Another Excuse Newsletter

Welcome back to the Another Excuse Newsletter. It isn’t just another excuse, but a reason to start that thing you’ve been putting off.

What to expect this week:
👓Perspective - With or Without You
🔨 Tool - Break The Web
🍿Consume - Buying a business
📖Concept - Levels of Specificity

Latest Podcast Episode

This week’s guest is Izzy Rosenzweig.

Izzy is the founder of Portless, a company that helps DTC brands increase profit margins and cash flow by using cross-border logistics. They help DTC brands with better cash flow by selling products just 2-3 days after production vs. 30-90 days by boat.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What Portless is and how it works
• How Portless started
• Izzy's previous companies
• Pivoting and handling big challenges
• How to build resilience
• How to get used to fear
• What it took to get the company off the ground
And so much more

You can check out the episode here.

Perspective

With or Without You

Yes, this is the title of a U2 song.

But unfortunately, that’s not what I’m talking about today.

I touched on this in a previous newsletter, but I wanted to emphasize it because it’s so important.

And like most of these newsletters, I write about things I need to drill into my own head.

So, I’m talking about with or without you energy.

We all know the importance and value of an ask.

In cold outreach or asking a favour of someone, it’s so important to take the pressure off of them.

No one likes to be put on the spot and made to feel that a whole event is riding on them.

Deciding on something happening months down the line can feel like a big commitment.

And if you don’t message it right, it seems like their presence is part of the success of the event, mastermind, endorsement etc.

But the way to get a yes is to take the pressure off.

Have with or without you energy.

Make them feel like what ever you’re asking of them is going ahead with or without them.

It would be nice to have them be a part of it, but it’s not riding on them.

This can be the same for outreach.

It doesn’t matter if they show, or buy from you because so many others will.

They feel less pressure and are actually more inclined to say yes.

To drive the point home let me give a cold outreach example.

If you reach out to someone and want to have a coffee with them, how much pressure do you think it adds if you say that you will fly to wherever they are?

Yes, that’s a great sign of commitment, but no one wants that pressure.

If you frame it more casually and say you’re there for some event or visiting someone else, that makes it actually seem like just a coffee and increases your chances of a yes.

Don’t be that person, have with or without you energy.

Tool

Break The Web

I heard Gary Vee chatting about this site.

He sees it as an indication of where things are heading from a consumption standpoint.

It’s basically a news site but with a twist.

They don’t have an agenda, they’re not trying to spin a narrative, they’re just listing the top-ranked stories trending right now, based on data.

It scrapes all the stories written on each topic, and AI summarises them.

It also gives you three versions of the summary, the main one and then a left and right point of view.

Obviously, the capabilities of AI aren’t perfect yet, so there are a few floors in this tool, but this is where things are heading.

It’s quite refreshing to see both narratives right next to each other.

Making it easy to compare them and understand how people with different viewpoints may be perceiving the exact same piece of news.

Maybe this is the start of unbiased news.

But I feel that may be getting a bit too far ahead of ourselves.

For those interested, you can check it out here.

Consume (Read / Watch / Listen)

@chadcfo

Replying to @mellino992 is this #laundromat a good acquisition? #buyabusiness

Buying a business

I think it’s important to understand how to value a business.

Whether you’re on the buying or selling side, knowing what to look at can help you save or gain a lot of money.

This guy in the video, Chad, walks you through what to look at.

Yes, his spreadsheet tool is for sale, but just consuming his content will give you a better understanding of what to look for and what gives a business value.

And if you’re looking to buy a business, buying his spreadsheet would probably save you a lot of time and money.

That’s why I thought this was worth sharing.

It’s informative to beginners and useful for people in the game.

Which ever stage you’re at, let me know if you did find this one useful and I’ll keep looking for more gems like this.

Concept

Levels of Specificity

Many successful preach about riches in niches.

If your product is for too broad of a market, you get lost in the noise.

It’s too competitive.

The value comes in the niche.

Being able to niche down and sell to one particular person has helped so many people become successful.

Once you niche down, your product begins to speak to your ideal customer.

They can’t believe how specific your offer is. It’s like it was made for them.

According to Dickie Bush, there are 4 levels of specificity to get to $1 Million a year.

1. A specific platform

2. A specific person

3. A specific problem

4. In a specific way

If all your messaging and product focuses on this you will attract the ideal customer.

To start focus on one platform to advertise on. Where does your ideal client hang out?

Who are they? What do they do, what are they trying to achieve and how can you get them there?

Most people in a particular industry in a particular position have similar desires. Find their problem and solve it.

Do it your way. Don’t do it like everyone else. If you’re starting out, you’ve got to be unique to attract attention.

Easy.

You’re on your way to $1 Million. lol

Thanks for Reading

Now start something!

P.S. Feedback is welcome and needed! If you’d prefer to send me an email and not respond, you can do so here: [email protected]

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