If you do, how do you find ones to promote? Is it a pain to find good ones? I'm asking because... I myself have a hell of a time finding affiliate offers I'd feel good about promoting. In fact, it almost feels like a part-time job. In the end it's often easier to just default to promoting something I myself have bought and gotten value from (not a ton of stuff)... or creating a new offer of my own (which comes with its own drawbacks). All this makes me think, maybe this is a more general problem? And maybe we can figure out some kind of a solution?

Welcome to the JV Outreach Challenge. We will take 3 steps to complete this challenge, with each step so pleasant and light that you will be finished before you even realize what happened. Today is step 1. Step 2 will come on Wednesday. But no need to wait until Wednesday, because all you really have to do today is: *** Come up with 3 lists of potential JV partners *** Details: 1. The first list is of people you know and who know you, people you have a genuine two-sided relationship with. This could be friends or acquaintances (eg. my "JV outreach" to a friend I have in Barcelona), current or past customers or clients... people you have interacted with extensively enough online that they actually know you (eg. the guest post I wrote for @Justin Zack). 2. The second list is of people you know who don't know you — people you're a long-time fan of, follower of, genuinely can say feel you know them, even though the feeling is not mutual (eg. my JV outreach to Derek Johanson). 3. The third list is of people you don't really know. Maybe you know of them, or maybe you even subscribe to something of theirs without being a real regular fan or follower or reader (eg. my JV outreach to Chase Dimond). 4. Push yourself to put 10 names on each list. It might take you a few extra minutes to get to 10, but if you do it, I guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised by some of the ideas that pop up. And that's it. Make your 3 lists. And when you're done, comment below to say that you're done, and if you like, share your lists, so we can all possibly get motivated and exchange some good ideas.

Starting this hoping to whine and dine or something.... Maybe others can share their writing (or otherwise) woes, too. So, to start off, am I the only one who thinks "The food was delicious" is better than "The food tasted delicious?" I mean, I get the hate we give the "be" verbs... but c'mon (aforementioned "writing tip" spotted on twitter)

A couple weeks ago, Ben Settle ran an email with the subject line: "How to advertise to my list in one of my daily emails" In a nutshell, Ben was selling ad spots in his newsletter. 200 words. $7k. I nervously hovered above my keyboard for a few minutes, trying to make up my mind whether or not to take one of the spots before they are all gone. Which brings me to: *** Magic List-Growing Secret #6 That Big Email Doesn't Want You To Know: Newsletter ads (with a really great offer) *** I chose not to buy one of Ben's ad spots, but I seriously considered it, because newsletter ads have been one of the best ways I've found to grow my list. I have run newsletter ads that got me hundreds of new subs... and that paid for themselves within an hour. Eg: A couple years ago, I paid Daniel Throssell $1k for a 50-word ad in one of his daily emails. I got something like 500 new subscribers thanks to that overnight... and because I offered a one-time offer on the thank you page, which I sold for $100, the ad paid for itself in the first hour, and then went on to make me some money. At the same time, I have run newsletter ads that went absolutely nowhere. They got me no leads. Or got me some leads who never bought anything. Lessons learned, for me and for you: #1. Philosophical and format and audience fit I wrote in Magic List-Growing Secret #5 how I have been limited in my thinking on list swaps, to people who write daily emails and run a personality-based newsletter. Maybe that doesn't make too much sense when doing list swaps, which are free. But I think it definitely makes sense when paying a few hundred (or even a thou or more) for an ad. I can't prove it, because I haven't done enough testing. But my thinking is, I only want to advertise to people who have already proven they enjoy reading something like my daily email newsletter. In addition, I want to make sure these are people who are in the "Maverick Segment."

Didn't think this is the conclusion I'd come to, ever, but that's what it's come down to. Like, I have too many ideas that may revolve around the same piece of central idea. And even before I've written down what those are, I've forgotten half of them. Anyhow: I'll be compiling a lead magnet of note-taking ideas, if you'd like to be included, let me know with one or two of your favorite tips for note-taking/idea-collecting. Of course, I'll be linking to your newsletter/website if you choose to contribute. And if you want, we can all use this as a lead magnet, too! I can share the compiled file with all collaborators... Anyway... just had this idea in case anyone wants to try it out... Won't work unless there are at least 5-10 collaborators... sharing at least two pieces of advice/tips for it to be really valuable. Lemme know!