🔴 The Bleeding Edge Is Evolving // New Format Announced
The format of the newsletter is evolving.
It will still be free every Monday at 7 am EST.
It will still be paid every first weekday of the month.
The topics covered at The Bleeding Edge will be upgraded.
There will be two focuses on The new Bleeding Edge.
Help you grow opportunities, influence, and money through a personal brand.
Help you grow any money you make in or out of your personal brand.
Later in this edition, we’ll get into the 9 content creator and finance questions we’ll answer in future editions of The Bleeding Edge.
First, I want to tell you why this newsletter started over a year ago, and why it’s evolving to a new format.
So, Why Change?
I was working my dream job.
I owned a home at age 24.
I was doing what I loved…
But I was lost in life.
On January 2nd, 2023, I sat down in front of a notepad and lit the candle my grandma just got me for Christmas.
I opened the notepad, which I also just got for Christmas, and started writing.
I wrote about the candle next to me, Sade playing in my headphones, and the dimmed light in the corner of the room.
Scribbling into the notebook, I wrote, “I’m trying to foster a nice writing environment here.”
I could sense that I was on the cusp of figuring out what I wanted to do in life.
I knew it because time was running out. Although my cryptocurrency investments did well, my expenses outweighed my income. I was staying afloat by selling my crypto investments, which were close to being depleted. I had to figure something out.
I knew I wanted to use my personal brand to make money, but in a way that didn’t make me feel gross about selling something to people who followed me.
“My first order of business in 2023 is identifying a side hustle that makes $1,000 per month.”
There was something in the air that felt special.
Maybe it was the financial pressure I was facing. Maybe it was the spirit of New Year Resolutions. Hell, maybe it was the scented candle.
Any thought I had went down on the paper. I was unraveling weeks of anxiety and uncertainty, finally forming them into cohesive thoughts.
“The side hustle should fuel my learning, growth as a human, skill building…”
It was at that moment I wrote down three columns. I labeled them Interests, Skillsets, and Spiritually Rewarding.
At that moment, I had inadvertently invented the THREE Method.
I spent about 20 minutes writing down all my interests, skillsets, and what I found spiritually rewarding.
Then, I sat back and it hit me all at once.
I want to write a newsletter.
I saw a massive reward loop in writing a newsletter.
I could actively learn about my interests, write about them to solidify my knowledge, share my writing to provide value to an audience, and eventually monetize by selling a useful product to those who follow me.
I just needed a name.
I wrote down The Bleeding Edge immediately.
That exact journaling exercise, which is now called the THREE Method, has helped at least two of my friends discover that they wanted to start a podcast and do a short-form video series, respectively.
You can do the THREE Method right now for free, here.
Since the day I did the first ever THREE Method, I’ve moved to NYC, switched to a different dream job running the VeeFriends Instagram, met my beautiful and amazing girlfriend, published 74 editions of The Bleeding Edge, and am on a first name basis with GaryVee.
The only problem is… it’s been over a year and I’ve made a little under $1,000 TOTAL, with the majority of the revenue coming from the sale of the Formidia art series during the second month.
Outside of the art series sales, The Bleeding Edge is generating less than $0.72 per hour of writing.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m so glad I’ve been doing it and the newsletter has paid off in other major ways.
But it’s time for it to make some money, too 🤪
So, Now What?
The newsletter needs to solve a clear problem.
Many people want to grow their personal brand but don’t know how.
I happen to have many years of experience working for companies on the social media department.
Their problems 🤝 My experience
So, here’s what’s now.
The Bleeding Edge is about the nitty gritty of building a personal brand.
I’ll answer questions about personal brand like…
What should I talk about?
Is my video good?
Why didn’t my video do well on Instagram?
How do I stand out on social media?
What personal brands are good role models?
What’s working on Instagram right now?
How do I DM a celebrity asking for an opportunity to work with them?
Do I have to do trends?
How are others monetizing their personal brand?
It’s also about growing the money you make.
I’ll answer questions about finance like…
How do I automate my finances?
How do I raise my credit score?
What is cryptocurrency and should I get involved?
Is buying and renting a property worth it?
How do I grow my wealth?
What does a credit score actually do?
What books can I read to learn aobut investing?
What are money saving tips I can use right now?
How old is the average millionaire in America?
What about the paid verison?
I’m still ironing that out.
For February, it’s going to be The Bleeding Edge Buffet, same as the previous three.
For March, I plan to turn the monthly newsletter into a more personal and tactical conversation about personal brand, growing wealth, VeeFriends Instagram, and monetization.
I’m not ready to share all the details, but I think by the end of 2024, the monthly newsletter will be worth it’s weight in gold for online creators.
That’s what I’ve got for you.
Thank you to those that reached out to me with encouraging words about delaying the newsletter until it was right.
I’ll see you this Monday at 7am EST :)
To continue to elevate your own brand I’d consider some paid workshops. Maybe once a month or something. Gather those who are invested and collectively build something or help each other grow what they’re trying to accomplish.