I’ve just come off the road after a long stretch of travel, and let me tell you – my notebook is overflowing. I spent more time riding shotgun through New Mexico than ever before, which gave me a lot of time to think.

I was on the road for the last chunk of time, so I’ve got a lot of stopped-up notes. I did maybe more riding shotgun than I’ve ever done in New Mexico. At this point – are you stopped up or something?

What I actually did this summer was write a bunch of rough drafts. I don’t know if that means anything in the era of unlimited robo-cringe on demand, but I don’t know. It’s my brainspace, and it means a little something to me.

What’s great about writing is that you really do determine the rules. You can get angry at an imaginary enemy and nobody’s going to care. How honest do you have to be? Depends on what you write about.

You can write a love letter or a technical manual.

And it’s really about your attention.

God, I really treasure having control of my own attention – being able to elaborate on my own ideas, meet the people I want to meet, bring the things I want to bring into reality.

“Sales funnels” are often ugly pieces of shit that make you money but don’t look impressive on a portfolio.

I’ve had ones that looked like absolute dogshit from 2011.

But also – you could make a sale with one, or without a website at all.

So given that, it doesn’t ALWAYS make much sense for me to spend time explaining that in terms of my expertise.

Once you have enough money to have a website, you’ll start developing some weird loyalty. I started very early, so I’m loyal to WordPress, but I know the other ones. Ta-da. Just ask me – I’ll give you a sales funnel for free. But a “sales funnel” or a “coaching funnel” is a trick of attention. So if you don’t give attention to it, the utility may be limited.

So maybe you’re writing and tweaking emails for your nonprofit fundraising. Maybe you’re… staring at analytics.

Or what a lot of y’all are doing is – and not to be mean – you’re literally scraping job applications and putting in bullshit that doesn’t apply to your situation. Trying to fill a systems problem (or a staffing problem) with enthusiasm because your friends aren’t good at their job.

Integrity, integrity, integrity. Just have some.

Anyway, you’re probably doing the wrong thing.

The easiest thing to do is make a list of phone numbers and make calls. Start talking and start asking. It’s sales – and everything is.

“thats so obvious of an answer, it feels like cheating”

if “doing the obvious” is cheating, then Just Cheat!

It’s a Karate Kid, Cobra Kai, knock-down-and-kick-ass world out there. I guess it’s gotta be, so be ready for it.

“Sometimes, you and the issues are the same thing.”

Oh, you think people need to feel hope and brotherhood and faith in humanity? Are you sure? I mean, I personally think people need bread, water, and rent.

(Actually, it’s a funny joke, BUT HOWEVER – what we’re seeing is that that really is important, and YES, donors will pay. And citizens will pay. And these ideas actually go on without the government!)

Okay, so how do you actually relate to these issues – getting someone either motivated to give time and volunteer vs. donate vs. have a long-term client relationship?

It’s EASY to get mixed up between these in your messaging, especially if your business involves people being enthusiastic and helping your business via volunteering or social media engagement.

Begging isn’t a strategy – yet.

You probably have an entire social infrastructure that you’re giving out in person but not really existing online.

Think about social infrastructure. Is that a coaching area on your website? I know what you’re thinking – “Coaching is for life coaches and CEOs and people with podcasts.” And you’re right, that’s totally it.

But also, I worked for Peter Sage, who needed to set a team across time zones. And lots of people are in that situation, so it’s good to look at it.

And what are you getting? Well, it’s… just having an area where everyone’s hearing the same thing. And really, this could be – omg – Kajabi, GoHighLevel, it could be WordPress, it could be… okay, I’m gonna just go and go and go here. HTML. Anything. Wix. All of y’all have some other dumb thing.

WHO CARES?

It just needs to function. Just get it out based on your budget and time. But get your basics out – like the messaging, the WHY – and just answer those questions over and over in your funnel.

Imagine that after every sentence there’s a temptation to pull your ideas down and walk away.

Then – stop making it so hard for people to help you. If you want donations, make sure the “donate” button doesn’t feel like finding Waldo at an NBA All-Star game.

And it’s just going to take time to follow up with people. You know, they’re gonna be back tomorrow afternoon after 4. Who makes that call right now? Is it you? Do you know who it is? Do you need donors that bad?

“Relax, relax, relax.”

Don’t block your blessings. You’re probably closer to being ready than you think. Because you know, people don’t need all of you. If you’re good at one thing, tell people about it. And you know, in friendship, you might only need a person one time in your life. A little grim, but that’s a fact. But in business – wow – you might need to meet them again in weeks, days, months, whatever.

Just loosen up and stay in touch.

“Somebody, do something!”

Do you actually need a technical walkthrough of how to set up a funnel? And haha, yeah, I get it – do a personalized three-hour walkthrough for each one of them. That seems like a mega waste of time for me. And I know, because I’ve done it for like an entire decade. So if you want to see some ten-year-old WordPress walkthroughs – I gotchu. Hah.