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Letters From the Desk of Bryan Collins

I'm a best-selling author from Ireland and I can help you become a pro creator.

Do you want to grow a profitable content business? If so, join 25,000 readers. I share daily insights about personal brand building, writing online and growing a profitable business. It's for creators, coaches and business owners.

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Featured Post

I don’t want to annoy my list

Hi Reader, Being polite to your list is expensive. I was chatting with a small business owner the other day. They’ve built a reasonably sized email list of several thousand subscribers. But they only send a newsletter about what their business is up to once or twice a month. “Why don’t you want to email your list more often?” I asked. “I don’t want to annoy my list,” the owner said. That’s a common objection from many list owners. But being over-polite is costing him sales. When I fired up...

1 day ago • 2 min read
A pencil is laying on top of a piece of paper

Hi Reader, For years, I ran a content publishing business. I published 100s of articles a month with the help of a team of freelance writers. I got millions of page views from SEO. I earned five figures a month from display ads and affiliate revenue. Last year, I let my editorial team go. I sold off most of my niche websites. And I changed my business model. Now, I run a daily newsletter. And I provide content strategy and coaching services to a few high-paying clients. When I posted about...

2 days ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader I send a newsletter to my list every day. I spend 15-30 minutes writing a newsletter in the morning using a Markdown app. I write while wearing noise-cancelling headphones, drinking tea and listening to ambient music like Brian Eno. Then, I schedule my email and move on with client work, a workout or another creative project. If I'm travelling or busy, I write a few emails in one go and schedule them in advance. Like last week. I went to Portugal for an Ironman. I spent a few months...

3 days ago • 2 min read
person using MacBook pro

Hi Reader I deleted thousands of readers from my email list a few days ago. If you’re reading this, you escaped the cut! Here’s why: When I started my email list, my mission was to get 1,000 subscribers. I asked friends and family to join my list and gave away a PDF on my website. I hit my goal after a few months. Then, I set a new goal of reaching 10,000 subscribers. I used every strategy I could think of to hit it: Facebook ads, content upgrades, outreach campaigns, competitions, and...

4 days ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader I've been writing on Medium for a few years now. I earn a few hundred dollars a month, most months. (5 figures if you count secondary sales of courses and products) Less so these days, at least from Medium… I'll explain why in a moment. Medium is best for personal development, life lessons, entrepreneurship, and coding. Story-first and click-worthy content STILL works great on it. You can build a list on Medium and link to your list. It’s easier to build a list on Substack though....

5 days ago • 1 min read
A laptop computer sitting on top of a wooden table

Hi Reader I’ve run a few different newsletters for years. In my corporate life, I even wrote content for a big newsletter that went out to business owners around the world. These days, my personal newsletter is my main focus. I’m still surprised by how many writers, creators and business owners sleep on their newsletters… or don’t even have one. Too many chase the dopamine rush of going viral. I get that, I made the same mistake for a year or two. But running a newsletter is the easiest and...

6 days ago • 1 min read
a man sitting at a desk in front of a computer

Hi Reader I started my content business back in 2014. As your internet Elder, I’m here to report that 2014 was a simpler time for creators. TikTok hadn’t wrecked the internet, and our attention spans with all that short-form content. Elon Musk was spending his days building Solar City, not trolling the woke left on X (or Twitter, or whatever they’re calling it these days). I started a writing blog on WordPress as a fun side project. When I wasn’t playing Fallout, I wrote blog posts and...

7 days ago • 3 min read
A metal statue of a person holding a baby

Hi Reader, Over the years, I’ve switched business models a few times. Coaching is my preferred business model. It’s the ideal vehicle for most creators who want to go from A (broke) to B (profitable business). I’ll show you why. But first, here are a few models I tried. 1. Freelancing I freelanced as a tech journalist and copywriter in my 20s and early 30s. I enjoyed this business model the least. Freelance writers spend hours creating content for somebody else’s business. That’s ok when...

8 days ago • 4 min read
A bunch of pink and gold balloons on a table

Hi Reader, The clock’s ticking! Get my bundle of 5 workshops plus one bonus product now. Usually, it's $600, but for the next few hours, it's only $197 for the lot. It comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee. But I will take the bundle down tonight. Buy now Write on, Bryan Collins

9 days ago • 1 min read
A woman holding a cake with candles on it

Hi Reader, You’ve got a few hours left to buy my bundle of workshops. The AI Content Repurposer Workshop How To Get Your First 1K Email Subscribers How to Earn $3-5k Writing Online How to Start a 6-Figure Newsletter Business Inbox Precision: Advanced B2B Email Marketing Techniques The Digital Writer’s Command Center Normally, these retail for $97 each, but you can buy the lot for $197… until the time elapses. It comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee. But I will take the bundle down...

9 days ago • 1 min read