Yesterday I wrote a post about unwritten rules that strengthen groups. That post got... 10 likes and 5 people to comment, in a group of 483 members. Maybe it was a particularly bad or irrelevant post. In any case it seems like a good time to talk about written rules. I recently joined a Facebook group. The group is about the same size as Daily Email House, but it's much more engaged. People are enthusiastically introducing themselves in the group as soon as they join (as did I)... ... spontaneously writing up new posts and starting new discussions all the time... ... commenting on others' posts all the time. How? Simple. The group has written rules stating that you have to introduce yourself when you join, and participate once you're inside, or you will get kicked out. And the moderators follow through on these rules. What do you think about that? Please comment below. Or don't. But I've decided to start doing the same: Periodically and randomly and brutally removing people who don't participate inside Daily Email House. Your choice.

I just restarted work on a book I want to write... and eventually even finish and publish. My goal is to be done with it in the next 3 months. I also know that some House members, like @Steve Raju and @Tom Grundy are in the midst of publishing their own books. What about you? Do you have plans to write and publish a book, and soon?

This might tickle thy fancy. I wrote a book. So I’m going to do something mildly embarrassing and ask you to write about said book. It came out three days ago. It’s called Cognitive Sovereignty: How to Think for Yourself When AI Thinks for You. It’s already top 5 in a couple of categories but whatever. It’s what in the book that matters. The central argument is that every time you let AI do your thinking for you, you get a little bit worse at thinking. Slowly, and through covenience, not coercion. . The book isn’t an anti-AI diatribe… nor breathless tribute to tight-shirted tech bros with too much gel in their hair. The argument is subtler than that, in that there’s a meaningful difference between AI that extends your thinking and AI that replaces it, and most people are doing the second thing while firmly believing they’re doing the first. Now here’s why this is actually useful for you specifically. 1. You need something to write about today. 2. have a book about something your readers are definitely doing and probably haven’t thought critically about. 3. Your readers get a genuinely interesting idea. 4. You get to look like the person who brought it to them first. 5. I get a mention. Everyone wins. This is what diplomats call a mutually beneficial arrangement and what normal people call a decent deal. It also, frankly, positions you well. AI noise, I mean, content is everywhere. Shallow AI hot takes are even more everywhere. This is better than that. It’s signal and it’s good. It’ll make you look good. Everything you need is at cognitivesovereignty.io Angles, hooks, key ideas, the works. It’s all there. I’ve done the heavy lifting. Which is ironic, given what the book is about. Cheers Steve

Yesterday I ran a poll, asking if you want my help running a promo in April. 6 people voted. For reference, when I run a poll, I typically get ~20 respondents to vote, and sometimes 40 or more. This time 6. What happened? I don't know. but it did make me think of something very instructive that marketer Dean Jackson teaches. I need reminding of this lesson regularly. Maybe it will be useful to you too. Dean says, imagine you invite a friend over to your house. Your friend comes. He sits down on the big white sofa in your living room. You want to be a good host. So what do you do? ****** Option A ****** You tell your friend: "Hey buddy, the fridge is stocked full of food. Anything you might want. Just help yourself." ****** Option B ****** Since you know that your friend is really fond of oatmeal raisin cookies, you tell him: "Hey buddy, I know you love oatmeal raisin cookies. I have all the dough and everything. You want me to just pop into the kitchen and bake up a batch? Won't take a minute." So which one? Option A or option B? Says Dean, neither. In option A, your friend is unlikely to get up, go to the kitchen, open the fridge, rummage around, and take food as if this really were his own house. Instead, he's much more likely just to say, "I'm fine, thanks." In option B, your friend is unlikely to ask you get up, go to the kitchen, fire up the oven, and start baking the cookies for the next 45 minutes. Instead, he's much more likely just to say, "No, please don't, it's an awful lot of trouble, and I don't want to put you out." So neither Option A nor Option B. Instead, Dean suggests: ****** Option C ****** You bake the cookies in anticipation of your friends coming. And as he's settling into the big white sofa on your living room, you say, "I'll be right back." You go to the kitchen, get the platter of freshly baked oatmeal raisin cookies, and bring them out to your friend. "Would you like a cookie?" you ask your friend. "They're oatmeal raisin."

No, I'm not offering to do it for you. But I am curious. Are you planning to sell something unique to your list in March? And to have a deadline? And to send people a bunch of emails before the deadline expires?