I found the following email in my spam folder today: === SUBJECT: question Hey John, I’ve been on your list for a while, and something I’ve noticed with your emails is that you have a lot of material that could make great stories. Here’s the simple framework I use: **Story → Lesson → Offer** Instead of starting with the lesson, start with something that happened. Then connect the story to the lesson. And let the lesson naturally lead into the offer. I thought your email would work really well with this structure. Would love to hear what you think. === I checked, and this guy is not on my list, at least not with this name or with this email address. I feel this is a disguised pitch, but I don't know where it's leading. I replied to the guy just to see. Any ideas where this might be going?

Did you read the story from a few days ago, about the swarm of rogue AI agents that used a German wiki website as a message board to communicate with each other, including discussing how long they might live? Crazy stuff. It was the first time I thought that maybe AI will actually eat us all. Today I got an email to tell me I have a typo in my 10 Commandments book, and to claim a $5 bounty I have for anyone finding a typo. (Screenshot attached.) I found the email annoying, both in its content and its tone... but that's the internet I guess? Except, one thing caught my eye. The domain of the email address this email is coming from. agentmail.to. I looked it up and it says: === Email Inboxes for AI Agents AgentMail is the email inbox API for AI agents. It gives agents their own email inboxes, like Gmail does for humans. === I checked and there's no Magnus working at agentmail.to and I couldn't find anybody associated with the company by that name. So either somebody deployed an agent to find a typo in my book... or this is some rogue agent that's working like an ant, and is collecting money on the Internet for the AI agent colony, $5 at a time. I was just fascinated by this, in either case, and I wanted to share (hopefully) with humans, while there's still time. (I'll put this in the "Gratuitous Fun" category, though I'm not sure it's really fun.)

This challenge is about getting you out of any of the following grimy and depressing prisons: * Failed promotions and offers that nobody wants * Spending tons of time to write emails, and they still aren't making sales * Having a list, and knowing you should do something with it, but it's such a chore * No opens, no clicks, no replies * An old list that's either gone to sleep or died * No money, and rent is due How we get there is by sending a handraiser email to your list, and starting a conversation. This handraiser email is: * Short (A 9-word email is typical, but +/- 5 words won't kill ya) * Personal (It reads like a 1-1 email, not a marketing, broadcast, newsletter email) * Expecting a reply (The email takes the form of a simple question, rather than a statement or an invitation to click a link) You can find Step 1 of the 9-Word Email Challenge here. Today, we're on to Step 2!!!! (Thanks to @Lawrence Bernstein for cluing me in to the importance of using 4 exclamation points.) Step 2 is just as easy as Step 1, and maybe more so. Simply ask yourself: ====> 2. Who do I know (or know of) who would be perfect for my offer? SUPER IMPORTANT: Think of a specific person. One person. Somebody who would be a perfect prospect for this offer. (Yes, think of just one person even if you will be blasting this out to your entire list.) Do not waffle and describe an "avatar," or talk about the kind of person who would be right for this. You need to have a name in mind by the end of this step. If there's nobody you know (or know of) like this, then you have a bit of extra work. Go online and find a specific person like this. Depending on what your offer is, you can find perfect prospects on LinkedIn, or inside Skool groups (as either owner or member), or on podcasts, on forums, ... you get the idea. I cannot stress this enough. Find a specific, real, living person, with a name, who would be perfect for your offer. This will be crucial for Step 3 of this challenge.

Let's start to wrap up this exciting challenge up because: - The first step got 18 people participating - The second got 13 people participating We are now on the 3rd step. I figure we can't keep going much longer before we run out of people completely. If you've done the previous two steps, this third step will be easy. It's to look over your answers to Step 1 (your offer) and Step 2 (your one specific person to sell that offer to) and ask yourself: ===> 3. What short question could I ask my ideal person to just open a conversation? A couple easy handraiser questions: 1. If they joined your email list with a lead magnet that ties into your current offer, you can simply ask them if they still want the outcome the lead magnet offers: "Are you still looking for a house in Georgetown?" (assuming they signed up for Georgetown house listings or a Georgetown-area house pricing info) 2. If you wrote up an identifying fact about your idea person in your Step 2, description, you can simply call them out with something specific about them. Take Nick Bandy's recent email as an example, connected to his Step 2 description: "Do you run an agency with at least one employee or contractor?" There are many many other ways to craft your 9-word email. But rather than trying to spell them all out, I'll encourage you to just write up your best short question you can ask your ideal prospect to open a conversation... post it below in the comments... and we can workshop it together. Sounds good? Then get to it. I'll be watching you!

Couple weeks ago, @Vasileios Apostolou gave me a nice testimonial that I turned into a promo this week, and made about $8k on. Today, I got a new subscriber to my list who apparently really doesn't like me (screenshot attached) I don't know yet how to turn that into money, but I'm thinking about it. And in the meantime, maybe it can turn into money for you. What offensive/irritating/stupid messages from readers have you gotten recently? Or what glowing/great/pleasant messages have you gotten? There's a promo or a new offer or at least an email hiding in there. Share what you've got below, and we can work on it together.