Back to San Francisco for Art of Rapport 2.0! August 23, 2007
Posted by Niels in : Other, Personal , add a commentI’m getting burned out on travel but I can’t miss this. I’ll be one of four instructors rocking the first ever Advanced Art of Rapport this weekend in San Francisco. I can’t wait. As of now, we’re planning on throwing out an entire day of fieldwork and really just hammering home on how to build an amazing emotional connection. Art of Paying Attention to the Conversation. This is going to be great.
Your thoughts?Back to “work” August 22, 2007
Posted by Niels in : Passive income, Personal , add a commentWith my mostly Pickup 101-sponsored European tour over, this week has been about making sure that my own business progresses before I leave for San Francisco. I finished my first attempt at copywriting, a sales letter for Dress for Success (with Women) that I’ll post here after it’s undergone a few more revisions. Lance will be helping me refine it and hone my copywriting skills. I still feel underpaid, but copywriting is a skill that will pay off big time as I start producing my own products.
I’m learning AdWords, too. I’m already an affiliate for Pickup 101, so I’m using AdWords to point people to our product sales pages. No sales yet, but the 30 Day Challenge claims you can expect one sale for every 200 visitors assuming reasonably targeted traffic, average copy, and a $50-$100 product. I’ve sent about 300 people so far with no sales, but I’m mostly referring people to a $600 product (Physical Confidence), so I expect a lower conversion rate. We’ll see.
And of course, top priority - the Thirty Day Challenge. Caught up on eight podcasts and about thirty blog posts. We’ve got our magic phrase picked out, have picked out an affiliate product for testing, and very soon will be driving traffic. John Reese, a well-known internet marketer says that once you make your first dollar, you’re 90% of the way to making $500 a day. Honestly, I’d be quite happy with $400 a day. No reason to get greedy…
Your thoughts?Indecent exposure + elementary school playgrounds = Sum 41 video contest August 21, 2007
Posted by Niels in : Personal , 2 commentsAfter dominating the Dell Urban Challenge together, it only made sense for Alexandra and I to join forces once again for a Sum 41 promotional contest. Alexandra was given a pile of Sum 41 posters and ordered to do something “interesting” with them. Umm… ok.
Best wedding ever August 20, 2007
Posted by Niels in : Personal , add a commentI just got back from the best wedding I’ve ever been to, by a long shot. It wasn’t about the ceremony, or the decorations, it was just a celebration of friends. We camped out (there was a motel nearby if you were soft) and spent all day on moon bounces and waterslides, playing kickball or tie-dyeing, kayaking and bouncing on trampolines. Evenings were filled with dancing and drinking and bonfires and smores and bellydancing and fiddles and fireworks. Guests split up the responsibilities of wedding cupcake decorating, videotaping, dishwashing, and all the other details. In the end, it was three days of fun celebrating two amazing people. I want people at my wedding in swimsuits, too.
Your thoughts?How to tell if a girl is a slut August 20, 2007
Posted by Niels in : Life, the universe, and everything, Other, Personal , 41 commentsThere are a number of ideals that I strive for in my relationships. “Be honest.” “Leave her better than you found her.” But there is one that is bigger and more important than any other, and that is, “Always protect her from judgment.”
There is no comparable label for men that causes them to lose all social value the way the label “slut” does for women. And it is absolutely your responsibility to make sure that label is never, ever attached to a girl you date.
Maybe one day we will acknowledge that women have the same desires men do. But until that day comes (this is only the twenty-first century, after all), I suppose all I can do is get really angry at those who insist on clinging to an archaic method of controlling women’s behavior through an intricate system of societal judgments.
An excerpt from a recent message board post. My response follows.
I mean, who the fuck are these girls that let you sleep with them the first night, even if you suspect they don’t normally do so (and how can you be so sure…)?
Most girls will sleep with the right guy within a time frame that would blow your mind. You what usually prevents them from doing so? Assholes like you who hold them to a societal double standard that removes all their social value if they actually give in to their desires. You douchebag.
Who do you think you are to judge a girl based on how quickly she was swept off her feet? You know why the girls you date wait a while to sleep with you? You’re not selecting some from batch of “pristine”, “morally-enabled” girls. They just understand that giving in to what both of you actually want would sabotage the relationship because you’re a holier-than-thou judgmental dick. When a girl meets you, your behavior communicates, “I’m a guy who doesn’t understand women, put me on the one-month plan or slower.”
I can tell just from the way you write. “let you sleep with them”? Sex is not some hidden treasure on a pedestal that women keep locked away from all the unworthy men who try to steal it away from them.
Guess what? That exact same girl will put a less-judgmental man on the sub-one-day plan. Because she knows she can be herself with him, be honest with him, and if she is so into him that she gives him the opportunity for an incredible shared experience much sooner than other guys, she knows he won’t throw it back in her face by sitting on his high cloud and calling her a slut. Screw you.
Your thoughts?