Before I joined his email list, I had no idea daily emails were even a thing.
I’d already been writing a weekly newsletter and struggling to stay consistent, so the thought of ramping that up made me want to crawl into the nearest bat cave and never come out.
Yet, I kept reading and enjoying his emails, bought some of his courses (Simple Money Emails is my favourite), and before long I’d mustered up enough courage to start writing my own daily emails…
Who is this I speak of?
Well, I’ve mentioned him before in my emails.
He’s worked as a copywriter for the past 10 or so years, authored 2 books on copywriting and persuasion, written ten millions of words of sales copy, and brought in good money both for clients and his own businesses.
Here’s my interview with John Bejakovic:
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1. What’s one thing you’ve done consistently that’s made the biggest difference in your business?
That’s easy — writing daily emails. In fact, my entire business now is really built on the back of writing an email to my list every day. I started writing daily emails as a way to get better at writing copy, back when I was working with clients. Then it became about potentially attracting clients. Then it became about selling products.
At every step of the way, the common thing was simply writing an email each day about something that I found interesting and valuable, and (most of the time) tacking on some kind of an offer.
Not only does it pay the bills these days but it’s transformed my life — I’ve learned a ton of stuff about what I do that I would never have learned otherwise, I’ve become a better writer and marketer, and I’ve even developed a low level of star status in a very niche industry.
2. What do you tell yourself on the days you want to give up?
With things like daily emailing, I’ve been doing it long enough that it’s become part of my identity. In other words, it’s become almost inconceivable for me to think of not doing it.
For things that are not at that level of consistency, if I have been on a good streak, and I’m thinking of breaking it, I will often tell myself that it will be harder to get started again than it is to stay consistent today.
And if it’s an even lower level of consistency, where I’m just struggling to build up a streak, I will often find myself thinking, “Today is clearly not my day. I’ll restart this tomorrow and get back on the horse. Tomorrow will be right.” At those times, I remind myself that whatever is hard for me today will most probably be hard for me tomorrow as well, and maybe more so. Might as well push on through now and build up a streak that makes it easier.
3. When you drop the ball, what helps you get back on track?
This might sound super obvious, but making it a priority, at least until it’s become a habit. That means things like doing it (whatever it is) earlier in the day, devoting as much time as I need to just to get this one thing done, and eliminating other attractive or important things. It’s not a sustainable way to live and work long term, but it doesn’t have to be — the whole point is just to get back on track with something that’s important. Either that or drop it and stop stressing.
BONUS. What’s one opinion you have about consistency that would raise eyebrows in a room full of productivity experts?
I don’t know much about what productivity experts might or might not hold as dogma. But one thing that I’ve personally found about how I work is that I tend to swing between two poles. One pole is about being consistent in the work I put in, without focusing on the outcome… and the other is being entirely focused on just getting the thing done, as quickly as possible, however possible.
At the start, being consistent about clocking in and clocking out works like magic. I’m productive and not stressed. Gradually, it starts to be less and less effective. I get less and less done in the same amount of time, and I become more stressed.
Eventually, I break down and just swing to the other pole, and just focus on getting the thing (or certain set of things) done, without forcing myself to work a set amount of time. Again, that feels like magic for a while. Again, it eventually stops working, which is when I rediscover the other pole.
In other words, consistency beats intensity… until it doesn’t. Then intensity beats consistency… until it doesn’t. And so on.
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That line “one thing that I’ve personally found about how I work” jumped out at me.
Because I think that personal part is what most people overlook when it comes to productivity.
I know I did.
I had my hodgepodge mess of hacks and habits stitched together from productivity “experts”, and listicles hoping it would somehow work well for me.
But it didn’t.
It didn’t because productivity isn’t some fixed formula you follow, it’s a relationship you build with yourself.
And what John shared shows just how well he’s tuned into that…
Here’s where to go in case you’re curious about him (and his emails): https://bejakovic.com/