Hello friends, as some of you may be aware, ThriveCart has had a couple major outages this year. Personally, I haven't been able to process a single transaction since March 5. Curious if anyone uses a different cart that works better than this thing that looks like a late 1990s website? Unfortunately I also use ThriveCart for course delivery so migration would mean moving all my courses too. Thank you for your time and hopefully your words of encouragement.

A non-email-related advertisement: My "Behind The Scenes" auction kicks off in 1 hour. Here are 3 reasons, all from earlier today, why you might want to participate: 1. Today, I got login details to a moderator account for a community of 6k members, in preparation for an auction I am planning to run, built around an offer that sells for $10k. 2. This morning, I got a message from an auction partner I have already written a pre-auction poll. He wrote: "I've received several very positive, 'I want to win' kinda emails. And here's the latest in the screenshot. Lots of $1 but I think you said that's expected. I'm good to push forward." 3. Just a few minutes ago, I got a new potential auction partner contact me over Skool and say: "Are you down for a short call early next week to plan our first auction in [his community?" The behind-the-scenes details of those three partner relationships and the auctions that might come from them, and other partners and other auctions, are effectively what's on offer today. I ran my first auction back in December 2026. It made $31k. I will be running more auctions with partners over coming the days, weeks, and months. I am willing to give you a behind-the-scenes look into all those campaigns. I will share offers (both public and behind-the-scenes)... sales numbers... DMs used to sell... my "day after" conclusions. I will also share the sources of partners I've been getting, the strategies that led to getting them, my experiences working with them. Think of it like a reality TV show, which actually teaches you something incredibly valuable, while you're enjoying yourself and not even trying. All starting at a bid of $1. Only available inside a popup Telegram group I have set up just for this occasion. Curtains go up at 7pm CET/1pm EST/10am PST. If you'd like to be there to witness or participate (all participants will get a prize), here's where to go: ​https://t.me/behindthescenesauction​

In another post, @Frederik Beyer writes: "I don't think my list would buy a 1K offer" If you also don't think your list would buy a $1k offer, here's an email you can send to your list to test out your assumptions (tweak as needed): === SUBJECT: My surprising purchase [Start off by telling a story from some recent purchase you've gotten surprising value from, or zero value from. It can be just a line or two. And then lead into...] And now, do you want to play a game? Here's how we play. 1. Think for a moment: What's the most you've ever spent on a single book, course, or coaching [you can swap this out with something that's more relevant to your niche] that got you EQUIVALENT OR GREATER value? And conversely... What's the most you've ever spent on a single book, course, or coaching [again, swap this as needed] that got you ZERO value? 2. Once you have your answers to the two questions above, hit reply and let me know. (By the way, no judgment on how much money you've spent on something and gotten ZERO value from. Odds are, I've got you beat.) 3. Once I get your answers, I will reply to you personally with my own answers. One is inspiring, the other I'm not proud of, but hey... So do we have a deal? Think for a minute, then write in and let me know. You might learn something about yourself. You might learn something about me. And you might learn something about making sales, even at high prices. [Again, you can swap this out with a more relevant benefit to your niche.] === Send that email out to your list today or tomorrow... and prepare to be surprised by the answers you get. And now, do you want to play a game? Here's how we play. 1. Think of your answers to the two questions above. 2. Post them in the comments below. (No judgment, and if you want, you can omit any identifying details as far as the offer goes. You do have to tell me the price though.) 3. Once the sum of the prices posted below exceeds the prices I paid, I'll post my answers below as well. Like I said, one of my answers is inspiring, the other I'm not proud of, but hey...

Welcome WELCOME The pool party is ON. You can find the margaritas and soft drinks over in the corner... ... the DJ has set up and is playing already... ... and after you've had a chance to dip yourself in the pool, and as the party heats up... ... perhaps you'd like to also take a look at this little offer I am making? The offer in a peanut shell: I am offering to take the winning bidder — let's imagine it's you — and... 1. To give you a NAME and credibility on the Internet, along with MY FULL ENDORSEMENT, and... 2. To DRIVE MY RESPONSIVE READERS to the optin for your list, and... 3. To work with you and co-create a SEXY ACQUISITION FUNNEL (free giveaway + paid thank-you page offer), which you can use to build up your email list AND make money on day zero by turning new subscribers into buyers right away, plus... 4. I'm guaranteeing, with my two hands, that if you win this auction you will MAKE BACK 100% OF YOUR MONEY before I'm done endorsing and promoting you. Again, I will send out a dedicated email to endorse you and your offer, and to drive my audience to you. If you don't recoup all your investment with that first email I send, I will keep sending more dedicated emails, for as long as it takes, to promote and endorse you until you do recoup your winning bid. (If needed, we will also keep working together to tweak your funnel to make sure the right people sign up AND turn into buyers.) That's the little auction offer I'm making, for you to consider while you baste in my pool. I'm also offering a few POOL PARTY FAVORS if you happen to win the auction: 1. Wine and tapas on me whenever you get to Barcelona. (I know a good place around the corner from my new apartment, in the Gothic quarter. Once you finish with the pool and dry off, we can head over there.) 2. A list of newsletters you can run ads in, so they drive their own readers to you, and so you can keep growing your list at breakeven or at a profit, regularly, month after month. (And yes, you can approach these newsletter owners and tell them, "John Bejakovic already endorsed this offer... and his audience loved it.")

I've been listening to James Altucher's recent series of podcasts. Really, James is sharing, piece by piece, a course he was selling a couple years ago for $179, about how to write and self-publish a book in 30 days. If that promise just got your eyes rolling, take me as a case study: Back in 2020, I followed a blog post James had written on the same topic, and I wrote and self-published a book (my first 10 Commandments book) within 30 days, plus or minus a few. All that's to say, writing a book in 30 days is certainly possible. But is it probable? In your specific case? If you are already writing daily emails, and you have been for a while, then I would say absolutely yes. For one thing, you have gotten practice with daily writing, and you are able to churn out hundreds or maybe thousands of words a day. Even more importantly, you already have content that you can recycle and repurpose for your book. And to top it all off, you can get your upcoming dailyish emails to do double duty — to serve as emails, and to make up parts of your future book. So here's my question to you: Do you want to write a book? In 30 or so days? I'm asking because I had the idea of a kind of challenge or cohort around writing a book in 30 days, basically following James's course, and having a community or group to get feedback, share ideas, keep on track, help with promotion and launch, etc. I first thought to write about this to my entire list. But I decided to ask you first because of the reason above — because you (hopefully) are writing dailyish emails, and that's a great thing if you want to write a book, for all the reason above. So vote away below, and let me know if this is an idea you'd like to see me pursue: