Howdy folks,

This weekend I’m celebrating our 6th anniversary with my girlfriend 🥳. We met on the tropical island of Bali in a coworking space of all places.

This lifestyle has brought so many wonderful things in life but meeting the person who I fell in love with and spend every day with has to be one of the best things.

But speaking of things I love. This week is all about newsletters and why I believe everyone should consider starting one.

1. Why Start a Newsletter?

2. Expert Tips on Sleep

By the end of this post, you’ll have a better idea of why a newsletter would be useful for you along with ideas on how you can get started.

We’ll also get into tips for better sleep as recommended by. sleep doctor.

There is even a freebie towards the end that I’d love to share with you to help get you started if you’re serious about starting a newsletter.

Let’s get into it, shall we?

👨‍💻 Modern Entrepreneurship

Why Start a Newsletter?

1. Scalable - Communicate to 1000s of people

You write one message, and it can be read by 100s or even 100,000s of people. But it takes the same amount of time to write that one message.

This reminds me of selling with eCommerce. What I love about it is that you can make money 24/7 by selling online - literally make money while you sleep.

I feel the same way about newsletters. You can engage with your audience anytime, anywhere and at scale.

2. Ownership - It’s your audience

You might be growing your social media—Instagram, X, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc. But if you ever lose your account, whether you get banned, hacked, or something else, all that time, energy, and effort is gone.

You’re renting your audience from these big companies. Newsletters is different. You build your own audience that you own.

You’ve built up your subscribers, and you can take them with you even if you move to another newsletter platform. This can be a business newsletter, a personal newsletter or one built around your passions or interests.

3. Personal Connection - Get the real talk

When you create a piece of writing that people enjoy reading, you build a deeper connection. There’s one thing seeing a photo on Instagram and another getting to know the writer over weeks and months.

You get to showcase your unique takes or angles, share your ideas, and build up an audience that genuinely wants to hear what you have to say.

4. Personal Brand - Newsletter is your best friend

What’s a personal brand? It’s just your presence across the web. It’s what comes up when you Google your name, and see your photos, videos, writing, portfolio, etc.

Why is it important in today’s world? This could be a whole post in itself. But basically, having a great personal brand opens doors.

You can create an online income, connect you with other people in your areas of interest, or even help you land your dream job. The web is a key part of our lives.

If you want to leverage the internet to improve your life, having a personal brand will help a lot.

Now with newsletters, this is the focal point of your personal brand. Sure, make videos, take photos, and share thoughts on X, but everything will come back to your newsletter. This is where the people who are really interested in you will want to hear from you the most.

5. Learning from my Mistakes

I’m not one for regrets, but if there was one thing I wish I had done 8 years ago, it would be keeping my personal website and newsletter going.

Back then, I started documenting my journey to building an online business and becoming a digital nomad. I used to openly talk about what I was testing out to make money, how much I was making, and what life was like going from $0 and a one-way ticket to Thailand.

But after a few months, I stopped. I didn’t think it was that interesting or thought, “Who would really be interested in this anyway?” So, I stopped.

But now, I wish I had that treasure trove of insights over the last 8 years—the ups and downs and the connections I would have built along the way. There is no better time to start than now. It doesn’t matter if you feel like you don’t have much to say or don’t know your niche.

You start writing and sharing your ideas, passions & interests and over time you’ll find your voice, your niche and your audience along the way.

👨‍🎨 Life Design

Expert Tips on Sleep

Keeping on the topic of newsletters, I just launched a brand new one called Start Designing Life. Every week, I curate tips, ideas, and strategies from the top experts in the world across all of life’s biggest areas.

I created this newsletter because optimizing life and getting the very best out of it is a passion of mine. But there’s a lot of misinformation out there from people who either aren’t qualified or lack real experience.

I don’t know about you, but I want to take my advice from the best in the field. I want health advice from doctors and researchers using scientific studies. I want wealth creation ideas from billionaires and successful entrepreneurs who are actually walking the walk, not just talking the talk.

That’s what this newsletter is all about. I’ll be bringing you well-researched, expert information every week.

Here’s the intro from the 1st edition

This Week’s Expert: Dr. Matt Walker

Today we’ll be learning from from Dr Matt Walker. He is one of, if not the leading expert on sleep. He is a renowned neuroscientist and professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also serves as the founder and director of the Center for Human Sleep Science.


He wrote the international bestseller "Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams," which has been a huge hit because it’s both easy to read and packed with great info.

And his TED Talk "Sleep is Your Superpower" has garnered over 12 million views—yep, people are really into what he has to say about getting a good night’s sleep.

In this issue, we’ll talk about

• Can you really catch up on sleep over the weekend?

• Lack of sleep impact on testicles

• Sleeps impact on memory & learning

Sound interesting? You can read the full write-up here to learn all about sleep advice from the world leader expert.

🎁 Members Freebie

Keeping on the theme of newsletters, this week’s freebie is all about making your newsletter stand out and look awesome.

I shared 10 design tips to help you create a memorable and engaging newsletter. Branding is super important for crafting a lasting impression, and I’m proud of the three newsletter designs I’ve put together over the last few weeks. In this freebie, I share the exact design ideas I used to create them.

Oh and one more thing. Maybe it’s my anniversary spirit, but let’s make this week’s newsletter even more valuable.

I’ve put together a FREE Intro to Newsletters mini-course. If you’ve been thinking about starting a newsletter or are on the fence, this course is for you.

It will give you a better idea of what newsletters are all about, why they might be good for you (or if they aren’t), and how to get started.

Sound like fun? You can sign up to get started for free here.

🔥 Interesting Finds

Apple Enters the AI Race

Apple showcased their own AI tool which they’re naming Apple Intelligence. Apple is one of the biggest companies in the world & has over a billion users so a lot of eyes were on this event to see what they were bringing to the table.

Here’s a video to explain what it can do. I also did some writing about over on The Meta here.

📚 The Book Club

Here's what I've been reading or listening to lately alongside some little nuggets I've picked up through the week.

1. Million Dollar Weekend by Noah Kegan

2. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

🎵 Music to Vibe too

It’s a week of romance so I had to share this song from my favourite romantic film Midnight in Paris.

Come join the listening party with one of my curated Spotify playlists

• 🤘 Rock Out | Belfast in the 00s

• 🧊 Vibe | Bali Beach Bar at Sunset

• 🔋 Energy | London Rave at 3am

🏝️ Lifestyle Entrepreneur AI Images

This week has been all about newsletter & love. So what better way to imagine that than writing a newsletter in while in Paris.

And that is it for this week's newsletter folks

Wishing you a great week ahead as always

Let's catch up soon

Matt

Stay awesome

🫶

P.s

I use Beehiiv to run this newsletter and they asked to run an ad in this newsletter - did you spot it? I never expected my writing to be able to get ads but goes to show that things like this can happen :)

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