The Million Dollar Newsletter by Matt Ragland

Hey Reader, This week I spent 30 minutes setting up the lights in my office. It's not the first time I've set up lights, but this time I did something different: I recorded the process and wrote down all the settings. Me checking a light or trying to keep my son from jumping off the top bunk. You decide. What used to take 30 minutes can now be done in 10 minutes. Why? Because I created a system. Systems are our best tools for tasks we do over and over. They're the guides we make to save our...

Hey Reader, I’m writing this after watching the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history. It’s a bit late, but it’ll be great. How can you not be romantic about baseball? This week’s WRAP topics: Over-priced boxes and identity-based marketing The new wave of YouTube vloggers and storytellers NFL teams eating an absurd number of Uncrustables Here we go! 💡 One Big Idea: It’s not a box, it’s an adventure If you’ve ever wondered what brand affinity and storytelling can do, I present you...

Hey Reader, thanks for the many kind words and replies on my birthday post. If you're new to the WRAP and missed the edition, you can read it here. This week I had an interesting conversation with a friend about pricing strategies for freelancers and experts. It got me thinking about how we value our work, and I wanted to share some insights with you. 💡 One Big Idea: Price Based on Value, Not Time Pricing services based solely on time is a common mistake. Remember, clients pay for the value...

Thanks for reading the 150th edition of the Weekend WRAP! This one is a little different, besides it being a day late. This week was my 41st birthday and instead of 41 lessons (I don't have time to write that many — so old), here are 4 principles that have shaped my life 📜 🎉 Four Big Ideas: Lessons from 41 Years Let's start with the bullet points, if you want to skim... 1: Family & friends have the biggest impact on happiness. 2: Building an audience and personal brand is the best thing you...

Hey Reader, last weekend I turned my handwriting into a custom font. It was way easier than I thought and something anyone can do. I share more in the "video to watch" section of the newsletter. You should try it too! 💡 One Big Idea: Top 10% and Bottom 10% (all at once) The last two weeks I've been getting back into high-level training in jiu-jitsu and CrossFit — and promptly getting humbled. In BJJ I've been getting whooped, just tap after tap and sweep after sweep. I don't think they demote...

Hey Reader, a quick shout-out to my friends at Mighty Networks → they're hosting the People Magic creator summit October 15-17. It's online and totally free. Speakers include Ryder Carroll, Marie Forleo, Luvvie Ajayi Jones, and many more. Click here to save your spot or read more at the end of the WRAP. 💡 One Big Idea: Driving in Silence I’m an admitted self-improvement junkie. Years of podcasts, books, videos, courses, and sacrificing (almost) every minute of available time at the altar of...

Quick thing before we get started. I hope you were able to catch the live workshop I did with John Meese earlier this week. If not, if you want to watch it again — click here to watch (or read, or listen) to the Wisdom to Wealth replay. I’m convinced that his inside-out growth strategy is the new best practice for building a profitable online education business, even though it’s the opposite of the “death by a thousand ebooks” approach that’s been commonplace for the last decade or so. I...