer expires on 6 September 2025)https://www.psychotactics.com/special/brain-audit-offer/ Regards, Sean D’Souza P.S. Judge for yourself. You won’t regret it. https://www.psychotactics.com/special/brain-audit-offer/
August 2025
25 Years Of Writing: Simple Advice That Will Improve Your Articles
📅 August 30, 2025 | View in Gmail
How to never run out of ideas for your articles.
25 Years Of Writing: Simple Advice That Will Improve Your Articles
I learned one of my biggest lessons about writing in a Chinese restaurant. There, behind the counter, was a neatly arranged array of boxes filled with prepped ingredients.
That’s when it hit me: The magic of cooking isn’t in the cooking—it’s in the preparation.
Three core writing tips:
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The first tip is never to finish your writing. Leave it unfinished. This leverages the Zeigarnik Effect, where incomplete tasks loop in your subconscious, helping you move forward.
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The second tip is to listen to or read something in between breaks in your writing, or talk to someone. This helps you find perfect examples and research.
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Finally, bulleted outlines work. Bullet points give thoughts order. You can type them in minutes without engaging the backspace key, and easily move them around as needed.
All three together are pure magic.
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
The Concept Of Bandwidth: How To Control The “Uncontrollable” Of Chaos
📅 August 26, 2025 | View in Gmail
And reduce ongoing stress in your life.
The Concept Of Bandwidth: How To Control The Uncontrollable Of Chaos
Most mornings, I have a Spanish lesson. I can read English, Hindi, or Marathi at high speed, but Spanish is different. The reason is bandwidth.
A violin teacher gives students a new piece to learn. They must stop repeatedly. However, once students can play and hold a conversation simultaneously, it shows they use very little bandwidth for either activity.
Bandwidth is within our control. Walking, speaking in familiar language - we do these without thinking. But new tasks outside comfort zones struggle for bandwidth.
In business, if a task takes the same time after five years, there’s no skill improvement - bandwidth usage stayed the same.
When chaos appears, you’ve used all bandwidth, and stress overwhelms you. The solution isn’t eliminating chaos—it’s improving bandwidth.
The benchmark: How long does a specific task take? If time decreases, bandwidth increases. When mild chaos shows up, it doesn’t affect as much.
What to do: Look at what you do on any given day. Figure out how to do at least one thing faster. As you improve skills, bandwidth increases.
Chaos is out of control. Bandwidth is in control. Become a superior violin player.
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
How I Overcame My Three Fears
📅 August 23, 2025 | View in Gmail
Every business owner has fears; they just don’t share them with you.
How I Overcame My Three Fears
https://www.psychotactics.com/business-fears/
At any stage in business, you have fears. And you look at others and think they are so successful.
However, every business owner has fears; they just don’t share them with you.
Here are a few stories on business fears and how to overcome them. When clients look at me, they see an almost unblemished trail of success. But you can’t see the fear behind what we’ve been through.
Yes, it’s fear.
Let’s go into story land and learn about fear and possibly how to overcome it. Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/business-fears/ | Apple
https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-three-month-vacation-podcast/id946996410?i=1000716901609 | Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6JIBEcpSCzcVE4CdGbz7Mm?si=c36280bf05604550
Three binge-worthy podcasts 'On Business'
https://www.psychotactics.com/elegance-addictive-business-model/
Why “Elegance” Not “Information” Creates An Addictive Business Model Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/elegance-addictive-business-model/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2DITtMAA1q8w0DCZZDdAGf | Why Sequences Are Crucial For Your Business And How To Go About Implementing Them? Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/business-sequences/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5PgPix970EwtHKLwmOHIAo?si=5da9375b7fc34bd7 |
How To Systematically Generate A Uniqueness (Even If You’ve Struggled With It Before) Read
https://www.psychotactics.com/systematically-generate-uniqueness/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3YfMdSuN1cRaKuBCckrw4W?si=xJpIB-SCTNCJfNh4_etVQg |
Warm regards
Sean
https://www.psychotactics.com/home-study/how-to-create-knockout-information-products/
P.S. Coming in two weeks: Waiting List Open.
How do you create information products that instantly separate you from the competition?
And how do you create it without draining your energy? Introducing: A Step-By-Step Method to Create Info-Products that Clients Find Irresistible. How to join the waiting list
https://www.psychotactics.com/home-study/how-to-create-knockout-information-products/ |
PO Box 36461 Auckland Auckland 1330 NEW ZEALAND
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Announcing: Why some Books Stand Out (While Others Fail Miserably)
📅 August 19, 2025 | View in Gmail
Why would anyone want to write a book? Especially in an AI world.
https://www.psychotactics.com/general/information-products-live-workshop-form/
Why would anyone want to write a book? Especially in an AI world.
Book writing is a pain from start to finish. You have to think about the outline, collate the information and then somehow make it all seem very informative and entertaining. The last thing anyone would want to do is to write a book.
And yet, we know the power of the book because we read books
We know what happens when we read a book that changes the way we think or do something. We seek out that author, we buy more books. If they have courses or training, we want to join in. And we too want to be like that author. We too want people to earn our living doing the stuff we enjoy.
It’s just this writing process that’s a real pain
I know this to be true because I was pretty much a nobody in a nowhere land. When I moved to New Zealand from India, I didn’t know anyone here. I was also not known for marketing, and if I had any references or testimonials, it was solely for cartooning. If it seemed like the odds were stacked against us, well, they were.
I didn’t realise it back then but The Brain Audit became a doorway
It started out as a tiny booklet (padded with a lot of cartoons). It was through this booklet that people came to our even tinier workshops. This book was key to us starting up 5000bc (our membership site). The book got us speaking engagements and then connections to the world outside.
But aren’t there already millions of books on the same topic?
Yes there are, and there were—even back when we started. There have always been more books than you could read. Even in the noisiest marketplace, there will always be books that will stand out because they’re easier to read and remember.
And how does a book become easy to read and remember? You do it with: • Structure • Stories • Summaries You might not realise, for instance, that summaries rock.
That summaries show up not just at the end of a book, but in a ton of different places. You may think of stories as just a story, but in fact stories, analogies, examples and case-studies are what makes one book great and the other just ho-hum.
And structure.
Without structure it’s easy to get hopelessly lost.
You can spend months going around in circles trying to figure out which part to keep, which part to drop.
And this is why amazing books are hard to find
Outstanding books are hard to write because we’ve never been taught that writing is less about the word, and more about the structure. It’s less about the decoration of the cake, and instead the way the cake needs to be structured so it doesn’t topple over.
• Learn how to structure. • Learn how to craft stories in a compelling way. • Learn the immense power of summaries.
Did you collect your free goodies? Did you read the piece on the “One Concept”? That’s your starting point to creating a far more effective info-products.
Goodie 1: How To Make The Information You Sell More Valuable Goodie 2: Three Ways To Write A Stunning Report Overnight Goodie 3: Product Sequencing: How to guide a customer along a clear purchasing path
Click here to get your goodies: (You will be asked to opt-in) Free Information Products Goodies
https://www.psychotactics.com/general/information-products-live-workshop-form/
Information Products Free Goodies
https://www.psychotactics.com/general/information-products-live-workshop-form/
Image
https://www.psychotactics.com/general/information-products-live-workshop-form/
Warm regards Sean
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0rJwczBzMDAw=
How To Stay Calm When The World Is Falling Apart Around You
📅 August 16, 2025 | View in Gmail
Here are three questions to ask yourself to stop you from falling apart.
How To Stay Calm When The World Is Falling Apart Around You
https://www.psychotactics.com/stay-calm/
If you ask anybody, you will hear that things have gotten a lot worse.
But is that the case? And do we have any control over what’s happening around us?
How do you stay calm even when things don’t work for you?
Here are three questions to ask yourself to stop you from falling apart. 1- Can I change anything? 2- Can they change anything? 3- Will things get better?
Letting go doesn’t always work. There are things you should pursue. And things you should let go of.
Click here to find out more. Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/stay-calm/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2PAGmkOHZlwy9G8kE07ED5?si=7HrwG34vQHKIcLiQ8wk38w
Two binge-worthy podcasts on 'Life'
https://www.psychotactics.com/perfection-business/
The Four Arms Of Perfection – A Deeper Insight Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/perfection-business/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1mcgN1VRLx5awOAEzB6Goy?si=5gTZajgaTh2Dhzqnoscf0A
The Concept Of Take-Off Speed (And How It Enables You To Manage Many Things All At Once) Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/learning-speed/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/00o7RtdcgOvr7gNQfk00rV?si=ca8f9f5f656942ba
https://www.psychotactics.com/general/will-tell-friend-podcast/
Warm regards
Sean D’Souza P.S. May I ask a tiny favour? Would you mind sharing this podcast/article with one person? I would love it.
How To Stay Calm When The World Is Falling Apart Around You Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/stay-calm/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2PAGmkOHZlwy9G8kE07ED5?si=7HrwG34vQHKIcLiQ8wk38w
Or please use these links:
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PO Box 36461 Auckland Auckland 1330 NEW ZEALAND
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Last Day for Special Offer: How To Increase Prices Without Losing Customers
📅 August 12, 2025 | View in Gmail
How To Creating And Managing Price Expectations—What Causes Us To Buy?
How To Increase Prices Without Losing Customers (Special Offer Valid Until 12 August 2025)
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/trust-the-chef/
When you buy Dartboard Pricing-How To Increase Prices Without Losing Customers from 9 - 12 August 2025, you’ll also get—‘5-Steps To Starting Up A New Project Successfully’ (worth $49) absolutely free with the premium option.
Dartboard?
As in darts and a dartboard? Yes, exactly!
If you go to a bookstore and buy a dozen books on pricing, you will find pricing is some incredibly sophisticated system. You’ll run into fancy and complicated pricing models that rapidly put you to sleep.
So is pricing simple? Sure it is. You don’t need a book to figure out pricing. A simple dart board and some prices on the board would solve your problem in a matter of minutes.
The price itself is of little consequence What matters is all the stuff around the price.
And in this three-part pricing series, you’ll understand: • The Psychology of Pricing (What Causes Us To Buy) • The Method of Raising Prices (And The Mistakes To Avoid) • Creating and Managing Price Expectations
No boring pricing models No complication. Just a simple, step-by-step system that walks you through exactly what you have to do.
And the Special Bonus: 5-Steps To Starting Up A New Project Successfully (with the premium option)
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/trust-the-chef/
In this 24 page booklet you will learn
• Five steps that are required to start up any new project successfully. • Why you shouldn’t get scared of your competition. • Why brand analysis comes before everything else. • Why personality is critical in your business. • What is the most important thing when starting up a project?
Judge for yourself at:
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/trust-the-chef/
(This special offer ends 12 August 2025—US Eastern at 12 midnight)
Regards
Sean P.S. This is what Colette Nichol has to say about Dartboard Pricing:
All about DartBoard Pricing
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/trust-the-chef/
"The feature I most enjoyed about Dartboard Pricing was the table that shows you exactly how to price things so that they sell. It's kind of genius."
“I have a very high success rate when it comes to sales but I’m interested in increasing my prices over the next two years, rather substantially.
I purchased Dartboard Pricing as I was certain that it would provide useful info about how to actually go about doing that without experiencing excessive customer friction.
Dartboard Pricing confirmed some practices that I was already using – showing me why it was working and how to make it work even better. It also gave me an easy to use framework for selling any course or product that I create. I feel confident now that when I create my first online course I will be able to price it in a way that communicates the value of what my clients will be receiving.
Most small biz owners I know have all sorts of issues with pricing – this should take away some of those issues if not all of them.
There’s basically no good reason not to buy Dartboard Pricing. It’s hands down the best $50 I’ve spent this year.”
Judge for yourself at:
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/trust-the-chef/
(This special offer ends 12 August 2025—US Eastern at 12 midnight)
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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Announcing: Dartboard Pricing—How To Increase Prices Without Losing Customers (Special Bonus Valued At $49)
📅 August 09, 2025 | View in Gmail
How to increase your revenue (without being pushy)
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/trust-the-chef/
When you buy Dartboard Pricing-How To Increase Prices Without Losing Customers from 9 - 12 August 2025, you'll also get—'5-Steps To Starting Up A New Project Successfully' (worth $49) absolutely free with the premium option.
Dartboard?
As in darts and a dartboard? Yes, exactly!
If you go to a bookstore and buy a dozen books on pricing, you will find pricing is some incredibly sophisticated system. You’ll run into fancy and complicated pricing models that rapidly put you to sleep.
So is pricing simple? Sure it is. You don’t need a book to figure out pricing.
A simple dart board and some prices on the board would solve your problem in a matter of minutes.
The price itself is of little consequence What matters is all the stuff around the price.
And in this three-part pricing series, you’ll understand • The Psychology of Pricing (What Causes Us To Buy) • The Method of Raising Prices (And The Mistakes To Avoid) • Creating and Managing Price Expectations
No boring pricing models No complication. Just a simple, step-by-step system that walks you through exactly what you have to do.
And the Special Bonus: 5-Steps To Starting Up A New Project Successfully This booklet is tiny—only 24 pages. However, it very systematically takes you through the five steps that are required to start up any new project successfully.
• Why you shouldn't get scared of your competition.
• Why brand analysis comes before everything else.
• Why personality is critical in your business.
• What is the most important thing when starting up a project?
Here’s the page. Judge for yourself.
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/trust-the-chef/
Regards
Sean P.S. This series shows you how to go about pricing your product or service.You can literally copy the model (and you should) and have it up on your website, in your presentation or brochures.
Have a look and make a decision based on what you read.
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/trust-the-chef/
(This special offer is only valid until 12 August 2025—Eastern US midnight)
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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How To Get Clients: An Open Secret
📅 August 05, 2025 | View in Gmail
Is there a formula? What should be your biggest focus?
Psychotactics
https://www.psychotactics.com/
How To Get Clients: An Open Secret
Load the images to see the cartoon. It works!
https://www.psychotactics.com/get-client-secret/
(This email contains the complete article. However, you can also read or listen to it at these links: Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/get-client-secret/ | iTunes
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-get-clients-an-open-secret/id946996410?i=1000699273053 | Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5GJoDwy40CGYM8Y7LBRujM?si=c9d6f1eaee034fc1 ).
Let’s say you’re single and looking for a partner. Where would you find someone suitable?
The short answer is: everywhere. Possibly, everywhere and anywhere. Yet, no one would ask you to start anywhere or everywhere. Finding a partner is no easy task and a flippant answer doesn’t help anyone. Even so, the problem persists, doesn’t it.
You could find your partner at a dance, while buying groceries, or even on a dating app. If you ask ten million people how they found their partners, you will probably get ten million completely different answers.
We have the same nagging problem when finding clients, don’t we?
Where do these clients come from? At Psychotactics, we don’t have to guess. We ask clients where they found us, and they tell us how they got to our website. Even so, they seem to come from everywhere. Ugh.
The short answer seems to be everywhere and anywhere, doesn’t it? The flippancy is back, or so it seems. However, once we dig beneath the surface, we can find a pattern that works better than everything else. It’s called groups.
There are groups everywhere.
At first, we tend to default to the ones online. The online group seems to work, at least for a while. When we first started Psychotactics, I was not sure where to find anyone offline. However, at the time, people tended to congregate mostly in forums.
People would ask a question, and they’d get a quick answer. Our answers would be long—very long—much like an article. The answer would often span several posts, which means it explicitly covered a lot of ground.
A client reading such an answer would be keen to follow the trail of the person who gave that answer. That’s how a lot of clients made it to Psychotactics.
Bear with me a while because this route is slightly chronological.
Just like we’d done with forums, we also continued with other groups. I’d get in touch with people who were already sending out newsletters, and when they sent our articles, we’d get clients who subscribed to the Psychotactics newsletter.
The same strategy was in place as podcasts became more popular and podcasters needed people to interview.
In every case, the group already existed.
We had to work out how we could get inside the group (in the case of a forum) or go through the rather long method of developing a rapport with bloggers, podcasters etc, so we could get interviewed. However, there’s nothing new in what you’re reading, is there? Quora, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and even LinkedIn are all groups.
Yet, some groups work better than others. In the case of user-generated content, it can be a hard grind. You may post on these networks, but then so is everyone else—and usually a second before and after you’ve just submitted your content.
This is a bit like just showing up to a rock concert, hoping to find a date.
Yes, there are a lot of people, and you’re likely to find someone, but the odds are not usually very good. If, on the other hand, the rock band talks about you, then you’re more likely to instantly rise in status.
Offline groups tend to be curated.
Let’s say you have a book, or a training course on advanced storytelling. It’s likely that there will be many audiences ready to hear your message both online and offline. The offline route is often more troublesome.
You have to get to a location, prepare some kind of presentation and get people interested in what you have to say. Because it’s a much steeper route, most of us would tend to avoid it. However, the groups generally tend to be smaller and definitely more homogeneous.
When we sold The Brain Audit, we spoke to people in business.
We spoke at dental conferences, at insurance conferences, but mostly at very small networking groups.
We did this activity both locally in New Zealand, while also travelling across to the US, speaking in California, Chicago, Nevada and as far as Pittsburgh on the East Coast. Each of these events were tremendously expensive in terms of time and travel, but it helped us steadily get clients.
A client tends to subscribe or buy a tiny product, but then if you do your job well, can. move on to buy a lot more. The offline expense was consistently hard to justify, at least at first, but at least in our case, it more than paid for itself.
So is there a formula?
The formula is not to shout into the void. It takes a lot of time to create a physical product, or a digital one. It takes oodles of work to create a training program or sustain a membership site. To get somewhat of a just reward for your efforts, you may well end up a scatter gun approach.
That’s fine, because we all want to do things that are quick. Yet, the bigger rewards come from getting a spotlight within a group.
For this, you’d need to have a sort of strategy.
Where would you start? It’s never a one-size-fits-all situation. At Psychotactics, we have a lot of products.
To name a few, there’s The Brain Audit (which is about client hesitation), the cartooning course (where you learn to create your own cartoon character) and a book on talent called Suddenly Talented. These products or services sound pretty diverse.
However, you can quickly see that you might have to go to different groups to get your message across.
All of this entails a lot of work and many people are not prepared to do that.
They want to just post something on social media and hope that it works. However, you’re going to find that you get very limited or even no results and then you feel deflated. We’ll look at a book like Suddenly Talented.
How would you take a book like that and then get it across two various groups?
And I’m promising you this is a lot of work. This is a big list. You might even get bored listening to the list. But it’s how we got The Brain Audit off the ground. It’s also how movie stars promote a brand new film and an author promoting a book.
Just to finish, here’s a little story and it’s about Joseph Pilates.
You’ve heard of Pilates. He was a foreigner when he got to the United States and he had this system but how did he promote it? He had to look for a group, of course. He found a bunch of dancers and they always have injuries.
So he positioned himself near the dance studio. He did other things, of course, he created scarcity etc., But the core was he found the group. And this is the fundamental problem that we all seem to have.
We’re all trying to get one person at a time. And yes, it’s possible. But it’s just very slow. If you’re gonna get one person at a time, then that should be supplementary to the group.
But your biggest focus, when you’re trying to get clients, is to get in front of some group, some person that is influencing a group, and that’s how you get a whole bunch of clients.
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Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
Announcing: How To Get $75 Worth of Info-Products Goodies (Absolutely Free!)
📅 August 01, 2025 | View in Gmail
Where do you start? What is the most important thing to remember when creating an information product?
https://www.psychotactics.com/general/information-products-live-workshop-form/
I don't know if you've read a watercolour instruction book before.
But no matter which book you read, the instructor will tell you one thing: You need to understand ‘values’. Without ‘values’ in your painting, you will never create a watercolour that is dramatic.
And then you open the book, and guess what? One page. One measly page.
One measly page among about 150 pages of the book has been devoted to ‘values’.
What just happened?
The instructor told you what was important, and then failed to drive home that importance in greater detail.
Why?
Because there’s so much to teach that they feel a need to rush from one thing to the next; one concept to the next.
And it’s approximately what we tend to do when creating an info-product.
We are in such a hurry to create this massive info-product, that we fail to understand the importance of “One Concept”. Without a single concept, an info-product can ramble mindlessly. This causes you to struggle when putting the information together, but it also causes reader fatigue.
Read this piece on the “One Concept” as well as five other pieces.
That’s your starting point to creating a far more effective info-product.
You will also learn about: • Why A Crappy Name Will Bury Your Book or InfoProduct • How Your Product Can Create A Niche In Your Marketplace • How To Create Non-Confusing InfoProducts—The Stop-Go System • Why A Unifying Theme For A Product Helps Sell Your Product A Lot Quicker • Why Cannibalising Your InfoProducts Is A Sound Business Strategy
Click here to get this goodie. (You will be asked to opt-in)
Information Products Free Goodies
https://www.psychotactics.com/general/information-products-live-workshop-form/
https://www.psychotactics.com/general/information-products-live-workshop-form/
Warm regards Sean P.S. Also look out for two more free goodies in the coming weeks. Goodie 2: Three Ways To Write A Stunning Report Overnight Goodie 3: Product Sequencing: How to guide a customer along a clear purchasing path.
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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July 2025
Announcing: The Chaos Planning System (How ‘Irregular’ Folks Get Things Done)
📅 July 29, 2025 | View in Gmail
Learn how to accomplish a lot on your endless To Do list.
There is a cartoon here
So year after year you sit down and create a list of things you want to achieve.
Then suddenly it’s end July 2025 and you’ve not really moved ahead as you’d expected. And hey, this phenomenon isn’t new. It’s not like you’re not trying to achieve stuff, but something always seems to derail your goals.
And what’s worse is that you’ve read all the books on planning as well.
But they haven’t helped either. There’s a reason why they haven’t helped.
It’s because those books were written by highly organised people. What you need is for someone disorganised to write a book. A book based on chaos. And how chaos is critical to starting out your plan.
Here’s a 35 Page Report: The Chaos Planning System
The Chaos Planning System is a radical, yet a perfectly intuitive way to plan.
You will learn what a chaos plan looks like and how you can go right ahead and create one for yourself immediately. If you follow the chaos planning system, you’ll eventually end up doing a lot more than anyone you know and end up a lot less stressed.
Here is the link:
https://www.psychotactics.com/chaos-planning
Warm regards, Sean P.S. You also get the book—Pronto Learning: Insiders Tips To Speed Up Your Learning
https://www.psychotactics.com/chaos-planning
Testimonial: Chaos Planning
I realized that now I am able to accomplish a lot on my endless To Do list
I didn’t think that a Chaos Planning System would apply to me. After all, I always thought that I’m well organized. But, after reading the report, I realized that while I am able to accomplish a lot on my endless To Do list. I always struggle with finding time to work on important projects and feeling like I got something done.
Marina Brito, VA, USA
Judge for yourself
https://www.psychotactics.com/chaos-planning
Testimonial: Chaos Planning
Since putting Chaos Planning into place my stress levels have gone way down. It’s a beautiful thing!
Taking the time to legitimately mark off 3-4 hours for chaos each working day has made all the difference. In the past, just like you described, I stacked up my days with back-to-back everything — totally unrealistic.
I would recommend this product—It was an easy read and an easy implementation, and since putting it into place my stress levels have gone way down. It’s a beautiful thing!
Dan Wagner, USA
Judge for yourself
https://www.psychotactics.com/chaos-planning
I’d looked at the product a few times in the past when it had been available but had always felt like I didn’t have enough chaos to warrant needing it.
But this summer was different. I had taken on too many projects and I was feeling worn down. I was exhausted and it felt like my brain wasn’t focused . I read and listened to the program the day I bought it and completely restructured my upcoming month.
The most important feature of Chaos Planning is actually the system.
The simplicity of the system is what makes it work. Once you hear it, you can’t forget it. And you’ll always know why you’re falling behind and how to quickly adjust.
I would recommend this product to anyone who feels like they’re falling behind on their most important projects or who has a creative mind and can get stuck in the start-but-don’t-finish cycle.
Basically, anyone who wants a better way to run their business or work-life should just buy this product and give the system a try. No matter what, you’ll have a mini paradigm shift that will allow you to think about your time more intelligently.
Colette Nichol, Canada
Judge for yourself
https://www.psychotactics.com/chaos-planning
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
Announcing: Why Most Planning Fails (The Critical Importance of Chaos In Planning)
📅 July 26, 2025 | View in Gmail
Why all the books on planning haven’t worked for you. And you need a system.
So year after year you sit down and create a list of things you want to achieve.
Then suddenly it’s the end July 2025 and you’ve not really moved ahead as you’d expected. And hey, this phenomenon isn’t new. It’s not like you’re not trying to achieve stuff, but something always seems to derail your goals.
And what’s worse is that you’ve read all the books on planning as well.
But they haven’t helped either. There’s a reason why they haven’t helped.
It’s because those books were written by highly organised people.
What you need is for someone disorganised to write a book. A book based on chaos. And how chaos is critical to starting out your plan.
Here’s a 35 Page Report: The Chaos Planning System
This 35-page document + audio will not only help you with your business planning, it will also help you plan your life. When you take chaos into consideration, life becomes richer and hey, you get more vacations too!
Have a look at this product and judge the value for yourself.
https://www.psychotactics.com/chaos-planning
Warm regards, Sean P.S. You also get the book—Pronto Learning: Insiders Tips To Speed Up Your Learning
https://www.psychotactics.com/chaos-planning
Since putting Chaos Planning into place my stress levels have gone way down. It’s a beautiful thing!
Taking the time to legitimately mark off 3-4 hours for chaos each working day has made all the difference. In the past, just like you described, I stacked up my days with back-to-back everything — totally unrealistic.
I would recommend this product—It was an easy read and an easy implementation, and since putting it into place my stress levels have gone way down. It’s a beautiful thing!
Dan Wagner, USA Judge for yourself
https://www.psychotactics.com/chaos-planning
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
Why Every Day Learning Matters More Than We Think
📅 July 22, 2025 | View in Gmail
What causes people to plateau suddenly, and how does every day activity help avoid that messy situation?
Why Every Day Learning Matters More Than We Think
https://www.psychotactics.com/progressive-mistake/
We all seem to know how every day matters.
We have been told repeatedly that everyday matters, but we chalk it down to practice when there are other things at play.
Let’s look at:
- Why everyday activities outperform something you’d do every now and then.
- What causes people to plateau suddenly, and how does every day activity help avoid that messy situation?
Click on the link to read or listen. Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/progressive-mistake/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3IMqbkFZVcuClWMWYNhwDW?si=4854b51ad8474408
Three binge-worthy podcasts on Pre-sell
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/presell/
- How To Use Simple Stories To Pre-sell Your Products And Services Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/pre-selling-products/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5zTc7N5i1gflMEKPImrSuL |
- How To Strategically Tackle Promotion Of Products and Services Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/pre-sell-strategy/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5H7WQ2WbPLkdyv0xF813me |
- Pre-Sell Strategy: (Some Unusual Questions) Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/pre-sell-questions/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6lN63zh3ZbyVUgRONIzTCA |
https://www.psychotactics.com/progressive-mistake/
Warm regards
Sean P.S. And in case you missed it: Coming Up On 28 July 2025 Presenting The Art of Pre-Sell: How To Get Customers To Buy, Long Before They Pay
Free Goodies
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/pre-sell-goodies/ | Sales Page and how to get on the waiting list
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/presell/ |
PO Box 36461 Auckland Auckland 1330 NEW ZEALAND
Announcing: How To Get Customers To Buy, Long Before They Pay
📅 July 18, 2025 | View in Gmail
Can You Still Sell Quietly in a Loud World?
There is a cartoon here. :)
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/pre-sell-goodies/
In the year 2009, we tried selling our copywriting course. We gave away a ton of goodies, marketed it for weeks, and guess what? Even though we had a pretty large list and a rock-solid reputation, we sold just four seats.
Four seats? Yup, just four.
And yet when we ran the very same course in 2013, every single seat was taken in under 25 minutes.
Sounds like a fluke?
- Every workshop since 2009 has sold out in record time (often in under a week).
- Products that didn’t move at all for weeks, flew off the shelf (yup, since 2009).
Obviously something happened in 2009, right?
That something is called Pre-Sell. It’s the understanding of how to get your customers to buy, long before they pay. And no matter whether you’re selling products, services or training, the concepts still apply.
Can You Still Sell Quietly in a Loud World?
We’ve not had to sell our soul to get results
If you look around you’ll see that you’re told to do more joint ventures, do more advertising, spend a bundle on adwords, Facebook marketing, etc.
The louder you scream, it seems, the better the chances that you’ll get results.
And we’ve gone a lot quieter.
Most of the above results were achieved with a tiny group.
Makes you wonder, eh?
Well, wonder no more. Because now you can learn what we figured out in the year 2009. You too can learn how to pre-sell a product/service.
And you don’t need all that hype or a big audience to get results.
Presenting: Pre-Sell Free Goodie: How To Sell Your Product Time And Time Again
Read the report and see how you can take your products and make them stand out repeatedly using the pre-sell method. Click here to get the goodie.
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/pre-sell-goodies/
Warm regards
Sean P.S. On 28 July 2025, The Art Of Pre-Sell: How To Get Customers To Buy, Long Before They Pay will be on sale. Find out how to get on the waiting list.
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/presell/
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
Why Negotiation Consistently Fails In Real-World Scenario
📅 July 15, 2025 | View in Gmail
How Do You Get To The Want Factor?
Psychotactics
https://www.psychotactics.com/
Why Negotiation Consistently Fails In Real-World Scenario
Load the images to see the cartoon. It works!
https://www.psychotactics.com/why-negotiation-fails/
Imagine you needed some coffee to be ground, and the only place you could do it was at a Starbucks near your house.
Would you succeed in accomplishing this mission? What I’m about to tell you is a real-life scenario. A client read an excellent book on negotiation and decided to put that knowledge into practice.
He decided to try to get the Starbucks guy to grind his coffee—and so the plan was implemented. I waited while he went to the cafe to get the coffee ground.
When the client returned, I asked whether he had achieved his mission.
You probably know the answer, don’t you? He’d failed in his mission, and he was slightly perplexed. Was it because he got the negotiation wrong? Was it because there were too many objections?
For instance, the coffee could have been contaminated. Maybe the Starbucks guy is not allowed to grind anybody else’s coffee. Maybe there’s a company policy in place.
But what about the negotiation?
Because when you look at negotiation, you’re not dealing with familiar territory. It’s like a kidnapper that has taken away your child. You want the child back. But here’s the biggest question of all in every negotiation: whether you’re dealing with someone at the cafe, a kidnap, or a business meeting.
The question is, what do they want? Not what do you want? Because that’s tunnel vision. We all go into a situation where we look at what we want. But the question is, what do they want?
My first question to this client was, what is the name of the barista?
And he couldn’t give me his name. Where does he live? What’s his family background? Is he familiar with you? What does he want? All these questions need answers.
At a fundamental level, there are three things that anybody wants. So, let’s take on those three things, shall we?
Let’s keep this really simple so that you can remember it and use it in further negotiations.
The first thing that most people want is acknowledgement. The second is they want something for themselves. And the third is they want something for somebody else.
Stage 1: What most people want is acknowledgement.
On October 19, 1948, an ad ran in the New York Times.
This was when newspapers were large, and you’d hold them in front of you, and they would cover your face and half your body. And that was the size of the ad. It had 6450 words. There was no photograph, drawing, table, chart, or graph, just a page full of 6450 words.
By some coincidence, this ad by Merrill Lynch was the longest in the history of the New York Times. The headline wasn’t spectacular. It just said ‘What everybody ought to know about this stock and bond business.”
Did the ad have results? A month after publication, 5033 requests were received; 4000 were in the first week, 3534 by mail, 947 by telephone, and 552 visitors to the Merrill Lynch offices.
Urban legends say that over time, Merrill Lynch received over 3 million responses. Of course, we are all impressed by these results—we’re impressed with the fancy numbers.
However, Louis Engel Jr., the copywriter of this ad, wasn’t solely obsessed with the details.
He was looking at negotiating with the American people. America had been through this whirlpool called the Great Depression, and people wanted nothing to do with Wall Street, stocks, bonds, or investing. They stayed away from looking at or reading any information. People were simply not interested.
Louis Engel Jr. acknowledged these people who wanted to change how they invested. Yes, the ad got results. But what was most extraordinary, Engel recalled, was that we got hundreds and hundreds of long and thoughtful letters.
Some respondents were profusely appreciative. One person wrote, God bless Merrill Lynch. I’ve been wanting to know this all my life. I’ve owned stocks and bonds but never knew what I owned.
Do you see what just happened there?
When we write a sales page, make a presentation, or just try to get a kid to give up their toy and go to bed—what we’re doing is negotiating. We first have to acknowledge the other person because, without that acknowledgement, we become strangers. Nobody wants to listen to us.
When you go to a cafe and if you don’t know the name of your barista, you don’t know the name of the server, you don’t know anything about anyone, there is no reason for them to know anything about you or want to do anything for you.
Then, what we are left with is merely a transaction.
You exchange money, goods, and information, and they give you the same. But you haven’t created any sort of leverage because you’ve not acknowledged them. And this acknowledgement business is so obtuse because it’s hard to nail down how you will acknowledge them.
I’ll give you an example.
We were in a cafe in Frankfurt with our friend Hermann, sitting on the mezzanine, one floor up. The waitress had to climb up back and forth several times a day and carry the cakes, coffee, and whatever anybody ordered.
This was about 3.30 or 4 p.m. It was a hot day, and the waitress made one more trudge. As she approached our table, Renuka said, Oh, this must be so tiring to go up and down, and up and down the whole day.
You don’t have to be there to know what happened next. The waitress was extremely helpful and attentive to us from that moment on. When you acknowledge somebody, they change completely. They change their behaviour quite drastically.
If you’re thinking , Well, I’m going to convert someone. I’m going to change the way they think. I’m going to do something because I’ve read a book or listened to a podcast, then you missed out on the basic principle.
The basic principle is that first, you must acknowledge the other person.
One of the easiest ways to acknowledge somebody is to describe what they might be going through or just ask for their name. You’ll be surprised at how many people go through life in a nameless, faceless way because they’re just there in the background doing something, and then we go through a transaction.
When you ask for someone’s name, you change the dynamics.
When you learn a little about them, you go beyond what most people do. And when you acknowledge the situation that they’re in, you’re behaving like a human being should. And these are not checkboxes.
This is just the acknowledgement factor because if you’re dealing with your three-year-old who doesn’t want to go to bed, they already know their name and know that you know their background, but you haven’t acknowledged their situation.
And that’s why they’re throwing that mega tantrum because everybody, regardless of their age, situation or power, wants to be acknowledged. And that is the first and probably the most important rule of negotiation. You have to know the person that you’re dealing with, and you have to acknowledge the situation that they’re in.
Only then can we go to the second part: knowing what they want.
Stage 2: Knowing what they want
In South Africa, there is a flower that only one insect can access. Orphium flowers don’t contain nectar. Instead, they provide bees with pollen. Yet, not every insect can access the pollen.
If you look closely at an orphium flower, you’ll find that the stamens are twisted, preventing the pollen from being stolen by visiting insects. Only one insect has access to the pollen in that Orphium flower.
That insect is the female carpenter bee.
When she approaches the Orphium flower, her flapping wings buzz. Yet that sound doesn’t get the flower to react, and the stamens remain locked. At this point, the bee changes the beat of her wings, creating what we’d call the C note. That simple act seemingly gets the flower to unlock and shower the bee with pollen.
That’s just nature doing its thing. But notice the bee came in with her agenda. And the Orphium flower? It is not interested—not at all. It only opens when it hears the C note.
When negotiating with someone, we have to know what they want. There is a problem, though. You don’t know what they want, and they often don’t, either.
When I was doing the presentation on The Brain Audit, I’d tell this story.
I went to the store to buy a desk. The options presented to me were based on price. One desk was $200, and the other was $300. It wasn’t a difficult choice to make. We’d just moved to New Zealand and had a very strict budget. Naturally, I decided the $200 desk was good enough for me.
Yet somehow, I bought the $300 desk.
How did that happen? The salesman showed me the differences between the desks. He said that the $200 desk was made of that particle board and that it wasn’t something he’d recommend. It’s a bit like Weetbix (breakfast cereal).
It’s not very good quality and not long-lasting. He went on to point out the sides of the desk. Finally, he asked for my colour preference. I said I preferred black. As it turned out, the $200 desk was unavailable in black. It was available in beige and white—not black.
I ended up buying the $300 desk. How did the salesman get me to go up 50% on my budget?
He figured out that I didn’t know what I wanted. The only way he could get me to move quite considerably, despite having a budget, was to have this conversation with me.
Do we really have conversations?
We’re on the internet these days. We try to collect data from how people do things, how they act, and what they click on. We’ve forgotten that people chatter a lot and that if you just speak to them, you will find out what they want. But first, you have to go through the stages.
Step one you have to acknowledge them.
Take, for instance, the curious case of the Birkin bag. A new one costs around $10,000. And a vintage one would probably cost around $450,000 at auction. The people who want to buy this bag are socialites, movie stars, or wannabes.
You can’t just go into the store and buy it. You have to be invited. You can only get asked if you buy scarves, belts, shoes, perfume, and jewellery. You have to keep buying from this store for weeks or months in advance. Only then will the Hermes company send you an invitation.
The invitation is inconsistent.
You can spend $30,000, $40,000, or $60,000, and only at some point do they decide you qualify. So, in this case, the company is not trying to sell something.
It’s the customer that’s trying to buy something.
First, they have to acknowledge the company. They have to go and buy A, B, C, D, who knows. Maybe they have to keep buying. In that wacko way, they’re acknowledging the company.
And then the Birkin people, they say, Okay, fine. We get what you want and give it to you because you’ve had this conversation with us by buying thousands of dollars worth of goods.
You’ve always got to ask yourself, what do they want? We’ve looked at the first two steps, but there is a third step: what do they wish for someone else?
Stage 3: Knowing what they want (for others)
One of my favourite books when I started business was Harvey MacKay’s Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive. I don’t know whether this story was in that particular book, but I read a lot of Harvey MacKay back then. His envelope company couldn’t get a breakthrough with a client.
One day, while sitting in the CEO’s room, the CEO mentions that his son is collecting stamps with trains on them. Most people are so busy or focused on their wants that they ignore these side conversations.
You might be on WhatsApp with your client, and they start talking about some bizarre converter for their pen, or they might speak of some kind of foodstuff they like. You pay attention, but not quite. It’s also unlikely that you’ll act upon these side conversations.
It’s natural for us to then swing back to our own agenda and talk about the food we like.
We don’t entirely pay attention to what they’re saying. The reality is they’re not telling you anything in particular. However, that’s what distinguishes good negotiators from the average ones—listening matters. Making notes and acting on those notes is even better.
Harvey McKay searched for the stamps with trains and delivered them to the CEO.
He’d been paying attention to the side conversation. Most of us don’t listen at all. We’re absorbed in our worlds. When someone tells us something, we want to tell our own story or go ahead with our own agenda.
If you pay attention, you will find that suddenly, you can negotiate with them without having to negotiate. That’s what Harvey McKay found. He didn’t get the results he wanted right away, but the CEO called him somewhere down the line and said, Hey, that envelope thing that you mentioned, we need some envelopes. And that’s how he got an inroad into the company.
You might think, well, I know this trick–but it’s not a trick.
It’s a human need. People need to be acknowledged. And if you’re paying attention and acting on it—you ARE negotiating.
Negotiations aren’t necessarily something that you read in a book.
You can start your journey the next time you head to the cafe. Go up to your barista and ask for their name. Yes, even if they have a badge, then ask them a few details. And then do that for a second barista, a third, and a fourth until you know everyone in the cafe.
You’re not doing this because of some game you’re playing.
You’re just doing this because you’re a human being. You and I, we’re human beings. We need to be acknowledged. We need to acknowledge how tired somebody is or how difficult the day has been and not just indulge in small talk. Then, you can extrapolate that learning pretty much anywhere you want.
Epilogue:
I shall pass this way, but once. If there’s anything that I can do, let me do it now. ‘Cause I’ll never pass this way again.
Well, I think if you do pay attention, and act on things, you will pass that way many times. People will be happy to see you and work with you. Being a normal human being who’s focused is on others is the best form of negotiation I’ve ever seen.
Ironically, it all works out well for you too!
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Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
Announcing: How To Put that Zing Back in Your Articles ( What elements should you keep and what can you safely drop?)
📅 July 12, 2025 | View in Gmail
But what makes a great story? Find out right here in this three-part series on Storytelling!
Story Telling Cartoon Image
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Storytelling seems to be the rage these days. And yet, it’s not new at all. It’s been around for thousands of years.
What’s more, it’s not even alien to us. Even as a three-year old, you can tell when a story is really cool and when it’s just plain boring.
The problem arises when we have to take this storytelling skills to our articles. The moment we have to write an article, we freeze up. The article gets riddled with facts and figures. Or sequences. Or whatever. But we know instinctively that the power of the story is missing.
But it’s not just the story that’s important. It’s a story well-told.
A well-told story is like a well-told joke. It has zing. And kapow! So what are the elements of a well-told story? Why have they been playing hide and seek with us for so long?
Find out right here in this three-part series on Storytelling! You’ll love it. It’s full of cartoons, precise advice—and yes, the zing! That’s what you’ll learn: how to create the zing.
Book 1: The Power of Stories—How to Turn Average Stories into Cliff-Hangers Book 2: Signature Stories—How to Create Clear and Memorable Business Stories Book 3: The Power of Drama—How To Create Counterflow (Without Making Your Reader Sick)
So have a look right away.
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Regards, Sean P.S. With the premium version you get—The Power of Drama. It talks about how to create counterflow in your articles without making your readers sick, the myth of boring writing and the four ways to create drama. Have a look here:
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Here is what Debbie Newhouse has to say:
Before I bought the book I thought there would be too many ideas I’d heard before.
I’ve been a heavy follower of Chip & Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick, and their philosophies on storytelling that sticks. I found that there was a lot to learn beyond what I’d absorbed from Made to Stick and its formulas.
The feature I liked best
The realization that the best stories are about something you are 80% familiar with, you can anticipate, and then WHAM – the new 20% hits you.
Three other benefits
The examples of stories that worked and didn’t work. Understanding how much detail is just enough, and what is too much. Sean’s classic straightforward, easy to absorb step-by-step approach which doesn’t leave you behind.
I would recommend this product to anyone who has to persuade others, explain something, or teach.
I use the concepts mainly to teach, and especially to engage my audience and get them to realize why they should care about a topic.
Debbie Newhouse, California, USA
Judge for yourself: StoryTelling Mini Series
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
Announcing: How To Put That Zing Back In Your Articles (And Catch the Attention of The Reader)
📅 July 08, 2025 | View in Gmail
How To Turn Average Stories Into Cliff-Hangers
There is a StoryTelling Cartoon
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Storytelling seems to be the rage these days. And yet, it’s not new at all. It’s been around for thousands of years.
What’s more, it’s not even alien to us. Even as a three-year old, you can tell when a story is really cool and when it’s just plain boring.
The problem arises when we have to take this storytelling skills to our articles. The moment we have to write an article, we freeze up. The article gets riddled with facts and figures. Or sequences. Or whatever. But we know instinctively that the power of the story is missing.
But it’s not just the story that’s important. It’s a story well-told.
A well-told story is like a well-told joke. It has zing. And kapow!
- So what are the elements of a well-told story?
- Why have they been playing hide and seek with us for so long?
Find out right here in this three-part series on Storytelling!
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
You’ll love it. It’s full of cartoons, precise advice—and yes, the zing! That’s what you’ll learn: how to create the zing.
Book 1: The Power of Stories—How to Turn Average Stories into Cliff-Hangers Book 2: Signature Stories—How to Create Clear and Memorable Business Stories Book 3: The Power of Drama—How To Create Counterflow (Without Making Your Reader Sick)
Have a look right away.
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Regards, Sean
About Story Telling
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Here is what Debbie Newhouse has to say:
Before I bought the book I thought there would be too many ideas I’d heard before.
I’ve been a heavy follower of Chip & Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick, and their philosophies on storytelling that sticks. I found that there was a lot to learn beyond what I’d absorbed from Made to Stick and its formulas.
The feature I liked best
The realization that the best stories are about something you are 80% familiar with, you can anticipate, and then WHAM – the new 20% hits you.
Three other benefits
The examples of stories that worked and didn’t work. Understanding how much detail is just enough, and what is too much. Sean’s classic straightforward, easy to absorb step-by-step approach which doesn’t leave you behind.
I would recommend this product to anyone who has to persuade others, explain something, or teach.
I use the concepts mainly to teach, and especially to engage my audience and get them to realize why they should care about a topic.
Debbie Newhouse, California, USA
Judge for yourself: StoryTelling Mini Series
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Here is what a few more people have to say
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
I found that this Storytelling Mini Series helped me to think about storytelling in completely new ways.
The thing I liked the most about it was that it teaches the tools and mechanics of storytelling and how to make stories compelling and interesting.
Christopher Cook, USA
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
I learned to use connectors and disconnectors effectively. This has given my articles a much needed method to keep my reader reading.
Since I started using this technique for certain pages of my site, the average time spent reading on my site has increased.
Honor Dragan, Guildford, UK
Judge for yourself: StoryTelling Mini Series
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Sean is not selling magic. His is selling a method, a way of thinking, a way of speaking.
And just like everything you still need practice. You will not become proficient overnight. But instead of being in a labyrinth with an infinite number of paths to choose from, Sean will narrow it to finite number of choices, which is in the end the role of a good guide.
Harrisson, Japan
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
As a result of buying the product— My writing is tighter, especially in the e-newsletter, and I can craft a story that suits my audience.
If you don’t have the time to commit to a full time course you can get as much marketing value from this product with a few days reading.
Pam Bestwick, Wellington, New Zealand
Judge for yourself: StoryTelling Mini Series
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
I wasn’t sure that I could learn anything impactful from the Story Telling series because I write stories on a daily basis.
It’s a ton of value for a fair price. I would recommend this book to anyone who write short stories for business because it’s helped me build trust with my audience and clients.
Steve Jolly, USA
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
What I like best about the Storytelling Mini Series is its extreme usability.
I just read the Series and am immediately able to use it. It just kind of slips into my writing. It’s an easy read. I also like the bad examples on how not to try and pimp up your writing.
Elfriede Krauth, Netherlands
Judge for yourself: StoryTelling Mini Series
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
Presenting Pre-Sell Goodies: How To get Customers to Buy, Long Before they Pay
📅 July 05, 2025 | View in Gmail
Is It Really Possible to Sell Without Hype—or a Big List?
There is a cartoon here. :)
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/pre-sell-goodies/
In the year 2009, we tried selling our copywriting course. We gave away a ton of goodies, marketed it for weeks, and guess what? Even though we had a pretty large list and a rock-solid reputation, we sold just four seats.
Four seats? Yup, just four.
And yet when we ran the very same course in 2013, every single seat was taken in under 25 minutes.
Sounds like a fluke? • Every workshop since 2009 has sold out in record time (often in under a week). • Products that didn’t move at all for weeks, flew off the shelf (yup, since 2009).
Obviously something happened in 2009, right? That something is called “Pre-Sell”. It’s the understanding of how to get your customers to buy, long before they pay. And no matter whether you’re selling products, services or training, the concepts still apply today.
Is It Really Possible to Sell Without Hype—or a Big List?
We’ve not had to sell our soul to get results If you look around you’ll see that you’re told to do more joint ventures, do more advertising, spend a bundle on adwords, Facebook marketing, etc.
The louder you scream, it seems, the better the chances that you’ll get results. And we’ve done the opposite—we’ve gone a lot quieter.
Most of the above results were achieved with a tiny group.
Makes you wonder, eh? Well, wonder no more. Because now you can learn what we figured out in the year 2009. You too can learn how to pre-sell a product/service.
And you don’t need all that hype or a big audience to get results.
Presenting: Pre-Sell Special Free Goodie: How To Sell Your Product Time And Time Again Read the report and see how you can take your products and make them stand out repeatedly using the pre-sell method. Click here to get the goodie.
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/pre-sell-goodies/
Warm regards Sean
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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Why The Smallest Offline Meet-Up Can Be More Beneficial Than Zoom Or Email
📅 July 01, 2025 | View in Gmail
Here are the 3 elements that are most important
https://www.psychotactics.com/
Why The Smallest Offline Meet-Up Can Be More Beneficial Than Zoom Or Email
Load the images to see the cartoon. It works!
https://www.psychotactics.com/offline-meetup/
(This email contains the complete article. However, you can also read or listen to it at these links: Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/offline-meetup/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5EDjVng2J5WRqXBmWP2Tdd?si=8_lPrcUcTCC37GIh0zVTNQ |).
When I was a teenager, I wrote 16-page letters to my penpal, Marsha. Marsha lived in South Dakota, in the U.S. And somehow, and I’d write to her about once a month. As voluminous as my letters happened to be, Marsha wrote back just as frequently, and her response was equally bulky.
We seemed to get along so well, that after a few years she decided to visit India. Her plan was stay at our house for a while, and then we’d take the trip up north to Delhi, Agra and a few cities in Rajasthan. On the day she was to arrive, I went to meet her at the airport, and waved frantically as she made her way through the arrivals.
Seconds later, it felt dead. I couldn’t explain it, but I didn’t like her that much after all. The feeling was mutual.
What you just heard was a story where things went sour instantly. Things worked fine when you didn’t meet in person, but the moment you’re face to face with that very same human being, the chemistry dies.
And yet, most stories don’t end this way. If anything, meeting a person tends to be more positive, more reinforcing than anything you’d experience through e-mail, zoom or any other medium.
Which is why today is the day I’m making the case for why you should have an offline meet up. And why you should do so, even if just a few people are likely to show up.
The elements we’ll cover are: 1- Why we’ve had these meet ups—despite being able to do workshops and seminars 2- Why you need to charge for meetups 3- Why you need to have an offline meet-up even if just one person turns up.
- Why we’ve had these meet ups—despite being able to do workshops and seminars
When we started out our business, all we did were seminars. I’d have a million slides and I’d present them to the audience over a period of two days. Those seminar-days would leave me exhausted.
Which is why we switched to workshops. Instead of just dumping endless amounts of information, we could work with the participants over a period of three days.
If you can somehow manage to have a workshop, it’s easily the best way keep clients. When we were just consultants—and didn’t run an online business—we could get our potential clients in a room. Then, we’d teach them about how to improve their prices, or how to know why clients buy and why they don’t.
That interaction would almost always lead to more work for us in consulting. However, when went online, we couldn’t get that very same connection. Hence, having workshops of some kind became a very powerful way to get in front of clients.
The workshop may be for a few hours, or days, depending on how you go about things, but it definitely marks you out as the expert.
Being considered the expert is a good enough reason to have a workshop. However, it’s not the biggest reason. Easily the most powerful factor of a workshop is that it creates a connection. Many clients meet with us, go out to lunch, dinner etc, and form long term bonds.
We’ve had clients who’ve been around for 10-15 years and some go back even longer. A workshop isn’t a magic trick. It’s not like everyone will become a lifelong client, but even a few is often enough to keep you going. It’s good for you, and great for clients as well, because they too are looking for someone they can trust.
Despite all of the praise for workshops, this article isn’t about workshops Instead, it’s about a meet-up. A meet-up that may last an hour or two and then disband. There are many reasons not to consider a workshop. You may be painfully shy (for now) or not have enough content (for now).
Workshops also require a lot of work, as you have to get all your participants to somehow leave their homes and show up to your event. Hence, wonderful as workshops happen to be, here’s still a big nudge to have a meet-up.
With a meet-up you don’t have all the bother of booking a venue, either. There’s no tips you have to pay, no gratuity. All you need to do is get a few people together and then head to a cafe, or to a garden. If you ask me: why would you have an offline event, this is the biggest reason of all. The venue is a nightmare—and will continue to do so.
If you’re thinking of connecting with a small group of people, biscuits and tea, or biscuits and coffee—that’s the way to go. It’s low-stress, it requires almost no organisation, and no venue. Somehow, and we don’t know why, the offline meet-up creates almost as much trust as a two or three day workshop.
But wait, maybe we do know why. When we meet a stranger on a bus, we don’t need three days to figure out if we like them. We can chat with them, and find a fair bit in common. It’s not unusual to trust someone after meeting them for just five or ten minutes.
Over the years we’ve got a bit instinctive about the people we like. Which is likely to be the prime reason why you don’t need a lot of time. It’s also the reason why the offline meet-up works so well.
We used to have workshops at least once a year. It takes about three months to organise everything, get slides and notes together. It’s like hosting a mini-Olympics. We still believe that a workshop is a powerful tool. Even so, we’ve continued to do offline meet-ups because they have worked amazingly well.
And with that, let’s move to the second point:
- Why you need to charge for meetups
When we first made our way across the US, we’d inform people that we would be in a city and at a location. We’d tell them we were going to have a meet-up, and they’d be pretty enthusiastic about showing up.
They’d fill out the online form, and on the day and at the time, we’d head towards the meet-up. You know what happens next, don’t you?
That’s right; not everyone showed up. You’d think someone who showed a lot of enthusiasm would show up, but that’s not the case. When you charge nothing at all, the transaction becomes a bit lopsided. The people who’ve signed up have merely said “maybe” they’ll show up.
There’s no transaction of any kind. If there’s the slightest obstacle, e.g. rain, or they’re running late, there’s a good chance they’ll bail out.
This scenario isn’t ideal for at least two reasons. The first reason is that the person has taken someone else’s spot. At our meet-ups, we have a fixed number of clients. When anyone doesn’t turn up, they take the space of someone else who might have wanted to attend.
Why keep a limited number? The answer is evident the moment you ask the question. Clients are coming to meet you and wish to speak to you. If you have an open house, maybe just fifteen will show up.
It’s also likely that you may get 45 clients, and they don’t get a chance to relate to you on a one-to-one basis. Hence, if you have limited numbers and quite a few don’t show up, they’re taking someone else’s spot.
The second reason is probably just as important. In most meet-ups, you’re not meeting someone you know. Hence, you’re always looking over the shoulder of clients already at the event. You want to make sure that the clients recognise you.
However, you don’t know what they look like, and they, in turn, aren’t very confident either. Which means that you’re often distracted looking for that “stranger”. When an event is paid for, people show up on time.
They’ve committed, and they keep to that time plan. On the other hand, when it’s free, they may still show up on time, but because of the lack of a transaction, it’s more likely that some will wander in late—or not at all.
The “not at all” people you’re looking for keep you a bit distracted, which is why we get clients to pay for every meet-up. Before we started charging, we couldn’t predict if everyone would turn up.
Now, with the charge, we seem to have almost 100% of the people at the time we’ve allocated. It’s a big difference in how people behave when they’ve committed and paid for it.
This brings us to the sum they need to pay We had to think about how much it would cause a person to leave home, get on a train or in their car, and head to a venue. Free was definitely out of the question, but so was just $20.
It needed to be a higher sum and could be written off. $100 may be much to pay for just a meet-up, but about $50 appeared to be the magic figure. How do we know this to be true? It’s based solely on the results.
If we meet up with clients in a convenient city: e.g. Frankfurt, Sydney, etc., then we will almost always get a full house. If you have fifteen seats and all the seats are taken, the clients think it’s a fair enough sum.
Since we already know how many people are coming, booking a cafe in advance is also easier. You can look for a restaurant with a space for a larger group. It could be a covered space outside or some area in the cafe that is separate from the rest of the patrons. The staff at the restaurant also realise that they need to restrict a slightly different location for such a large group.
In short, because all of it is paid in advance, you can confidently go ahead and “book a space” and usually get something quieter than sitting in the central area of a cafe. There are also other locations, like a garden, a museum space etc.
Once clients show up, you will still need an agenda. I have a simple plan. I introduce myself even though they know who I am. And I tell them the story of how I got to that city. People usually want to know how you chose their city and it makes for an easy introduction.
Then, we don’t go through the “introduce yourself” routine. Instead, I tell them that we’re here to meet each other and ask questions. It’s hard to get the first person to ask the question, so you can have a client who knows you ask the question.
You can even inform them that they could be the first person to ask questions. That starts the ball rolling. The questions come thick and fast, then the coffee and drinks arrive, and everyone settles in.
A meeting may last for two or three hours, but you can all go to lunch if you choose. Or if you really get along, even meet up again for dinner. The tiny meet-up has become a much bigger, fun event. It’s a fun, memorable event, and everyone loves leaving their home or office to do nothing much at all.
All of this activity works well, but only when you charge a sum.
- Why you need to have a meet-up even if one person signs up.
Do you remember going to meet a client? Just you and that client? You’d wake up, dress up nicely and then go to that meeting—and just for one person. Did you know in advance if the meeting would go well? Did you know if you’d get business from it? You didn’t know and yet you went.
This scenario is true for any meeting—or meet-up. We are all swayed by this nonsense, online. We are supposed to meet hundreds of clients, and thousands of fans. No one talks to you about meeting one person. And yet, we’ve all met with just one person.
Often enough that meeting has turned out to be so bad that we’re not sure we’ll do it again. Just as often, however, we find that it’s wonderful and we not only do business with them, but become good friends.
A meet-up with one person is still very important. Do it.
Meet-ups aren’t what you think of when you think of making a connection with clients. To be fair, most of the clients who come to the meeting may never do business with us again. However, the few that do are enough to keep us very comfortable. Plus, you’re having a good time and a coffee.
It’s worth it to have a meet-up. Try it today.
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- How To Create An Effective Info Product Here are five goodies
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3) How to create expertise through article writing
A mini-booklet that helps you quickly improve your article-writing.
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The Brain Audit is definitely a book I have recommended and will continue to encourage others to read. Why? Two advantages: First – its principles are simple but profound because they work. Second – it’s packaged in a way that can be replicated so that no one has to reinvent the wheel. The Brain Audit book concepts are practical since there are things to implement right away.
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Testimonial Secrets How to get meaningful testimonials, without needing to ‘bribe anyone’ for it.
DartBoard Pricing How to systematically increase prices without losing customers
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June 2025
Cartooning Course: Just “ONE seat” left.
📅 June 27, 2025 | View in Gmail
You don’t just get information. You become a cartoonist!
It's been only 73 hours since the announcement of the Cartooning Course.
And it’s almost full.
Just like most other Psychotactics workshops and courses, it fills up instantly. Why? Because you don’t just get information. No more videos, more blah, blah, blah. Instead, you get the skill. You become a writer, become a photographer, become a cartoonist.
And there’s one seat left on the cartooning course. Will you be one?
https://www.psychotactics.com/general/sp-time/
Warm regards Sean P.S. IF you have any questions, you can email me
sean@psychotactics.com and I will respond.
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(New) Announcing: Suddenly Talented (Now in paperback, too)
📅 June 24, 2025 | View in Gmail
What if that logic of “inborn talent” has a lot of holes in it?
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/suddenly-talented/
We’ve all grown up with one mantra: you either have the skill, or you don’t. You’re either born with it or not.
When we looked around at the “talented kids” at school, that logic seemed to work. They appeared to be good at drawing, writing, maths and a whole lot of things we were just average at doing.
But what if that logic of “inborn talent” has a lot of holes in it?
Over the years, at Psychotactics, we’ve trained people who say they can’t draw. In a few weeks—and sometimes often in the first week itself—they realise they are already drawing exceedingly well. The same applies to writing, speaking, creating products, etc.
In short, all of these people are developing talents they never had and talents they were told they should have been born with.
The problem with the logic of “inborn talent” is that it’s a prison.
If you have a fixed number of talents, then you can NEVER get any more. You’re stuck in that jail and can never get out!
And yet, there’s a reason why some people are vastly more talented than others
Rarely does it have to do with any good fortune of birth. Instead, they have learned that what it takes to become talented is remarkably simple.
What if you don’t have to struggle with learning a new skill?
Introducing—Suddenly Talented
(Ebook, audio and paperback)
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/suddenly-talented/
Understanding why one person is so very talented and the other is just mediocre at almost everything is the key to “Suddenly Talented”.
It’s interesting because the ideas finally fall into place. How by understanding what’s happening in the background enables you to stop feeling stuck and move ahead.
It’s all here in”Suddenly Talented”. Here are two options for you: Option 1: Ebook, audio and WhatAppGroup
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/suddenly-talented/
Option 2:Paperback book on Amazon.
https://mybook.to/suddenly-talent
Warm regards Sean
P.S. It's magical when you realise how you've gotten slightly misplaced advice for so long and that talent is comfortably within your reach.
Ebook, audio and WhatAppGroup
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/suddenly-talented/ | Paperback book on Amazon.
https://mybook.to/suddenly-talent
Just three testimonials (you will find more on the page and on Amazon)
"It usually takes me months if not years to finish a book. I finished Suddenly Talented in 2 days. It's hard to put down."
The flow of words makes it extremely calming to read; so much so you’re learning without the exhaustion. Just enough nuggets of information to gain knowledge without trying to overload you with words & ultimate confusion. Gayle
"Ce livre est passionnant et remarquablement bien écrit."
Sean a ce talent très particulier : il est capable d’approfondir un sujet apparament banal et d’en tirer des conséquence pratiques extrêmement intéressante. Je le recommande à tous ceux qui sont intéressé par la formation et l’enseignement.
"The book shatters a lot of misconceptions about the learning process."
We have a limiting belief about our ability to learn, and Sean guides how we can deal with limitations. Reading this book is fun and joyful. Why? It’s filled with a lot of examples and analogies. It’s full of cool cartoons made by Sean. This is the best book you can read and implement. This book will help you in becoming talented. Try it out. Mayur Bardolia
Curious? Have a look here
Ebook, audio and WhatAppGroup
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/suddenly-talented/ | Paperback book on Amazon.
https://mybook.to/suddenly-talent
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Could You Really Go From Beginner To Cartoonist In Just 12 weeks?
📅 June 21, 2025 | View in Gmail
Imagine being able to create your own cartoon character in 12 Weeks. Do you think it is possible?
Coming Next Week: The DaVinci “Create your Character” Course (With Sean D’Souza)
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=IpgEGRGaB7Ett1&b=IDJrg43lQBq0oaMM7gGWqg
Imagine being able to create your own cartoon character in 12 Weeks.
• Do you think it is possible?
• Could you really go from beginner to cartoonist in just 12 weeks?
Here are just a few testimonials of the people who have done the course. The DaVinci Cartoonist!
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Announcing: The All New DaVinci 2.0 Cartooning Online Course
Can you really go from beginner to cartoonist in just 12 weeks?
With the DaVinci Cartooning Course, that’s exactly what’s possible.
This step-by-step course is designed for people who can’t even draw a straight line—and shows you how to create a cartoon character that’s entirely your own. Not just doodles or rough sketches, but a fully-developed cartoon with personality, style, and a story.
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=IpgEGRGaB7Ett1&b=IDJrg43lQBq0oaMM7gGWqg
But can anyone draw? You’ve been told (and told yourself) time and time again, that you couldn’t draw a straight line. But did you know that cartoonists don’t draw straight lines? They draw circles, squares and triangles, and they get amazing results.
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=IpgEGRGaB7Ett1&b=JC2avg.8OH6DRZmWvO.rOg
If you’ve ever wanted to illustrate your own books, ebooks, or even your blog, this is the opportunity. We’ve had over 287+ people on this course. People who believed they couldn’t draw.
You can read the stories of people who have done the course. They have gone on to illustrate children’s or their own marketing books. They have even created and used their own character for their blogs, websites, stickers and even postcards.
Have a look at the cartoons and testimonials of past students.
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Warm regards, Sean P.S. The DaVinci Course—Registrations open 24 June at 3 pm (Eastern US) to those on the waiting list. Click here to be amongst the first on the list.
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How To Get Unstuck Bit By Bit (And Why Speeding It Up Doesn’t Usually Work)
📅 June 17, 2025 | View in Gmail
The problem is that we get stuck quickly but try to wriggle out just as rapidly. So what should we do?
Psychotactics
https://www.psychotactics.com/
How To Get Unstuck Bit By Bit (And Why Speeding It Up Doesn’t Usually Work)
Load the images to see the cartoon. It works!
https://www.psychotactics.com/get-unstuck-bit-by-bit/
(This email contains the complete article. However, you can also read or listen to it at these links: Read online
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https://open.spotify.com/episode/4D4LPomOIxkRjuDC0LR0wn?si=Qq4Xc0sKSw-oXCzSCyoAIA |).
It’s 1970, and TV host Dick Cavett has just asked his guest an unusual question.
Cavett turns to the guest, singer/songwriter Paul Simon and starts by saying: “It’s possibly an impossible question” What Cavett is asking is “how does creativity happen?”
Referring to the super hit “Bridge Over Troubled Water ”, Cavett says, “There was a moment in time when Bridge Over Troubled Water didn’t exist at all. And there was another moment when it did. Where does it come from? What actually happens?
Were you in the shower one day, and some of the lyrics came to you?
At this point, Paul Simon reaches for his guitar, which is located behind the sofa. He doesn’t play it right away, stopping to tune it at first. Once he’s happy with how it sounds, he describes his method. “So it started with me singing the beginning of the song I had. Tah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah.
Then Paul Simon stops suddenly explaining how the following line comes from a Bach piece. He’s meticulous, going back to the first line of Bridge Over Troubled Water, then the second. He hums along nicely for a few seconds before looking up.
“I was stuck there. That was all I had of that melody. And everywhere I went, (it) led me where I didn’t want to be. So I was stuck.”
We aren’t stuck when washing the dishes or brushing our teeth. Sending a text message or ordering a chai is mostly a mundane affair. Getting stuck involves something doing something new. The problem is that the newness is almost always accompanied by complexity.
If you’re teaching a toddler the English alphabet, you’re unlikely to tackle more than one letter of the alphabet at a time. You’d wait until they got a good handle on A before you move to B.
However, the moment we move out of toddlerhood, we’re hit with newness and complexity at the same time. You don’t just get into a car. You’re expected to learn how to drive and get on the road in the first lesson.
You don’t just learn how to use Photoshop. You’re given a project, and you’ve got to work your way through it, even though you can’t remember what you’ve just learned.
Even when you’re good at something, e.g. writing an article, you still have to deal with the fact that you’re writing about something new and different (like I am now). At this point, it’s normal to get stuck, but there’s an icky feeling that it’s just you.
You’d do anything to get unstuck. You want to go on, just like I’d want to write the following line of this article. Yet, the way to getting unstuck is counterintuitive.
The method I tend to use tends to have three elements.
Element 1: Borrowing Element 2: Focus on the point, not the set Element 3: Go into explainer mode
Element 1: Borrowing Remember Paul Simon’s interview with Dick Cavett? Like most of us, Simon seems to start confidently. He gets an idea for a song, then launches into the melody for the first line. The very second line trips him up. What does he do?
He borrows from Bach. Almost immediately, the thought that comes to mind is the concept of plagiarism. Yet, borrowing is nuanced. Plagiarism is a rip-off. It’s copying someone else’s work in its entirety and pretending it’s your own. Borrowing tends to be more of a starting point.
Take, for example, a new website I started in late January. It was the tail end of our summer holiday (because summer begins in December in the southern hemisphere). For the past two years, I’d gotten myself quite obsessed with taking photos purely as a hobby.
Seventeen thousand photos later, I had nowhere to display them. Every year I print at least two thick photo books which contain family photos, but all of these pictures of New Zealand were piling up on my computer (and backups).
I even printed a one-off book with the street photos to give them some attention, but that still left dozens of albums buried, never to be seen. It was time, I decided, to start up a website. Except, I had no idea where to go or how to design something that met with my taste.
I did what I always do: I borrowed When we first started Psychotactics.com (and this is over 24 years ago), the format for a website was pretty straightforward. All websites looked similar. They were built on tables or frames, and you’d have a box to the left of the main text—possibly a box to the right. And the navigation bar at the top.
Those kinds of sites ran into their “use-by date”, and it was time to design a second version. Except, I had no idea where to start. While browsing, I landed on the site by my friend and designer, John McWade.
The core design for the site was the way John had laid out his site. The question is: did it end up looking exactly like his site?
If you held them side by side, you might find two or three elements that looked similar, but that could just as well be the case for any two sites on the Internet.
Where was the borrowing, if you couldn’t see it? Yet it was there because it’s where I started.
Magician Derren Brown drives two advertising executives on a pre-arranged route in a remarkable experiment. Two members of Saatchi and Saatchi, the world-famous ad company, are taken on a car ride to their eventual destination. Brown tells them they have to come up with a poster for a product.
The product happens to be taxidermy stores (stores that stuff dead animals). “It’s a chain of stores,” he tells them, “and you’re supposed to come up with a strapline or slogan for them, as well as the picture.”
Twenty minutes is all they have to complete the project. Brown also casually leaves a covered version of his ideas that together they can look at later if needed. He gives them a bit over twenty minutes, and they come up with the following. Name of company: Out of Africa Slogan: As good as it gets Graphics: Kid crying, a lizard saying Mommy, and a man with a stuffed lion in the backseat of a car. He then asks them to open the envelope, and they start giggling. Brown’s sequence is like this: Name of company: Out of Africa Slogan: As real as you like Graphics: Dinosaur creature saying Mommy. Brown also talks about polar bears, and the advertising executives nod because they did polar bears but didn’t show him the images. And if you’re wondering how all of this happened, it’s because of how things are set up.
The executives run into specific slogans, graphics and even a group of people crossing the road with t-shirts with the word “polar bear” quite prominently across the chest.
Each of these terms, slogans and images repeat themselves along the way in different forms—dinosaurs on balloons, a man carrying a dinosaur toy, and so on. By the time the executives get down to doing their assignment, they don’t have much of a problem because they’re borrowing without knowing it.
The reality is it’s impossible NOT to borrow We all have to borrow whether we are making coffee, learning a language or creating a new rocket. If someone says their work is utterly original, you can smile, wave and slowly back away from them. That’s because we have no choice but to borrow.
However, our childhood has been tainted by people who have told us repeatedly that we should not copy and not trace. It’s terrible advice to begin with, but it roots itself deep into our consciousness, and we try to be original at all times.
Instead, start with borrowing. If you have to create a new mascot, start with Sonic the Hedgehog. Or Porky pig. If you’re building a website, start with someone else’s layout. If you’re writing a book, copy the core structure of how your favourite book was written.
Borrowing from Bach isn’t as bad an idea as you’d believe. No one is saying you should “photocopy” the other person’s work, but you’re going to draw on past experiences anyway. You may as well start with borrowing.
However, borrowing is just the starting point. There’s a snorting bison in your path. And that’s called the “project”. This is why we have to use the second concept of “focus on the point, not the set”.
Element 2: Focus on the point, not the set
Think of a loud, argumentative tennis player from the ’80s, and most people think of John McEnroe.
“You cannot be serious!” McEnroe would shout at the umpire. He’d curse. Throw his racquet into the ground so that it bounced like a ball. McEnroe’s tantrums and meltdowns got him the nickname “Superbrat”.
On the other hand, one of McEnroe’s most significant rivals on court was Bjorn Borg. Borg, a Swedish player, No.1 in the world, was known as the “Ice Man” or “Ice Borg” for his temperament. Always calm on court, his demeanour rarely wavered. Except, this wasn’t how Borg started.
“I was a real nutcase,” Borg has said. I swore, threw my racket around and cheated.” Sweden’s tennis authorities, appaled at his behaviour, banned him for six months. He was even prevented from practising at his club.
The fantastic turnaround from Bad Boy/Cheat to Ice Borg could be credited to his coach, Lennart Bergelin. “One point at a time, not the set” seemed to be Bergelin’s advice to Borg.
No matter what project we’re currently tackling, the overwhelm comes from the vastness of the project.
For instance, I was working on a sales page for a course As the summer vacation wound down, and I headed back to work on the 1st of February, I was still very much working on my photography site.
Yet, there was another pressing issue: the sales page for the storytelling course that we were going to hold in April of that same year.
Like most people, I pretended like every other task was important However, I had a fixed deadline of five days. What wasn’t helping very much was that New Zealand has a surge of public holidays at the tail end of January. While everyone else was having a great time, I didn’t want to be cooped up in the office.
“One point at a time, not the set”. Okay, so it’s not some great advice. After all, a journey of a thousand miles does begin with just one step. Even so, the “one point” stuck with me. I started “working” for just 30 minutes at a stretch.
When the time was up, I’d be done for the morning or even the day. Not being bound to the computer screen meant I could focus on the point.
The five-day deadline stretched to eight. However, I’d focus on working just 30 minutes (and longer, but only if I felt like it). I’d write the bullets for the sales page one day and then stop. The next day, just the headlines for the benefits and features and bring the day to a close.
The following days were dedicated to the uniqueness, to the graphics etc. And the work on the photography website didn’t slow down. I’d do an album or two there as well.
The idea that sticks in our mind is usually “one point.” Which is to say: you handle a tiny bit. But if you were to take Lennart Bergelin’s concept a little further, what we also get is recovery time. You play your shot; maybe you hit it in the net. But then you walk back to your spot.
You’re not running around. You have time to recompose yourself, and there’s recovery. Then, you focus on the next point. It doesn’t matter if you’re the top player in the world. It matters not if you can write sales letters in your sleep. Every project has enough challenge to confuse you just enough to get you stuff.
A point, however, is just a point.
Borg won an incredible five Wimbledon Championships in a row. There’s a good chance that he was taking it on point by point. There’s also a likelihood that he felt frustration, just as his opponent, McEnroe did. Even so, he’d hold it back, point by point.
However, for some reason, “One point at a time, not the set” seems modern and doable. And it’s the second step in getting unstuck.
The third, and probably the most efficient, is to get into explainer mode. Just what is explainer mode? Let’s find out.
Element 3: Go into explainer mode
You know how you’re sometimes in a conversation, and you’re paying attention to an adjoining discussion as well? It can be confusing because you have to do two things simultaneously.
Explainer mode is a bit like that. Someone will ask me: What’s this new website all about? And frankly, I’m stuck for the answer. For example, if you take the photography website, it’s not clear what I’m trying to achieve. The short story is I bought a Sony A7R III, then a Leica, then another Leica and I got hooked on taking pictures.
At first, I didn’t even know what kind of pictures I wanted to take. I’d do some architecture, a lot of people, and a token number of landscapes. If you asked me: What was the website about, I’d have no clear answer. That lack of clarity means the project seems to waver as well, no matter what project you’re working on.
However, even if you take something modest, like an article, it’s not always clear what you’re trying to achieve or why it seems like you’re stuck. If you’re writing a book, what is the book about? What’s it trying to achieve?
Which is where explainer mode comes into play You talk, but you’re also listening to yourself. People often comment that The Brain Audit is quite a cool name for a book. I got that name because I was explaining to someone what the book was all about.
The explanation went somewhat like this: It’s like a checklist, an audit. It shows you how the brain works when it’s making a decision. I guess you could call it a brain audit.
The same applied to the membership site at 5000bc.com It’s an odd name. With all gorgeously catchy names like Inner Circle and Seven Figure Club, we chose 5000bc to be the name of the membership site. How did that come about? Again, it was the explanation that not a lot has changed in human psychology in over 5000 years. Bingo!
Getting stuck is normal. Getting out of that stuck zone involves explaining yourself. We should all be so lucky to explain ourselves once and quickly get out of the mess.
However, it may take you several passes before you find that elegance with which to express what you’re doing. There’s also a good chance that when you’re explaining yourself, the other person will look at you as though you’re not making any sense. In which case, you should encourage them to ask more questions.
There are times when you’re all alone. On centre court, Bjorn Borg lost seven match points against McEnroe. He blew seven chances to wrap up the match and win his fifth consecutive Wimbledon title. There was no one to talk to, no coach to work out the issues.
We are rarely on such a tight rope in our day to day lives. Yet, we work to behave as though only we can solve the problem. That it’s up to us to figure out the way forward.
It probably is the best way. It could be up to you The reality isn’t that we don’t have the answer. Often enough, we do. However, the way forward isn’t clear, and that clarity shows up a lot faster if we explain ourselves.
When I’m stuck, I will talk to my wife, Renuka. But just as often, she’ll be saying something to me about her problems. In what can only seem like a comedy of sorts, we’re both talking to each other but hearing ourselves. “Aha,” she’ll say to me and walk off with a solution of her own making. And often enough, I will have the same result.
You and I have solved many problems simply by explaining ourselves verbally or on paper. We find our answers to complex and seemingly frustrating yet straightforward questions.
Then do it. Explain yourself out of the problem.
This brings us to the end of this little series on how to get stuck and also how to get out of the mess. The problem is that we get stuck quickly but try to wriggle out just as rapidly.
Instead, we should slow down. 1: Take time to borrow and then build over what you’ve borrowed. 2: Focus on the point, not the set. 3: Explain yourself.
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The DaVinci 2.0 Live Online Course (with Sean D’Souza) If you thought: “I can’t draw a straight line,” this is the course for you. That’s because cartooning involves mostly wobbly lines. Learn how to draw outstanding cartoons and create your own character. And have fun doing it.
https://www.psychotactics.com/davinci/
Product Offers: Links you should visit
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About this eZine and your subscription
Most Popular Podcast
Why Happiness Eludes Us (And Why It’s Been Around All The Time) Read online
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The Four Arms Of Perfection – A Deeper Insight
📅 June 14, 2025 | View in Gmail
(A deep mental shift, moving from resistance)
The Four Arms Of Perfection – A Deeper Insight
https://www.psychotactics.com/perfection-business/
We all want to be somehow perfect.
It doesn’t matter that we know it’s not possible.
In this article, we have four crazy arms of perfection brought to life by writer Keith Rhys.
I wish I could have said it better, but Keith (alumni of the Article Writing Course) says it eloquently. You’ll relate to these arms of perfection, no matter who you are or what you do.
Let’s look at the The Four Arms Of Perfection” • The tyranny of the big picture. • The tyranny of one right way. • The tyranny of the Silly Structure Terror. • The tyranny of No Changes Allowed.
Let’s get started. Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/perfection-business/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1mcgN1VRLx5awOAEzB6Goy?si=5gTZajgaTh2Dhzqnoscf0A
Three fun binge-worthy podcasts/articles
https://www.psychotactics.com/podcast/#guide
How To Get Clients: An Open Secret Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/get-client-secret/ | Apple
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-get-clients-an-open-secret/id946996410?i=1000699273053 | Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5GJoDwy40CGYM8Y7LBRujM?si=c9d6f1eaee034fc1
The Art Of Praising Someone (How To Give Genuine Praise) Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/art-praising/ | Apple
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The Concept Of Take Off-Speed (And How It Enables You To Manage Many Things All At Once) Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/learning-speed/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/00o7RtdcgOvr7gNQfk00rV?si=ca8f9f5f656942ba
https://www.psychotactics.com/podcast/#guide
Warm regards
Sean D’Souza P.S. May I ask a tiny favour? Would you mind sharing this podcast/article with one person? I would love it.
The Four Arms Of Perfection – A Deeper Insight Read online
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Could you really go from beginner to cartoonist in just 12 weeks?
📅 June 11, 2025 | View in Gmail
(And illustrate your own books, your blogs, children books, etc)
Could you really go from beginner to cartoonist in just 12 weeks?
Imagine being able to create your own cartoon character in 12 Weeks? Do you think it is possible. Have a look at what you can achieve with the DaVinci Cartooning Course.
By week 2: No more I can't draw! (Cartoon)
https://www.psychotactics.com/Free/DaVinci_Cartooning-Syllabus.pdf
By week 2: No more I can’t draw! Almost magically, you’re able to recognise shapes and you’re already starting to leave the “I can’t draw” philosophy behind.
Week 6: Drawing perspective is not painful anymore! (cartoon)
https://www.psychotactics.com/Free/DaVinci_Cartooning-Syllabus.pdf
Week 6: Drawing perspective is not painful anymore!
If you look up a dozen random videos on YouTube, you’ll see how you can draw perspective with a lot of lines and vanishing points. Instead, you can learn how to draw in minutes. No rulers needed, either. You will go from never having drawn anything in perspective to absolutely stunning perspective.
Develop your character cartoons
https://www.psychotactics.com/Free/DaVinci_Cartooning-Syllabus.pdf
Week 8: And before you know it you are creating your own character! Woah, so soon? Yes, why not? By this point, you’ve learned to draw animals, houses, and cars and see better than ever.
Can you really go from beginner to cartoonist in just 12 weeks?
With the DaVinci Cartooning Course, that’s exactly what’s possible.
This step-by-step course is designed for people who can’t even draw a straight line—and shows you how to create a cartoon character that’s entirely your own. Not just doodles or rough sketches, but a fully-developed cartoon with personality, style, and a story.
But can anyone draw?
You’ve been told (and told yourself) time and time again, that you couldn’t draw a straight line. But did you know that cartoonists don’t draw straight lines? They draw circles, squares and triangles, and they get amazing results.
If you’ve ever wanted to illustrate your own books, ebooks, or even your blog, this is the opportunity.
We’ve had over 287+ people on this course. People who believed they couldn’t draw.
You can read the stories of people who have done the course. They have gone on to illustrate children’s or their own marketing books. They have even created and used their own character for their blogs, websites, stickers and even postcards.
Have a look at the cartoons and testimonials of past students.
https://www.psychotactics.com/Free/DaVinci_Cartooning-Syllabus.pdf
The cartoon Syllabus Image
https://www.psychotactics.com/Free/DaVinci_Cartooning-Syllabus.pdf
Warm regards, Sean P.S. The DaVinci Course—Registrations open 24 June at 3 pm (Eastern US) to those on the waiting list. Click here to be amongst the first on the list.
https://www.psychotactics.com/davinci/
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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One Announcement: (New!) How To Liven Up Your Website (The DaVinci 2.0 Cartooning Course: Batch 2025)
📅 June 07, 2025 | View in Gmail
If you’ve ever wanted to illustrate your own books, ebooks, or even your blog, this is the course for you.
Hello from a lovely wintery day in Auckland. Just stopping by to let you know what is happening at Psychotactics this month.
The All New DaVinci 2.0 Cartooning Online Course-Batch 2025: Waiting List Is Open
Wouldn’t you like to draw cartoons to liven up your website, blog or presentations? Wouldn’t it be great if you could draw your own cartoons instead of having to depend on someone else—or worse, buy some ill-fitting clip art?
But can anyone draw? You’ve been told (and told yourself) time and time again, that you couldn’t draw a straight line. But did you know that cartoonists don’t draw straight lines? They draw circles, squares and triangles and they get amazing results.
We’ve gone much too far believing in the concept of inborn talent Since 2010, we’ve had over 287+ clients who’ve suspended that the idea of “inborn talent” and trusted the Psychotactics system. And they’ve changed the way they look at themselves. • Would you like to get out of your comfort zone and get into the fun zone? • Would you like a challenge that enables you to release that creativity you’re not sure about? If you’ve ever wanted to illustrate your own books, ebooks, or even your blog, this is the opportunity.
As they say, “the proof of the pudding is in the eating”. Judge for yourself at: https://www.psychotactics.com/davinci
Warm regards,
Sean P.S. If you have any questions, do email me sean@psychotactics.com. I answer all questions.
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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How To Learn Faster: What You Can Learn From Kids
📅 June 03, 2025 | View in Gmail
Are kids more persistent or is that just a myth? Psychotactics How To Learn Faster: What You Can Learn From Kids My Sicilian friend, Luca, was trying to get me to understand the concept of al dente. Al dente is when pasta goes through a brief cooking time, and instead of being limp, like noodles, it’s firm to the bite. I had no clue what Luca was talking about. We’d made pasta until that point and cooked it until it was limp and soft. I wasn’t sure if I’d eaten pasta that was al dente when I ate at restaurants. Young kids also have their benchmark of perfection. They want to do the best possible task until they run out of time or energy. If you give kids the task of drawing a picture, they won’t try to get it to al dente perfection. The first reason is they already think their current level is more than acceptable, but they have no aspiration to get to the perfect level. The main point is that this level of just getting things done is only in very young children. At one point, I used to go to schools to do a guest drawing session. In classrooms with very young kids, almost all of them would frantically draw. Children don’t learn faster than adults. They’re just more hopeless at seeing the perfect result. Hence, for them, almost any outcome will do. They’ve given it their best, and that’s all that matters. They’ll go back, do it again and again and again. Which is exactly what the adult won’t do. The adult will try to fix the piece in front of them, and that’s just a wasted exercise. No matter what you’re working on, you’re better off getting several average results than one fluke good result. With every iteration, a kid learns to fix some error. Sometimes, the last piece of work is the same as the next, but with several bad to average iterations, the kid figures out what needs fixing. Armed with their lack of distraction and intense attention span, they can get better much faster. They’re still pretty lousy at learning stuff, and an adult can quickly master a task in a fraction of the time than it takes a kid. However, the adult doesn’t want to live with the errors. On the other hand, the kid is happy to keep going back time and time again. What should we do with adult learning to avoid this al dente curse? We should recognise that al dente is not the problem. Now that I can identify what it feels like to eat pasta al dente, I can’t go back to eating well-cooked pasta anymore. Hence, perfection isn’t the main issue. Instead, what needs to be considered with adult education is the benchmark. If you’re drawing, writing, sailing etc., instead of working on the entire project, the benchmark should be small and doable. For example, if you’re learning to play badminton, the benchmark isn’t the game, let alone the set. Instead, it’s just how you tackled the smash shots or the high shots or how you worked your way around the court.
May 2025
Last Day For Special Offer: (New!) Website Components 2.0-How To Create Compelling Pages On Your Website
📅 May 31, 2025 | View in Gmail
Do you often wonder if your home page, about us page or client acquisition page is working less than its full potential? When you buy Website Components 2.0-How To Create Compelling Pages On Your Website from 27 to 31 May 2025 you’ll also get a Special Bonus - How To Maximise The Power Of Bonuses (worth $45) absolutely free. These three pages are critical to any website, and yet we often put the content together on these pages hurriedly. Well, hurriedly is the wrong word to use. Instead we spend hours trying to get just the right content; just the right look. And then, after hours, maybe days of frustration, we put together something that seems right. But is it really compelling? Can it be more compelling? What’s really missing? And is there a simple way to fix it—while retaining your own voice, your own personality? Introducing: The Website Component Series. Find out for yourself how you can spruce up the home page, about us page and the sign up page. We deconstruct existing pages and then in true Psychotactics-fashion reconstruct them step-by-step. In this 40 page booklet you will learn: The Psychology of Bonuses, How to Find your Bonuses, How to Create a One-Of-A-Kind Bonus, How to Avoid the Bonus Trap and More, Why Unbundling Makes a Big Difference to How your Product is Perceived.
Announcing (New!): How To Create Compelling Pages on Your Website + Special Bonus (Valued At $45)
📅 May 27, 2025 | View in Gmail
Special Bonus How To Maximise The Power Of Bonuses. When you buy Website Components 2.0-How To Create Compelling Pages On Your Website from 27-31 May 2025 you’ll also get a Special Bonus - How To Maximise The Power Of Bonuses (worth $45) absolutely free. Do you often wonder if your home page, about us page or client acquisition page is working at less than its full potential? These three pages are critical to any website, and yet we often put the content together on these pages hurriedly. Instead we spend hours trying to get just the right content; just the right look. And then, after hours, maybe days of frustration, we put together something that seems right. But is it really compelling? Can it be more compelling? What’s really missing? And is there a simple way to fix it—while retaining your own voice, your own personality? Introducing: The Website Component Series. Find out for yourself how you can spruce up the home page, about us page and the sign up page. We deconstruct existing pages and then in true Psychotactics-fashion reconstruct them step-by-step. In this 40 page booklet you will learn: The psychology of bonuses, How to find your bonuses, How to create a One-Of-A-Kind bonus, Why unbundling makes a big difference to how your product is perceived, How to avoid the bonus trap and much more.
Travel Stories Through Rajasthan, India
📅 May 24, 2025 | View in Gmail
(Another Rollercoaster Trip)
Travel Stories Through Rajasthan, India (Another Rollercoaster Trip)
https://www.psychotactics.com/travel-rajasthan/
Everyone loves travel stories.
People go on holiday for adventure and sightseeing.
We go on vacation to do nothing and yet the adventure tags along anyway. And that’s what I love about holidays. If everything goes your way, your holiday stories are boring. When things bounce a bit, you can still have a great time and the memory of the crazy bits stay with you forever.
So, let’s go on a journey to Rajasthan and Goa.
There were a lot of fun movements and some that were not so fun. Enjoy the trip to India. Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/travel-rajasthan/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4lt3IF4b01mvWXRm00vtPN?si=066ea26f2e7a4b2e
Two more fun podcasts/articles that people love
https://www.psychotactics.com/podcast/
Stories of travel through India, Singapore and France Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/travel-france/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6kfaRYeqSQOhrN2Mcd3544?si=ccd3d6906081483c
(P.S. Skip straight to the third story. It is a fascinating story, one of our clients told us about. And yes, if you have a good story, e-mail me
sean@psychotactics.com , I may feature it in future podcasts.)
Why Is Storytelling So Important In Marketing (And How To Use It In Your Marketing) Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/storytelling-marketing/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1C58QTyQPPLUAE9z769dCT?si=2ca57694d17b45d7
https://www.psychotactics.com/podcast/
Warm regards
Sean P.S. May I ask a tiny favour? Would you mind sharing this podcast/article with one person? I would love it.
Travel Stories Through Rajasthan, India Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/travel-rajasthan/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4lt3IF4b01mvWXRm00vtPN?si=066ea26f2e7a4b2e
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Why We Lose Motivation (And How A “Base Level Of Success” Is Crucial To Keep Going)
📅 May 20, 2025 | View in Gmail
Here is the formula to help you achieve success.
Psychotactics
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=JJG.RkUU_7Ett1&b=HBhXkgCCMcXoKFxp_KFygQ
Why We Lose Motivation (And How A “Base Level Of Success” Is Crucial To Keep Going)
Load the images to see the cartoon. It works!
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=JJG.RkUU_7Ett1&b=fpHebWKsxzkEhHQ9Rzin9Q
(This email contains the complete article. However, you can also read or listen to it at these links: Read online
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=JJG.RkUU_7Ett1&b=fpHebWKsxzkEhHQ9Rzin9Q | Apple
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=JJG.RkUU_7Ett1&b=fk3ILFI2OlzGsNgiuN61CQ | Spotify
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=JJG.RkUU_7Ett1&b=CZneLEvl4HfqT.lSnHYTIA ).
You’ve probably heard of the 10,000-hour principle.
It’s not even a principle. It’s been called the 10,000-hour rule in a book called Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. The problem with the 10,000-hour rule is that it’s flawed. It’s not a rule, and it doesn’t take 10,000 hours to acquire skills.
But there is an excellent side to this whole concept of 10,000 hours.
It gave people a precise figure for which to aim. We can call that figure the base level of success. A base level of success means you must put in X amount of time and effort or do something that would guarantee a certain level of success.
Take, for example, the fact that I’m learning French right now.
I’ve gone through 100 days of learning French and spent about an hour every day. How am I doing? It’s almost impossible for me to know the answer to that question. It’s because languages are complicated.
Not only do you have to understand the grammar and the vocabulary, but you also switch between the present, past, and tense, and that’s just the school kind of work, just the boring stuff. In reality, you have to speak or write whole sentences, just like I’m doing.
Only when you can write or speak reasonably fluently can you be said to be fluent in a language.
To get to fluency, I must know my base success level. If I don’t remember my base level of success, then all I will do is wake up every day and spend an hour learning the language, and that’ll be another hour that I have to find in a hectic day.
But as I was going through this particular software, I ran into one piece of information.
It said that kids learn about a million sentences by the time they’re five years old. That figure seemed very intimidating. First thing, five years is a long time. Secondly, a million sentences seem a bit over the top.
However, another piece of information said that if you want a reasonable level of fluency, you have to finish at least a hundred thousand repetitions.
I’ve got to about thirty thousand repetitions in the last hundred days.
That kind of gives me something to work towards. And maybe it’s going to take me another six months or nine months, but I know that within that time frame, I’m going to reach the hundred thousand repetitions.
There are many ways to learn a language.
Some say you can learn it through singing, and others say you can learn it through storytelling and podcasts, speaking to AI, and speaking to a person. But that’s not the point.
The point is understanding when you will reach a specific destination, just like driving. When will I get from A to B? When you’re getting on a train, when will I get from A to B?
Understanding that concept becomes crucial to sustain your motivation to get to your destination.
Because as the saying goes, if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there. The problem is any road doesn’t take you there. You usually get lost.
I started learning Spanish when I was probably nineteen years old.
I can easily read a book in Spanish. I can hold a conversation for thirty minutes. I’m not fluent, and I don’t even know if I’m speaking in the correct tense, but I get by.
But it’s not fluency.
This confusing area I find myself in is because I did not have any parameters when I was learning Spanish. I did not have that benchmark I had to shoot for.
It was: Let’s just practice, practice, practice!
Practice is monotonous, and you spend an enormous amount of time without getting results. If you want to learn or impart a skill, then you have to make sure that you create this base level of success.
In the cartooning course, for example, we tell students that if they start in August by November, they will be able todraw their own characters. Most students are utterly sceptical because they can’t draw a straight line.
And yet, twelve weeks later, they’re drawing their own character. To reach that base level of success, they must do weeks one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, and twelve. And then we get to our destination. That’s the base level of success.
Not every course and not every system will tell you what you require.
Instead, they’ll just throw the boring practice, practice, practice concept at you. Which is not good enough. It’s not good enough if you got on a plane and they said, “We’ll get there when we get there.”
And I’m not saying that you or I will have an answer to this problem.
As a teacher, you might not know when your students will get there or what will be required, but somehow, you have to figure out if they do A, B, and C, then they will get to D, J, or K. However, we somehow have to figure out our base level of success, or we can quickly lose our motivation to keep going.
To finish off, let me tell you a story about Alexandre Couillon.
Couillon runs a Michelin-star restaurant called La Marine on the island of Noire-Moutier. Now, the fact that it’s an island is important because it is separated from the mainland. His restaurant used to get visitors only when the sun was shining, and the weather was nice and warm.
But he made a seven-year pledge with his wife, Celine.
The pledge seemed necessary at times because they had very little success. Things were not going well, and there were multiple obstacles in the first five years. In the sixth year, a journalist came in and conducted an interview. The journalist could feel that sense of isolation and desperation and asked Alexandre, “How do you do it?”
And Alexandre just said, “We made a seven-year pledge. We were going to stay in the business, and it was going totake seven years, after which we would decide what to do.”
Three months passed.
It was the depth of winter. Not a fly moved on the island. Alexandre and Celine were returning home when they turned on the car radio, and they heard an announcement. They had just won a Michelin star.
Their base level of success was based on years. Mine is based on repetitions. Some people might decide to do 10,000 hours. Whatever it is that you are trying to achieve, don’t just get stuck into it. Set yourself a base level of success, and that’s the fire; that’s the motivation you need to get from one point to another.
Side note:
When I first started out, I was struggling to write articles. I used to take over two days to write an article. I decided to write an article every day to improve my writing skills. That’s how we started out the membership site at 5000 BC. I promised the members that I would write a daily article on marketing.
I don’t know whether they signed up because of that reason. I mean, it’s excessive, isn’t it? Who wants to read an article every single day of your life? But I was tired of taking two days to write every single article. My benchmark was one article every single day.
And that’s how I got better.
It’s this formula that helped me create a new product and improve my podcasting. When we conducted the storytelling course last year, I promised to create a podcast every day, five days a week. The podcast duration was just about seven or eight minutes in length. Yet, I had to create a new one every single day. I can tell you that my tone, pace and podcasting skills have improved.
But more importantly, I created this base level of success.
In order to become better, I needed to create one podcast a day, even if it was just seven minutes long. I’d be tired after going through all the assignments on the storytelling course, but I’d still come to the office at four o’clock in the evening and record the next episode.
That’s how you do it. You create a base level of success. It’s the fire under your bum. It keeps you going.
Announcing: Opening on 28 May, 2025 Do you need to carve out a uniqueness for ‘every’ product or service? Learn how to create your uniqueness that stands the test of time (And find out why you get it wrong). Free Goodies
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The Brain Audit : eBook |Audio | Workshop | Signed Copy |
“Sean’s approach to marketing is real, authentic and in a fun way.” Being in the service industry, I didn’t think that I could apply marketing concepts without loosing the soul of my work. The Brain Audit material has helped me to change this limiting perception. It has opened me to ideas and concepts that can actually support me to grow my business in a way that I can have both (and make myself and my clients happier).
Susie Verde New York, USA P.S. Find out—How to market in a way that is respectful to your customers, yet powerfully compelling.
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=JJG.RkUU_7Ett1&b=uQnmAkSXGgAxUDTct7oFew
(The Brain Audit has been around for many years and is unique because it has over 900 testimonials)
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Resource we use and recommend
For design, development and maintenance of websites we useStressLessWeb
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=JJG.RkUU_7Ett1&b=yuQfiV6jObun9w.qlJpGKA . They are passionate about creating websites that reduce the stress of their clients. Speak to Audrey when you contact them. :)
Free Goodies
- Do you need to carve out a uniqueness for ‘every’ product or service? Learn how to create your uniqueness that stands the test of time
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- How To Create A Uniqueness That’s Difficult For Competition To Replicate Read
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- How To Sell A Product When There’s No Scarcity Factor iTunes
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The Concept Of Take Off-Speed (And How It Enables You To Manage Many Things All At Once)
📅 May 17, 2025 | View in Gmail
Is there a reason we go around in circles? Let’s find out
The Concept Of Take Off-Speed (And How It Enables You To Manage Many Things All At Once)
https://www.psychotactics.com/learning-speed/
If you feel overwhelmed and seem to get nothing much done, you’re not alone.
That’s because many of us go around in circles. We never attain take-off speed and are doomed to circle the airport endlessly. Or are we?
Let’s examine why top speed is so crucial and how to get to the point where you can fly on autopilot. Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/learning-speed/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/00o7RtdcgOvr7gNQfk00rV?si=ca8f9f5f656942ba
Two trending podcasts on 'running your business'
https://www.psychotactics.com/quit-phone-addiction/
The Five-Year Lease Concept (And How It Builds Resilience) Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/shiny-object-syndrome/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1pPNj2onCNhv3FZcYgzUOf?si=08f4505b8c6f4399
How To Get Free Of Your Phone Addiction Without Software Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/quit-phone-addiction/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5i2H5kFgSL2Lu9uDn0dASt?si=9451931c39d74411
Warm regards
Sean D’Souza P.S. May I ask a tiny favour? Would you mind sharing this podcast/article with one person? I would love it. The Concept Of Take Off-Speed (And How It Enables You To Manage Many Things All At Once) Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/learning-speed/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/00o7RtdcgOvr7gNQfk00rV?si=ca8f9f5f656942ba
Or please use these links:
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How To Systematically Generate A Uniqueness (Even if You’ve Struggled with it Before)
📅 May 13, 2025 | View in Gmail
How about we look at uniqueness from a “construction” point of view?
How To Systematically Generate A Uniqueness (Even If You’ve Struggled With It Before)
https://www.psychotactics.com/systematically-generate-uniqueness/
Have you tried to create your uniqueness and failed?
It’s more than likely that you’ve tried to create uniqueness before. Yet, it seems a bit of a pain because it sounds so trite.
Well, how about we look at uniqueness from a “construction” point of view?
Instead of just trying to dream up the uniqueness, how about we look at it with “guardrails” so that we hit the target every time? Let’s give it a shot because one—or two of these methods—will certainly work for you. Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/systematically-generate-uniqueness/ | Apple Podcast
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3vGz1ihWsdJ4yutYWWHmlv?si=l211T0hqSIioIxX4ckGBFg |
Two binge-worthy podcasts on
‘Why Clients Do What They Do’
https://www.psychotactics.com/uniqueness-factor/
Why Business Philosophy Creates A Uniqueness Factor (Even When Clients Don't Know You At All)
What if you ran into clients that have never heard of you? And what if they’ve never heard of your products or services?
Would they still buy from you? Let’s find out. Read
https://www.psychotactics.com/uniqueness-factor/ | Apple Podcast
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0wWPMF64kTjDIYO5Iy4dBV?si=RseAuh3FSi2VyD4MOFBEfA |
https://www.psychotactics.com/introduce-yourself-events/
Why Clients Behave "Irrationally" And Buy Your Products (Even When They Already Have Enough)
When a client buys a product, what goes through their mind? Often you’ll notice they have a similar product, so why do they buy again? There are four reasons why your client (and you and I) keep searching for products and buy in what looks like an irrational way. Let’s find out why this behaviour exists. Read
https://www.psychotactics.com/clients-irrationally-behaviour/ | Apple Podcast
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6eBFBmLQQcU7QnmSVDcpe2?si=D2Fc-K4lR-ezu1MN4CGbKg |
https://www.psychotactics.com/general/will-tell-friend-podcast/
Warm regards
Sean D’Souza P.S. May I ask a tiny favour? Would you mind sharing this podcast with one person? I would love it. (You can cut and paste the links below) How To Systematically Generate A Uniqueness (Even If You’ve Struggled With It Before) Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/systematically-generate-uniqueness/ | Apple Podcast
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3vGz1ihWsdJ4yutYWWHmlv?si=l211T0hqSIioIxX4ckGBFg |
Click here to tell one friend
https://www.psychotactics.com/general/will-tell-friend-podcast/
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Last day: Special Bonus: Website Strategy Masterclass: (Free When you Join 5000bc)
📅 May 10, 2025 | View in Gmail
Today is the last day to get the Special Bonus: Website Strategy Masterclass when you join 5000bc.
You’ve been around the Psychotactics site for a while. And you’ve probably even sneaked a peek at 5000bc. So what is 5000bc, and what is the Special Bonus—Website Strategy Masterclass about?
Let’s have a look.
In 2006 we conducted the website strategy masterclass. It was based on the precise steps involved in attraction, conversion and consumption. The specific psychological factors that every website must have–and without which you’re just wasting your time and money.
Even today in 2025 we are still using the same strategy successfully. And will continue to use it. • Yes, technology has changed. • Yes, we have new media to communicate our message. • Yes, our website design has changed over time.
Yes, the strategy continues to work!
Websites fail because you don’t understand the core of what drives business For clients to keep coming back to your ‘restaurant’, and keep eating the ‘meals’ regularly, you need to have a powerful strategy in place. A strategy that guarantees the return of the customer. That will not only get the customer back but over time, the customer will buy more from you and buy at higher prices.
And how do you create a website that not only attracts more customers but actually gets customers to keep coming back?
Presenting the Website Strategy Masterclass Home Study Course (Free for 5000bc Members)
The Website Masterclass is not some quick system
This Home Study Course is about a simple, step-by-step system that we’ve used ourselves to grow Psychotactics over the years to the point where it pays us a handsome return and affords us a comfortable lifestyle. This information is not meant to impress you. It’s just to show you that if you use the right strategy, you too can achieve what we’ve achieved in a reasonable time frame.
Ready to join 5000bc and get the entire workshop, notes and bonuses? Click here to get this offer https://5000bc.com/
Warm regards Sean D’Souza P.S. This offer expires on 10 May 2025 (11:59 pm New York, Eastern USA). https://www.5000bc.com/
P.P.S. And what else has 5000bc got to offer you?
If you’re a business owner, you know how lonely it can be in your world. And now, like most people on the planet, we’re unsure where to go or what to do. We’re stuck in our homes, and it seems odd to want to start up a project or do something.
The volume of chaos is so great that it’s hard to focus Yet, it’s also the precise time that will give you the time to ask questions, get answers and finally get that project going. We all complain about having no time, and time is still a premium, but we do seem to have just a smidgen more of time these days.
It’s like a Yoda quote: There is no try, Luke. There’s do. And there’s don’t.
If you’re in the “do” category, I’m in 5000bc, ten or twenty times a day answering questions and helping you move forward. And there are members who are just as knowledgeable who can help you too.
You can ask questions and get an unending number of answers. And often so quickly that it seems like consulting. Not consulting once a week or once a month, but every day, or ten times a day if you like.
The motto of 5000bc is: be kind, be helpful, or begone. If you are looking for a community that simply slap each other on the back, are always promoting themselves, then 5000bc is not for you.
What you’ll find in 5000bc is solid information, but more importantly, solid help. Help from me (yes, I’m around 20-30 times a day, answering questions in great detail) and other members who pitch in and help. And having a community to talk to, to work with and bounce your ideas off, is incredibly valuable.
There’s an old African saying: If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go with a group. And yes, if you go with a helpful group, you enjoy the journey.
Yes, it’s the last day to join before the waiting list goes up, so get in the community and let’s go far.
Here is the link https://www.5000bc.com/
Warm regards, Sean P.S. See you in 5000bc. This offer expires on 10 May 2025 (11:59 pm New York, Eastern USA). https://www.5000bc.com/
Here is what Monica Stapleton has to say about 5000bc
I’ve pretty much stopped following all other business marketing and strategy mentors. 5000bc is where I feel I’m going to get the answers I need, personally.
What I like about 5000bc—My list so far:
1. The "safe" zone of 5000bc is an unbelievable "find" in this world. So rare, and so valuable. With every other group I've been a part of, whether it's a mentor or a writing group, there is also a stressful environment of pressure to be a certain kind of person or do things I'm not comfortable with, or measure up somehow.
2. Sean's quick, personal, supportive responses to my emails have surprised me and they set the tone for everyone else in the group.
3. The supportive group there is amazing. I'm not used to being a part of such a supportive, positive group, and it's taking a little getting used to.
4. I value vulnerability and humility, and I finally feel like I've found a place where I belong. It's incredible. I feel that making a place where introverts have the necessary space to grow is an unbelievably rare find.
5. Along with all that, Sean still manage to produce the right motivational "pressure" or encouragement to do it right and get good results in a way that actually makes logical, real sense.
6. While I know everyone is going through the same challenges, I do sort of have a unique set of fears, and I think I really need the space 5000bc creates in order to spread my wings. I'm really not made for a dog-eat-dog world, and I don't do well in that environment. I'm sorting that problem out. In every other group I tend to go undercover very quickly, and I don't make headway.
7. Renuka's encouragement when I first started with 5000bc to get started with my first TAP (Taking Action Plan) was PERFECT.
8. The TAP (Taking Action Plan) experience was one of the most meaningful experiences in my lifetime. I made such huge headway in my personal health, and felt extremely encouraged by the few people that took the time to go on my thread and say encouraging things to me. I can't tell you how much that meant to me. I broke through a ceiling I've been hitting for the last ten years, or more. I figured out a few clues that I'm still following and continue to have more breakthroughs as a result of the headway I made in that three week TAP. I'm still in shock about how important that was, and all that I discovered. I can't wait to take on another TAP with business goals and break through more ceilings in these other areas.
9. Sean really listen. That might need to be placed higher up on this list. The experience in 5000bc is so personal that I have no desire to go back to any of the other groups where I have felt distant and detached, and I wonder about the advice given, which is painted with such a broad-brushed stroke it doesn't have any bearing on my personal life at all. In two other groups where I did reach out for some help, I felt like a child being scolded on the receiving end. Even knowing I had to keep pushing forward, it made me cautious about what I would put out there in those groups. Now I don't want to go back to them at all.
10. You've won me over with the support of this group, and I think the group Sean managed to create is the thing I want to emulate in any health coaching practice I create in the future. The value of the group dynamic is probably more important than anything else, and since I want to involve people in personal change and growth I think that's an important piece that other models are completely missing. All the marketing strategies in the world that involve just getting your story out there can't make up for the problem of the impersonal, one-size-fits-all approach.
11. Sean and 5000bc insights are incredibly deep and wise. There is no other resource that I know of, that makes such great sense out of the psychology of marketing and writing. Your approach feels right to me in every way. I have yet to read anything you've written and think it didn't apply, or wasn't that important.
12. There is so much value in 5000bc that I have enough information just by belonging to the group, to keep growing as long as I want to.
13. I've made more personal headway in the few months I've been following you than I ever did in other groups. It's the combination of truly understanding the psychology behind marketing and the safe zone for personal growth that is an amazingly powerful combination.
Monica Stapleton, USA Join us: https://www.5000bc.com/
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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Special Bonus: Website Strategy Masterclass: (Free when you Join 5000bc before 10 May 2025)
📅 May 08, 2025 | View in Gmail
Find Out How to Create A Website that not only attracts more customers but actually gets them back
In 2006 we conducted the website strategy masterclass. It was based on the precise steps involved in attraction, conversion and consumption. The specific psychological factors that every website must have–and without which you’re just wasting your time and money.
Even today in 2025 we are still using the same strategy successfully. And will continue to use it. • Yes, technology has changed. • Yes, we have new media to communicate our message. • Yes, our website design has changed over time.
However the strategy continues to work!
Websites fail because you don’t understand the core of what drives business
For clients to keep coming back to your ‘restaurant’, and keep eating the ‘meals’ regularly, you need to have a powerful strategy in place. A strategy that guarantees the return of the customer. That will not only get the customer back but over time, the customer will buy more from you and buy at higher prices.
And how do you create a website that not only attracts more customers but actually gets customers to keep coming back?
Presenting the Website Strategy Masterclass Home Study Course (Free for 5000bc Members)
The Website Masterclass is not some quick system
This Home Study Course is about a simple, step-by-step system that we’ve used ourselves to grow Psychotactics over the years to the point where it pays us a handsome return and affords us a comfortable lifestyle. This information is not meant to impress you. It’s just to show you that if you use the right strategy, you too can achieve what we’ve achieved in a reasonable time frame.
Ready to join 5000bc and get the entire workshop, notes and bonuses?
Click here to get this offer https://5000bc.com/
Warm regards Sean D’Souza P.S. This offer expires on 10 May 2025 (11:59 pm New York, Eastern USA). https://www.5000bc.com/
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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Does It Make Sense to Join 5000bc (When You Are Already Overwhelmed With Information)?
📅 May 06, 2025 | View in Gmail
Let me tell you a story about something I did almost twenty-five years ago.
We’d just started our business, and I was eager for more information. There were days we’d go to the public library and return with no less than 30 books on sales, business and marketing. However, that was not enough. I then started buying these bulky books and CDs (yes, CDs) from other marketers. I’d be eager to get the package and watch with amusement and delight as the courier unloaded the boxes.
About fifteen years ago, I realised many boxes were unopened. The ones I had opened had books with their plastic wrapping still on them.
Like everyone else, I was deluded by the fact that information is everything.
It’s essential to have information, but what’s even more important is knowing what works for you. For example, when you get into 5000bc, the forum has over 250,000 posts. There are hundreds of articles. And yet, 99% of that information will likely be irrelevant to you.
Information is nice, but what’s truly important is
• “How do I get this next project off the ground”? • “What’s my strategy for the next few months?” • Also, if I start up a project, will I have some people who will cheer me on in private?
These are the fundamental questions.
It’s the reason we started 5000bc
When I wrote The Brain Audit, it was a tiny 20-page book. You wouldn’t think much of working through 20 pages of information, would you? Yet, clients were asking all sorts of questions. Not questions that applied to marketing and sales, but instead questions that applied to “their marketing” and “their sales”.
As we have done since 2003, all the questions get answered.
All questions get my special attention. This isn’t a membership site where you sign up, and the owner disappears. I’m around answering questions all the time. And it’s what gets you to move forward bit by bit. Progress is always slow and often complicated and I am there to move you forward.
If you’re looking for more information in 5000bc, you’ll certainly find lots of it. But that’s not the real reason you should join.
If you have found us reliable (and sensible) in the past, then you’ll like 5000bc.
It’s private, warm and caring. And we can help you move ahead. Judge for yourself. Here are the details. https://www.5000bc.com
Warm regards Sean P.S. You can join 5000bc without going on the waiting list from 6 May to 10 May 2025. https://www.5000bc.com
P.P.S. And if you have any questions, e-mail me. I always reply.
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0rJysHBwMHKw=
Why You Can’t Sign Up For 5000bc Right Now
📅 May 03, 2025 | View in Gmail
You’ve been around the Psychotactics site for a while. And you’ve probably even sneaked a peek at 5000bc (our membership site) and seen that there’s a waiting list.
For the next seven days we’re bringing down that wall. From Saturday 30 September to 7 October 2017, you get the chance to join (without being on the waiting list).
The last time we opened up the waiting list was six months ago. Yup, a long time ago.
But how do you know if 5000bc is the place for you? You read the testimonials. Do your due diligence and read the testimonials and you’ll see for yourself why our members join, and more importantly why they stay. And how you can be part of that select group as well.
You have to judge for yourself. So take a look at 5000bc right away. https://www.psychotactics.com/general/special-offer/
We’d love to have you there if you think it’s the right place for you :)
Warm regards, Sean P.S. Make a decision today based on what you see. https://www.psychotactics.com/general/special-offer/
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0rJysHAwsjKw=
Announcing: How To Join 5000bc (But How Do You Know If 5000bc Is The Place For You?)
📅 May 03, 2025 | View in Gmail
You’ve been around the Psychotactics site for a while. And you’ve probably even sneaked a peek at 5000bc (our membership site) and seen that there’s a waiting list.
For the next seven days we’re bringing down that wall. From Saturday 30 September to 7 October 2017, you get the chance to join (without being on the waiting list).
The last time we opened up the waiting list was six months ago. Yup, a long time ago.
But how do you know if 5000bc is the place for you? You read the testimonials. Do your due diligence and read the testimonials and you’ll see for yourself why our members join, and more importantly why they stay. And how you can be part of that select group as well.
You have to judge for yourself. So take a look at 5000bc right away. https://www.psychotactics.com/general/special-offer/
We’d love to have you there if you think it’s the right place for you :)
Warm regards, Sean P.S. Make a decision today based on what you see. https://www.psychotactics.com/general/special-offer/
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0rJysbEwczOw=
April 2025
Why We Struggle To Acquire Skills (And How The Mindset of The Teacher is The Root Cause)
📅 April 29, 2025 | View in Gmail
True Teaching is when the Student becomes the Teacher.
Psychotactics
https://www.psychotactics.com/acquire-skills/
Why We Struggle To Acquire Skills (And How The Mindset Of The Teacher Is The Root Cause)
Load the images to see the cartoon. It works!
https://www.psychotactics.com/acquire-skills/
(This email contains the complete article. However, you can also read or listen to it at these links: Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/acquire-skills/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0QnB0BYVfTlg0sdsEquLC2?si=fe875aca0e78435f | A client of mine deals with teachers; Not ten or fifty, but hundreds of teachers. One day, quite out of the blue, she decided to do a rough poll. It wasn’t even a bunch of questions, but just one. And that one question went like this: Who should bear the responsibility for learning: The teacher or student?
The poll was simple enough to get a hearty response A large majority of the teachers believed that the responsibility of the learning lay squarely with the student. Hence, they lumped 100% of the burden on the heads of the student. Other teachers were less heavy-handed.
A fair number put the figure at about 50:50, stating that the teacher and the student had an equal sense of responsibility. Yet, one fact was clear. No one was willing to go so far as to say that 100% of the responsibility of learning lies with the teacher. And as with any poll, some of them didn’t answer at all.
It’s likely that you agree with at least the level headed teachers To simply wash your hands off the responsibility and give it all to the student is unfair at best. Undoubtedly, the teacher has a role to play. And for most of us, the halfway mark seems reasonable. Half of the responsibility must lie with the teacher. And half with the student. 50:50 seems fair enough.
And this logic makes perfect sense until we change the analogy a bit and make YOU the teacher. Let’s say you’ve just had a baby. Newborn, cuddly, smiles erratically and does the same with poo. Let’s ask the question again, shall we? Who is responsible for the well being of the baby? The baby, the parent, or do you come in at a 50:50 mid-zone? Now we’re all in agreement, aren’t we?
Surely you can’t expect the baby to know stuff or do stuff. The baby is the baby. It’s our job as a parent/teacher to do everything. We might not have signed up for the responsibility, but we know without a doubt who’s responsible.
Why then would you not consider your client to be a baby? Let’s take someone who shows up to learn article writing. Are the clients good at the skill of writing? Even if we were to hazard a guess, we’d say the reason they’re showing up for the course is that they feel they’re quite helpless. Cartooning? Writing sales pages? Making presentations? Learning French? No one ever signs up for a course or learning because they’re already proficient at it and want to show off their skills. In almost every instance, they feel very vulnerable. They know very little, have a smattering of confidence, and aren’t sure what to do, next.
At this point, we step right up as “teachers” and say, “Ooh, the responsibility is 100% your own”. Or we decide that the halfway, 50:50 mark seems reasonable when clearly we need a different benchmark.
Imagine if we took all the responsibility, instead. Would that change the way we did things? You bet it would. Our goal would change radically from one of “giving information” to one of “getting results”. At this point, all teaching (whether in schools or courses/books) etc. is tipped heavily in favour of giving information.
We believe that if we put all the information in a cohesive, sensible manner, we are good teachers. Good information is undoubtedly a starting point, but the responsibility of the learning is where teaching lies.
Let’s take a Spanish course I’m doing, for instance Every week, eight students show up on a Zoom call. Two hours and several slides later, there’s a solid sense of direction, yet little or no skill. And at least when it comes to private tutoring, there’s no excuse for such a shabby result.
We tend to show our frustration when it comes to school and university teachers, but they’re doing the best they can in many cases. Hampered by a rigid syllabus, large groups, and endless marking of papers, they deserve every moment of their vacation.
On the other hand, we tend to dictate the size of the group, the syllabus, etc., and we still dole out what is a stream of information. If we were paid based on whether the student could easily—and correctly—do the task, we’d have a completely different method of teaching.
In the Zoom group, barely two or three concepts are covered That’s slow and often boring for the teacher. Do the students get any level of fluency? Not really, because by the end of the call, there’s a mini-test.
When faced with trying to answer a single question, all eight of us are scrambling, guessing at best. There’s no ease, no confidence and several wrong answers. Guess whose fault it happens to be?
Yes, it’s the student, of course. And it’s not like the teacher isn’t kind and helpful. She takes all questions during the call, and even later on e-mail. Yet, because we’re not the “babies”, she moves on to the next session in the following week. Learning, as it were, doesn’t happen. All we have is another twenty slides of information.
True teaching is when the student becomes the teacher If you want to find out how well you’ve done as a teacher, don’t ask the student for the answer. Instead, ask them to teach someone else. If I teach you to draw a cartoon of a whale, would you be able to teach someone else the same thing with a great deal of accuracy?
You’ll know where the dropouts in your teaching lie because as Student A is teaching Student B, you’ll see where they make mistakes in their own teaching. You can then fill those gaps, and as a result, you become diligent at teaching, not just giving information.
When it comes to teaching, you’re the parents and the student is the baby The baby is supposed to burp, throw tantrums and poop a lot. As teachers, we are the ones responsible for the well-being of the “baby”. The responsibility of the learning is 100% on the teacher and not the student.
And when you take on that complete responsibility, something weird happens. The student realises how keen you are and how you’re focused on their success. The student recognises your mindset.
And without any prompting on your part, the student comes halfway. Without you trying too hard, it becomes a 50:50 arrangement.
Who does the responsibility of the teaching lie with? Now, you know better.
I would love if you would share this article with one friend You can post the links in your WhatsApp Group, Facebook Groups, LinkedIn or even send an email. Why We Struggle To Acquire Skills (And How The Mindset Of The Teacher Is The Root Cause) Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/acquire-skills/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0QnB0BYVfTlg0sdsEquLC2?si=fe875aca0e78435f |
Facebook
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Twitter
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https://www.psychotactics.com/home-study/positioning-strategy-how-to-get-to-uniqueness/
Coming Soon
28 May: How to Make Your Product or Service Stand Out Among All the Noise Free goodies
https://www.psychotactics.com/home-study/uniqueness-form/ | Sales Page and how to get on the waiting list
https://www.psychotactics.com/home-study/positioning-strategy-how-to-get-to-uniqueness/ |
Image
https://www.psychotactics.com/davinci/
DaVinci Cartooning Course: How To Develop Your Cartoon Character (Bookings open 24 June 2025) Learn how to draw outstanding cartoons and create your own character (even if you can’t draw a straight line)Plus you have a lot of fun on this course. Click here for more details
https://www.psychotactics.com/davinci/ .(Waiting list open).
Product Offers: Links you should visit
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https://www.psychotactics.com/products/under-50/
Top-Selling Products Under $50
Client Attractors You already know that 80% of a sales letter depends on your headline. So what’s the remaining 20% that causes customers to buy? Find out: How To Increase Your Web Conversion Rate With Client Attractors
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/client-attractors
The Brain Audit: (The Print/Limited Edition Version signed by Sean) We have a few limited edition version of the book right here in New Zealand. This is professionally printed and you can get yourself a wonderful signed version of this book at this link
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/brain-audit-amazon/ .
Testimonial Secrets How To Avoid Painful Clients (And Get Clients That Are A Dream To Work With Instead)
Curious About the Psychotactics Community—5000bc? Have a look here at 77 testimonials.
https://www.5000bc.com/whos-in-5000bc/
Actionable Podcasts on Content Creation and Article Writing
Free Content Vs Paid Content: Will Clients Buy If You Give Away A Lot Of Free Stuff? Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/free-content/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5lgHdl2e6TcXDuVDIoMWcq?si=dg6WnbcRSHKBxTz0goQ8Xw |
How To Create Your Information Product In Four Layers (And Why It Appeals To Clients) Listen online
https://www.psychotactics.com/information-products-steps/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3xSPw5QwEmDJyp0kJcCg2W?si=f451552a9f864239 |
U-turns: Why Almost Every Article Needs One To Create Drama Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/article-drama-create/ | iTunes
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/u-turn/id946996410?i=1000552265720 | Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0aK92Uqaa9U1nZPwASty71?si=pnCpELzUS5q7iy570ArsBA |
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How To Become Smarter By Utilising The “Database Concept”
📅 April 26, 2025 | View in Gmail
Here’s where you start on the journey.
How To Become Smarter By Utilising The “Database Concept”
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=JPjSgkCRoDitt1&b=wEdYqZFK8yr0GkIhe6U4wA
Imagine there are two computers.
One computer is a standalone connected to nothing but the electrical supply. The second one is connected to a network of computers.
Which of the two is likely to be more useful to you?
A similar concept applies to learning. People with a greater database are almost always seen as “more talented”. A database is something we can control, and learning how to use it makes us more “talented”.
Here’s where you start on the journey.
Let’s find out, How To Become Smarter By Utilising The “Database Concept” Read online
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=JPjSgkCRoDitt1&b=wEdYqZFK8yr0GkIhe6U4wA | Apple
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=JPjSgkCRoDitt1&b=RBtNw1L9.uK5R8TycVaNKQ | Spotify
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=JPjSgkCRoDitt1&b=nxFxSjGEhtVrMd7LxmsHWw
Two trending podcasts
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=JPjSgkCRoDitt1&b=u5XhzYm6zFeNa1GAb8.p9g
Burnout: Why Friends And Family Are More Likely To Be Early Warning Systems To Avoid Overwork How do you know when you’ve crossed the line from hard work to overwork? Read online
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=JPjSgkCRoDitt1&b=u5XhzYm6zFeNa1GAb8.p9g | Apple
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=JPjSgkCRoDitt1&b=vigzgQEdOyqgtjqqbwv8YQ | Spotify
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=JPjSgkCRoDitt1&b=8Bo4ojtPGTiURL36r4Xbkw
How To Get Clients: An Open Secret This is one question that repeats itself endlessly. And here is the answer. Read online
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=JPjSgkCRoDitt1&b=TmItq4ik2BETtsfe_PvLFA | Apple
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=JPjSgkCRoDitt1&b=x59xcVQMwnc1FI_97A07gQ | Spotify
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=JPjSgkCRoDitt1&b=Xv0B27YUDzPsABbfuTdDBw
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=JPjSgkCRoDitt1&b=wEdYqZFK8yr0GkIhe6U4wA
Warm regards
Sean P.S. Thank you for being a subscriber. If you’ve enjoyed listening to or reading or listening to this podcast, please consider forwarding this email to a few friends. I would be grateful.
PO Box 36461 Auckland Auckland 1330 NEW ZEALAND
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Why Is Storytelling So Important In Marketing (And How To Use It In Your Marketing)
📅 April 22, 2025 | View in Gmail
We all know storytelling is a crucial skill to have as a business owner. But why?
Psychotactics
https://www.psychotactics.com/
Why Is Storytelling So Important In Marketing (And How To Use It In Your Marketing)
Fun cartoon here
https://www.psychotactics.com/storytelling-marketing/
(This email contains the complete article. However, you can also read or listen to it at these links: Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/storytelling-marketing/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6X6cyeYwp0ieC82tXAaUKB?si=xG1nRAdESCKYuGcfyuCilw | ). There’s an e-mail we’ve run for close to 18 years. It’s the sales e-mail for the article writing course. It kind of talks about article writing. However, almost the entire e-mail is about the idea of having a fairy godmother. It’s about how I struggled so much with writing. When I would get going, a single article would take me two days.
And then, when I got to the end of that article, I wasn’t sure it was good. I didn’t want to learn to write. I just wanted a fairy godmother.
Do you feel like you need a fairy godmother too? What you’re experiencing almost at the start of the e-mail is the same thing you experience when you walk into a movie theatre. You’re locked into that movie that’s running on the screen. The lights go out, the film comes on, and you are taken to a different space and time. You don’t—and often can’t—focus on the world outside.
Storytelling does the same job, except with no theatre and with the full volume of distraction. Somehow, when you talk about a story or tell an account, you get the audience’s attention, even under trying conditions. And it doesn’t take much to become a storyteller, either. The first part of the storytelling process is to do what movies do.
Movies move you to a different space and time. Hence, if I’m standing on stage and talking about The Brain Audit, it’s pointless to talk about The Brain Audit. It’s boring to say, “oh, you know there’s this book, it’s called The Brain Audit and blah, blah, blah”.
The audience isn’t bored, but they’re in their world. They’ve just been checking their e-mails; they’re likely to be on social media or have been in the middle of some conversation before they sat down to listen to you.
When you give them something boring, they are still locked into the world they were in. The space and time haven’t changed at all.
When presenting The Brain Audit, I’d lift a chair and place it on the stage. Instant curiosity sets in. And my job is to unfold that story so that it’s not just some stunt but something that fits in entirely with The Brain Audit. “I’m going to sit on this chair,” I’d say to them. “And then I will stand up”. True to my promise, I sit and stand, repeating the action. In about 10 seconds, the audience is locked into what comes next.
What comes next is one of the main aspects of storytelling. What happens to Cinderella when the godmother appears? What happens to Sean from 2001 when the fairy godmother doesn’t show up? What happens to the articles? Similarly, what happens next with the chair in the presentation?
I’ll tell you what happens next. I explain that the chair doesn’t fall apart. I can sit on it, stand on it, dance on it, and it doesn’t let me down. I never test a chair before I sit on it. Even if I were seriously overweight, I wouldn’t go around trying the chairs before seating myself. Why does the chair work so well? I ask the audience?
The answer is obvious, isn’t it? The chair is built on science. It has clear parameters, and you must consider them when creating a chair’s mould. You can have any colour, even bizarre shapes, but the chair must not fall apart.
The structure is what causes the chair to perform consistently time after time. However, when we look at our marketing, we don’t see that structure. We don’t know exactly what we’re supposed to say when someone asks us what we do.
We don’t know how to promote our business or even if we’re doing the right thing. We hope that if we do something, our fortunes will change. However, what we’re lacking is a structure or a template.
And that’s what The Brain Audit is all about. I tell the audience that it’s not necessarily something new. The information in the book is probably as old as sales and marketing have existed. However, it is helpful because it shows you exactly why clients buy and don’t.
It shows you why and when clients hesitate. At this point, imagine you’re sitting in the audience. You’ve been transported from the chair sequence and thrown into another story—the story where you’re just throwing everything at the wall and hoping something sticks.
Standing on the stage, in front of you, is someone saying they’ll give you a template. Do you want the template?
Of course, you do! Even if you’re a pro at selling, you still want to know what the structure is all about. And if you’ve been burned many times or don’t feel like being one of those “let’s hustle” people, you instantly want to know how to solve your problem. However, what’s important to note is that the journey started with the story.
A story doesn’t always need to be told; sometimes, a name is enough. Let’s take two products from Psychotactics. One is called “Black Belt Presentations”. The second is called “Dartboard Pricing”. Which one seems to be more attractive?
People pick the pricing one because what’s interesting about a random, generic term like “black belt”? It’s interesting to note that before we know what’s in the course or book, we are already demonstrating a bias between one product and the other.
When you expand the term “Black Belt Presentations” it still feels like a struggle. While it’s a fantastic product for constructing your webinar and presentation, it lacks the story aspect. “Dartboard Pricing”, on the other hand, talks about how to set your prices.
You might think it’s all very scientific, but instead, it’s a matter of setting up a dartboard and throwing darts at it. This unusual concept gets your curiosity bubble going. You know it can’t just be one dartboard-throwing move to setting the right price.
Yet, that’s the key to storytelling. One title didn’t move you much. The other pushed you into a different space and time.
The crux of storytelling is about another space and time. Your audience is hooked. Now it’s up to you to get them to “what next, what next and what next” until you seamlessly move them to the product or service you’re selling. And when you do get to the product or service, the audience knows it.
They’re smart—whip-smart. They’ve seen a hundred or a thousand other pitches before. They know you’re special because you’re not boring.
Most people are boring. Their pitches are boring. And there’s a way out with storytelling. And once you discover it, you too can run the same e-mail for 17 years in a row, fill up your courses and never be boring again.
I would love it if you would share or email this article to one friend:
Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://www.psychotactics.com/storytelling-marketing/
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What's Coming Up Next!
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https://www.psychotactics.com/workshops/worldwide-workshops/
28 May: Finding Your Uniqueness Self Study Course Selling a product or service tends to be an uphill task. So can a simple set of words get the client to avoid the competition and pick you? Free Goodies
https://www.psychotactics.com/home-study/uniqueness-form/ | Sales Page and how to get on the waiting list
https://www.psychotactics.com/home-study/positioning-strategy-how-to-get-to-uniqueness/ |
Products you may have missed: Click here for the Top-Selling Products Under $50
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/under-50/
Most Popular Podcast Why Staying Small Is Probably A Smarter Move iTunes
http://www.psychotactics.com/power-enough-critical-sanity/ | Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5TGranDiQBkS3ygKxTr3v7 |
The Crazy Philosophy Of Psychotactics (And Why It May Help You In Your Business) Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/philosophy-of-psychotactics/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6lATN0aX6maTdQYhGrEqjF |
Resource we use and recommend
For all your design, development and maintenance of websites we use Audrey at StressLessWeb
https://www.stresslessweb.com/
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Announcing: How Do you Create Your Uniqueness That Stands The Test of Time?
📅 April 19, 2025 | View in Gmail
How to get to your Uniqueness? What are the Biggest Mistakes and how to avoid them.
Uniqueness Goodies
https://www.psychotactics.com/home-study/uniqueness-form/
Have you ever wondered what would it be like to stand out from the competition in a way that customers choose you over everyone else?
That’s what uniqueness can do to your product or service. Yet most of us seem to know what makes our product or service better than competition.
But the customer doesn’t know. So they go elsewhere. Somewhere cheaper. But they don’t come to you in the droves you’ve imagined.
Presenting: Uniqueness Goodies (Yup, FREE Goodies!) Everyone tells you that uniqueness is important, but no one tells you how to work through the uniqueness minefield.
Until now, that is You will get access to articles, audio and video.
Here is the sequence of what to expect in the coming weeks: Goodie 1: Why we get our uniqueness wrong Goodie 2: How to get to your uniqueness Goodie 3: The importance of the mundane and the uninteresting Goodie 4: Biggest mistakes and how to avoid them Goodie 5: The difference between uniqueness and the other red bags Goodie 6: Do you need to carve out a uniqueness for ‘every’ product or service?
Here is the link to get the goodies: Uniqueness Free Goodies
https://www.psychotactics.com/home-study/uniqueness-form/
Warm regards Sean D’Souza
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0rJwsnOxsbOw=
Last day: 50% off Suddenly Talented Paperback at US $9.99 from Amazon
📅 April 14, 2025 | View in Gmail
(This once only offer ends today)
Last Day: Suddenly Talented paperback (at 50% off) on Amazon
Today is the last day that the price of Suddenly Talented: How To Overcome The Struggle Of Learning will be at 50% off.
This one-time offer ends today, so don’t miss out. Go ahead and get a copy for yourself—or as a gift for your family, clients or friends.
This is the last email about the offer, and I do apologise if you have already bought the book. Amazon doesn’t give us any details, so it’s impossible to know if you’ve managed to get the book at a special price of US $9.99.
If you have already bought it, could you let me know, so I can send you a special postcard?
Get your copy now:
https://mybook.to/suddenly-talent
(This link auto‑detects your local Amazon store. If it doesn’t work, let me know!)
Warm regards Sean P.S. If you have already bought it, could you let me know, so I can send you a special postcard?
Direct Amazon links by country
(For Suddenly Talented Paperback at only US $9.99)
US:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1738625206
Canada:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1738625206
UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1738625206
Germany:
https://www.amazon.de/dp/1738625206
France:
https://www.amazon.fr/dp/1738625206
Italy:
https://www.amazon.it/dp/1738625206
Spain:
https://www.amazon.es/dp/1738625206
Netherlands:
https://www.amazon.nl/dp/1738625206
Australia and New Zealand:
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/1738625206
India:
https://www.amazon.in/dp/1738625206
Japan:
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/1738625206
Brazil:
https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/1738625206
Mexico:
https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/1738625206
Thailand:
https://www.amazon.co.th/dp/1738625206
The Sale ends today—don’t miss out! Grab your copy now.
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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Final 3 days: 50% off Suddenly Talented Paperback Version (US$9.99) on Amazon
📅 April 11, 2025 | View in Gmail
(Yes, you can get copies for your clients too at 50% off)
In case you missed it: Final 3 Days: 50% Off Suddenly Talented
What is "Suddenly Talented"?
Imagine you knew a person who could draw, dance, write, speak well, cook, and do cartoons (ok, you know who I’m talking about, don’t you?) Well, most people run into me and say, “You’re so talented”.
But what if talent were something attainable and relatively quick? That’s the premise of the book titled “Suddenly Talented.” The book is not a recipe for instant talent, but it does take you on an intriguing journey into how certain people seem to surmount learning obstacles and consistently develop expertise in diverse fields.
It’s magical when you realise you’ve been getting slightly misplaced advice for so long and that talent is comfortably within your reach.
After 15 years of pondering and more pondering, the book is finally available. And as a special promotion, it’s priced at just $2 over the cost of printing (yes, a physical book).
Sorry to bug you if you’ve already bought a copy (or copies) from Amazon. It’s just that, as you know, Amazon doesn’t give any details, so it’s impossible to know if you’ve managed to get the book at a special price. And it’s at such a good price that you can buy copies for family or clients too.
Suddenly Talented: How To Overcome The Struggle Of Learning
Final 3 days at US$9.99
Here’s the link: This link auto‑detects your local Amazon store.
https://mybook.to/suddenly-talent
(If it doesn’t work, please do let me know. Also, look below for direct links).
Sean
P.S. If you have already bought it, could you let me know, so I can send you a special postcard?
Direct Amazon links by country
(For Suddenly Talented Paperback at only US $9.99)
US:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1738625206
Canada:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1738625206
UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1738625206
Germany:
https://www.amazon.de/dp/1738625206
France:
https://www.amazon.fr/dp/1738625206
Italy:
https://www.amazon.it/dp/1738625206
Spain:
https://www.amazon.es/dp/1738625206
Netherlands:
https://www.amazon.nl/dp/1738625206
Australia and New Zealand:
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/1738625206
India:
https://www.amazon.in/dp/1738625206
Japan:
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/1738625206
Brazil:
https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/1738625206
Mexico:
https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/1738625206
Thailand:
https://www.amazon.co.th/dp/1738625206
The Sale ends in 3 days—don’t miss out! Grab your copy now. If your country is not listed, there’s probably a good chance that the print on demand is a bit delayed in that zone. Try the link at the top, anyway.
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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It’s available: The paperback version of Suddenly Talented (at 50% off) on Amazon
📅 April 09, 2025 | View in Gmail
(Only for the next 5 days)
50% OFF for 5 DAYS ONLY!
What is "Suddenly Talented"?
Imagine you knew a person who could draw, dance, write, speak well, cook, and do cartoons (ok, you know who I’m talking about, don’t you?) Well, most people run into me and say, “You’re so talented”.
But what if talent were something attainable and relatively quick? That’s the premise of the book titled “Suddenly Talented.” The book is not a recipe for instant talent, but it does take you on an intriguing journey into how certain people seem to surmount learning obstacles and consistently develop expertise in diverse fields.
After 15 years of pondering and more pondering, the book is finally available. And as a special promotion, it’s priced at just $2 over the cost of printing (yes, a physical book).
For the next seven days only, the price of Suddenly Talented will be at
US $9.99.
And this is the only time that you will be able to buy the paperback version at this price. It will not be offered again.
This means you can get yourself a copy, but if you so choose, you can get copies for friends, family and clients too.
Here’s the link: This single URL will auto‑detect your country’s Amazon store.
https://mybook.to/suddenly-talent
(If it doesn’t work, please do let me know. Also, look below for direct links).
Warm regards Sean
Direct Amazon links by country
(For Suddenly Talented Paperback at only US $9.99)
US:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1738625206
Canada:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1738625206
UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1738625206
Germany:
https://www.amazon.de/dp/1738625206
France:
https://www.amazon.fr/dp/1738625206
Italy:
https://www.amazon.it/dp/1738625206
Spain:
https://www.amazon.es/dp/1738625206
Netherlands:
https://www.amazon.nl/dp/1738625206
Australia and New Zealand:
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/1738625206
Japan:
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/1738625206
Brazil:
https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/1738625206
Mexico:
https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/1738625206
The Sale ends in 5 days—don’t miss out! Grab your copy now. If your country is not listed, there’s probably a good chance that the print on demand is a bit delayed in that zone. Try the link at the top, anyway.
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0rJws7JwMrBw=
Announcing: How To Speed Up Article Writing (The Easy Way)
📅 April 08, 2025 | View in Gmail
Find out why—An article is not an article is not an article
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/learn-how-to-speed-up-article-writing-with-simple-outlines/
Imagine you’re looking for both an improvement in the quality of your articles—and the quantity.
What would you do? You’d sit down to write, wouldn’t you?
And that is not what most professionals do. Professional writers are like great chefs. Chefs do the prep work long before they cook. And so it is with writers. If you want to ramp up your start-to-finish time significantly, this book will show you what you need to do.
It’s short; it’s sweet And it teaches you a massively practical skill in a compressed amount of time. It’s a bit like the missing link nobody tells you about. And it enables you to write workable outlines that are clear and also will allow you to write content for articles or posts on your blog. • In short, you get a precise structure. • No more slow, tedious writing.
An article is not an article is not an article Understanding how to speed up your article writing is important. There are several core elements to writing. Come with me on a journey. I think you’ll like it a lot. It’s the starting point to an incredible journey.
Have a look and judge for yourself: How To Speed Up Article Writing (The Easy Way)
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/learn-how-to-speed-up-article-writing-with-simple-outlines/
Warm regards Sean P.S. This is what Felicia Gopaul from California has to say:
Image
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/learn-how-to-speed-up-article-writing-with-simple-outlines/
"I couldn't stand the thought of outlining when I first heard it."
"I'd been writing just fine for years without an outline. I had spoken without an outline. I had developed presentations without an outline. What could Sean possibly tell me that I didn't already know about outlining.
Earlier this week, when I was struggling with yet another presentation, I reread the book and realized that I needed to re-outline the presentation. Doing so, I recognized that some "bloat" had crept into my presentation and I was able to cut it and finish the presentation.
I've become an outlining fiend.
By outlining first, I know where I am going with my projects which means that I am able to finish them much more quickly than before.
I find, I have far fewer projects that don't get completed because with outlining, I know where the projects start and end so it's much easier to connect the dots. And finally, I have greater confidence that my project will get the positive response I want when I outline them first.
Other benefits:
I was able to outline a book I've been wanting to write in half an hour. I was also able to put together a 10 week course and the various sub-topics in about an hour. Both projects were ideas that I've been thinking about for several years.
Even better, I was able to start and complete significant parts of both projects already. And even though I can't work on these projects everyday, with the outline I can easily pick up to where I left off."
Felicia Gopaul
California, USA
Judge for yourself: How To Speed Up Article Writing (The Easy Way)
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/learn-how-to-speed-up-article-writing-with-simple-outlines/
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0rJxMrMxsbEw=
Announcing: How To Make Your Product Or Service Stand Out (Among All The Noise)
📅 April 05, 2025 | View in Gmail
Here are the ‘Biggest Mistakes’ and how to avoid them.
Uniqueness Goodies
https://www.psychotactics.com/home-study/uniqueness-form/
Have you ever wondered what would it be like to stand out from the competition in a way that customers choose you over everyone else?
That's what uniqueness can do to your product or service.
• How do you do that?
• How do you create a uniqueness that's so dramatic and powerful, that clients pick you in a flash?
Presenting: Uniqueness Goodies (Yup, FREE Goodies!)
Everyone tells you that uniqueness is important, but no one tells you how to work through the uniqueness minefield.
Until now, that is
You will get access to articles, audio and video.
Here is the sequence of what to expect in the coming weeks:
Goodie 1: Why we get our uniqueness wrong
Goodie 2: How to get to your uniqueness
Goodie 3: The importance of the mundane and the uninteresting
Goodie 4: Biggest mistakes and how to avoid them
Goodie 5: The difference between uniqueness and the other red bags
Goodie 6: Do you need to carve out a uniqueness for 'every' product or service?
Here is the link to get the goodies:
Uniqueness Free Goodies
https://www.psychotactics.com/home-study/uniqueness-form/
Image Sean
https://www.psychotactics.com/home-study/uniqueness-form/
Warm regards Sean D’Souza
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0rJxMrMxsbEw=
The Charlie Brown Moment: Why We Choke Under Pressure (And How To Practice Under Lucy Moment)
📅 April 01, 2025 | View in Gmail
We understand the need to prepare ourselves for the unexpected, but it isn’t very practical, is it?
Psychotactics
https://www.psychotactics.com/
The Charlie Brown Moment: Why We Choke Under Pressure (And How To Practice Under Lucy Moment)
Load the images to see the cartoon. It works!
https://www.psychotactics.com/charlie-brown-moment/
(This email contains the complete article. However, you can also read or listen to it at these links: Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/charlie-brown-moment/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/40zhOR5sn4MGBj52MHqj7B?si=yQqW4mM3Q3mP0szgDQRDqg | ). When I was in my teens, one of my favourite video games was Snoopy Tennis.
The console was no bigger than a phone, and the game itself comprised of two characters hitting the ball and Snoopy hitting back. The first character to hit the ball was Charlie Brown, and his serve was a slow, manageable lob. The second was Lucy, who hit the ball from the top of the treehouse at high speed.
There was just one tiny wrinkle.
The console I held in my hand was severely cracked in the middle. Hence, you couldn’t see where the ball was on the screen for at least a few seconds. By some coincidence, when Lucy hit the ball at astonishing speed, the ball would hit that cracked zone, and Snoopy would have to swing blindly.
Except for the fact that the experience was not blind at all. Deprived of those visual cues, I (and Snoopy) found out that we could be under pressure and still listen to the sound of the ball. Beep, beep, beep, swing—and you’d get yet another point. However, what was not lost on me was that the entire game wasn’t pressure-based.
Instead, they were split up into Charlie Brown moments and Lucy moments. We tend to choke because we train under Charlie Brown moments.
If you notice a student studying for a maths exam, she’s likely to be working in calm conditions.
She’s likely to have shooed everyone out of the room and got the privilege of a peaceful, almost trance-like study situation. An examination hall can ensure that the quiet is maintained, allowing the student to do as well as she expects.
She hasn’t counted on some blaring music outside the exam hall. Or perhaps, the clicking sound that the student in front seems to be making with her pens.
A tiny distraction is enough to tip the student from the Charlie Brown mode to a Lucy mode. Despite her skill and preparedness, a new factor comes into play and throws her off balance.
We understand the need to prepare ourselves for the unexpected, but it isn’t very practical, is it?
In most cases, there aren’t hundreds of situations where things can go wrong. If you were a pilot on a modern jetliner, there are seemingly an endless array of things that can get your plane in trouble.
Yet as a pilot told me, “I could be halfway across the Pacific and still be able to get back to land”. He (and other pilots I spoke to) suggested that there are likely to be instantaneous and unrecoverable situations. However, most pressure points are relatively well documented.
It’s interesting to note that a pressure moment is not usually more stressful than a non-pressure moment.
Hence, if you were assigned to give a presentation, you’d have a series of pressure moments. If we were to plot the elements of a presentation, you’d likely run into bottlenecks.
Some of the issues at hand would be: picking suitable graphics, the sequence of presentation, the design of your slide set, the timing of the presentation, etc.
Once the slide deck was in place, you’d have to work on the first five minutes and definitely the pacing of the last five minutes. You’d need to know what you’d do if half the audience got up and left—or you got heckled.
If all of these elements sound like a lot an intimidating list, we’ve likely all been operating under Charlie Brown moments and not enough of Lucy. What’s important to note is that Lucy didn’t just show up once in the video game.
She showed up repeatedly. This means you often have to be prepared on many fronts. Usually, this is not the case, as I found out during one of my speaking engagements.
In May 2015, I spoke at the Opera House in Denver, Colorado.
Earlier that week, I’d completed a series of workshops on the East Coast and West Coast of the US. Somewhere along the way, I got a nasty cold, which led to me losing my voice. That was the first Lucy moment.
While I was very confident in making my presentation, even in front of bright lights and an audience of over 200 people, I still needed to ensure I didn’t have any more surprises.
I showed my presentation to the technical team, and they suggested I make some changes to my video setup. Still unable to speak very much, I spent another 20 minutes—as I always do—walking around on the empty stage to familiarise myself with the surroundings.
I imagine the audience and the lights, which gets me in a frame of mind to deal with the nerves that hit you when you’re in a strange environment.
In short, I’d dealt with all the possible Lucy moments I could think of.
However, on the day of the presentation, I got hit with a curtain of air conditioning as I walked on stage. It instantly clogged my already clogged respiratory system causing me to sniff uncontrollably.
It was impossible to focus on the presentation when I was sniffing and snorting in front of a few hundred people. At this point, someone from the audience threw a pack of Kleenex tissues onto the stage.
I picked it up, opened it and blew my nose to the amusement of everyone. Freed of the congestion, I could go on with the presentation without too much of a hiccup.
We choke under pressure because we aren’t preparing ourselves for when things go wrong. If just one thing goes off course, it’s enough to derail our momentum. However, having a series of Lucy moments means you may feel you simply can’t recover.
And there are practical ways to go about putting Lucy Moments in place. Here’s how we do it with our courses, for example.
The part where most writers get derailed is the back and forth movement. They write, erase, edit, and then painfully jerk their way forward. Almost every writer assumes (wrongly) that their work isn’t so good.
Which causes them to edit endlessly. This constant editing causes them to slow down to a crawl. In effect, they’re experiencing a string of Lucy moments.
The way around this problem is to give them a fixed time for the assignment.
At first, the learner can’t comprehend how they’d be able to complete an article to their satisfaction in such a short amount of time. They feel they need more space to write and edit.
Yet, this “write-edit” is precisely the problem they’d be likely to face at the end of the course. If they don’t learn to write within a fixed amount of time, they’ll finish the course and take hours, if not days, to complete their work. As a result, they’ll choke and give up writing, believing they’re not good enough.
However, when we identify the problems and get them to overcome those issues, they not only write within the time frame but show incredible improvement in their structure and skill.
Learning to lob in Lucy moments is what we need for almost any skill Usually, once you’re good at something, there are three broad areas where things can go wrong.
1- A shift in the deadline 2- A lack of some elements 3- A distraction
As a professional, the Lucy moments are far fewer
A chef, deprived of some ingredients, utensils and working in an unfamiliar kitchen, will still turn out a great meal and on deadline. A footballer whose ankles have been hammered by an unsporting opposition will still work their way forward to scoring goals.
And let’s not forget fire crews or pilots that will work their way forward. They’ve prepared rigorously for those precise Lucy moments of the deadline, lack of elements, and distraction when faced with inclement situations.
There are Charlie Brown moments in life. Times when things don’t necessarily stretch your capacity. Where you can amble along entirely within your capabilities. And there are Lucy moments where choking is almost inevitable. Unless, of course, you practice under Lucy moments.
Then choking needs just a bit of Kleenex, and you’re on your way.
Please do share this series with first person you think of :)
Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://www.psychotactics.com/charlie-brown-moment/
Twitter
http://twitter.com/share?url=https://www.psychotactics.com/charlie-brown-moment/
LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?url=https://www.psychotactics.com/charlie-brown-moment/
What's Coming Up Next!
Image
https://www.psychotactics.com/home-study/positioning-strategy-how-to-get-to-uniqueness/
25 April: Finding Your Uniqueness SelfStudy Course Selling a product or service tends to be an uphill task. So can a simple set of words get the client to avoid the competition and pick you? Free Goodies
https://www.psychotactics.com/home-study/uniqueness-form/ | Sales Page and how to get on the waiting list
https://www.psychotactics.com/home-study/positioning-strategy-how-to-get-to-uniqueness/ |
http://www.psychotactics.com/products/websites-that-workinternet-marketing-psychological-secrets/
Top-Selling Product Under $50
Critical Website Components How do you create compelling pages on your website? What’s really missing? And is there a simple way to fix it—while retaining your own voice, your own personality?
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/websites-that-workinternet-marketing-psychological-secrets/
Most Popular Podcast
Why Staying Small Is Probably A Smarter Move iTunes
http://www.psychotactics.com/power-enough-critical-sanity/ | Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5TGranDiQBkS3ygKxTr3v7 |
The Crazy Philosophy Of Psychotactics (And Why It May Help You In Your Business) Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/philosophy-of-psychotactics/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6lATN0aX6maTdQYhGrEqjF |
Resource we use and recommend
For all your design, development and maintenance of websites we use Audrey at StressLessWeb
https://www.stresslessweb.com/
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March 2025
Last Day for Special Offer—Dartboard Pricing + Bonus! 5 Steps To Starting Up A New Project Successfully’
📅 March 29, 2025 | View in Gmail
Learn The Psychology of Pricing (What Causes Us To Buy)
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/trust-the-chef/
When you buy Dartboard Pricing-How To Increase Prices Without Losing Customers from 25 -29 March 2025, you'll also get—'5-Steps To Starting Up A New Project Successfully' (worth $49) absolutely free with the premium option.
Dartboard?
As in darts and a dartboard?
Yes, exactly!
If you go to a bookstore and buy a dozen books on pricing, you will find pricing is some incredibly sophisticated system. You'll run into fancy and complicated pricing models that rapidly put you to sleep.
So is pricing simple?
Sure it is. You don't need a book to figure out pricing.
A simple dart board and some prices on the board would solve your problem in a matter of minutes.
The price itself is of little consequence
What matters is all the stuff around the price.
And in this three-part pricing series, you'll understand:
• The Psychology of Pricing (What Causes Us To Buy)
• The Method of Raising Prices (And The Mistakes To Avoid) • Creating and Managing Price Expectations
No boring pricing models
No ugh complication.
Just a simple, step-by-step system that walks you through exactly what you have to do.
And the Special Bonus: 5-Steps To Starting Up A New Project Successfully (with the premium option)
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/trust-the-chef/
In this 24 page booklet you will learn
• Five steps that are required to start up any new project successfully. • Why you shouldn’t get scared of your competition. • Why brand analysis comes before everything else. • Why personality is critical in your business. • What is the most important thing when starting up a project?
Judge for yourself at:
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/trust-the-chef/
(This special offer ends 29 March 2025—US Eastern at 12 midnight)
Regards Sean P.S. This is what Colette Nichol has to say about Dartboard Pricing:
All about DartBoard Pricing
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/trust-the-chef/
"The feature I most enjoyed about Dartboard Pricing was the table that shows you exactly how to price things so that they sell. It's kind of genius."
“I have a very high success rate when it comes to sales but I’m interested in increasing my prices over the next two years, rather substantially.
I purchased Dartboard Pricing as I was certain that it would provide useful info about how to actually go about doing that without experiencing excessive customer friction.
Dartboard Pricing confirmed some practices that I was already using – showing me why it was working and how to make it work even better. It also gave me an easy to use framework for selling any course or product that I create. I feel confident now that when I create my first online course I will be able to price it in a way that communicates the value of what my clients will be receiving.
Most small biz owners I know have all sorts of issues with pricing – this should take away some of those issues if not all of them.
There’s basically no good reason not to buy Dartboard Pricing. It’s hands down the best $50 I’ve spent this year.”
Colette Nichol Vancouver, Canada
Judge for yourself at:
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/trust-the-chef/
(This special offer ends 29 March 2025—US Eastern at 12 midnight)
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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Announcing: Dartboard Pricing—How To Increase Prices without Losing Customers + Special Bonus Valued At $49
📅 March 25, 2025 | View in Gmail
A Step-By-Step System that shows you exactly what you have to do immediately
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/trust-the-chef/
When you buy Dartboard Pricing-How To Increase Prices Without Losing Customers from 25 - 29 March 2025, you'll also get—'5-Steps To Starting Up A New Project Successfully' (worth $49) absolutely free with the premium option.
Dartboard?
As in darts and a dartboard? Yes, exactly!
If you go to a bookstore and buy a dozen books on pricing, you will find pricing is some incredibly sophisticated system. You’ll run into fancy and complicated pricing models that rapidly put you to sleep.
So is pricing simple? Sure it is. You don’t need a book to figure out pricing.
A simple dart board and some prices on the board would solve your problem in a matter of minutes.
The price itself is of little consequence What matters is all the stuff around the price.
And in this three-part pricing series, you’ll understand • The Psychology of Pricing (What Causes Us To Buy) • The Method of Raising Prices (And The Mistakes To Avoid) • Creating and Managing Price Expectations
No boring pricing models No ugh complication. Just a simple, step-by-step system that walks you through exactly what you have to do.
And the Special Bonus: 5-Steps To Starting Up A New Project Successfully This booklet is tiny—only 24 pages. However, it very systematically takes you through the five steps that are required to start up any new project successfully.
• Why you shouldn't get scared of your competition.
• Why brand analysis comes before everything else.
• Why personality is critical in your business.
• What is the most important thing when starting up a project?
Here’s the page. Judge for yourself.
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/trust-the-chef/
Regards Sean P.S. This series does gives you the overview of how to go about pricing, and then gets to the brass tacks. You can literally copy the model (and you should) and have it up on your website, in your presentation or brochures.
Have a look and make a decision based on what you read.
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/trust-the-chef/
(This special offer is only valid until 29 March 2025—Eastern US midnight)
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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7 Articles On How To Create A Profitable Product That Sells
📅 March 18, 2025 | View in Gmail
There’s a way to make your book really stand out. And guess what? It’s not the title that matters.
Psychotactics
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=Iwt5P9JVl7Ett1&b=kB1kK3SE2yY.6bZYIog6Sw
How To Create A Profitable Product That Sells
Fun cartoon here
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=Iwt5P9JVl7Ett1&b=kB1kK3SE2yY.6bZYIog6Sw
How do you create information products that sell?
We all want to create profitable products but aren’t sure where to start. We know that there are already tens of thousands of similar products or services in the market.
So how do we make our information product stand out?
Here are 7 articles on Info Products. You will learn about:
• Double Your Sales With Versions and Satellite Products
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=Iwt5P9JVl7Ett1&b=LklXDQdm3k3RzICcAuVMFQ
• Creating Information Products: When to Leave The Clients Out
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=Iwt5P9JVl7Ett1&b=QMivr3SRyRhPtoqfyFoAVQ
• Outlining Your Book: The Three Crucial Steps
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=Iwt5P9JVl7Ett1&b=6hhRXMtD9dJvNnZ86HF23A
• How To Get Stunning Names For Your Information Products and Courses
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=Iwt5P9JVl7Ett1&b=uFOfBQGFMgu.XCuJKOyybg
• How To Create A Profitable Product (Three Core Questions)
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=Iwt5P9JVl7Ett1&b=UJKyZwaL26g9P3utAmfu2g
• How To Create Product Exclusivity: The Twin-Irresistibility Factor
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=Iwt5P9JVl7Ett1&b=nwqf_fiXQnJHBhpC7qu77w
• Two Psychological Techniques To Creating An Irresistible Product/Service
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=Iwt5P9JVl7Ett1&b=T6qOi6sMRUh3kCddL86QLQ
Next Step: Click here to read or listen to the entire series on information products.
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=Iwt5P9JVl7Ett1&b=kB1kK3SE2yY.6bZYIog6Sw
Sean
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=Iwt5P9JVl7Ett1&b=kB1kK3SE2yY.6bZYIog6Sw
P.S. There’s a way to make your book really stand out. And guess what? It’s not the title that matters. Find out why we’ve been tackling things the wrong way and how to get a superb name for your book or information product/course before the day is done. Have a look at—‘How To Get Stunning Names For Your Information Products and Courses’.
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=Iwt5P9JVl7Ett1&b=uFOfBQGFMgu.XCuJKOyybg
P.P.S Coming in 2 weeks! How do you create information products that instantly separate you from the competition? And how do you create it without draining your energy? Introducing: A Step-By-Step Method to Create Info-Products that Clients Find Irresistible
Free Goodies
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=Iwt5P9JVl7Ett1&b=fnqSGkLZ5q1W_flLTVn8Lg | How to get on the waiting list
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=Iwt5P9JVl7Ett1&b=HjdRByWmuzXk9yNoJnMPdA |
Please do share this series with first person you think of :)
Facebook
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=Iwt5P9JVl7Ett1&b=dhrac08JZ6LZLjnUFk5fhQ
Twitter
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=Iwt5P9JVl7Ett1&b=ijGiaqu0hrRiG8i_nngb7Q
LinkedIn
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=Iwt5P9JVl7Ett1&b=iw9cHG_RII4hBIA0MJb_Jw
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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How Article Writing changed my life forever
📅 March 15, 2025 | View in Gmail
(Last 2 seats)
If you ask anybody in my school what I was good at, it was always about drawing.
Even my drawing teacher called me “Picasso”. However, writing was always a struggle. It was always something that took an enormous amount of time. I’d write, delete, write, delete and get nowhere in a hurry.
And yet, I knew that unless I learned to write consistently well, it would be almost impossible to communicate my ideas.
There was no point in spending days writing something only to trash it all.
Being able to draw was amazing because very few people are good at drawing. However, being able to write was extra special.
It started with articles, but then I was able to take that ability to write the book The Brain Audit. The articles plus the book enabled us to get the clients that we want, and more importantly the life that we want.
If you feel frustrated with your attempts at writing, then that’s normal.
But having to slug through it for years, like I did, is not normal. And that’s what the Article Writing course is all about. In barely 12 weeks, you learn exactly what you need to do under very careful guidance.
The course isn’t about more information.
Instead, it’s about results. You can get all the information you want through thousands of articles online. But it isn’t likely to give you the confidence to be a writer.
If you’re keen to make a change that will dramatically alter the direction of your life, this is as good a chance as any. It’s a difficult course, but if you’re a person who enjoys the challenge, then this is for you.
Judge for yourself: (We have 2 seats left). Article Writing Live Course: How to get on the waiting list.
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=KQnf2&m=JgfDrqwah7Ett1&b=gtQRm.QjBuKlQkKKVB2Xqg
Warm regards Sean. P.S. I will not be conducting a live course in 2026, 2027 or 2028.
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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Last 2 seats: Online Article Writing Course With Sean D’Souza
📅 March 11, 2025 | View in Gmail
Something magical will happen. Find out how you become the expert.
Announcing! Last 2 Seats: Live Online Article Writing Course 2025 (With Sean D’Souza)
Fun cartoon here
https://www.psychotactics.com/workshops/article-writing-course-how-to-write-articles/
Imagine you had a fairy godmother.
And she gave you one wish: The wish of ‘perceived expertise’. This ‘perceived expertise’, means that your customers would look at you and say: “There goes the expert in the field. I only want to work with her/him.”
I had such a godmother. And I got a wish from that fairy godmother in the year 2002.
You see I’d just started up my consultancy in marketing I’d moved from India to New Zealand. No one knew me in these parts. No one knew if I was good at what I did. Or just plain useless. And what was worse, was I wasn’t quite sure either.
Then one day, that fairy godmother whizzed into the room “Write articles,” she said. “Write articles?” I echoed. “What good are articles going to do for me?” I thought condescendingly.
But as fairy godmothers go, they can read your thoughts And so there I was, um, writing articles. And remember, I didn’t even know my subject well enough. To me, marketing was a whole new world.
But then something magical happened. Something I just didn’t expect. When I sat down to write, I started to get ideas. Ideas that I didn’t know existed in my head. And as I read more books (both business and non-business books), I got even more ideas.
When I put those ideas on my website, and put up a little ‘Subscribe’ link right at the very bottom—I started getting subscribers.
I wasn’t even selling anything online (or offline for that matter) And there I was..ahem…building an audience. An audience that wanted to listen what I had to say. An audience that went from just friends and family, to a chunky hundred people. Then a thousand. And it kept growing.
I wasn’t doing any advertising No publicity. Heck, I barely knew how to do my own marketing. Yet these articles were like a magnet.
They pulled people from every part of the world to my…um…pretty crappy website (you should have seen it in the year 2002). And offline, I was starting to get inquiries too.
“Can you give us some advice on these marketing matters?” they said “Can you train our staff?” they said. Can you do this, and can you do that. And on and on it went.
But articles were hard work for me It would take me two days to write a single article. And I’d curse and struggle. And to write one article a month was a big achievement for me.
But hey, I did have a fairy godmother And fairy godmothers grant wishes, so I took her up on the wish. “Make me write great articles that captivate. And show me how to write them at high speed (so I don’t have to spend two days over a single article)” I said to her.
“Article writing is about structure”, she said “Structure and drama,” she continued. “Structure and drama and the ‘next step’,” she crescendoed. “Drama pulls you in. Structure keeps you there. And then the next action gets your client to move to the next step.”
And just like that I learned how to write articles. And now it’s your turn.
Will you let me be your fairy um…godmother? • Do you want to learn how to spot drama? • Learn how to spot structure? • And understand how to use the power of the next step?
But how do you benchmark a course? Here is the sales page with all the details about the course and how to get on the waiting list.
https://www.psychotactics.com/article-writing-course-how-to-write-articles/
See you on the other side! :)
Warm regards Sean P.S. There are only 2 seats left! Click here for details
https://www.psychotactics.com/article-writing-course-how-to-write-articles/ .
P.P.S. Let the detailed experiences of the alumni tell you the story. Have a look at the prospectus and judge for yourself.
https://psychotactics.com/Free/awcbonus/Prospectus_Article_Writing.pdf
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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Announcing! How To Speed Up your Sales with Client Attractors
📅 March 08, 2025 | View in Gmail
How to quickly implement just 20% to improve your conversion.
Client Attractors Book
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/client-attractors/
You already know that 80% of a sales letter depends on your headline
And therefore it's not uncommon to see writers spend many hours testing and re-testing their headline.
But what happens once your customer goes past the headline into the rest of the copy?
Which are the elements that cause customers to feel an urge to buy your product or service?
The remaining 20% is what causes customers to buy...
• In order to take customers to the next stage, you have to have a rock-solid system to help structure your sales page.
• You have to know and understand the elements so that customers respond to your offer.
So isn't it time to find out what the remaining 20% is all about?
And how you can quickly learn and implement that 20% to improve results.
Find out more details at this page and judge for yourself!
https://psychotactics.com/products/client-attractors
Warm regards,
Sean
P.S. The bonus on this product is really worth having. It will really give you an insight into sales pages like never before.
Check out the bonus :)
https://psychotactics.com/products/client-attractors
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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Announcing: Why some Books Stand Out (While Others Fail Miserably)
📅 March 04, 2025 | View in Gmail
Find out the System to Creating Non-Confusing InfoProducts.
https://www.psychotactics.com/general/information-products-live-workshop-form/
Why would anyone want to write a book?
Book writing is a pain from start to finish. You have to think about the outline, collate the information and then somehow make it all seem very informative and entertaining. The last thing anyone would want to do is to write a book.
And yet, we know the power of the book because we read books
We know what happens when we read a book that changes the way we think or do something. We seek out that author, we buy more books. If they have courses or training, we want to join in. And we too want to be like that author. We too want people to earn our living doing the stuff we enjoy.
It's just this writing process that's a real pain
I know this to be true because I was pretty much a nobody in a nowhere land. When I moved to New Zealand from India, I didn't know anyone here. I was also not known for marketing, and if I had any references or testimonials, it was solely for cartooning. If it seemed like the odds were stacked against us, well, they were.
I didn't realise it back then but The Brain Audit became a doorway
It started out as a tiny booklet (padded with a lot of cartoons). It was through this booklet that people came to our even tinier workshops. This book was key to us starting up 5000bc (our membership site). The book got us a few speaking engagements, then connections to the world outside.
But aren't there already millions of books on the same topic?
Yes there are, and there were—even back when we started. There have always been more books than you could read. Even in the noisiest marketplace, there will always be books that will stand out because they're easier to read and remember.
And how does a book become easy to read and remember? You do it with:
• Structure
• Stories • Summaries
You might not realise, for instance, that summaries rock.
That summaries show up not just at the end of a book, but in a ton of different places. You may think of stories as just a story, but in fact stories, analogies, examples and case-studies are what makes one book great and the other just ho-hum.
And structure.
Without structure it's easy to get hopelessly lost.
You can spend months going around in circles trying to figure out which part to keep, which part to drop.
And this is why amazing books are hard to find
Outstanding books are hard to write because we've never been taught that writing is less about the word, and more about the structure. It's less about the decoration of the cake, and instead the way the cake needs to be structured so it doesn't topple over.
• Learn how to structure.
• Learn how to craft stories in a compelling way. • Learn the immense power of summaries.
Did you collect your free goodies? Did you read the piece on the "One Concept"?
That's your starting point to creating a far more effective info-products.
Goodie 1: How To Make The Information You Sell More Valuable
Goodie 2: Three Ways To Write A Stunning Report Overnight
Goodie 3: Product Sequencing: How to guide a customer along a clear purchasing path
Click here to get your goodies:
(You will be asked to opt-in)
Free Information Products Goodies
https://www.psychotactics.com/general/information-products-live-workshop-form/
Information Products Free Goodies
https://www.psychotactics.com/general/information-products-live-workshop-form/
Image
https://www.psychotactics.com/general/information-products-live-workshop-form/
Warm regards
Sean
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0rJxMTJwsTOw=
Announcing: How To get $75 Worth of Info-Products Goodies (Absolutely Free!)
📅 March 01, 2025 | View in Gmail
Find out what causes you to struggle when putting your information together.
https://www.psychotactics.com/general/information-products-live-workshop-form/
I don't know if you've read a watercolour instruction book before.
But no matter which book you read, the instructor will tell you one thing: You need to understand ‘values’. Without ‘values’ in your painting, you will never create a watercolour that is dramatic.
And then you open the book, and guess what? One page. One measly page.
One measly page among about 150 pages of the book has been devoted to ‘values’.
What just happened?
The instructor told you what was important, and then failed to drive home that importance in greater detail.
Why?
Because there’s so much to teach that they feel a need to rush from one thing to the next; one concept to the next.
And it’s approximately what we tend to do when creating an info-product.
We are in such a hurry to create this massive info-product, that we fail to understand the importance of “One Concept”. Without a single concept, an info-product can ramble mindlessly. This causes you to struggle when putting the information together, but it also causes reader fatigue.
Read this piece on the “One Concept” as well as five other pieces.
That’s your starting point to creating a far more effective info-product.
You will also learn about: • Why A Crappy Name Will Bury Your Book or InfoProduct • How Your Product Can Create A Niche In Your Marketplace • How To Create Non-Confusing InfoProducts—The Stop-Go System • Why A Unifying Theme For A Product Helps Sell Your Product A Lot Quicker • Why Cannibalising Your InfoProducts Is A Sound Business Strategy
Click here to get this goodie. (You will be asked to opt-in)
Information Products Free Goodies
https://www.psychotactics.com/general/information-products-live-workshop-form/
https://www.psychotactics.com/general/information-products-live-workshop-form/
Warm regards Sean P.S. Also look out for two more free goodies in the coming weeks. Goodie 2: Three Ways To Write A Stunning Report Overnight Goodie 3: Product Sequencing: How to guide a customer along a clear purchasing path.
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0rJxMTJwsjJw=
February 2025
Announcing: How To Put That Zing Back in Your Articles (And Get the Attention of your Reader)
📅 February 25, 2025 | View in Gmail
The Three-part series on Storytelling: Find out why storytelling has been playing hide and seek with us for so long?
Story Telling Cartoon Image
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Storytelling seems to be the rage these days.
And yet, it's not new at all. It's been around for thousands of years.
What's more, it's not even alien to us.
Even as a three-year old, you can tell when a story is really cool and when it's just plain boring.
The problem arises when we have to take this storytelling skills to our articles.
The moment we have to write an article, we freeze up. The article gets riddled with facts and figures. Or sequences. Or whatever. But we know instinctively that the power of the story is missing.
But it's not just the story that's important.
It's a story well-told.
A well-told story is like a well-told joke. It has zing. And kapow!
So what are the elements of a well-told story? Why have they been playing hide and seek with us for so long?
Find out right here in this three-part series on Storytelling!
You'll love it. It's full of cartoons, precise advice--and yes, the zing! That's what you'll learn: how to create the zing.
Book 1: The Power of Stories—How to Turn Average Stories into Cliff-Hangers
Book 2: Signature Stories—How to Create Clear and Memorable Business Stories
Book 3: The Power of Drama—How To Create Counterflow (Without Making Your Reader Sick)
So have a look right away.
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Regards,
Sean
P.S. With the premium version you get—'The Power of Drama'.
It talks about how to create counterflow in your articles without making your readers sick, the myth of boring writing and the four ways to create drama.
Have a look here:
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Debbie Newhouse Testimonial
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Here is what Debbie Newhouse has to say:
"Before I bought the book I thought there would be too many ideas I'd heard before."
I've been a heavy follower of Chip & Dan Heath, authors of "Made to Stick", and their philosophies on storytelling that "sticks". I found that there was a lot to learn beyond what I'd absorbed from "Made to Stick" and its formulas.
The feature I liked best
The realization that the best stories are about something you are 80% familiar with, you can anticipate, and then WHAM – the new 20% hits you.
Three other benefits
The examples of stories that "worked" and "didn't work". Understanding how much detail is just enough, and what is too much. Sean's classic straightforward, easy to absorb step-by-step approach which doesn't leave you behind.
I would recommend this product to anyone who has to persuade others, explain something, or teach.
I use the concepts mainly to teach, and especially to engage my audience and get them to realize why they should care about a topic.
Debbie Newhouse, California, USA
Judge for yourself: StoryTelling Mini Series
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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Announcing: How To Put That Zing Back In Your Articles (And Catch the Attention of The Reader)
📅 February 22, 2025 | View in Gmail
What Would Make one Article Better Than The Other?The answer lies not just in stories.
There is a StoryTelling Cartoon
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Storytelling seems to be the rage these days.
And yet, it's not new at all. It's been around for thousands of years.
What's more, it's not even alien to us.
Even as a three-year old, you can tell when a story is really cool and when it's just plain boring.
The problem arises when we have to take this storytelling skills to our articles.
The moment we have to write an article, we freeze up. The article gets riddled with facts and figures. Or sequences. Or whatever. But we know instinctively that the power of the story is missing.
But it's not just the story that's important.
It's a story well-told.
A well-told story is like a well-told joke. It has zing. And kapow!
So what are the elements of a well-told story? Why have they been playing hide and seek with us for so long?
Find out right here in this three-part series on Storytelling!
You'll love it. It's full of cartoons, precise advice--and yes, the zing! That's what you'll learn: how to create the zing.
Book 1: The Power of Stories—How to Turn Average Stories into Cliff-Hangers
Book 2: Signature Stories—How to Create Clear and Memorable Business Stories
Book 3: The Power of Drama—How To Create Counterflow (Without Making Your Reader Sick)
Have a look right away.
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Regards,
Sean
About Story Telling
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Here is what Debbie Newhouse has to say:
"Before I bought the book I thought there would be too many ideas I'd heard before."
I've been a heavy follower of Chip & Dan Heath, authors of "Made to Stick", and their philosophies on storytelling that "sticks". I found that there was a lot to learn beyond what I'd absorbed from "Made to Stick" and its formulas.
The feature I liked best
The realization that the best stories are about something you are 80% familiar with, you can anticipate, and then WHAM – the new 20% hits you.
Three other benefits
The examples of stories that "worked" and "didn't work". Understanding how much detail is just enough, and what is too much. Sean's classic straightforward, easy to absorb step-by-step approach which doesn't leave you behind.
I would recommend this product to anyone who has to persuade others, explain something, or teach.
I use the concepts mainly to teach, and especially to engage my audience and get them to realize why they should care about a topic.
Debbie Newhouse, California, USA
Judge for yourself: StoryTelling Mini Series
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Here is what a few more people have to say
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
I found that this Storytelling Mini Series helped me to think about storytelling in completely new ways.
The thing I liked the most about it was that it teaches the tools and mechanics of storytelling and how to make stories compelling and interesting.
Christopher Cook, USA
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
I learned to use connectors and disconnectors effectively. This has given my articles a much needed method to keep my reader reading.
Since I started using this technique for certain pages of my site, the average time spent reading on my site has increased.
Honor Dragan, Guildford, UK
Judge for yourself: StoryTelling Mini Series
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Sean is not selling magic. His is selling a method, a way of thinking, a way of speaking.
And just like everything you still need practice. You will not become proficient overnight. But instead of being in a labyrinth with an infinite number of paths to choose from, Sean will narrow it to finite number of choices, which is in the end the role of a good guide.
Harrisson, Japan
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
As a result of buying the product— My writing is tighter, especially in the e-newsletter, and I can craft a story that suits my audience.
If you don't have the time to commit to a full time course you can get as much marketing value from this product with a few days reading.
Pam Bestwick, Wellington, New Zealand
Judge for yourself: StoryTelling Mini Series
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
I wasn't sure that I could learn anything impactful from the Story Telling series because I write stories on a daily basis.
It's a ton of value for a fair price. I would recommend this book to anyone who write short stories for business because it's helped me build trust with my audience and clients.
Steve Jolly, USA
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
What I like best about the Storytelling Mini Series is its extreme usability.
I just read the Series and am immediately able to use it. It just kind of slips into my writing. It's an easy read. I also like the bad examples on how not to try and "pimp up" your writing.
Elfriede Krauth, Netherlands
Judge for yourself: StoryTelling Mini Series
https://www.psychotactics.com/products/story-telling/
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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Why Sequences Are Crucial For Your Business And How To Go About Implementing It?
📅 February 22, 2025 | View in Gmail
How tomake your business like an airport (and make sure the client never gets lost).
Why Sequences Are Crucial For Your Business And How To Go About Implementing It?
https://www.psychotactics.com/business-sequences/
When you go for a meal, you follow a sequence.
When you are part of a wedding ceremony, there’s also a sequence. Sequences allow us to follow a thread, but it also gives the client a clear pathway.
In this article, we look at the power of sequences, how to implement one and why you may want to change your sequence as technology moves forward.
We will look at three points: • Why are sequences more important than we think? • How to implement a sequence correctly. • The reality of the changing sequence.
Ready to get started? Click on the links below. Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/business-sequences/ | Apple
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5PgPix970EwtHKLwmOHIAo?si=5da9375b7fc34bd7
Two fun podcasts
(Yes, there are transcripts and fun cartoon too)
https://www.psychotactics.com/get-off-internet/
1.Why You Need To Get Off The Internet – And Meet Real People Instead Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/avoid-jetlag/ | Apple
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-avoid-jet-lag/id946996410?i=1000681261565 | Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4xvmCLQyNOrk6XvY9YfRWl?si=nda2zkfhRn-bD4SztwjCQA
- How To Avoid Jet Lag Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/avoid-jetlag/ | Apple
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-avoid-jet-lag/id946996410?i=1000681261565 | Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4xvmCLQyNOrk6XvY9YfRWl?si=nda2zkfhRn-bD4SztwjCQA
https://www.psychotactics.com/business-sequences/
Warm regards Sean P.S. Thank you for being a subscriber. If you’ve enjoyed listening to or reading this podcast, please consider forwarding this email to a few friends. I would be grateful.
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Announcing: 21 February: 2025 Live Online Article Writing Course With Sean D’Souza (Bookings Opening)
📅 February 18, 2025 | View in Gmail
(There will be no online course in 2026 or 2027)
Announcing! Bookings Opening on 21 February: Live Online Article Writing Course 2025 (With Sean D’Souza)
Fun cartoon here
https://www.psychotactics.com/workshops/article-writing-course-how-to-write-articles/
Imagine you had a fairy godmother.
And she gave you one wish: The wish of ‘perceived expertise’. This ‘perceived expertise’, means that your customers would look at you and say: “There goes the expert in the field. I only want to work with her/him.”
I had such a godmother. And I got a wish from that fairy godmother in the year 2002.
You see I’d just started up my consultancy in marketing I’d moved from India to New Zealand. No one knew me in these parts. No one knew if I was good at what I did. Or just plain useless. And what was worse, was I wasn’t quite sure either.
Then one day, that fairy godmother whizzed into the room “Write articles,” she said. “Write articles?” I echoed. “What good are articles going to do for me?” I thought condescendingly.
But as fairy godmothers go, they can read your thoughts And so there I was, um, writing articles. And remember, I didn’t even know my subject well enough. To me, marketing was a whole new world.
But then something magical happened. Something I just didn’t expect. When I sat down to write, I started to get ideas. Ideas that I didn’t know existed in my head. And as I read more books (both business and non-business books), I got even more ideas.
When I put those ideas on my website, and put up a little ‘Subscribe’ link right at the very bottom—I started getting subscribers.
I wasn’t even selling anything online (or offline for that matter) And there I was..ahem…building an audience. An audience that wanted to listen what I had to say. An audience that went from just friends and family, to a chunky hundred people. Then a thousand. And it kept growing.
I wasn’t doing any advertising No publicity. Heck, I barely knew how to do my own marketing. Yet these articles were like a magnet. They pulled people from every part of the world to my…um…pretty crappy website (you should have seen it in the year 2002). And offline, I was starting to get inquiries too.
“Can you give us some advice on these marketing matters?” they said “Can you train our staff?” they said. Can you do this, and can you do that. And on and on it went. But articles were hard work for me It would take me two days to write a single article. And I’d curse and struggle. And to write one article a month was a big achievement for me.
But hey, I did have a fairy godmother And fairy godmothers grant wishes, so I took her up on the wish. “Make me write great articles that captivate. And show me how to write them at high speed (so I don’t have to spend two days over a single article)” I said to her.
“Article writing is about structure”, she said “Structure and drama,” she continued. “Structure and drama and the ‘next step’,” she crescendoed. “Drama pulls you in. Structure keeps you there. And then the next action gets your client to move to the next step.”
And just like that I learned how to write articles. And now it’s your turn.
Will you let me be your fairy um…godmother? • Do you want to learn how to spot drama? • Learn how to spot structure? • And understand how to use the power of the next step?
But how do you benchmark a course? Here is the sales page with all the details about the course and how to get on the waiting list.
https://www.psychotactics.com/article-writing-course-how-to-write-articles/
See you on the other side! :)
Warm regards Sean P.S. Registrations open for the Live Online Article Writing Course on 21 February for those on the waiting list. Click here for details
https://www.psychotactics.com/article-writing-course-how-to-write-articles/ .
P.P.S. Let the detailed experiences of the alumni tell you the story. Have a look at the prospectus and judge for yourself.
https://psychotactics.com/Free/awcbonus/Prospectus_Article_Writing.pdf
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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Why Random, Tiny Projects Are The Key To Future Business Growth
📅 February 15, 2025 | View in Gmail
Find out the biggest mistake you may be making
Why Random, Tiny Projects Are The Key To Future Business Growth
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=K5bFu4SWYDitt1&b=jIzbRvLgwJTUBim6JJvG3A
How do you grow your business? How do you get your business projects started and completed?
It’s normal to want to wait for the perfect moment to start a project.
However, that’s usually a mistake. A tiny, random project can be started right away. And in a little while, a whole decade or two decades pass.
Find out how tiny, random projects make a huge difference. Read online
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=K5bFu4SWYDitt1&b=jIzbRvLgwJTUBim6JJvG3A | Apple
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=K5bFu4SWYDitt1&b=F0k5cp0gH5XzkHkJNHADag | Spotify
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=K5bFu4SWYDitt1&b=l6xZ_DoyKryLFOM6ijlTnQ .
3-Part Series on "How To Create Analogies The Easy Way"
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=K5bFu4SWYDitt1&b=Uyf5zqWbhraltBvjJ9XiDg
The Power Of Analogies (Part 1) – Working Backwards Read online
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=K5bFu4SWYDitt1&b=Uyf5zqWbhraltBvjJ9XiDg | Apple
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=K5bFu4SWYDitt1&b=gRmaqtnSJ8JjFFX5xbi73A | Spotify
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=K5bFu4SWYDitt1&b=EYrPtXXY2aCi0GxjDO7P8g
The Power Of Analogies (Part 2)- How To Use Everyday Life To Create Stunning Analogies Read online
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=K5bFu4SWYDitt1&b=7YGRv9dYm1T9qdRZm9XBdw | Apple
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=K5bFu4SWYDitt1&b=w6c8Dbc7pV9s7t.K3D1QPQ | Spotify
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=K5bFu4SWYDitt1&b=T11dyMnCbm4mNwO0dTBRHg
The Power Of Analogies (Part 3) – How To Transform Analogies From Tired To Fresh Read online
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=K5bFu4SWYDitt1&b=CveIm.ygTLDR6RhkyIoS6A | Apple
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=K5bFu4SWYDitt1&b=PLFIAOcb37lRNsDffZUpvg | Spotify
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=K5bFu4SWYDitt1&b=cbbL73_PHbVLPV7GOh6ivg
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=K5bFu4SWYDitt1&b=NeA6I4OvFo8gMMJ8.xXtoQ
Warm regards Sean P.S. Thank you for being a subscriber. If you’ve enjoyed listening to or reading this podcast, please consider forwarding this email to a few friends. I would be grateful.
P.P.S. Opening on 21 February 2025
The Article Writing Live Online Course (with me) The biggest frustration with article writing is the sheer amount of time. You struggle to write quickly. Yet writing is a “language” like everything else. Learn the structure, and you can learn to write without the frustration and faster than ever before. Free Goodies
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=K5bFu4SWYDitt1&b=Ekq80S3CoMbyYKyyUG551g |Sales Page
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=K5bFu4SWYDitt1&b=R_HU8BqcK.2H1dpSV6mMKw | Alumni Experience
https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=98y0i&m=K5bFu4SWYDitt1&b=UWl4SIh78gpYsTmyoRkyMQ |
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3 Ways To Motivate Yourself Again (And Restart What You Want To Do)
📅 February 11, 2025 | View in Gmail
Here are 3 techniques which you can use right away.
Psychotactics
https://www.psychotactics.com/
Three Ways To Motivate Yourself Again
(And Restart What You Want To Do)
Load the images to see the cartoon. It works!
https://www.psychotactics.com/motivate-yourself/
(From the archives: One of the most read articles. This email contains the complete article. However, you can also read or listen to it at these links: Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/motivate-yourself/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4HSe7UexNw8Sz6qSTOmBa3?si=UEaVni_oSDWoBqC6938MAQ&dl_branch=1 | ).
Back in the 1980s, a program on BBC radio checked if myths lived up to scrutiny.
One of those myths involved the suicide rate in Sweden. During that decade, the social system of Sweden was said to cause the phenomenal rate of people killing themselves. As it turned out, the myth was indeed a myth.
The country’s suicide rate was below France, Spain, Belgium, Austria, Japan, Denmark, Switzerland and Germany. And just above the USA. Yet, the myth caught hold and persisted to this day.
A myth doesn’t need to make sense to succeed. If it’s good enough, it will continue to bounce around as if it were true. And while this myth surfaced in politics, there are just as crazy myths in business.
One of those myths can be rooted in the concept of “it doesn’t matter how hard you fall, it’s how quickly you bounce back, that matters.” In reality, few of us bounce back quickly. Instead, we are blown so much off course that it may take us weeks or months to get to our last known position.
This chaos may be entirely unintended because of some personal issues. Still, it can also be due to simple procrastination or even taking a break and finding that it’s hard to get motivated to restart.
Everyone has their method of getting back on the saddle. Here are some of the techniques I’ve used over the years.
1- Tiny one-liner scripts that you can run in your head. 2- Getting to the end of a tiny goal 3- Have a rule in place.
1- Tiny one-liner scripts that you can run in your head.
If you were to ask most of my clients what time I wake up in the morning, the answer would be unanimous and entirely accurate.
Even so, it’s a myth to think that I bounce out of bed everyday and race to the office. That’s because I’m up and at work at 4 am, every workday. And clients who are on live courses have often used this knowledge to their advantage, posting their work just before 4 am so that I can see their work the moment I’m up.
For instance, earlier in this year, I slept badly for almost two months straight
I’d sleep early, avoid reading on the iPad late at night, and even stopped having coffee after lunch. It made little or no difference. I’d wake up feeling I’d been in a fight, groggy and slightly unfocused.
Without exception, I’d have a nagging baby headache. Not the kind of headache that would send you right back to bed, but enough to wonder if there’s something wrong.
And if it’s not a weird sleep issue, it might just be the weather
It’s cold; it’s dark. I don’t exactly feel like waking up and trudging to the office, which is situated next door. Even worse, when we first started our business, the office was almost a kilometre away, and I’d have to walk through the “cold” (well, it’s just 8°C here in winter) and then get to a cold office before starting up my work.
In any case, we can’t rely on how we feel that day to get going
If we’re down in the dumps, the thought of bouncing back into the saddle is the furthest from our minds. In such a situation, we have to use a script. A tiny something that we know will work every single time. In my case, I have different scripts for varying situations.
When I struggle to get moving, I remember the lines I heard from author/speaker Brian Tracy.
I’d just moved to New Zealand in 2000. Life wasn’t hard, but it certainly wasn’t easy. I hadn’t ever been to New Zealand before we moved here. And we knew no one. It was at that point I started listening to audio for the first time.
In one of those audios, Brian Tracy said the following: “Successful people hate doing the same thing unsuccessful people hate doing. But they do it anyway”.
I’m sure he said a lot of other stuff because I collected a box of his audiobooks, tapes, CDs, and videos over the years. But instead of that mountain of advice, I’ve chosen to run a single, simple script. When I’m struggling to get going, I simply say it in my head.
It’s still cold. It’s still dark. I’m still groggy. I get up anyway and get to the office.
Well, that’s the first piece of advice.
Get yourself a script. Borrow mine, if you like, because you’re sure to need it as we go to the second part of this article. Namely, instead of trying to do it all, you sidestep the overwhelm. Instead, you become a bit of a nutter trying to get to the finish line as quickly as you can.
2- Getting to the end of a “let’s do rubbish” goal
On average, I will draw about two-three cartoons a day. I’ll draw one in watercolour in my Moleskine diary, and then, later, when watching Netflix, I’ll draw a couple more on the iPad.
Which sounds productive until you realise I hadn’t done a single cartoon on the iPad for all of this year. And had skipped three whole months of watercolours.
The worst part about this kind of situation is that there’s no incentive to get restarted
People around you tend to be very supportive. Hence, if you were to tell them that you’re not going very far, they suggest you relax or that you’ll get to where you want to go, eventually.
Yet, with every passing day, you’re aware that their good nature is not helping you at all. Worse still, there’s no urgency or deadline. The project may be necessary but not crucial.
In such a situation, you not only fail to make progress but engage in avoidance tactics
You’re so far behind that it’s easier to do nothing than getting started. This is why you need to set a “let’s do some rubbish” goal. In my situation, I force myself to sit down to draw and paint just about anything. Or to write about anything.
My wife, Renuka, will look at it and may say nothing, but I know she thinks the work is pretty bad. What she also knows is that once I’ve turned out the “rubbish” stuff, I’ll get the next thing done and the next, and suddenly, I’m back to producing relatively decent work.
No matter what your project, the moment you stall, you feel like you’ll never get started again
And most of us struggle to get back, partially because we feel that we need to hit a perfect note to get started. The reality is that we’re rusty, and doing some rubbish seems counterintuitive, even counterproductive. Yet, it’s what gets us restarted.
More importantly, it gets us to the end
When we complete something, we’ve moved from doing nothing to doing something no matter how average. Getting to the end of that small goal, that next page gets us moving.
Best of all, you can always go back and erase the rubbish stuff. For instance, yesterday, I got out the glue and stuck a horrendous couple of pages. With my articles, I might go back and delete the terrible paragraphs. With just about any project, you can erase your tracks if you want.
However, the psychological need has been met
You’ve reached the end, and that prompts you to take the next step and the next. Which is what gets you back on track again. It’s a slog, for sure. You don’t want to turn out shoddy work. Even so, could you do it? Get to the end of it, and you’ll see how it propels you forward.
And finally, there’s the shortcut of rules. We all think about habits and motivation. Which is all very fine; rules are superior. Once you’re ready to get back on track, you have to set some rules. Here’s how you go about getting rules to work for you.
3- Have a rule in place
When we go for a walk, we run into an 75-year-old named Eddie. And Eddie has a rule.
The rule is: If it’s not raining, I’m going for a walk. See how uncomplex that rule happens to be? If it’s cold, windy or sunny, you can be sure that Eddie will be on the street. Rain? Well, he’s at home sipping a hot tea.
Rules are what get us back on track because they are far superior to habits. A rule doesn’t need any thought because it’s what you’re going to do, no matter what.
Hence, when I stop drawing for a few months, I have to restart by creating a rule. The rule looks like this: You have to sit down every day after breakfast and open your diary.
Notice that the rule isn’t as stringent as Eddie’s?
Eddie is still going for a walk. My rule doesn’t call upon me to draw, paint or even sketch. All it requires me to do is sit down and open my book. The rule can stop short of the activity.
It can just be enough to get you to the spot, and that gets you off the hook. We all know what happens next, though. If you do sit down and open your book, you’re going to do something.
It might be just a bad drawing, but it’s going to get done. And because you and I are not as disciplined as Eddie, there will be days when we sit down, open the book and do nothing.
Most of us have many projects going at once
Usually, by the time we’re finished with a project, we’ve lost all steam. Or maybe you’ve been on a break and can’t get yourself to restart. That’s when a rule is most likely to come to your rescue.
Even with rules, life gets in the way
We don’t lead isolated lives. We may decide to do something, and a family member will want our attention. They may want to go for a walk or need to talk about the news. In any case, your rule is now likely to run into a fair bit of trouble.
The good part about these disturbances is that they’re relatively predictable. For instance, while I’m learning something on a video course, I have my earphones on. When Renuka shows up, I can’t hear her and have to take them off.
She’s conscious that she’s disturbing me, but I’m also aware that we can’t shut off the rest of the family while we go about doing stuff. Hence, whenever Renuka is around, I have a earphone in my right ear. If she says something, I can quickly respond and then go back to whatever I was doing.
There are times when no disturbance is just as crucial
When I’m writing something, I need to think about the lines in my head. The rule may help me get to the computer or to my diary, but if someone disturbs me, it’s hard to get the momentum back.
Hence, I have to work out situations when the person is improbable to get in my way. You’ll know when family members get busy with their activities. That’s when your rule needs to kick in for things you can’t be disturbed.
At all other times, you can easily manage with a fair bit of disturbance, and your rules need to consider each scenario.
Having a few rules also help. You don’t want to conquer the world yet. You want to get started on a few projects that have fallen by the wayside. Make a few rules, and you’ll be on your way.
In summary: 1- Tiny one-liner scripts that you can run in your head. 2- Getting to the end of a tiny goal 3- Have a rule in place.
Announcing! The Article Writing Live Online Course with Sean D'Souza (Bookings open on 21 February 2025 for those on the waiting list)
Start. Stop. Start. Stop. The biggest frustration with writing is it drives you crazy. Yet writing is a “language” like everything else. Learn the structure and you can learn to write without the frustration and faster than ever before. Free Goodies
https://www.psychotactics.com/workshops/article-writing-course-how-to-write-articles/ | Alumni Experience
https://www.psychotactics.com/Free/awcbonus/Prospectus_Article_Writing.pdf |
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Story Telling Series
How to have that zing in your articles—to catch the attention of the reader and keep them interested?
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Announcing! How To Become an Expert In Your Industry
📅 February 08, 2025 | View in Gmail
Will you let me be your fairy godmother? Goodies to drama, structure, and the next step.
Imagine you had a fairy godmother.
And she gave you one wish: The wish of ‘perceived expertise’. This ‘perceived expertise’, means that your customers would look at you and say: “There goes the expert in the field. I only want to work with her/him.”
I had such a godmother. And I got a wish from that fairy godmother in the year 2002.
You see I’d just started up my consultancy in marketing I’d moved from India to New Zealand. No one knew me in these parts. No one knew if I was good at what I did. Or just plain useless. And what was worse, was I wasn’t quite sure either.
Then one day, that fairy godmother whizzed into the room “Write articles,” she said. “Write articles?” I echoed. “What good are articles going to do for me?” I thought condescendingly.
But as fairy godmothers go, they can read your thoughts And so there I was, um, writing articles. And remember, I didn’t even know my subject well enough. To me, marketing was a whole new world.
But then something magical happened. Something I just didn’t expect. When I sat down to write, I started to get ideas. Ideas that I didn’t know existed in my head. And as I read more books (both business and non-business books), I got even more ideas.
When I put those ideas on my website, and put up a little ‘Subscribe’ link right at the very bottom—I started getting subscribers.
I wasn’t even selling anything online (or offline for that matter) And there I was..ahem…building an audience. An audience that wanted to listen what I had to say. An audience that went from just friends and family, to a chunky hundred people. Then a thousand. And it kept growing.
I wasn’t doing any advertising No publicity. Heck, I barely knew how to do my own marketing. Yet these articles were like a magnet. They pulled people from every part of the world to my…um…pretty crappy website (you should have seen it in the year 2002). And offline, I was starting to get inquiries too.
“Can you give us some advice on these marketing matters?” they said “Can you train our staff?” they said. Can you do this, and can you do that. And on and on it went. But articles were hard work for me It would take me two days to write a single article. And I’d curse and struggle. And to write one article a month was a big achievement for me.
But hey, I did have a fairy godmother And fairy godmothers grant wishes, so I took her up on the wish. “Make me write great articles that captivate. And show me how to write them at high speed (so I don’t have to spend two days over a single article)” I said to her.
“Article writing is about structure”, she said “Structure and drama,” she continued. “Structure and drama and the ‘next step’,” she crescendoed. “Drama pulls you in. Structure keeps you there. And then the next action gets your client to move to the next step.” And just like that I learned how to write articles. And now it’s your turn.
Will you let me be your fairy um…godmother? Do you want to learn how to spot drama? Learn how to spot structure? And understand how to use the power of the next step?
Well, ask and you shall receive. But hey, there are no magic wands here. You’ve actually got to go to the link below. And there you’ll be taken to a page with instructions. Instructions on how to get some free goodies. Goodies to drama, structure, and the next step.
So, tah-dah, here’s the link: Free Goodies: Article Writing
See you on the other side! :)
Sean P.S. The goodies are free. P.P.S. Start. Stop. Start. Stop. The biggest frustration with writing is it drives you crazy. Yet writing is a “language” like everything else. Learn the structure and you can learn to write without the frustration.
https://www.psychotactics.com/workshops/article-writing-course-how-to-write-articles/
Opening on 21 February at 2 pm Eastern US The Live Online Article Writing Course with Sean D’Souza Have a look and judge if this course is right for you.
https://www.psychotactics.com/article-writing-course-how-to-write-articles/
(Note: There will be no live online course in 2026 or 2027)
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Why You Should Temporarily Ignore The “1000 True Fans” Concept – If You Want To Get Ahead
📅 February 04, 2025 | View in Gmail
How to take your time, restrict your audience and still do very well indeed.
Psychotactics
https://www.psychotactics.com/
Why You Should Temporarily Ignore The "1000 True Fans" Concept – If You Want To Get Ahead
Load the images to see the cartoon. It works!
https://www.psychotactics.com/1000-true-fans/
(This email contains the complete article. However, you can also read or listen to it at these links: Read online
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https://open.spotify.com/episode/3KWrPxcmQkTNnrRwIG2LYf?si=BLW1Y5i_Rf-A7xZwmt1rvQ | ).
I want to earn $250,000 a year,” said a client to me, “and I have a strategy to do so.”
Ever run into a situation where someone says something to you, and you’re not sure what to say next? Well, this was the case when a client brought up the idea of earning $250,000 in the year that was to follow.
“I’ve read this article about how you get 1000 true fans,” she said. “And I’ve been a fan of other people’s work and I’ve paid $250. Hence, all I have to do is get a thousand people to pay me $250, and I will easily reach my goal.”
If you’re shaking your head disapprovingly, you’re not off the mark
The 1000 true fans concept was based on an article written in 2008, and it quickly gained intense interest because of the easy multiplication process. The author suggested that you didn’t need millions of fans or buyers.
All you needed were a thousand. Then, out came the multiplication that could be done without the need of a calculator.
And I quote:
Here’s how the math works. You need to meet two criteria. First, you have to create enough each year that you can earn, on average, $100 profit from each true fan. That is easier to do in some arts and businesses than others, but it is a good creative challenge in every area because it is always simpler and better to give your existing customers more, than it is to find new fans.
Second, you must have a direct relationship with your fans. That is, they must pay you directly. You get to keep all of their support, unlike the small per cent of their fees you might get from a music label, publisher, studio, retailer, or other intermediate. If you keep the full $100 of each true fan, then you need only 1,000 of them to earn $100,000 per year. That’s a living for most folks.
A thousand customers is a whole lot more feasible to aim for than a million fans. Millions of paying fans is not a realistic goal to shoot for, especially when you are starting out. But a thousand fans is doable. You might even be able to remember a thousand names. If you added one new true fan per day, it’d only take a few years to gain a thousand.
See how easy it was to do the multiplication?
Except for the part where it says “more feasible to aim for a thousand, rather than a million”. That’s the part that most people quickly gloss over. All of which brings to an interesting juncture. Or preferably, three points to consider if you’re into this kind of maths.
1- What do 1000 true fans really mean when related to conversion? 2- Why it’s better to aim lower—a lot lower. 3- How to expand your fan base, even while adding limitations.
1- What do 1000 true fans really mean when related to conversion?
Two months ago, I started up an Instagram account. To avoid any kind of instant growth, I told no one about it. Even though we have tens of thousands of subscribers on our list, and a subset of buyers, I kept mum to make sure the growth would be based purely by people finding the account and then becoming a follower.
Approximately two months later, I have 65 followers.
Let’s say I keep up the work, and the followers increase and multiply. Instead of just 365 odd followers, I might have twice as many followers within a year. It might seem possible to attain a fair number of followers through simple persistence.
Yet, there’s the obvious problem both of us are painfully aware of, aren’t we?
A follower is not a buyer as an Instagram influencer Ari found out to her surprise. With 2.6 million followers, she believed she’d easily be able to sell a large number of shirts. To her—and the brand’s surprise—she wasn’t able to make the minimum of 36 shirts.
Is this kind of result the rule, or rather the exception?
Whether you have 65 followers, or 2.6 million, the real benchmark is the first paid conversion. Until we get the client buying a product or service, they’re the equivalent of window shoppers.
Until you can get that person into the “store” and get her to buy something, you don’t have a buyer. If the benchmark “true fans” is about having people who buy, then all you have are window shoppers, who aren’t really buying anything.
And sorry to be a teeny bit cynical, but experience tells us that you often need even greater numbers to get a thousand people to buy. Five thousand? Ten thousand? Or is it fifty thousand? The numbers aren’t relevant because conversion doesn’t work predictably.
The point being made here isn’t that you can’t get very far by throwing random figures at a wall
Even the woman who wanted to earn $250,000 a year, had her figures off by quite a bit. To reach that $250k, she’s likely to have expenses of at least another $50,000. That means she’s got to earn $300,000. But that’s the income before taxes.
If she lives in a country where you pay just 33% in taxes, she’d have to earn about $400,000 to take home her desired profit of $250k. Even if you were to halve that sum, and then halve it again, the prospect of getting a foothold in business seems to feel impossible. And yet it’s not as hard if you lower your sights, but how low should you go?
Should you drop from a thousand to a hundred? Or a hundred to seventy-five, maybe even fifty. The answer is, you should go lower. The best number to start with is, just one client.
One? How are you supposed to get anything done with just one?
2- Why it’s better to aim lower—a lot lower.
The problem that seems to arise from the concept of thousand true fans is almost always the same.
The problem is that those aiming for one thousand, rarely have even one client. With all those figures flying around, it’s easy to slide into fantasy land, without considering the first client. The first client isn’t likely to be the bedrock of your fortune, but it helps to have one before you start getting into multiplying numbers.
Almost without exception, the magic number is one when it comes to entrepreneurship
Which, in theory, seems simple, doesn’t it? If a thousand buyers seem slightly unattainable at this juncture, surely one should be easy. Yet, it’s not, for most entrepreneurs.
I remember starting as a cartoonist back in Mumbai (it was called Bombay, back then). I was just seventeen, still in college and looking for my first client. Back then, if you could draw, you also had a vast array of magazines, newspapers and other periodicals that were not only thriving but would willingly pay you for your work.
The problem was getting your foot in the door
One of my earliest cartoons was published in a magazine called Eve’s Weekly. That one cartoon gave me the courage to go knocking on the next door. In a few months, I’d managed to not only get more work with Eve’s Weekly but also in other magazines and newspapers.
The income I earned managed to pay for my college education (which, admittedly isn’t as astronomical as in first world countries). It also gave me enough money to buy myself a 100cc motorbike.
When we got to New Zealand fifteen years later, the very same principle applied
The quest was never to get lots of clients. If anything, we sought out just a single client when it came to cartooning, and later a single client when we moved to marketing. The barrier was extremely low, and it worked.
It’s clear there’s no way to earn a fortune from that one client alone and yet having a single client should be the goal, and here’s why.
Most of us never get started because the bar is too high
Getting a single client gives you just enough confidence to get you going. The key to business isn’t skill or even knowledge. Instead, it’s confidence. Most of us start with fancy titles like “yoga teacher, artist, life coach, etc.” when in fact, we’re still right on the bottom rung of the ladder.
A single client lets us get paid some amount of money and gives us just the boost to keep going. Reaching for a thousand clients all at once, in comparison, freezes us in our tracks. Years pass and we find ourselves no further than we were at the start.
The question we fail to ask ourselves is: do we have ONE client?
And if we do have that one client, was it just a fluke? Were we able to get the client to come back to buy another product or service? This question is important because once we have that client, we can find out a bit about what works, and what doesn’t.
We can get a testimonial, and if you’re brave, some feedback on how you can improve. All of which takes us to the second client, then the third. You’re still a good deal away from a thousand loyal fans/buyers, but two or three suitable clients means you’re able to cover your expenses and stop eating ramen noodles.
There are ways to speed up the process, of course
You don’t have to throw one rock at a time into the lake to make a splash. If you head to places where clients are actively looking to buy, it’s not hard to find a hundred, even a thousand new clients almost overnight.
The book, “Good night stories for rebel girls” found 13,454 buyers, and if you’re interested, generated $675,614. Another book, “Food City” earned a modest $32,000 but still managed to get 274 buyers.
“Daniel and Ismail”, is a book about two boys, one Jewish boy and the other Muslim, who become friends on the soccer field. That publication got an even lesser number of buyers topping out at 115, but it’s still 114 more than one.
If you get a thousand or ten thousand all at once, that’s a magnificent stroke of good luck and strategy. However, even giant companies like Sony or Apple or Pilates didn’t start with thousands.
They didn’t do this oversimplified maths. Instead, they sold one radio, or one custom-built computer; one client at the exercise class.
There are ways to speed up the process, of course
There will be a time when you can expand that fan base so that it gets into the tens, hundreds and even thousands. It could happen in one fell swoop and one Kickstarter campaign. Or it might take a few months or several years. However, starting with just one is doable.
Start with one.
And then as your numbers expand, you can go either way. You can sell as much as possible, or restrict the numbers. Not surprisingly, the second method is less stressful and still very profitable.
3- How to expand your fan base, even while adding limitations.
One of the reasons we have cameras today is because of one man’s asthma. Before 1913, cameras were bulky, had curtains and stands with massive glass plates—the kind you see in the old movies.
However, one man, Oskar Barnack, who loved to travel and take photos was also plagued with the issue of lugging around a massive camera. In what can only be described as a side project, he invented a smaller, more portable still camera, about the same size as most cameras today.
In doing so, he was instrumental in creating one of the most desired cameras of the 20th and 21st century, namely, a Leica. If you were to look through some of the most famous photos of the last century, a Leica is the camera used to take those photos.
Leica lenses and dedication to mind-boggling quality soon made them some of the most lusted-after cameras ever.
What should a company do when it has a cult following?
Most companies would instantly cash in on that success, open new factories, and ensure the supply kept up with demand. Leica decided otherwise. Take, for example, the launch of a model called the Reporter.
A company would be likely to produce thousands of cameras, but instead, there are just 450 units available. At any point in time, Leica could have chosen to cash in on the thousands of fans concept, but instead, pulled back.
This kind of logic puts us squarely at odds with the conversion concept
If most of your clients are not going to buy, then doesn’t it make sense to sell as much as possible when the going is good? The answer is yes, at first.
You do the best you can to ramp up your income because increased income means you are creating a buffer of revenue for yourself. However, in time, having limitations cause a fan base primarily because of the constraints themselves.
It sounds odd that limitations lead to an expanding fan base because rampant growth is the norm
If you’re Facebook, you want to sign up as many people as possible. If you’re Apple, you want to double your iPhone sales. If you’re Dyson, the vacuum cleaners need to fly through the door.
And that sort of model of selling more or doubling, trebling, or quintupling your clients is a known way to success. What’s relatively less known is how keeping things under check create a smaller, but just as engaged fan base.
We stumbled into this concept quite by accident, of course
At Psychotactics, we could only take 35 people in a workshop room. We could only manage about 30 people per online course. Restrained by our limitations, that’s where we started.
Over time, however, we realised that 16 people at a workshop or about 16 people on a course didn’t dampen demand. If anything, we could increase prices and courses filled up in 24 hours, and sometimes 20 minutes.
Working with fewer clients made life a lot less stressful for us, and it allowed us to give them obsessive attention.
Which isn’t to state that everything you do should be restricted
Clients can buy several of our products at any time and in any quantity. However, they tend to be lower-priced products, which get clients more eager for premium offerings. All of which happened slowly, methodically, and allowed us to live a comfortable life.
What’s important is that the goal might have been to grow as quickly as possible, because we’re all exposed to that level of insanity. Yet, there’s an entirely different pathway that doesn’t require you to have a thousand fans, or even a few hundred.
A friend of mine runs a marketing coaching business
He has just 25 clients, each of whom pays him $2000 a month. And if we slip back into multiplication mode, we realise that’s a hefty $50,000 per month, or $600,000 a year. You might not be surprised to know he has a waiting list as well, and while keeping things very small, he’s doing just fine.
It’s not an overnight story either
It’s taken him several years to build up his group, and because he can’t manage any more than 25, he’s been restricted as well. It goes to show that you don’t really need a thousand fans or 26 million followers.
Instead, it would help if you had a single client, that turns to two, which turns to four. Given the right offerings, you can turn your product or service into a business that’s only moderately demanding and still live a very good life.
You could take a line from someone like Peter Thiel, co-founder of Paypal who said: “you should take your 10-year life plan and ask, Why can’t I do this in six months?” Or you could take your time, restrict your audience and still do very well indeed.
You could have a 1000 clients or just 25. It’s your choice.
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Coming in 3 weeks: The key to writing articles is clarity
If you can write like you think—you’d be able to turn out not just articles, but reports and books as well. Clarity—or the lack of it, stops us in our tracks. And clarity depends on structure.
21 February: The Article Writing Live Online Course (with Sean D’Souza) Free Goodies
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https://www.psychotactics.com/workshops/article-writing-course-how-to-write-articles/ t| Alumni Experience
https://www.psychotactics.com/Free/awcbonus/Prospectus_Article_Writing.pdf | (There will be no live course in 2026 or 2027)
28 February: Article Writing Self-Study Course Free Goodies
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Announcing: The Secret To Becoming an Expert in Your Customer’s Eyes?
📅 February 01, 2025 | View in Gmail
Is there a ticket out of crazy-land? Can you really become an expert in your client’s eyes?
How do you become an expert in your customer's eyes?
How do you become the person the customer most wants to work with? How do you then increase prices 500% and still have customers wanting to work with you?
To understand how this unusual situation occurs, let me tell you a story I was a cartoonist by profession. Then one fine day, I decided to get into ‘marketing.’
Now tell me honestly Would you hire a cartoonist to show you how to attract customers? Would you hire a cartoonist to show you how to improve your website? Would you hire a cartoonist for anything—but—to draw cartoons?
Why would you? I wouldn’t.
And that was the uphill battle I faced: No one knew me as an expert. Now it didn’t matter how many times I looked in the mirror and called myself an expert.
I still wasn’t getting any respect, let alone pesos in the bank. And it drove me crazy.
But there’s always a way out of crazy-land So here’s what I did. I started writing articles. And it was painful writing those articles. I’d write one article after slaving over it for two days. And then sometimes after two days, I’d trash the article and start all over again.
Did I say there’s a way out of crazy-land? Well, it sure didn’t seem so, because this article-writing-jazz was driving me loco.
But here’s what I found too. That there were systems. And techniques. Techniques that enabled me to write faster. That enabled me to make an article almost like a movie. That enabled me to see a pattern as to which articles would go down the gurgler, and which articles would get lapped up by the readers.
That there were certain articles, when published, that got customers to my website in droves. I’d wake up, and suddenly there were fifty, or a hundred new subscribers.
Sometimes as many as two hundred or more.
And then as the weeks and months passed, I started getting calls Calls to help customers with their website (um, after I wrote a website-based article).
And then emails. To help customers to help them attract clients (um, again, it was an article that did the job).
You’re guessing what crossed my mind, eh? Not only were the articles pulling in customers to the Psychotactics website, but these customers were asking me to work with them.
Me, a cartoonist, work with them?
I have to say, I was scared out my wits. (For two whole years actually). But after two years of writing articles (and I just wrote about 20 articles in the first two years), even I began to see a trend.
I figured I could go nuts and cold-call Or I could sit at my computer and write an article. And have a customer call. (Ooh, I did like the sound of that phone ringing).
But you have to remember this was back in the year 2002-2004. Back then, the Internet was a bit of a novelty. People doled out their email addresses like peanuts. Today it’s not that easy to have two hundred people stream through your website. Which means that it’s not enough to just write an article.
There are squillions of articles on the Internet today And those articles are competing with audio. And video. And heck knows what else.
So the questions do cross your mind
- How do I write so that my clients actually read my articles above all that noise?
- How do I write, if I struggle to put a paragraph together?
- Is there a ticket out of crazy-land? Can I really become an expert in my client’s eyes?
There indeed is a ticket And if you’ve been putting off writing, because you think it’s hard, well, it’s time to get that ticket out of crazy-land.
Information (um, Article Writing) creates expertise Ask every author on Amazon.com Ask every top consultant. Ask every top trainer. Ask a cartoonist.
Free Goodies: Don’t take my word for it. Judge for yourself. Get some solid methods to write better articles at this link. Don’t wait. This link won’t stay up forever. :) Free Goodies: Article Writing
Sean P.S. The goodies are free.
P.P.S. Start. Stop. Start. Stop. The biggest frustration with writing is it drives you crazy. Yet writing is a “language” like everything else. Learn the structure and you can learn to write without the frustration and faster than ever before.
Registrations open for the: Live Online Article Writing Course (With Sean D’Souza): 21 February Free Goodies
https://www.psychotactics.com/workshops/article-writing-live-course-form-how-to-attract-clients-with-your-articles/ | Sales page and how to get on the waiting list
https://www.psychotactics.com/workshops/article-writing-course-how-to-write-articles/ | Prospectus
https://psychotactics.com/Free/awcbonus/Prospectus_Article_Writing.pdf | (Important: There will be no live course in 2026 or 2027. Limited to 18 people)
Article Writing Self Study: 28 February Free Goodies
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January 2025
Last Day For Special Offer: Why Clients Buy (And Why They Don’t)
📅 January 28, 2025 | View in Gmail
Special Bonus: How To Identify The Right Target Profile for Your Business
There is a cartoon here.
https://www.psychotactics.com/special/brain-audit-offer/
Hi Seree
Marketing provides thousands of ways to get and keep customer’s attention
But you don’t want thousands of ways. You just want a simple system that’s effective.
A system that has been tested for over 18 years and got results. And most importantly a system that you don’t have to pull up a 675 page manual to figure out what to do.
Announcing: The Brain Audit Special Valid until 28 January 2025 (12 midnight US Eastern)
The Brain Audit is the book that gives you a system
The Brain Audit is a step-by-step system that enables you to understand what’s going on in the brain of your customer. It’s a system that is based on a deep understanding of how our mind works, and why we do what do.
When you buy The Brain Audit Special before 28 January 2025, you’ll also get “How To Identify The Right Target Audience For Your Business”.
Special Goodie: How To Identify The Right Target Profile For Your Business This book will give you an instant understanding on: • How You Can Get Target Audience Wrong • How Target Profile Works • Persona vs Person and more
Judge for yourself. You won’t regret it. (This offer expires on 28 January 2025)
https://www.psychotactics.com/special/brain-audit-offer/
Regards, Sean D’Souza P.S. The Brain Audit has been around for many years and is unique because it has over 967+ testimonials. It’s proof that The Brain Audit works, and works very well indeed.
https://www.psychotactics.com/special/brain-audit-offer/
Here is what Raj Aiyer has to say about The Brain Audit
“I did not want the Brain Audit to join the long list of books that I had enthusiastically bought and left them unread midway because I found them later to be –blah blah blah. There’s a lot of mediocre content out there and so I was cautious about buying this.
The Brain Audit an all-encompassing framework to audit your communication.
The beauty of Brain Audit lies in its simplicity and the common sense approach it takes. The specific features I liked the most were that there were lots of examples and great cartoons which made it an easy read.
I would recommend The Brain Audit to anybody who has a business to run and wants to audit their communication or learn the building blocks of marketing.”
Here is what Jonathan Chan has to say about The Brain Audit
I LOVED the Brain Audit!
Like others who are grasping at straws trying to find my way through advertising & marketing, I thought The Brain Audit was probably just more information. I’d already read, The famous ‘Boron Letters’, Jay Abraham’s books and other advertising books.
Firstly, I was extremely surprised on how readable it was.
It was so simple to understand! Secondly, I was even more impressed since I could immediately see where I could improve my landing page (for an upcoming product launch).
It clearly taught me how to systematically think and understand why clients really buy or not buy. There was a simple checklist to go through.
I also loved the stories at the beginning.
They helped me to remember what I needed to and why. Another was the clear explanations helping me understand why I should pay attention to customers complaints and how to use them.
I’d highly recommend the Brain Audit. In fact, if you know NOTHING about advertising or marketing and are on the fence on which program to buy, just get this! It also comes with the BEST guarantee you will ever see, period. In fact, I regret I didn’t find it earlier. I’d have save lots of wasted time and be years ahead.
Yesterday was the best time to buy The Brain Audit; Don’t waste any more precious time and buy now.
Thank you so much Sean!
Judge for yourself. You won’t regret it. (This offer expires on 28 January 2025)
https://www.psychotactics.com/special/brain-audit-offer/
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
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Announcing Special Offer : Why Customers Buy (And Why They Don’t)
📅 January 25, 2025 | View in Gmail
A System To Get And Keep your Customer’s Attention every time. You’ve seen it beforeYou’re about to get a customer to sign on the dotted line. And then they suddenly back away. What causes them to back away? What causes a sure sale to fall apart? When a sale falls apart, it’s extremely frustrating!And what’s frustrating is the fact that you don’t know at which point the sale fell apart. What you do know is that your product or service is really good for your customer. And that you’ve done everything to get them interested and ready to buy. Announcing: The Brain Audit Special: Why Clients Buy (And Why They Don’t)Marketing provides thousands of ways to get and keep your customer’s attention But you don’t want thousands of ways:You want a simple system that’s effective.A system that has been tested right across the planet, from big markets to absolutely atom-sized markets. A system that has been tested for over 18 years and got results.A system that has over 967 testimonials.A system that has got results across all media from websites to presentations, to one-on-one selling and sales through brochures/booklets etc.And most importantly a system that you don’t have to pull up a 675-page manual to even work out.The Brain Audit is the book that gives you a system The Brain Audit is a step-by-step system that enables you to understand what’s going on in the brain of your customer. It’s a system that is based on a deep understanding of how our mind works, and why we do what do. • How the brain responds to specific psychological triggers. • How to speed up the sales process, without the need to be pushy. • How do you stop your brand from being a commodity? When you buy the The Brain Audit from 25 January to 28 January 2025 you’ll also get the bonus goodie ‘How To Identify The Right Target Audience For Your Business’. Special Goodie: How To Identify The Right Target Profile For Your BusinessThis book will give you an instant understanding on:How You Can Get Target Audience WrongHow Target Profile WorksPersona Vs Person and more Have a look and judge for yourself here:(This offer expires on 28 January 2025)https://www.psychotactics.com/special/brain-audit-offer/ Regards, Sean D’Souza P.S. Judge for yourself. You won’t regret it. https://www.psychotactics.com/special/brain-audit-offer/
How To Know if Your Article is Exciting Enough for The Reader
📅 January 21, 2025 | View in Gmail
How do you know if your article works? Here is what you have to look for. How To Know If Your Article Is Exciting Enough For The Reader (You can also read this article on the website : Read online )-----------When you complete an article, you always have one of two reactions.You think it rocks. Or you think it sucks.And you may be wrong on both fronts. You may think your article rocks, when in fact it sucks. And vice versa.So how do you know if your article works?You would think you needed to read your article from start to finish, don’t you?Quite the contrary: You don’t read the article at all. You simply scan the article. And when you’re scanning, here’s what you’re looking for:1) The headline.2) The first fifty words.3) The sub-headlines.4) The ending.That’s it.If you can see a flow from headline through the sub-headlines down to the ending, you know your article is working.And the reason why it works is because it’s answering all the questions that a reader would possibly ask. Now the only question is: When do you do this audit? Before or after you write the article?That’s a toughie, because your situation determines how you write an article.On some days will write an article from start to finish based on a ‘response’. So if you’re in a forum or a blog, and someone posts something, you’ll find yourself all fired up and you’ll write a detailed answer.In many cases, your answer will have all the power and completeness of a finished article because you’re trying to make sure you cover all the points. In such a situation, all you need to do is make the sub-headlines bold (if you don’t have sub-headlines, invent them for the sake of the exercise). Then audit the article for flow. A touch here, a move there, and your article will be ready.What if you’re starting up from the ground up?If you are starting up from ground zero, you need structure. The structure comprises of the headline, the first fifty words, the sub-headlines that answer the questions ‘What? How? Why? When? Can you give me proof? Can you give me an example?’ And then the ending paragraph of the article. If you follow this systematic approach, your article will flow a lot better than most written material.But let’s take an example using an actual article -----------------Headline: Power of Connectors in CopywritingFirst fifty words: You’ve started reading a newsletter. And before you know it, you’re at 500 words. Then at 750 words. And hurtling past 1000 words. How on earth did you end up reading so much, when all you wanted to do was skim through the article? The answer is in the connectors in copywriting.The sub-headlines:– So what are the connectors in copywriting?– Do you see what’s happening?– A connection is like a bridge– Why is this slip-sliding so very important?– Example, Example:– Personal Experience:Ending: If you noticed, the content in this piece didn’t have enormous style. It lacked stories. It lacked metaphors. And yet it made a distinct point. It taught you something very powerful. Of course, the biggest reason you continued to read, was because of the connectors. Every movie, article or sales letter that’s brilliant always has a connection. Create the connection and your reader will read from start to finish!-----------------See the flow in that article?Once you have flow in the sub-headlines, what you have is solid structure. And that’s what makes an article exciting: the ability to answer all the questions of the reader in a systematic, easy flowing manner.That’s your internal audit system. That’s how you know if your article really rocks. Or sucks.Way better than just ‘wondering’ if it rocks. Or sucks. You can share the article too: Coming in 4 weeks: The key to writing articles is clarity If you can write like you think—you’d be able to turn out not just articles, but reports and books as well. Clarity—or the lack of it, stops us in our tracks. And clarity depends on structure. 21 February: The Article Writing Live Online Course (with Sean D’Souza)Free Goodies |Sales Page and how to get on the waiting list| Alumni Experience |(There will be no live course in 2026 or 2027) 28 February: Article Writing Self-Study CourseFree Goodies | Sales page and how to get on the waiting list | About this eZine and your subscription Remember to share this articleAll links must remain in the article. No textual amendments permitted. Psychotactics Ltd. All rights reserved.Interested in article writing? Have a look at:How To Write 4000 Word Articles Without Getting ExhaustedRead and Listen Resource we use and recommendFor all our design, development and maintenance of websites we use Audrey at StressLessWeb Important: You are subscribed to the Free Psychotactics Newsletter. If you un-subscribe from this letter, you won’t receive any goodies, offers, or newsletters in future. If you’re getting duplicate newsletters, email us and we’ll make sure you get just one copy. Email renuka@psychotactics.com Privacy and Spam Policy I don’t rent, trade or sell my email list to anyone for any reason whatsoever. You’ll not get an unsolicited email from a stranger as a result of joining this list.
Announcing! How To Become an Expert in Your Industry: Article-Writing Goodies
📅 January 18, 2025 | View in Gmail
The Biggest Frustration with writing is it drives you crazy. Here are a few goodies.
Fun cartoon here
Imagine you had a fairy godmother.
And she gave you one wish: The wish of ‘perceived expertise’. This ‘perceived expertise’, means that your customers would look at you and say: “There goes the expert in the field. I only want to work with her/him.”
I had such a godmother. And I got a wish from that fairy godmother in the year 2002.
You see I’d just started up my consultancy in marketing I’d moved from India to New Zealand. No one knew me in these parts. No one knew if I was good at what I did. Or just plain useless. And what was worse, was I wasn’t quite sure either.
Then one day, that fairy godmother whizzed into the room “Write articles,” she said. “Write articles?” I echoed. “What good are articles going to do for me?” I thought condescendingly.
But as fairy godmothers go, they can read your thoughts And so there I was, um, writing articles. And remember, I didn’t even know my subject well enough. To me, marketing was a whole new world.
But then something magical happened. Something I just didn’t expect. When I sat down to write, I started to get ideas. Ideas that I didn’t know existed in my head. And as I read more books (both business and non-business books), I got even more ideas.
When I put those ideas on my website, and put up a little ‘Subscribe’ link right at the very bottom—I started getting subscribers.
I wasn’t even selling anything online (or offline for that matter) And there I was..ahem…building an audience. An audience that wanted to listen what I had to say. An audience that went from just friends and family, to a chunky hundred people. Then a thousand. And it kept growing.
I wasn’t doing any advertising No publicity. Heck, I barely knew how to do my own marketing. Yet these articles were like a magnet. They pulled people from every part of the world to my…um…pretty crappy website (you should have seen it in the year 2002). And offline, I was starting to get inquiries too.
“Can you give us some advice on these marketing matters?” they said “Can you train our staff?” they said. Can you do this, and can you do that. And on and on it went. But articles were hard work for me It would take me two days to write a single article. And I’d curse and struggle. And to write one article a month was a big achievement for me.
But hey, I did have a fairy godmother And fairy godmothers grant wishes, so I took her up on the wish. “Make me write great articles that captivate. And show me how to write them at high speed (so I don’t have to spend two days over a single article)” I said to her.
“Article writing is about structure”, she said “Structure and drama,” she continued. “Structure and drama and the ‘next step’,” she crescendoed. “Drama pulls you in. Structure keeps you there. And then the next action gets your client to move to the next step.” And just like that I learned how to write articles. And now it’s your turn.
Will you let me be your fairy um…godmother? Do you want to learn how to spot drama? Learn how to spot structure? And understand how to use the power of the next step?
Well, ask and you shall receive. But hey, there are no magic wands here. You’ve actually got to go to the link below. And there you’ll be taken to a page with instructions. Instructions on how to get some free goodies. Goodies to drama, structure, and the next step.
So, tah-dah, here’s the link: Free Goodies: Article Writing
See you on the other side! :)
Sean P.S. The goodies are free.
P.P.S. Start. Stop. Start. Stop. The biggest frustration with writing is it drives you crazy. Yet writing is a “language” like everything else. Learn the structure and you can learn to write without the frustration.
Registrations open for the: Live Online Article Writing Course: 21 February. Click here for details
https://www.psychotactics.com/article-writing-course-how-to-write-articles/ . Article Writing Self Study: 28 February. Click here for details.
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TExsbIwstKxszJzMzKxMtEa0rJwM7GwcjIw=
Finding your Mick Jagger Moment:How To Transition from Task To Task (And Avoid Getting Distracted In The Switchover)
📅 January 14, 2025 | View in Gmail
How to finding our energy black holes so that we can waste time effectively.
Psychotactics
https://www.psychotactics.com/
Finding Your Mick Jagger Moments:
How To Transition From Task To Task
(And Avoid Getting Distracted In The Switchover)
Load the images to see the cartoon. It works!
https://www.psychotactics.com/energy-management/
(From the archives: One of the most read articles. You can also read or listen to the article at these links: Read online
https://www.psychotactics.com/energy-management/ | iTunes
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4CPOi0bjoV7q9pIawk2RJC |). What’s the difference between 4 am and 4 pm?
If you ask me, personally, it’s a world of difference. At 4 am, I’m raring to go. I can write an article, draw cartoons, or write “War and Peace”, if I put my mind to it. At 4 pm, I’m a shadow of my 4 am self.
I’m distracted, bored, and bouncing from Facebook to Pinterest and randomly checking e-mail in between. You know exactly where I’m going with this example, don’t you?
When we look at our world, we treat every hour exactly the same—and it’s not.
I’m like a vegetable right after lunch. Which means that from around noon to well past 4 pm, I’m better off going to the cafe, taking a nap or doing something that most people would consider to be unproductive. Yet, the reason why those unproductive hours can exist is because they’re energy black holes.
You and I need to know our energy black holes so that we can waste time effectively
Wasting time randomly doesn’t bring us joy and warmth. But if we’ve diligently go out for a coffee, or take a nap, that’s pure strategy. Learning to recognise when you’re hopeless at doing stuff is the key to getting stuff done and switching back to high gear.
And most of your day is going to consist of terrible energy hours, not-so-terrible and finally, those hours when you’re like Mick Jagger prancing on the stage.
Which are your Mick Jagger moments?
Do you have zones every single day that work well for you? We all do, don’t we? My 4 am is my wife Renuka’s 8 am, and yours maybe 11 pm. But we all know when we can be superduperfragillisticexpealidocous.
This means that we have to get most of our work done in those zones. Whether it’s creating a new presentation or writing an article, we need a full charge for those activities as they’re far more power-hungry.
Yet, we struggle and get distracted, even when we’re in the right zone and ready to go.
A big chunk of the blame must go to a lack of preparation. If you’re about to write an article, you’ve got to have the outline in place. Do you have the opening story ready? What about any research you need to put in the piece?
If the prep work isn’t in place, it’s natural to start digging for a story or doing slightly pointless research. Your energy level is now steadily burning out on a low energy task. All of the mind-numbing stuff should have been kept for the times when your energy is low, and you couldn’t care less if you found the right information or not.
When you use high-quality octane to drive a bullock cart process, you’re not making the bullock cart faster. But you sure are wasting the octane.
Time management is a slightly stupid concept
Time management works well if every hour were identical in terms of energy. The way to work with your energy is to make sure you know your black holes of energy. Use them to recharge, either by napping, or taking a walk or simply doing low level, mindless tasks.
The middle ground is where your energy is not so great and you can handle tasks that don’t suck up all that octane. And that leaves us with the high energy zones, which if you waste, are just lost. And it makes you feel crappy, which creates its own doom loop of lower energy.
Be aware that at the core of all of these energy zones lies a planning strategy
I spend a good chunk of my time in planning. Maybe I’m planning for a webinar, or a podcast series, or just the strategy for our business. I have to fit in all that, as well as make sure I get my watercolours done, cook breakfast and lunch and upload my photos to the photo book I’m creating.
I like to wing my way through the day, and sometimes that randomness works. However, if I’m going to get real work—and play done—I have to plan. Most of the planning is done usually at the cafe, in my low energy zone. The black holes of energy, it seems, aren’t as bad for productivity. They’re just different.
As a first step, however, get to know your black holes.
Even if you nap, or whittle away the time it’s a good use of time. However, it’s in the black hole zone that you can also put together the plan and do the preparation work. And then when your high energy kicks in, you’re off like a rocket, finishing work in a fraction of the time.
And now, you have time to waste :)
Announcing! How To Become An Expert In Your Industry Live Online Article Writing Course 2025
📅 January 11, 2025 | View in Gmail
The biggest frustration with writing is it drives you crazy.
Announcing! How To Become An Expert In Your Industry Live Online Article Writing Course 2025 (With Sean D’Souza)
Fun cartoon here
Imagine you had a fairy godmother.
And she gave you one wish: The wish of ‘perceived expertise’. This ‘perceived expertise’, means that your customers would look at you and say: “There goes the expert in the field. I only want to work with her/him.”
I had such a godmother. And I got a wish from that fairy godmother in the year 2002.
You see I’d just started up my consultancy in marketing I’d moved from India to New Zealand. No one knew me in these parts. No one knew if I was good at what I did. Or just plain useless. And what was worse, was I wasn’t quite sure either.
Then one day, that fairy godmother whizzed into the room “Write articles,” she said. “Write articles?” I echoed. “What good are articles going to do for me?” I thought condescendingly.
But as fairy godmothers go, they can read your thoughts And so there I was, um, writing articles. And remember, I didn’t even know my subject well enough. To me, marketing was a whole new world.
But then something magical happened. Something I just didn’t expect. When I sat down to write, I started to get ideas. Ideas that I didn’t know existed in my head. And as I read more books (both business and non-business books), I got even more ideas.
When I put those ideas on my website, and put up a little ‘Subscribe’ link right at the very bottom—I started getting subscribers.
I wasn’t even selling anything online (or offline for that matter) And there I was..ahem…building an audience. An audience that wanted to listen what I had to say. An audience that went from just friends and family, to a chunky hundred people. Then a thousand. And it kept growing.
I wasn’t doing any advertising No publicity. Heck, I barely knew how to do my own marketing. Yet these articles were like a magnet. They pulled people from every part of the world to my…um…pretty crappy website (you should have seen it in the year 2002). And offline, I was starting to get inquiries too.
“Can you give us some advice on these marketing matters?” they said “Can you train our staff?” they said. Can you do this, and can you do that. And on and on it went. But articles were hard work for me It would take me two days to write a single article. And I’d curse and struggle. And to write one article a month was a big achievement for me.
But hey, I did have a fairy godmother And fairy godmothers grant wishes, so I took her up on the wish. “Make me write great articles that captivate. And show me how to write them at high speed (so I don’t have to spend two days over a single article)” I said to her.
“Article writing is about structure”, she said “Structure and drama,” she continued. “Structure and drama and the ‘next step’,” she crescendoed. “Drama pulls you in. Structure keeps you there. And then the next action gets your client to move to the next step.” And just like that I learned how to write articles. And now it’s your turn.
Will you let me be your fairy um…godmother? Do you want to learn how to spot drama? Learn how to spot structure? And understand how to use the power of the next step?
Well, ask and you shall receive. But hey, there are no magic wands here. You’ve actually got to go to the link below. And there you’ll be taken to a page with instructions. Instructions on how to get some free goodies. Goodies to drama, structure, and the next step.
So, tah-dah, here’s the link: Free Goodies: Article Writing
Announcing: The Chaos Planning System (How ‘Irregular’ Folks Get Things Done)
📅 January 07, 2025 | View in Gmail
How to accomplish a lot on your endless “To Do” list”.
There is a cartoon here
So year after year you sit down and create a list of things you want to achieve.
Then suddenly it’s January 2025, and you’ve not really moved ahead as you’d expected. And hey, this phenomenon isn’t new. It’s not like you’re not trying to achieve stuff, but something always seems to derail your goals.
And what’s worse is that you’ve read all the books on planning as well.
But they haven’t helped either. There’s a reason why they haven’t helped. It’s because those books were written by highly organised people. What you need is for someone disorganised to write a book. A book based on chaos. And how chaos is critical to starting out your plan.
Aha…here’s a 35 Page Report: The Chaos Planning System
That will help you move ahead. So have a look at this product and judge the value for yourself.
https://www.psychotactics.com/chaos-planning
Warm regards, Sean P.S. You also get the book—Pronto Learning: Insiders Tips To Speed Up Your Learning
https://www.psychotactics.com/chaos-planning
Testimonial: Chaos Planning
"I realized that now I am able to accomplish a lot on my endless "To Do" list"
"I didn't think that a Chaos Planning System would apply to me. After all, I always thought that I'm well organized. But, after reading the report, I realized that while I am able to accomplish a lot on my endless "To Do" list. I always struggle with finding time to work on important projects and feeling like I got something done."
Marina Brito, VA, USA
Judge for yourself
https://www.psychotactics.com/chaos-planning
Testimonial: Chaos Planning
"Since putting Chaos Planning into place my stress levels have gone way down. It's a beautiful thing!"
"Taking the time to legitimately mark off 3-4 hours for chaos each working day has made all the difference. In the past, just like you described, I stacked up my days with back-to-back everything — totally unrealistic.
I would recommend this product—It was an easy read and an easy implementation, and since putting it into place my stress levels have gone way down. It's a beautiful thing!"
Dan Wagner, USA
Announcing: Why Most Planning Fails (The Critical Importance Of Chaos In Planning)
📅 January 04, 2025 | View in Gmail
Since putting Chaos Planning into place my stress levels have gone way down.
So year after year you sit down and create a list of things you want to achieve.
Then suddenly it’s January 2025 and you’ve not really moved ahead as you’d expected. And hey, this phenomenon isn’t new. It’s not like you’re not trying to achieve stuff, but something always seems to derail your goals.
And what’s worse is that you’ve read all the books on planning as well.
But they haven’t helped either. There’s a reason why they haven’t helped. It’s because those books were written by highly organised people. What you need is for someone disorganised to write a book. A book based on chaos. And how chaos is critical to starting out your plan.
Aha…here’s a 35 Page Report: The Chaos Planning System
That will help you move ahead. So have a look at this product and judge the value for yourself.
https://www.psychotactics.com/chaos-planning
Warm regards, Sean P.S. You also get the book—Pronto Learning: Insiders Tips To Speed Up Your Learning
https://www.psychotactics.com/chaos-planning
Since putting Chaos Planning into place my stress levels have gone way down. It’s a beautiful thing!
Taking the time to legitimately mark off 3-4 hours for chaos each working day has made all the difference. In the past, just like you described, I stacked up my days with back-to-back everything — totally unrealistic.
I would recommend this product—It was an easy read and an easy implementation, and since putting it into place my stress levels have gone way down. It’s a beautiful thing!
Dan Wagner, USA Judge for yourself
https://www.psychotactics.com/chaos-planning
Psychotactics, PO Box 36461, Auckland, Auckland 1330, NEW ZEALAND