A&B #58

Hey everyone,

I'm finally done with the manuscript for my quote book. Now I'm working on getting it up on Amazon. I'm aiming to have it up for pre-order by the end of this month (stay tuned for more details).

I've been writing A LOT of threads lately and it's been paying off–Alex & Books passed 50k followers on Twitter this week. 🥳

Here are a few threads you'll enjoy:

• 20 Amazing podcasts you should check out.

• 20 Philosophy books that will level up your mind.

• 10 Tips to become a more effective & efficient podcast listener.

Alright, let's dive into this week's newsletter.

📚 Book Lessons:

This week's book is The Great Rat Race Escape by MJ DeMarco.If you ever wanted to start a business or learn how to get rich while you're young, this is the book for you. In it, MJ shares 120 strategies that will help you start and run a successful business. If you liked MJ's other books (Unscripted or The Millionaire Fastlane), you'll enjoy this book. Here are 3 lessons from the book:1) Observe & Model The ProsStarting a business is hard. But what if the answers were right in front of you?Good news–they are. Best practices and trade secrets often hide in plain sight.Whatever company you're starting, chances are there's a similar one in your space that you can observe and model to at least get moving in the right direction. When MJ started his travel business, he modeled his website off the most popular travel businesses like Expedia and Travelocity. By observing and modeling highly successful processes, you'll be able to achieve a similar level of success without the trial, error, or cost of running dozens or hundreds of experiments.2) Have An Email ListEvery business today should have two things: a website and an email list. Most businesses have the first but they don't realize how valuable and necessary the second one is.Having an email list gives you a direct line of communication with your customers. Instead of waiting for them to come to you, you're able (at any time and from any place) to contact them.Contrary to popular belief, email is not dead. In fact, it's bigger than ever before and can be even more powerful than having a large social media following since you don't have to be dependant on the algorithm getting your message out there.Additionally, with an email list, you own your customer's data and access to them. On social media, you might get banned one day and lose your connection with customers forever. If you don't have an email list, start building one today. 3) Include A Tripwire In Every DealWhenever Van Halen, the legendary rock band, went on tour, they would give their tour promoters high-maintenance contracts with specific requirements. The most famous request was known as the brown M&M clause.Each promoter at any venue was instructed to have a candy dish filled with only brown M&Ms. Failing to do so gave Van Halen the right to cancel the contract while still receiving the full tour price.Van Halen didn't have this clause because they were divas, they had it because they knew that if this minor request was overlooked, chances are the big requests (like sound, lighting, and visuals) were also overlooked.MJ does something similar when he hires freelancers. He'll ask them to include whether they prefer Star Trek or Star Wars in their application. If the information is missing, he passes on them because he knows if they couldn't follow simple instructions, chances are they won't be able to follow complex ones.So whenever you're hiring someone for a job or freelance position, put in a small request to see if they pay attention to the little details.

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) Observe and model the pros:

• Observe and study how successful businesses present their website or operate their company and model your business after them.

2) Start building your email list today:

• Sign up for an email marketing platform if you don't have one (Mailchimp is free up to 2,000 subscribers).

• Include an email sign-up form on your website or create a page for it (like this).

• Send out a monthly email to keep in touch with your customers about new products or other updates on your business.

3) Include a small tripwire in any deal you do:

• Whenever you're hiring someone, include a small tripwire to see if they pay attention to the small details.

• If they don't include the information you were looking for, it's probably best to pass on their application.

🎧 Podcast Update:

Check out my podcast with MJ DeMarco to learn:

• How to evaluate good business opportunities

• When to quit your business and when to keep going

• Marriage advice every entrepreneur should follow

Listen to the podcast here or watch it on YouTube here.

📖 Reading Lesson:4 Reading principles to live by:

• Not every book will be a match for me.

• I won't force myself to finish a book I'm not enjoying.

• If the book I'm reading is not interesting, I will put it down and start a new one.

• It's better to quit books than to quit reading altogether.

⭐️ Weekly Quote:This week Facebook, Instagram, and several other social media sites went down.You know what never goes down?Books.

🙏 Support:This week's sponsor is Audible.If you want to read more books but don't have much time, audiobooks are for you. You can listen to an audiobook while commuting to work, exercising at the gym, or cleaning the house. Audible has 200,000+ books you can choose from.Sign up here to get two free audiobooks.

Thank you for your support everyone, I'll see you next Sunday!Read on,Alex W.