I know it seems the world is getting crazier by the day, but as humans, we all crave one thing we can never truly have: certainty.

I’ve been in Hong Kong this past week, speaking and meeting with many businesspeople. I’ve also had several calls with entrepreneurs in the U.S.

No one knows exactly what’s about to happen, but remember this: when things feel uncertain, you can panic, or you can get to work. There is always an opportunity, always a positive hidden within the negative. When the world goes negative, you go positive.

How are you feeling about 2025? What opportunities do you see ahead? How are you planning to win?

I’d love to hear your thoughts—hit reply and let me know.

In today’s storyletter:

• Want more clients? stop being selfish
• Building in Public – I’m loving it
• From the Web: Guy Ritchie is back

  Let’s go!

Stop being selfish

You don’t have a problem finding clients or getting leads—you’re just too selfish.

The Problem

I had three different calls this week with amazing entrepreneurs who run great businesses (all of them at 7 figures or up), telling me they’re struggling to find new clients. Yes, the market is tough. True, leads are expensive. But when we dug a bit deeper, they weren’t selling, weren’t reaching out, and weren’t marketing.

Please—I’m begging you—stop telling me you hate sales or that you don’t like to promote or talk about your business.

The Mindset Shift

Imagine you open a business and no one knows about it. Imagine it’s somewhere in the middle of the Sahara desert. The more people know about you, the better your location becomes. Your dream is to be on Fifth Avenue, but if not enough people show up, it’s hard to get there.

If you have a good service or product, you have knowledge, and you genuinely want to help others become better, why are you being so selfish? You should be sharing your expertise with as many people as possible. Get it?

If you love what you do and you’re good at it, tell the whole world—but stop calling it selling. You’re looking for clients who understand what you do and genuinely want it (it’s even better if they can pay for it or find a way to pay if it’s helpful to them).

When you realize you need to own your expertise and talk about it openly, you’ll see your marketing in three clear layers:

• You want everyone on the planet to know who you are, regardless of anything.
• You want the right type of companies and people to know who you are and what you offer.
• Most importantly, you want the right people with the right businesses to know exactly who you are, think about you when they need you, understand clearly why you’re the solution, and, more than anything, be able to afford you.

In most industries, the best part about this client circle is that potential clients are endless—you’ll never run out. So what holds you back is you, not anything else.

What to Do Next

• Make a list of benefits—ensure they solve an issue and connect to emotions, not just dry data.
• List 3-5 things that make you stand out from your competitors—write it all down.
• Identify two ideal types of clients—reach out, either cold or through connections, and ask what it would take for them to work with you today. Remember, if you need the work, pricing is something you can always figure out.

Real-Life Example

On a call this week, a business owner explained he doesn’t like to sell, relies on one client for 60% of his revenue, finds it hard to get new clients (small market), and doesn’t have a marketing budget.

After about 25 minutes, it turned out it was all in his head. You can always turn negatives into positives. We discovered he would happily pay a 10% referral fee per client, about $20K per project, instantly creating a budget. We realized he had an endless supply of potential clients when pitching enterprise-level companies for smaller firms (which are still large companies).

In an ever-growing market, he shifted from “not enough clients” to needing only five this year, onboarding perhaps two per month. This changed his creative approach from begging for work to interview mode.

Perspective is Everything

It’s all a matter of perspective. You can focus on the negative or flip it into a benefit. He will succeed in getting those clients. Now it’s just about planning actions—small to big, just actions—but more than anything, he feels proud of his craft, his work, and his ability to help people scale.

If you adopt this mindset, you will succeed. It’s about going out there, shouting to the world what you can do, and ensuring the right people hear you.

Your Turn

Got questions or something you’re working on? Hit reply and share your story—I might even feature you in a future video or newsletter!

Building in public

Zero to Someone

Speaking in Hong Kong this week, talking with people who run or manage billions and helping founders understand that it’s all about brand equity, made me realize I’m on the right path.

This trip is almost over; I’m flying to Bangkok in a few hours.

It’s week 22 of this Storyletter, and this new version is getting the best reactions yet.

A new YouTube video is in the oven, and this week’s video was a great one-shot rant.

While walking the streets of Hong Kong, I felt enormous gratitude for being able to do what I do. It was a beautiful day with great weather, rare for this time of year. As I sat somewhere taking it all in, I genuinely felt happy.

Remember:

• It’s not about how many followers you have; it’s about what you do.
• It’s not about comparing yourself to others on social media (most people lie anyway); it’s about helping others achieve their goals.
• It’s not about how much money you make; it’s about becoming the best at your craft.

What’s Next?

• Improve YouTube – create new videos and begin exploring hiring an editor.

• Scale this Storyletter – see if I can help more people.
• 0 to Something Website – After the site got hacked, I managed to fix some of it. Now the goal is to boost traffic again. Right now, it’s almost at zero; many links are broken, the main page isn’t good enough, and there’s a lot of work needed to improve the blog.
• Book – I’m happy to share that I had a breakthrough regarding the book’s structure. The new insights into brand-building mean rewriting the entire outline, but it feels right.
• Licensing Meetings – I’ve started taking meetings to explore licensing opportunities for my methods—exciting stuff!

Feel free to reach out to me with any questions, ideas, or thoughts. I’d love to hear from you!

Join me on my journey

Feeling very grateful for this community and this journey. Let’s keep learning, building, and improving together. 💡
My YouTube channel. Subscribe and support.

About Building in Public

Sharing the journey in an open, unfiltered way—the good, the bad, and the behind-the-scenes of scaling my next idea.

Just for Fun

Enjoy these nuggets

🎧 Music:
This week’s newsletter was created while listening to this classic old-school performance:
Check it out here →

🎬 Old School is Back:
I’m sorry, but if you’re one of the OGs, you’ll recognize the original. It has to be funny—or at least great slapstick!
Watch it here →

🍿 Trailer:
Guy Ritchie is back with a new movie, and here’s the trailer:
Watch the trailer →

I love U2, always have, and one of my favorite lines is “she’s running to stand still.” That lyric has really hit home for me over the last few years. I’ve been running all over the world, only to realize I needed to stop, find my pace, and focus on writing and creating content. Do you ever feel like that too?

This week, we hit a huge milestone—over 500 subscribers! Thank you all for following, supporting, and reading. It truly means the world to me.

In today’s storyletter:

• We can have a safe life
• Storytelling tips – reading out loud
• The personal poll
• Building in public
• From the webLet’s go!

THOUGHTS

With over 40 million tourists in 2024, this country is proving that everyone could get along, feel safe, and worry less.

After two and a half months in Thailand, I just moved to Vietnam, and one of the most noticeable things is that there are no helmets on the motorcycles. In most places in Thailand, you can literally leave your helmet on your bike or even forget your keys in the car ignition.

Sounds crazy? What about leaving your wallet or cell phone on the table? And it’s completely fine. Landing in Da Nang, Vietnam, almost immediately reminded me that this is not a common thing. In fact, in most countries, you can’t leave your stuff lying around or your laptop in a coffee shop and just walk away.

Tourists love it. They’re shocked. But it got me thinking—if everyone from around the world comes to Thailand and it works, what isn’t working in other countries? If we all agreed to uphold this, the world would be different, right?

In Thailand, safety isn’t enforced by heavy policing—it’s a collective agreement. It’s not about fear of punishment but a mutual understanding of respect and trust. What if we all made that agreement, no matter where we live?

Is it our human nature? Society? Culture?

How can we make a change? How do you spread an idea so crazy—that we simply do not steal things that don’t belong to us? How can we create a mind shift? Most people will say it doesn’t work like that, that it’s not possible. But it works, in a country with 70 million residents and over 40 million tourists.

The world could be safer if we embraced ideas and cultures from other places. If we embraced the good and found a few others to follow us.

Every person traveling to Thailand loves this, talks about it, is amazed by it—yet we don’t embrace it when we go home. This means that in order to maintain this in Thailand, over 40 million tourists agree to keep this alive. How crazy is that?

More than that, it means it’s possible. I know you might say, “It’s tourism,” but 40 million people, plus 70 million locals, prove the potential to create a safer world. The problem is, we all need to agree on one thing: mutual respect.

Find your ideas, don’t give up, and make the world a better place—because safety is one of the most important things we deserve, need, and want to leave for future generations.

Storytelling

Tips and tricks

Say it before you share it

Why is it interesting?

At my agency, we used to hire juniors, and one of the first tasks I would give them was to write an email to a client on a specific matter. I would then read it back to them, showing them how I understood something completely different from what they intended.

You see, people read your content in their minds, assigning a tone and style that may not match what you meant.

Reading your content out loud before you share it is a powerful tool to improve your writing. It helps ensure your message is clear, gives you a chance to refine it, and allows you to add emotions or small details that might be missing.

How to start?

Once your content is ready, read it out loud and see how it flows.

1. Fix any grammar and punctuation mistakes you notice. Make sure your text has some breathing room—we don’t want them to read too fast.
2. Go through each paragraph and sentence, making sure the emotion and key message are clear.
3. Can you remove unnecessary words while keeping the same message? Keep it clear, concise, and easy to read.

What to expect?

You might be surprised to realize that you’ve sent thousands of emails that didn’t mean what you intended. Once you start reading your writing out loud, your content will change—it will become more intentional, clearer, and sometimes even shorter.

Don’t let AI do it for you. Craft it yourself and just let AI check your grammar. This is how you improve faster.

Before:
“We need to discuss the changes. Let me know when you’re available.”

After (with better clarity and tone):
“I’d love to go over the changes with you. Let me know when you have a few minutes to chat.”

This small tweak changes the tone from demanding to collaborative. Note the change in emotions. Read both and see how you use your tone.

Why is it good?

It’s an amazing tool to:
✅ Find your voice
✅ Ensure they read it as you intended
✅ Make sure your text conveys the right message

It removes the guesswork from writing.

How often?

Every time you feel stuck. Every time the text is important—whether it’s an email, a long blog post, or a pitch.

Let me know how it feels!

Building in public

What are you building over there?

About Building in Public

Sharing the journey in an open, unfiltered way, the good, the bad and the behind the scenes of scaling my next idea.

Quick tip: Look at everything you’re doing at work. Identify one big task and one small task that you can either drop or delegate. What would you like to replace them with? Great. Happy to help.

What I’m about to say might sound counterintuitive, but hear me out. Let go—simply let go. If you want to create more content, if you want to build your content muscle, just let go.

When my social media numbers declined, I could have given up, but I decided to follow my gut and post what I wanted. And it’s starting to work.

If you want to attract the right followers, if you’re not in it for the numbers but rather the right fans and clients, let go and start creating for yourself before anyone else.

For the past few years (probably since 2015), I’ve posted a daily Instagram story with my morning coffee. That’s it. It’s my little thing, and I love it. People often ask why I do it or if I’m okay when I miss a few days.

I’ve never posted these anywhere else, but as my LinkedIn numbers declined here in Asia, I thought—why not? So, with a short three-liner and a daily coffee pic, I started posting. And the best part? People like it, and I enjoy making them. Same goes for my YouTube videos, Medium articles, and podcast.

People say no one cares. And while that’s true, people also love to see behind the scenes—to root for (or against) you. It’s up to me to deliver value and share the journey.

YouTube

Had a great time filming two videos at once—saved me a few hours, and the Building in Public video had better sound. All in all, great fun filming in a different location. I’m trying to balance filming, sharing, and delivering value.

Educational Thursday is a 30-Day Marketing Challenge, specifically designed for people who want to start but are afraid. Watch it and let me know if you need any help.

As my first hire is starting to find her way, my focus is now on mapping out what else I need. There are three things guiding my work in the coming months—things you might want to think about in your own business:

1. Vision – What do I love doing that can also make money? Should it be a service, a product, a revenue stream, or a marketing tool? My focus is on content creation (mainly YouTube and LinkedIn), book writing, and expanding the university reach of my current book.

2. Process – What’s required in terms of staff, hours, and tools? Planning saves so much time and money. For example, hiring a freelance video editor and thumbnail designer will help me scale YouTube—but only after I’ve committed to creating the videos, not before.

3. Execution – The day-to-day operations I neither want nor should be handling. Contracts, issues, problems—there’s a huge difference between work styles. I’m not an operator, and I don’t want to be.

Identify who you are, define the space where you can make the biggest impact, and move the needle. I’ve made a list, and I’ll hustle through it.

Webinars

With three major webinars this week—most of them in the middle of the night—it’s going to be a busy one. But time zones are what they are, no complaints. Over 250 people will learn about marketing and how to create content consistently. Next week, I’ll be launching a closed mastermind for U.S.-based businesses, and I’m so excited about it.

If you plan on pitching your company or service and haven’t yet picked up Fck the Slides*, I highly recommend it (and yes, I’m biased).Overcoming fear, gaps, and everything holding us back starts with seeing it, saying it, writing it, and then changing it. Don’t do what you did before—do it better.

Keep replying, keep rocking, and let me know what you think. As always, here’s my usual spreadsheet.

My top three priorities are always available. Click here for my updates file

My YouTube channel. Subscribe and support.

Just for Fun

Take a break and enjoy these links

🎵 Music: This week’s newsletter was created while listening to Essential 1995 Music Selection—loved this one, hope you enjoy it too!
👉 Listen here: 1995 Essential Selection

🎤 Clip: Lola Young covering The Cure—really enjoyed this version.
👉 Watch here: Lola Young – The Cure Cover

🔥 Video: Is pineapple fireproof enough to walk on fire? What???
👉 Watch here: Pineapple Fire Test