I didn’t send a letter last week.
not because i was busy. not because i ran out of things to say. honestly, i had this one half-written in my head the whole time and kept closing the laptop on it.
I was chewing on something i’ve avoided for years.
for as long as i’ve done this, i’ve given everything away. every framework, every teardown, every thing i learned the hard way. all of it, free. and i told myself that was the generous move. the real > perfect move. keep it open, keep it for everyone.
but if i’m honest, that’s not the whole reason.
I kept it free because charging felt like getting found out. like the second i asked to be paid, someone would go “who does he think he is.” free was safe. free meant nobody could call me arrogant. free was a place i could hide and still feel good about it.
that’s not generous. that’s just scared with better branding.
and a few of you have told me, straight up, that i should be charging for some of this. that stuck with me all week.
so here’s where i landed.
real > perfect was never about free. it was about real. and charging honestly, for work that took me years to learn, is about as real as it gets.
so, the important part first: everything you already get stays free. the essays, the stories, all of it. nothing you love moves. you lose nothing.
what’s new is a deeper room, for whoever wants it.
1-2 proper tactical editions a month, the workshop-level stuff, plus access to the full archive of newsletters I have ever written. $5 a month or $50 for the year.
i kept it low on purpose, so anyone, anywhere especially from the motherland 🇬🇭 , can get in. Tap here to take a look
and here’s a taste of what’s behind the paid door
and i’m writing these posts to be scheduled to the inner cirlce over the coming weeks
the ai for solopreneurs masterclass (3 parts)
building multiple streams of internet income in 4 hours
earn $ from a developing country
how to get work when you have nothing and no one
and because it’s day one of talking about this, i’m giving away two free LIFETIME founding memberships.
want one?
share your favorite real > perfect edition to your instagram story, tag me (@themikelawson), and tell me why it stuck.
I’ll reshare every single one. two of you get a full lifetime of founding, on me.
that’s the whole thing.
if you’ve been here a while: thank you, genuinely. you’re a big part of why i finally stopped being scared of my own worth.
hit reply and tell me your favorite edition, paid or not. I read every one.
back to regular programming next monday
— mike