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  • The Escape Hatch Pt2

    Got a few replies asking about what other things will be shared in that group.

    So I might as well drop the full menu.

    These are just a lot of notes and concepts I’m researching and building but it’ll cover everything from:

    Psychology & Human Behaviour, Sales, Marketing, Creativity, Trading & Markets, Making Money Without Losing Your Soul and Meta concepts / Why This Group Exists

    Here’s the other bullets, however things are subject to change over time…

    The “confession close” used by a legendary door-to-door Bible salesman from Mississippi that works almost disturbingly well over text especially on high ticket offers where the prospect has been burned before

    Why the worst thing you can do after someone raises an objection is “handle” it and what a 1960s car lot manager called “the lean back” that turns objections into buying signals almost involuntarily

    The single sentence that saved a dead deal worth over $40,000 and why it works precisely because it sounds like you’re walking away from the money

    How to use “strategic silence” inside a DM conversation to create so much tension the prospect closes themselves (this feels deeply uncomfortable the first time you do it)

    A technique stolen from high stakes hostage negotiators that makes people feel “heard” at a level so deep they’ll hand you their credit card just to keep the conversation going

    Why “adding more value” to your pitch is often the fastest way to kill a sale and the counterintuitive thing top closers do instead that looks almost lazy from the outside

    The “broke dentist” problem that explains why most people who are great at their craft are terrible at selling it and the embarrassingly simple shift that fixes it in about 48 hours

    What a bookie in East London taught me about “reading the weight of money” in a sales conversation and how to know the exact moment a prospect has mentally committed before they’ve said a single word of agreement

    Why your “lead magnet” is probably repelling the exact customers who’d spend the most money with you and the strange type of freebie that attracts ravenous buyers like blood in shark water

    The “newspaper obituary test” for writing subject lines, hooks, and headlines that makes the whole “how do I get attention?” question almost irrelevant

    A marketing lesson hidden inside the way cult leaders structure their “introductory” meetings used ethically, this is the most potent onboarding sequence I’ve ever seen (and it costs exactly zero dollars to implement)

    Why “niching down” the way most marketing coaches teach it actually traps you in a coffin sized box with no leverage, no pricing power, and no joy and the far more profitable way to think about your “who”

    The “Grateful Dead model” of audience building that turns casual followers into lifers who buy everything you make, defend you in public, and never once ask for a discount

    How to engineer “I was JUST thinking about that” moments inside your content on purpose, on schedule, every single week using a framework from a retired political speechwriter

    The one type of email almost nobody sends that generates more replies, more trust, and more sales than any launch sequence, welcome series, or “value stack” ever created

    Why the best marketing you’ll ever do looks nothing like marketing and what it looks like instead (There’s a reason Michelin stars are awarded by a tyre company)

    A positioning trick from the luxury watch industry that lets you charge 3x to 5x more than your competitors while your audience actually thanks you for the higher price

    The “shitty room” method used by a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright to generate more usable ideas in 20 minutes than most people produce in a month of “brainstorming”

    Why consuming more content to “stay inspired” is the creative equivalent of drinking saltwater when you’re thirsty and the one daily practice that fills the well without draining it

    The strange connection between boredom and creative breakthroughs and how to manufacture “productive boredom” on command even if your life is chaotic and overstimulated

    A counterintuitive constraint method used by a famous ad agency in the 1960s that turns creative block into creative fuel in about fifteen minutes (this works for copy, content, product ideas, and even trading setups)

    Why “finding your voice” is terrible advice and what actually happens neurologically when someone develops a style people recognise and crave

    The “magpie principle” of original thinking that explains how every genius you admire actually got their ideas and why it means you’ve been dramatically overcomplicating the creative process your entire life

    How to use what a jazz musician calls “wrong notes on purpose” to make your content, your offers, and even your personality magnetically distinctive in a sea of beige sameness

    The “casino owner” mindset shift that separates traders who make money over 10,000 trades from traders who blow up every 6 months and why it has nothing to do with your system, your edge, or your risk management rules

    Why the financial “news” you’re consuming is engineered to make you do the exact opposite of what would make you money and the one information diet that actually correlates with better returns (it’s almost offensively simple)

    A position sizing method borrowed from a blackjack card counter that keeps you in the game long enough for your edge to actually show up even if you hit a losing streak that would make most traders tap out

    The “emotional P&L” concept that explains why some traders are technically profitable but still miserable and why fixing this is the single fastest way to also improve your actual P&L

    What a retired pit trader told me about the real reason most retail traders lose money and it’s not spreads, not commissions, not “the algorithms,” and not lack of education (it’s something far more uncomfortable to admit)

    The “Sunday night acid test” for knowing whether your trading approach is sustainable or whether it’s slowly hollowing you out like a parasite wearing a suit

    Why the best traders I know spend less time looking at charts than beginners do and what they’re doing with that extra time that actually gives them their edge

    A psychological framework from competitive poker that helps you tell the difference between a genuinely good trading idea and one your ego is dressing up in a fake moustache to sneak past your risk rules

    The “reverse journal” technique that reveals your real trading patterns not the ones you think you have, but the ones your account statement proves you have (this is uncomfortable but it’s worth about ten courses)

    Why “passive income” as sold by the internet gurus is a lie and what actual financial freedom looks like for people who still want to feel something when they wake up on a Monday

    The “Enough Number” exercise that takes about 9 minutes and shows you exactly how much money you actually need to live the life you want, which for most people is shockingly, almost embarrassingly, lower than the number they’ve been chasing

    A question a Benedictine monk asked me that completely rewired how I think about money, ambition, and the quiet dread of “making it” only to discover the view from the top is just a car park

    Why the hustle culture crowd and the anti hustle crowd are both wrong and the third option nobody talks about because it can’t be turned into a clickbait headline or a course

    The “integrity premium” that makes certain people’s businesses almost recession proof and how to build it into your own operation without becoming some insufferable “purpose-driven” cliché

    How to spot the exact moment a money making opportunity crosses the line from “smart leverage” into “selling a piece of your soul on layaway” before you’re in too deep to walk away

    A brutal but clarifying exercise from a palliative care nurse’s research that reveals whether you’re building something you actually want or just running from something you’re too scared to face

    Why this group is on Telegram instead of some shiny custom app and what that tells you about how we think about your attention, your data, and your phone’s home screen

    The real reason most “communities” turn into ghost towns within 90 days and the one structural decision we made on day one that makes The Escape Hatch almost immune to it

    Why we will never have 10,000 members and why that number would actually destroy the thing that makes this place work

    What happens inside this group that cannot happen on Twitter, on a podcast, or inside a course no matter how “premium” the course is or how big the guru’s following…

    Yes that’s a meaty one to get through.

    And now I’m going for a nap.

    Stephen Walker.

    https://stphnwlkr.com/TheEscapeHatch

    P.S. There is no P.S. I’m tired.

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    Stephen Walker, Unit 146317, PO Box 7169, Poole, BH15 9EL, United Kingdom

  • The Escape Hatch

    It feels like an eternity since I sent the last email.

    Best friend didn’t die, which is obviously good and he also jokingly said that I’m supposed to die before him anyways…

    So it just goes to show that a dark sense of humour can get you through pretty much anything.

    (He’s recovering well too btw)

    I’m finally settled back up North again after taking an extra break because of all of the fuckery that went on.

    It was a needed break because even though what happened to my friend was horrible. It was a wake up call we both needed.

    It left him and I talking about a whole bunch of things we used to go on about when we worked together and did all the nerd shit in the I.T. world, where we should probably write a book or 3 on it but anyways…

    (It did take me 10 minutes to figure out how to get my laptop to work again, cause who knew that not opening it up for a few weeks could lead the not so fully charged battery to be dead…)

    Equally, I’m grateful for everyone who reached out via email to check in on me. I appreciate you.

    I’ve also yeeted myself off of social media. Just straight up deleted the apps off my phone completely. No more Facebook or Instagram.

    I’ve kept Twitter because It’s mainly used as a lead generation outlet, cause believe it or not.

    Those people are genuine in comparison to all the peacocking and outright performative bullshit you see on the other places. I don’t know what it is about those places but they just leave me angry, even if I’m just scrolling through it.

    So if I haven’t replied to anyone who happens to follow / are friends with me on there. My bad. Although you could’ve just emailed me innit…

    With that all being said.

    I’ve finally created a place where we can hang out where I can brain dump everything I know, while still having that human element of 1 to 1.

    I want to keep it low-key as the kids would say and frankly I don’t even care if you join or not. It’s mainly a dumping grounds for what I’m doing, or working on and if you want to satisfy your nosey tendencies I’m sure you’d join in.

    You can be as anonymous as you like or out there too. Whatever floats your boat.

    Anywho…

    Here are the types of things I’ll be drip feeding into this little world as I research, build and create them…

    Why the most persuasive people in any room almost never "try" to persuade anyone and the strange 19th-century parlour trick that explains exactly how they do it (most psychologists won't touch this with a barge pole)
    
    The "Dead Man's Hand" principle of human decision making that lets you predict what someone will do next with eerie accuracy, even if you've never met them before.
    
    A dirty little cognitive bias retail stores have exploited since the 1920s that works even better inside a Telegram chat than it does on a shop floor (and no, it's not scarcity or social proof)
    
    What a disgraced Navy interrogator accidentally discovered about getting people to reveal their deepest objections, without ever asking them a single question.
    
    The real reason people "ghost" on you after saying they're interested and why it has almost nothing to do with you, your offer, or your follow up (this one stings, but it's liberating once you see it)
    
    How an obscure 1947 hypnosis paper explains why most marketing falls on deaf ears and the two word "pattern interrupt" that snaps even the most jaded prospect out of their scroll coma.
    
    Why trying to "build trust" the way the gurus teach actually destroys trust with the exact people most likely to buy from you.
    
    The "kinked garden hose" phenomenon behind almost every self sabotaging behaviour you've ever had and the absurdly simple way to unkink it (a trauma therapist friend shared this with me after three whiskeys and I haven't been the same since)
    
    A little known finding from behavioural economics that shows why people who set goals the "SMART" way are statistically more likely to quit than people who do something far lazier and less respectable.
    
    The "status game" hiding inside every conversation you'll ever have and how to spot whether someone is playing for dominance, for approval, or for something much darker (once you see this you can't unsee it)
    
    These just a few little bits from the psychology and human behaviour things I've been deep diving on. There's going to be a whole bunch more to come and well, if you like to have your brain meat massage a little bit. You should join or not...

    Stephen Walker.

    https://stphnwlkr.com/TheEscapeHatch

    P.S. Download the app. Make an account and you can choose to be who you wanna be or not. It’s entirely up to you.

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    Stephen Walker, Unit 146317, PO Box 7169, Poole, BH15 9EL, United Kingdom

  • Where gringos go to disappear

    “The world is a looking glass. It gives back to every man a true reflection of his own thoughts. Rule your mind or it will rule you.” – Siddhartha Gautama

    I’m doing one of my favorite activities, right now:

    Sitting down at a random coffee shop on my first day in a new country, and writing an email.

    It brings me back to my roots.

    The daily emails I wrote for EGT were sent from 40-something countries:

    Some, from hidden gems I still hope to find my way back to — others from sketchy holes-in-walls where gringos go to disappear.

    I once wrote an entire email from the backseat of a Rickshaw in Bali, balancing my laptop on my knees while trying not to fall off the side into the mud.

    Anyway, this morning I woke up in Mexico City and rolled out the door with a vague idea of where I wanted to go, but no solid plan.

    I took a quick left at the end of my street, then another left.

    Then the Tao winked at me.

    Minutes from my AirBnb, a specialty coffee shop materialized on a quiet, tree-lined street, across from a beautiful park, with plenty of comfortable seating, fast WiFi, friendly people, and amazing coffee.

    I’m also getting the impression it’s a regular morning stop for the female yoga class down the street.

    So that’s cool.

    But my favorite part of the “freedom business” thing has less to do with traveling, and more to do with what traveling does to you.

    Every time I land in a new country, it feels like the snow globe of my mind gets tipped upside down, and all the neurotic crap that had been stuck in dark corners and crevices comes swirling into my awareness.

    There’s an ambient paranoia that comes with being a polite little white boy in a foreign place:

    Bumbling around town speaking broken Spanglish with my laptop and credit cards and cash in clear view of the locals who can’t help staring at the lost gringo zooming in and out on Google maps, trying to figure out where the fxck he is.

    Even after a decade of traveling, I still feel the target on my back, and hear the voice in my head asking me what I’m even doing here.

    But the voice is a lot quieter now, and it fades a lot faster.

    And, rather than listening to it, I find myself watching in amusement as it fades into the background and then disappears.

    And that’s the whole point.

    When I started traveling intensively in my early 20s, it wasn’t to check items off a bucket list.

    It was to train myself to feel at home anywhere in the world.

    My goal was to settle so fully into myself that no situation, no unfamiliar surrounding could throw me off.

    To me, that’s the deeper benefit of traveling.

    But you don’t need to travel to receive it.

    You just need to throw yourself into uncomfortable situations:

    The first date, the party at a stranger’s house, the high-pressure networking event, the mushroom trip on the beach in Rio de Janiero during Carnival in 2014 where you get so sunburnt you can’t even take a shower that night.

    Normalize being uncomfortable until you feel comfortable everywhere you go.

    Lots of love from Mexico City,

    • T

    P.S. Today’s writing track.

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  • Yes, England. You know?

    …fish, chips, cup ‘o tea, bad food, worse weather, Mary fucking Poppins… ENGLAND!

    “I don’t like leaving my own country, Doug, and I especially don’t like leaving it for anything less than warm sandy beaches, and cocktails with little straw hats.”

    “We’ve got sandy beaches…”

    So, who the fuck wants to see ’em? I hope you appreciate the concern I have for my friend Franky, Doug. I’m gonna find him, and you’re gonna help me find him, and we’re gonna start at that fight…”

    I love Snatch. It’s one of my favourite movies (Besides Pulp Fiction, where I’ve written a whole copywriting framework around the way Tarantino writes dialogue and stories, but that’ll be saved for another day)

    Anyways…

    I’m heading my way up North again. Things are all good in London. Friend is recovering and balance is being restored to the natural order of things.

    In between him nearly dying and me spending time in the overly romanticised London.

    I’ve been doing a lot of sitting on my hands and just deep thinking regarding all the bullshit that February has flung at me, while making sure my friend doesn’t die before me because I’m the captain of that ship.

    Generally I write off January for any form of productivity, interaction and anything along the lines being a human.

    I’m an awkward slab of meat and electronic impulses that is just trying to make it another 365 days on this big, beautiful and chaotic ball of soil spinning around galaxy at whoever knows what speed.

    And so the deep rabbit hole of thinking has led me down a lot of pathways of what I want to do and be for people, family etc.

    Was it very dark and nihilistic due to the circumstances? Yes.

    Was it needed? Also, yes.

    I’ve done a lot of sacrificing over the years. From being social and falling in love, to even picking up old hobbies that kept my soul burning.

    I basically rolled ’em all up into a little ball and shoved them up a metaphorical asshole. (Gross? Yes. Was it a necessary metaphor/analogy? Absolutely)

    So when people go down the woo woo route of self love and all that stuff…

    I’m picking self love. Especially after being hit in the face with a bunch of other small series of unfortunate events.

    I’m taking weekends off fully. No emails. No nothing. Dead to the world. (Well more dead to the world than I already am)

    “BuT YoU cAn AuToMaTe YoUr EmAiLs!!”

    I’m not about that life.

    More time outside.

    More time away from the internet.

    More time in nature.

    More good vibes.

    I mean if I don’t do it. I’ll end up going insane and also, how will I come up with stupid and entertaining stories for you to read?

    Wish me luck. Drunk people on the train and I’ll be fully back in Manchester by Midnight, unless I get thrown off at Wolverhampton.

    Stephen Walker.

    P.S. I’ve listened to this set 3x in the last week to just keep my head out of my own ass. If you’re going through something, anything and it’s tough. Just remember. Things will always get better.

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    Stephen Walker, Unit 146317, PO Box 7169, Poole, BH15 9EL, United Kingdom

  • The most terrifying achievement in human history

    “Sometimes you find yourself in positions where falling would mean death. So you don’t fall.” – Alex Honnold

    Creativity, inspiration, and clarity are non-linear.

    They comes from places you don’t expect, when you don’t expect them.

    And when they arrive, they don’t scream; they whisper — so if you don’t listen close, you’ll miss them.

    Like I almost did last night.

    It started a few days ago, when Alex Honnold climbed a 1600 ft Taipei skyscraper, live on Netflix, without a rope.

    That’s a crazy-ass thing for nearly anyone to do, but Alex has been free soloing the toughest climbs on earth for decades.

    So Taipei was more of a showcase than a real challenge.

    (his greatest achievement — the greatest physical achievement in human history — was free soloing Yosemite’s El Capitan, an iconic, 3000 ft, near-flat rock face, with no partner or rope)

    Anyway, I watched for about two minutes before I felt too queasy to continue.

    My palms actually started sweating, and I kept wiping them off in case they accidentally made Alex slip, and my fists were clenched as though my grip was the only thing keeping Alex from falling hundreds of feet and pancaking a crowd of Koreans.

    But that queasy two minutes got stuck in my brain, and I couldn’t shake it loose.

    Random fact, I was actually a competitive rock climber when I was a kid.

    I remember spending my entire allowance every week on new holds for the climbing wall I had, no joke, in my bedroom.

    (I had one of those weird ceilings that went diagonal before it went flat, and I used to boulder from my bed on one side to my desk on the other side. True story.)

    So something about Alex Honnold free soloing Taipei tickled an old, forgotten corner of my brain.

    I tried to ignore it, at first.

    (”what’s the point in going down a rock climbing rabbit hole, that’s stupid, I’ve got work to do”)

    Until last night, when I sat down for dinner and flipped on my show, and then, three minutes in, turned it off, flipped on YouTube, and dove down the rabbit hole head first.

    I ended up watching nearly two hours of free solo climbing, palms sweating the whole way.

    Then I went upstairs and listened to clips of Alex on Rogan while I brushed my teeth.

    Then I bought Alex’s biography on Amazon and read it while falling asleep.

    And now I’m sitting here writing about Alex to you.

    I have no idea what the “benefit” of this new mini-obsession is — or if there even is a benefit, other than the pleasure of the obsession itself.

    But I do know that my mind lit up when I started watching free solo climbing, and I’ve been riding a wave of fresh inspiration ever since.

    That’s what I mean when I say creativity, inspiration and clarity is non-linear:

    It comes from places you’d never expect, squeezes through hidden doors in your mind you didn’t know were there.

    If we try to logic it — to decide where it should come from and what form it should take when it appears — those doors slam shut.

    All we can do is pay close attention to what switches us on:

    Pull the unexpected threads of curiosity as far as they will go, and allow ourselves to be surprised at where we end up.

    If that sounds mystical, that’s because it is.

    It’s mysterious and magical and totally the sh*t life is all about:

    Let yourself enjoy the ride.

    • T

    P.S. A few bangers from Alex:

    “I’ve done a lot of thinking about fear. For me the crucial question is not how to climb without fear — that’s impossible — but how to deal with it when it creeps into your nerve endings.”

    “There is no adrenaline rush. If I get an adrenaline rush, it means that something has gone horribly wrong.”

    “Doubt is the biggest danger in soloing. As soon as you hesitate, you’re screwed.”

    “No matter how hot the chick is, say if I was standing at the base of El Cap, and she urged me to free solo some route, my answer would be “No way”.”

    Also, this is epic.​

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  • Liar’s Poker

    I’m heading back from London as I write and send this…

    Pick it up and read it over and over.

    It’s essentially about the wall street sociopaths who turned greed into a game (And what it truly reveals about human nature)

    Michael Lewis exposed the primal psychology that turns ordinary people into money obsessed predators willing to destroy anyone in their path. The same dark patterns these traders used to separate suckers from millions are being used RIGHT NOW by marketers who dominate their industries while their competitors whine about “ethics.”

    Read this book and you’ll never look at persuasion, negotiation, or making money the same way again.

    Here’s what you’ll steal from reading Liar’s Poker…

    • You’ll discover why the biggest winners in any market are the ones who understand that business is tribal warfare, not a gentleman’s game. The Salomon Brothers traders didn’t succeed because they were smarter or worked harder… they succeeded because they grasped the uncomfortable truth that separating people from their money requires understanding human weakness at a molecular level, then exploiting it without mercy or apology.
    • You’ll learn the dark art of “positioning” yourself as the authority who makes the rules while everyone else scrambles to play by them. Watch how the top traders at Salomon created their own reality distortion fields where they dictated value, manufactured urgency, and made clients feel privileged to be fleeced… then swipe this exact psychological framework for your marketing.
    • You’ll see how creating artificial scarcity and FOMO is the entire game. These traders moved billions by making smart people feel stupid for not acting NOW, and you’ll get a masterclass in manufacturing the perception that hesitation equals devastation.
    • You’ll understand why “fake it till you make it” isn’t just motivational nonsense peacocked around by your favourite online Guru. It’s sneakily how empires are built. Lewis shows you how 22 year old kids with zero experience convinced institutional investors to trust them with fortunes by mastering one skill… Appearing supremely confident even when clueless.
    • You’ll absorb the brutal lesson that in any market, there are exactly two types of people. Those who eat, and those who get eaten. The traders who thrived weren’t the nicest or most ethical… they were the ones who understood this reality first and acted on it while everyone else was still pretending the world was fair.

    (I was inspired by my boy Ben Settle to write those bullets so you can blame him)

    Although this book has probably been the most influential on me in the last 5 years.

    Give it a stab and tell me what you think.

    Stephen Walker.

    P.S. I nearly forgot to drop the link while I head my way back up north.

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    Stephen Walker, Unit 146317, PO Box 7169, Poole, BH15 9EL, United Kingdom

  • The Century of the Self

    If you’ve been questioning what’s going on in the world and wanting a deeper dive into western society and how we’ve all been tricked and lied to…

    This will arguably be the best thing you watch in 2026.

    Marketers think they know things until they’ve watched this.

    Psychologists think they know people until they’ve watched this.

    Stephen Walker.

    P.S. The regularly scheduled programming will be returning by the end of the week. Appreciate you still sticking around.

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    Stephen Walker, Unit 146317, PO Box 7169, Poole, BH15 9EL, United Kingdom

  • Fickle Family Fuckery and Friends

    One of my best friends nearly died a few days ago.

    We were hanging out, having a couple of beers and planning a little holiday together to see some family we’ve not seen in forever.

    That’s when it happened. He dropped to the floor clutching his chest and I’ve never a seen a guy as big has him drop that fast.

    I managed to call an ambulance and do very basic CPR.

    The thing is, he is tough as nails and will pull through and the really good news is, there’s no immense damage.

    It’s a scary thing to happen and I’ve had my fair share of losses but what hit me harder was the fact that nobody else gave a shit.

    Well, besides his mother who lives in Spain. His friends, brothers and sisters and close people he works with on a daily basis…

    Not a single check in when he was missing in action after I made a few calls about what went down.

    In the past we spoke about things like this. Mainly cause he is very much like me. He just cracks on with his work and projects and doesn’t bother with everyone because it’s gotten to that point in life, where when you’re always the one reaching out to do things or make plans, if you stop doing it. It all falls to the wayside and in the grand scheme of things, you don’t matter at all.

    That’s an incredibly brutal realisation to have, especially as a guy.

    You see all this “build a network” of supportive people who you can lean on when things get tough or whatever (Online especially. I mean those “guru’s” love a bit of that bullshit), yet when things do inevitably happen…

    It’s just crickets.

    Granted you’re lucky if you do have 5 people or less you can count on as a guy.

    I was going to say that it brings me on to my next point, but my next point isn’t a politically correct point, so I’ll just leave it as is.

    But I’ll leave you with this…

    Seek out real friendships and relationships that are built on the quality time and interactions you spend with each other. You’ll soon notice that a lot of people just fade into the distance. They’re not bad people per se. They just have their own bullshit to deal with too. Don’t let anyone glamorise it, cause we’re all in the same boat. We’re all just wanting to live our lives as best as we can.

    Do good work. Spend quality time with friends and family and realise that when you’re time comes, it just happens. You want to leave this spinning ball of a dirt a little better than when you first got here.

    Stephen Walker.

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    Stephen Walker, Unit 146317, PO Box 7169, Poole, BH15 9EL, United Kingdom

  • I hit a wall.

    The last 24hrs and the next 24hrs are going to be touch and go.

    I’ll catch up soon.

    A few weeks ago someone asked about getting into this whole world of copywriting and what not.

    So here’s a challenge/thread that might be helpful.

    Stephen Walker.

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    Stephen Walker, Unit 146317, PO Box 7169, Poole, BH15 9EL, United Kingdom

  • How to Master The Skill Of Articulate Speaking

    Real quick, this just went live:

    How To Master The Skill Of Articulate Speaking

    This is an S-Tier life skill, and can turn you into an absolute weapon.

    Watch close.

    – T

  • Be the anti marketer

    Don’t worry. No soap box rant today.

    Although I’ll probably be fast asleep after hitting a massive caffeine and stale cookies crash by the time you read this, so if this email makes even less sense than usual, that’s why. (Thank God for automation that isn’t bullshit)

    Let’s roll…

    You need to do the complete opposite of what every marketing “guru” is telling you to do right now.

    And it’s not even cause I’m some contrarian edgelord who hates everything popular.

    It’s more because they’re wrong.

    Like, fundamentally, chronically, hilariously wrong.

    These people.

    The ones deemed as social media experts, the growth hackers, the woo woo crystal worshipers who promise you’ll 10x your business if you just manifest harder…

    They’re all living in the same delusional bubble.

    They’re chronically online.

    They don’t appreciate what’s going on in the real world. They sit behind their computer screens or iPads, punching away in their own little echo chambers, completely disconnected from how actual humans actually behave.

    They’re optimising for metrics that don’t matter at all. Similar to how new copywriters slide into my dm’s and ask about how they can improve open rates…

    They’re now focusing on, Engagement. Followers. Virality. Going viral on TikTok. Building a “personal brand.” Posting seventeen times a day because “consistency is key.” (Christ, on FB that shit is wild right now…)

    Meanwhile, out here in the real world where people have jobs and lives and aren’t scrolling social media fourteen hours a day, none of that shit translates to actual business.

    And it’s weird cause they don’t really know what’s happening in the real world.

    It’s about solving problems. Building relationships. Doing good work. Making offers that make sense. Treating people like humans instead of engagement metrics.

    Yeah yeah, It’s revolutionary, I know.

    But the gurus can’t sell courses on “just be good at what you do and don’t be an asshole.” That’s not sexy. That doesn’t scale. That doesn’t promise overnight success with their seven step framework and a $50k a year mastermind (lol)

    So instead they sell you on tactics that work in their weird online ecosystem but fall completely flat when they hit actual reality.

    The anti-marketer playbook is simple in that respect.

    Stop posting for the whatever AI/Algorithm or Billionaire says you gotta do. Start creating for humans.

    Stop trying to go viral. Start trying to be useful.

    Stop obsessing over follower counts. Start obsessing over whether people actually want to work with you.

    Stop doing what every other marketer is doing because “best practices.” Start doing what actually works for your specific situation with your specific people.

    The gurus won’t tell you this because it doesn’t sound impressive. It doesn’t have twelve steps and a catchy acronym. It can’t be packaged into a $997 course with a countdown timer.

    But it’s what actually builds businesses that last beyond the next change or platform collapse or trend cycle.

    While these clowns play a game that doesn’t exist outside their screens.

    And always, you don’t have to play it with them.

    Do cool shit.

    Make buying from you fun and a great experience.

    Rinse and repeat.

    It’s that easy.

    Stephen Walker.

    P.S. The caffeine crash is hitting hard now. It’s around 15:30ish when I wrote this… Point is this: Trust yourself over the gurus. Trust what you see working in reality over what they say works in theory. And maybe don’t survive on stale cookies and coffee. Do as I say, not as I do. Okay bye.

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    Stephen Walker, Unit 146317, PO Box 7169, Poole, BH15 9EL, United Kingdom