He asked me:

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

“If I gave you the course and said, ‘It’s yours now, it’s all your money,’ and you didn’t have an investor who was going to just dump 30 grand into the marketing, how would you build it up where the cash flow over time more than pays for the marketing?”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Here is my answer:

#1 I want him to get back 5x whatever he pays me.

I won’t bore you with the math of the different options I gave him. But I set up an offer that was a setup fee plus a share of the revenue that will get him 5x what he pays me.

It is risky because if I don’t sell enough, I get paid nuthin.

I never want to be someone’s government employee, who has no incentive to create outstanding results. A great deal is when both parties have skin in the game. Workers at the DMV have no skin in the game when it comes to creating a culture of amazing and responsible drivers. They get paid the same no matter what.

Tie money to results and both sides can win.

#2 Every new customer pays for the next customer

I learned this one from Alex Hormozi. The sale of the course needs to pay for marketing to the next customer. If I am charging too much for my services, he won’t have enough to pay for ads to get the next customer.

The goal is to create a flywheel of profit.

#3 I would become the course

I can’t write landing page copy and emails, if I don’t become a superconsumer of that course. So, every step of that journey, as it now stands, needs to be fully experienced by me.

Sure, I am building a long list of things to be fixed, but I am also wearing my copywriting hat to find the hidden benefits not yet highlighted.

#4 I would talk to customers in the middle of the course

Ideally, current ones going through the course or just finished. I have a set list of questions to draw out how it transformed their lives. Then I would use their answers to help me update the landing page offer.

#5 I would talk to customers right after they purchase the course.

That is the best time to find out what their fresh motivation was for the purchase.
Pick up the phone and call them immediately.

#6 Rewrite the landing pages for the course

The offer has to smell like fresh bread. Based on all of my ingesting of the course and customer feedback, I am armed to improve the landing page.

#7 Fix the freebie

A stand-alone PDF might get them to sign up, but won’t get them to buy. This PDF freebie must be supplemental to the next thing.

#8 Write a 5-day email course

Such a course that breaks up the PDF into an entertaining and educational experience sells the course on autopilot. No one reads those PDFs anyways. (See my previous work.)

Do you have a course you want to sell?

Let’s talk. But first, look at my 5-day Educational Email Course offer to get you up to speed on how I roll. It is not only for books. It works great for most products.

https://blairjohnlee.substack.com/p/done-for-you-email-course

Blair

There were lots of mean 1- and 2-star reviews, but 3-star reviews are critical with a pinch of charity, which I prefer.

Her book is about the movement known as New Thought, which is where we get a lot of self-help books from.

This review is all that matters for the moment.

This is Tyler on Goodreads:

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Mostly good material, I would not seek to discourage reading this book. However, it is the kind of book that gets written when someone has only a cursory understanding of certain theological debates and historical events/movements.

That down grades it by 1 star, but the YouTube-esq snarky tone makes this book radioactive for anyone trying to deal with these kind of issues in their family or church. So minus another star. 3/5
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

I don’t want to get into a tit-for-tat discussion about the critique of her academic credentials. I think she did a fabulous job. It gave me insight into why my great-grandfather died.

But look at the description of her writing: “YouTube-esq snarky tone.”

This description would make me want to read it.

Finally a Christian thinker who dares some personality.

In her defense, these are not apt descriptions of her voice.

I heard her interview on Greg Koukl’s podcast “Stand to Reason,” then downloaded the audiobook

Her style is not “snark.”

Snark is basically smart-aleck sarcasm.

“Playful” is more accurate.

Watch her shorts. She does quite humorous sketches.

If all you ever did was read her book, maybe she seemed snarky. There could be a slight disconnect between her talking and written voice. Don’t know.

But you can really hear her heart shine through in her reading.

I am not sure if she ever did voice-overs professionally, but her audiobook is one of the best author-read audiobooks I have ever heard.

My hope for you as a Christian writer is to dare some personality in all of your writing.

Train it daily by writing and publishing emails.

Make a point in your next book to risk writing how you would talk.

One of my favorite videos of hers is a 2-hour documentary about Napoleon Hill, the swindler, who wrote the famed “Think and Grow Rich.” A favorite among the self-help gurus.

Blair

P.S. So, about my great-grandfather. He got food poisoning when my grandfather, his son, was 12. But he refused to get treated (which 100% would have saved him) because he was a Christian Scientist, who believed that sickness isn’t real. Christian Science is a sect of New Thought.

It won’t put me on the roster for the next vote for sainthood at the Vatican.

But it may have saved my life.

Not many know this, but I work early mornings for 3.5 hours at the UPS warehouse.

So I was tired on my way home from work at about 8:30 AM.

I pulled onto the highway to run an errand and dozed off for a split second.

But what woke me in that instant was an electronic tone. I know I didn’t imagine it.

It’s a 13-year-old VW Golf with no driver-monitoring camera or lane-drift beep notifier.

Neither Google Maps, which was on, nor my iPhone has any tech for sleepy drivers.

No other coincidental warning had been triggered, like low fuel.

This firm tone came from a source I cannot explain technologically.

So, I claim it as a miracle.

And a warning not to drive too much after my shift.

Many of your subscribers are half-awake when they are scrolling through their email feed.

But a miraculous subject line can break their slumber.

If you are writing the same ol’ kind of subject line, like one that tells them exactly what is in the email, expect a disappointing number of subscribers to open your email.

For example, “Praying 3 times a day keeps you spiritually fit”

This is a bad subject line because it tells the subscriber the conclusion or summary of the email. They have no real reason to open it.

Nothing is driving me to open it.

What should you do instead?

In my comic “blarg BETWEEN THE LINES” you can find out:

https://www.outofthinblair.com/p/clear-isnt-clickable-7

Blair

The victim didn’t get hurt, but it was still a shock because it was a man in a suit kicking one of three teenage girls. And my daughter knew them from school.

Further shock to her was the vile language all of them were exchanging.

But being a teenager herself, she had no idea how to react to the injustice.

She couldn’t believe that four other adult bystanders did nothing.

Not unusual in a city of 2 million.

Today she talked to one of them at school and found out the cause: Basically the three girls were (illegally) riding the same e-scooter and passed by the man on the bike a bit too close for his comfort. So, the man turned his bike around and began berating them with his foul tongue. The mouthiest member of the teenage girls responded with some sharp words of her own, triggering the guy to charge and kick the girl. He eased up at the last second blunting his blow, probably because he realized the criminal nature of the act while in the act.

I picked her up from cello and she told me all about it as we walked home.

Her main question: What should I have done?

She saw only two options: Nothing (like she did) or engage the attacker.

My humble advice:

“We are Christians, so violence isn’t an option, but neither is doing nothing. God can show us a third way through the Holy Spirit. Usually this works as a distraction that sobers the rage. For example, you could have pulled out your phone from a distance and said, ‘I am recording this situation for everyone’s safety!’ This could wake them up, helping them to see their actions from the outside. It both defuses the situation and keeps you at a safe distance.”

I let her know that this is just an idea.

I read many such “third way” stories in a book by a now-infamous theologian. Each story illustrated Christians responding with incredible distractions that protected both the potential victim and the potential perp.

This book was in the back of my mind in our chat.

But for writers, you probably see email as an all-or-nothing dilemma, too.

Write a value-packed, magnum-opus email OR nothing at all.

There IS a third and much better way.

Scroll down to my done-with-you option on my sales page and you will discover my third way.

https://blairjohnlee.substack.com/p/done-for-you-email-course

Blair

P.S. If you have been paying attention to my emails. You will know the answer.

Yes, that is his real name. He was born in Hungary.

Unlike mega-popular comedians, like Jim Gaffigan, every new video he puts out is unique.

In each show, he begins with observational humor about the quirks of the venue, culture, and travel, so it is never the same.

His bit in London will be nothing like the one in Florida.

These jokes are really one-of-a-kind and will never be repeated again. You even see him bomb sometimes.

There is brilliance to his design of the set.

The 10-minute YouTube video is only from his unique observational humor. But the rest of his set is his more proven, robust material only for people who buy tickets to his show.

Every opener then becomes a marketing smorgasbord

So, the logic follows: if his free unique openers are that good, how much better are his bulletproof bits I have to pay for?

Jim Gaffigan’s videos are only clips from his fixed set, which is not improvised. A new video is usually a compilation of bits you have already seen. He can’t use those for his marketing until his tour is over.

What does this have to do with us writers?

Your emails are your unique observational (entertaining) insights from today.

But anything in your book requires paid access.

That includes anything you would put in your future book, too.

So, you can continue to sacrifice your book by offering bits of it for free.

Or you can binge a bunch of Zoltan today to discover the genius of his simple marketing framework.

So, who is the clean comedian you are bingeing when no one is looking?

Blair

P.S. One other genius thing that Zoltan does is cut his 10-minute videos, which may have 4-5 bits, into 1-bit shorts. You can do this with your emails, too, by generating short-form content.

Brief example:

Years ago, Sylvia and I were invited to join the pastor’s home group at his actual home. Golly, were we excited. Wrestling with the Bible among others with theological degrees is such meaty fun. He even had worksheets ready. But you can guess what happened: The pastor’s voice shifted to his sing-song sermonizing style for his 30-minute Sermon on the Couch.

Did he ever notice the glazed eyes of all the guests?

Sermons don’t belong in home groups, just like they don’t belong in emails.

How to know if vocal sermonitis has infected your emails:

#1 Your demeaning subject line is a Bible verse.

Doing this implies your readers are familiar with the content of that verse. But for most this is a subtle dig at their lack of Bible knowledge, making you the Bible guru.

#2 You always start your email with a cliché sermon intro

• a question “Have you ever wondered why...?”

• an anecdote “This week I was at the grocery store...”

• an analogy “Did you know that butterflies are born as adults?”

These are not always bad starters, it’s just I know it’s the writer’s trigger for vocal sermonitis.

#3 You make 3 points in every bless-ed email

I am pretty sure a large contributing factor to me falling asleep during Sunday sermonizing is because of this predictable structure.

#4 You tie a bow on your email with an application

Because I now need to change my life, I will not click your link. Why should I? You gave me the exact step I need to take in the email. There is no loop for me to close anymore. This is also why your subscribers have no reason to buy your book.

#5 You ask a fake courtesy engagement question

These are the kinds of questions that, if taken seriously, would be exhausting to write. Such as:

“Did your parents ever put a bar of soap in your mouth? Hit reply and let me know all about it.”

To give you context on what I do: I have a catalogue of 26 email types that I work with, so that my subscribers are always getting variety. None of them include a sermon.

Want some help with your emails?

For the first 3 subscribers who respond, I will have a look at an email you send to your subscribers and give you some feedback.

Blair

That’s basically what a devotional is.

I just don’t get it.

It’s time to retire this Christian genre.

There is one exception I will get to, but first:

I worked at a Christian bookstore for a while and I never understood why I would ever buy Oswald Chambers’ “My Utmost for His Highest.”

Structure: Half a Bible verse + Mini Sermon

I don’t understand how this sold millions of copies.

Maybe because everyone had a hard-to-understand KJV back then.

I don’t know.

Or the whole Sarah Young’s “Jesus Calling” devotional that somehow ended up in our house. Borderline blasphemous speaking as Jesus.

Also, millions sold.

What am I missing?

The Bible can now be read in easy-to-understand translations like the NLT. Even brand-new Christains can pop it open and start wrestling with the scriptures.

I can’t ever imagine needing to hand another Christian a devotional.

My advice to you as a Christian writer.

Don’t offer green-pea baby food Bible-thoughts to your subscribers.

Think of your subscribers as people you are discipling minimalistically.

Minimal Viable Disciples

Don’t hand them a slice of Neapolitan pizza, help them believe they can make it themselves, right?

Then they buy your book which has all of the step-by-step.

Okay, I mentioned an excption. Here it is:

C.S. Lewis’ “Screwtape Letters”

Lewis created a kind of devotional satire written in the voice of Screwtape, a senior demon, to his understudy Wormwood about how to corrupt this guy.

Because Lewis veils his convictions behind a fictional satire, his convictions are never spoonfed like a typical devotional.

The effect is that you find yourself amused, but then you realize it’s a challenge to your faith in particular.

Much like Jesus’ parables.

Should you do this for your emails?

I would rather enjoy a satire of that level in a book, but emails would be great testing grounds for such a bold approach.

I just wouldn’t treat your emails as devotionals.

And you likely already have a book or an idea for a book anyways, so you need a freebie to grow your email list.

One way I can help you is by creating a 5-day educational email course for your book. The course would aim at turning your subscribers in to an MVD, who will naturally want to go deeper by buying your book.

Here are the details of my offer:

https://blairjohnlee.substack.com/p/done-for-you-email-course

Blair

But it is also Open Mosque Day, which I didn’t know.

I was actually invited to a Friday prayer (Muslim equivalant of a church service) some years ago. And I went.

After I had shut down my Amazon business, I was selling off my equipment.

A father and son came and bought my shelves.

“Why did you stop the Amazon business?” the father asked.

“Oh, various reasons, but God apparently wanted me to close it,” I replied.

What ensued was a conversation about faith.

The father had had cancer, and I offered him prayer.

Then he invited me to Friday prayer at the mosque.

“You come to my mosque and I’ll go to your church.”

I reluctantly agreed.

After consulting with a missionary friend, I decided to go through with it.

Lots of rituals.

Take off shoes at the entrance. Go to the washing area. Wash your hands and feet. Wash your face with the right hand. Rinse your mouth out.

I was sweating with nerves, so washing was not a bad idea.

He paid careful attention to me. I am left-handed, so he had to correct me once.

We went into the sanctuary and found a spot on the exquisite carpet.

Then it was a painful hour of me sitting on a floor with inflexible knees and hips.

How do these guy just kneel sitting on their heels for one hour? My knees were about to explode cartilage all over the million-dollar carpet.

The imam gave the sermon in Turkish and Arabic.

When the hour was up, my friend introduced me to a young imam (maybe 22). The imam invited my friend and me back into a dark hallway to the office. Inside the office were ornate chairs facing each other four and four. The wall was covered with surveillance monitors. Two other imams joined. My friend and I sat across from them.

It was a very weird moment.

I was expecting them to play the host and ask me questions. When they didn’t, I felt the Spirit kick in to act like the host and ask them questions. They were very young.

I introduced myself and explained why I was there. They told me about their faith and had a number of false assumptions about Christians, which I gently corrected.

Soon it was over and we said our farewells.

I wish I could say he came to church with me, but it never worked out.

Yet it was such an amazing adventure because I took a little risk in offering prayer.

Writing also takes risks.

I have been talking a lot about humor this week, which is very risky. Just ask any stand-up comedian. It can be as simple as making fun of your knees.

Here’s my ask: Tell me about a writer who makeys you laugh and why.

Blair

P.S. I do an exercise most mornings where I just kneel for about 30 seconds. It still feels like my knees are going to explode out in front of me like bursting a ketchup packet. But I think about my time in the mosque each time.

I heard that die-hard Batman comic fans loved it, but 3 hours of serious vengeful whispering for us normies was tough on the eyelids.

Imagine him writing a daily email.

(Brooding whisper)

Gotham’s rain is relentless, just like its crime. My efforts to wash the grime into the gutters are a mere bandage on a hemorrhaging city.....

Basically he would just be writing a detective monologue:

• pessimistic

• gritty

• confessional

The only real subscribers would be die-hard Batman fans.

Now let’s take Will Arnett’s Lego Batman.

He was so popular in The Lego Movie (2014) that he got his own spin-off in 2017. My fam bought the DVD, have watched it several times, and can quote Batman’s commentary of the opening credits and his heavy metal lyrics.

Imagine him writing a daily email.

You’re welcome, Gotham. Two-Face and his gang are caged, thanks to moi and my sick surprise backflip off the Gotham Bank gargoyle. It was so sweet. Now, I’m back in my totally awesome Batcave, and Afred keeps nagging me about “forming healthy attachements by making friends.” I’m Batman! My only attachments are to justice and my nine-pack abs.....

You get the idea.

Basic vibe:

• middle-school emotional intelligence

• hilariously self-obsessed

• knows his own pop culture

Whose email would you rather read?

Because Lego Batman is funny, it automatically reaches audiences who would never watch a Batman movie.

This is how your email could be.

You don’t have to be slapstick silly to incorporate humor into your emails.

Getting a corner-of-the-mouth twitch is all you are shooting for.

Your topic might be serious: Bible teaching, addiction, suffering.

Commit to elements of humor to reach a wider audience.

I’m going to go work on my nine-pack abs now.

Take a look again in my Batcave at my Email Course Roadmap. Can’t imagine you laughed out loud reading it, but maybe I made that dry topic kind of fun.

Blair

I have a typical framework for outreach, which makes things a little easier.

But I look forward to doing outreach like I look forward to my hands being rope-tied to a sled and dragged around the block on a Texas asphalt by huskies training for the Iditarod in summer.

But because I am not awful at it, authors pay me to do it.

There is a secret to why I am not awful at it.

Well, I AM persistent. I don’t back down until I get a “yes” or a “no”. I never assume one touch is enough.

But that is not the secret.

Everybody and their dog is persistent at outreach.

Here’s my secret.

I get them to laugh.

They actually respond with “Ha. Ha....”

Here is one of my recent responses:

“Hahah I love your persistence! On a family vacay now but will leave this unread to get back to you”

It took two months from first DM till she replied.

You probably are not doing cold outreach, but you write to get reactions. Emails, comments, or DMs. Use every opportunity to practice having fun, and even be funny.

Especially do this when emailing a friend or colleague.

So, what did I DM this podcast host, who booked my author for an amazing interview?

There is only one way to find out.

Reply to this email. (Subscribers only)

Blair

P.S. You may be wondering what all this has to do with being a Christian. “Where, Blair, is your verse and devotional?” Devotionals are bad discipleship devices. I am interested in training Christians to use humor to become better fishers.

But if you forced me to get on stage and entertain 150 people with a hand puppet in a language I barely know, I know I could.

Not just courtesy laughs. Deep uncontrollable belly laughs.

I know because I did it.

It was terrifying. But I did it.

You could too.

Backstory:

My wife, Sylvia, was booked to lead worship at a Christian family camp in a small retreat center here in Germany.

We were freshly married.

The camp had a beautiful location near the mouth of the Elbe River.

In one of the phone calls with the camp leader, they asked if she knew anyone who could do a puppet for the kids.

“My husband can do it.”

Guess who never got asked?

Eventually she told me about the little task of entertaining some kids with a puppet.

I was a little upset, mainly about my German, but how hard can it be to entertain a bunch of kindergartners?

Turns out that those little munchkins were sitting in the front row of the entire camp.

I will spare you the freak-out.

But it resulted in creating some really obnoxious sketches and songs.

We wrote the scripts partially for the kids, but mainly for the adults. (Think Pixar)

When it was go time, I was behind the curtain reading the German trying to control a puppet. Zero clue.

Sylvia was my eyes, show assistant, and pianist.

But the writing carried everything.

The crowd, mostly the parents, went wild.

Look, writing an email every day is a way to back yourself into a creative corner and discover how creative you can get.

What would you do if you were forced every day to not just create content, but create entertaining content?

I know you have it in you.

It is tough to land a belly laugh with email.

But getting a little grin from your subscribers is doable.

If you fish for the grin and get it, you’ve increased the odds of them opening the next email.

But you will never get a chuckle if you never try.

I’ve got an ask for you: If you think this post would help your audience, I would be very grateful if you shared it. Either restacking it on substack or making a post with it. I will be sure to comment.

Blair

P.S. The retreat center asked us back for several more family camps. We even made a CD with the sketches to sell. One of the sketches is about the idiot soldiers guarding the tomb and a freestyle rapping angel explaining to the ladies why the tomb is empty, which we listen to every Easter.

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot in 1874 painted exactly that image.

I painted my own black-and-white version of it with acrylic and it hangs on our wall of paintings by the fam.

The monk in Corot’s version has a kind, yet concentrated face.

But my version, according to my daughters, looks like the villain Red Skull, leader of Hydra from the first Captain America (2011).

So, my monk is creepy.

Especially because the picture is surrounded by my family’s more happy, colorful works.

But something always draws my eye to that painting.

It doesn’t really feel like I painted it.

Or maybe I am just that egocentric.

So, here is a helpful drill I do often:

Scroll through your emails and notice which subject lines from newsletters pull at you.

maybe one is just different

maybe one is promising something very practical you want

maybe one is Red Skull menacingly staring at you while playing the cello

Most likely only 1 of 100 actually enticed you to click.

Understand why.

Especially understand why you are blind to the other 99.

Master the art of writing subject lines.

But you can’t if you are only writing one email a week.

Let’s change that.

If you work with me on getting your 5-day email course up and running, I will help you get into writing an email a day. Because the email course emails drop 5 days in a row, your subscribers will already be trained to hear from you often. And you will sell more books and get them to do whatever else you want.

Check out the options for working with me:

https://www.outofthinblair.com/p/done-for-you-email-course

P.S. We have a family mission statement. A part of our kingdom building mission is creating art and music. So we fill our walls with our paintings. Writing these emails is also my attempt at an artistic contribution to our mission.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

There are a lot of poeple who criticize christians for making money using the Word of God.

would it be wrong to write a christian book and sell it?

Matthew 10:8 says “Freely you have received; freely give.”

So, selling christian stuff would be wrong?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Most of the answers pointed out the obvious:

• publishing books costs something

• many use the profits for ministry

• only one comment suggested reading the context of Mt 10:8 (finally)

Proof-texting is a hermeneutical sin. And only one guy of about 20 called NathWChristian out on it.

Anyway, the context is Jesus sending them out to go do missionary work without him. And “Freely giving...” was in a list of activities Jesus was prescribing alongside healing, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, and casting out demons.

I am pretty sure the disciples were not asking, “So should we be charging money for all this?”

So, I am pretty sure NathWChristian took zero effort to read this.

Here’s my response:

Anything you pay for yourself is worth more to you than getting that same thing for free.

So if you really want people to do what you teach, then don’t give it away for free.

I don’t mean just money.

For example, my freebie isn’t really free. You have to pay for it by giving me your email address. Your email address is not worth nothing. So, there is a little higher likelihood that you will actually do what I teach in it.

But if I just posted it to the web on a blob post. No one would ever care.

Take this to the other extreme.

Set the price of a book at 1000 dollars.

Sure, maybe nobody would buy it. But if someone did, you can be certain the reader will make their eyeballs bleed as they read and re-read that thing till it looked like a Qumran scroll.

That is discipleship.

Paying a price to follow.

Sound familiar?

Raise the price of your book from 7.99 to 19.99.

It’s the Christian thing to do.

Do it for your reader.

What keeps you from raising your price?

Reply to this email.

Blair

P.S. There is a guy who sells a book for 1000. And he makes lots of sales. It is possible to make an enticing case for a 1000-dollar book. But it has to be an amazing offer.

More accurate is “unforgettable”.

Let me demonstrate.

What would you do if you discovered your favorite writer does it all with AI?

Like me, you would never read them again. Unsubscribe. Maybe even mark them as spam.

A bit harsh?

Nope, because it is not so much a decision I make. Everything in me that is made in the image of God rejects artificial writing.

AI usurps our humanity.

Some reasons I have:

#1 Depending on AI robs us of the universal pain of artistry

Writing well is struggle.

Struggle is human.

AI doesn’t struggle.

Letting AI write for you is inhuman.

#2 Using AI to write for you turns readers into pawns in your game

True persuasion and engagement means you understand me.

Hollow words don’t have any understanding.

What you are really doing is trying to manipulate.

That is not how Jesus engaged. He met people heart-to-heart where they were.

#3 AI makes your writing skills a house built on sand

• As soon as the models get too expensive,

• As soon as your town has a blackout,

• As soon as a construction worker accidentally cuts the cable on your wifi

You will be completely lost.

Sure, if the email writer confesses, I can forgive. But my memory can’t ever trust them again.

Is there an exception?

Yes.

Ghostwriting.

Not for fiction, but for non-fiction thought leaders who don’t have writing skill. In this case I find AI incredibly helpful for analysis and building a voice profile.

But even in this case I expend a tremendous amount of creative and systematic energy setting up an AI harness. At the same time I listen very carefully to their recorded material to build a human feeling for how they would say things.

In other words, AI becomes my ghostwriting assistant.

But never do I write my own email with AI.

So, when you hire me to create your email course based on your book. With the help of AI, I do extensive research to get your voice. I struggle to understand how you express yourself. And I write your 5-day email course. And even then you sign-off on everything and suggest edits until it feels like you.

Or you could write it yourself.

Here is how:

You have to become a subscriber to get the course.

Get the course

Blair

A brilliant philosophy professor whose first book “Worldview: A History of a Concept” won 2003 book of the year in Theology/Ethics.

But I ended up with a lame General Studies degree, and loved every minute of it.

So he taught things like:

• Worldview

• Aesthetics

• and even Bible study methods

As a fresh Christian I was starving to figure out the world.

So, I attribute a lot of my Christian-philosophical convictions to him.

But there was something unexplainable about the guy.

He had gravitas.

And I think I know why:

I went to some event in the gym where the profs were playing dodge ball.

To my surprise I saw thick and gray-bearded Dr. Naugle in shorts and a t-shirt.

Him in a suit and tie is all I ever knew of him.

The game began, and this guy almost single-handedly destroyed the other team.

Here’s what Dr. Naugle had: X-factor

It’s when you combine at least 2 rare traits that don’t usually go together:

being a brilliant thinker WITH atomic dodge ball skills

first-time author AND winning the CT book of the year

short and stubby AND a booming voice

If you have enough of these rare qualities, you get X-factor.

Figure out what yours is and your readers will be one step closer to knowing the real you.

One for me could be:

Deep book reader and goofy email writer

There are more but you get the point.

One way to reveal your x-factor is by writing an email course that introduces not only the core message of your latest book, but also shows a bit of the real you. Let me help you with that.

Have a look at my 5-day email course offer:

https://www.outofthinblair.com/p/done-for-you-email-course

Blair

Well, that is what’s happening today.

But instead of a first-century Roman whip, I will be using my keyboard (the computer kind).

And to of punish myself, I am going to write three emails.

And schedule them.

What did I do?

You see, yesterday you didn’t get an email.

This made you sad, I am sure.

So, yesterday I was overworking myself to get work done for a customer and thought, “Just finish your day with writing. Get the ‘important’ stuff done first.”

And like a mule with blinders I plowed and plowed.

By the time I looked at the clock, it was time to pick up my 14-year-old daughter from orchestra (she plays the cello).

Lots of self-directed cursing ensued (But without bad words. I am a Jesus-follower, not a sailor.)

Therefore, I am announcing my latest experiment: scheduling my emails.

Never done it before.

In a judgy tone you may be asking, “What have you been doing this whole time?”

I’d reply, “I dunno why you always have to be judging me because I only believe in science.” (Esqueleto in “Nacho Libre”)

My real answer:

I wrote when I felt like it and hit publish.

Often without spellcheck.

Always sitting on a couch ruining my back.

At this point I want you to reply to this email.

Tell me: Do you publish when you feel like it? Or are you a snobby, entitled publishing machine?

Blair

P.S. Another creepy thing about substack is that it gives me a link to your profile. And if you publish content I can go haunt your posts and comment. I am OK with creepy.

Blarg is an ogre.

Chubby, green, hair that grows on moles.

He is instrumental in what I have to teach in the freebie.

Link is below.

But let me tell you the main reason I created him:

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It was fun.

I wanted an excuse to goof off and blame it on a highly irritable character who easily gets bored.

So, I geeked out and played with ai image generator for hours to create my character in different scenarios.

blarg was born.

Here’s another reason:

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I like to entertain.

But I am also a total introvert and I dread parties. Yet, to my kids I goof off so much at home that I often get just as much respect as Homer Simpson. I just love to get a smile, a snicker, or a dad-joke eye-roll.

blarg helps me entertain my readers. You don’t have to use that level of comic book entertainment when you write, but there are other ways to entertain.

Last reason:

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Charm makes you likeable.

In a world of serious Christian devotionals and debates, we could use a little more charm, especially in emails. Email’s should feel like getting a drink with a friend, not a demonstration of your expertise.

So, if you haven’t already, go meet blarg in my course on how to create your own email course:

You have to become a subscriber to get the course.

Get the course

Blair

Turns out, all the forearm power in the world can’t help a kid with sports performance anxiety.

So, for you as a writer:

What was the last thing your bought hoping it would make you a better writer?

Hit reply and let me know.

I’ll share answers next week in an email and leave your name out.

Blair

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I’ve been thinking a lot about starting a newsletter! One point of difficulty for me is deciding how to differentiate it from my blog, where I’m already sharing tidbits about myself, my writing journey, and great books.

Should I stop offering some of that on my blog, in order to move it into newsletter form?

Or keep the blog as is and come up with a new approach to the newsletter?

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Tamela, the blog author, kind of waffled in her answer starting with “Maybe make the content a little different — perhaps .....”

Surprising coming from a newsletter expert.

My answer:

Stop writing your burdensome blog. No one is reading it.

If you are sharing “tidbits”, “writing journey” and “great books”, absolutely no one will find it. Not even crickets.

It is an utter waste of time spilling your soul into a weblog, like some poet sailor lost at sea while generating 100 AI images to find the right one.

The only way someone will find your online diary, is if you become savvy in Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

You’ll need a course and a good software that’ll cost you120 bucks a month.

All so you can rank your articles in 1-3 years.

Publish hundreds of pillar-piece articles bursting with keywords, and you could have millions in free traffic.

But if you want a shorter wait, you are better off

• exhausting yourself on Instagram

• starting a YouTube channel

• or getting on podcasts

And your goal: Build your email list

(Notice I didn’t say “newsletter.”)

To build that you need a good freebie.

I suggest building a 5-day email course that gives a robust answer to your target audience’s burning question.

Here is how I can help you do that:

https://www.outofthinblair.com/p/done-for-you-email-course

Blair

P.S. Notice how I make no effort to do SEO. You have to be all-in or you are wasting your time.

“Bore” in both senses: boring (especially) and going below the surface (beliefs implied by the action)

So, I have analyzed easily a couple hundred Christian author email funnels.

Here is what the majority believe:

Most Christian authors believe “free updates” is a good offer.

Nobody wants updates except your mom. Not even ministry donors want updates, unless one is your mom. Even if you have a software, no one cares about the update email, unless your mom is a power user.

Most Christan authors believe that their potential subscribers are in desperate need of anger management

“I promise m’lord. No more than one email every new moon willst bestoweth thine inbox.” What is the offer here? That I won’t be the reason you make them squeeze beanie babies until their eyes pop out? Who signs up for an email list to hopefully never get an email?

Most Christian authors think the footer is a great place to put an email signup form.

If your email marketing your wicked step-child, then the dank basement is the perfect place for your sign-up form. Sadly, most of Christian author email funnels are better off left on the doorstep of an orphanage.

Most Christian authors believe the sign-up process should be a “Department of Motor Vehicles” experience

You new subscriber hits the “submit” button and they submit themselves to soul-sucking boredom. A tiny green box with “Thanks for signing up!” materializes to save the day. Notice the exclamation point! They must really be trying to get me excited.

More confusing (and disappointing) is when the page redirects to the home page which essentially means “Game over. Start again.” Do I need to try again?

Most Christian authors think dead silence is a great way to welcome a new subscriber.

I immediately check my inbox after signing up for a newsletter. But even if their tiny green message exclaims “Check your inbox!” rarely do I see a welcome email. Sometimes there is a boiler plate email from MailMonkey. In the end, I will have been glad that I used my trash Gmail account to sign up for the newsletter.

Want to go deeper.

I wrote a free 5 day email course a while back. Be warned. You will need a good 30 mintutes to go through it. Some of it may be a little outdated. But it will give you almost everything you need to create your own email course:

Blair

P.S. I am pretty ranty this week. Forgive me.