The first time I tried to monetize Trends.vc, I pre-sold the next report. Seven thousand subscribers. Nobody bought.
My mastermind member Ash asked:
“Why are you waiting until next week? It did not work. You already have your information.”
Then Ash pushed further: What if you were vulnerable about it? Tell people it did not work.
That was not my style.
But I did it. I scrapped the report, chose a different topic and wrote a vulnerable post about the failure. The new model: the report goes out free, but you only see half. The full version is behind an upgrade.
People bought. They replied. They empathized.
I had not made money in three years. Within weeks the revenue told me I would not have to go back and get a job.
We live in the wild, not the zoo.
In the zoo, you can hold an incorrect belief for years and never know it.
In the wild, reality corrects you fast.
You send a cold email. Zero opens. That is information: 1) fix deliverability or 2) rewrite the subject line.
You send another. Opens but no replies. More information: the subject line works but the body does not. That is how we dialed in the cold outreach formula for HeadsUp.
Each experiment sharpens your model of reality. The next move is better informed.
The experiment cannot fail. It can only teach.
The way to lose is to stay in the zoo where it feels safe. But “safe” is a cage.
🧪
What experiment can you run that would give you information regardless of the outcome?
