I just did an interview with my bestest buddy Noah Kagan about reverse engineering business and his book Million Dollar Weekend.

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0:00:27 Watch Noah go through the different split tests they tried to pick out the book cover.
0:02:10 The way to design a book cover is look at it like a tiny little thumbnail, as if someone is browsing on Amazon on their phone.
0:05:05 People don’t usually randomly get “lucky” with success, there’s often a ton more methodology behind those people. Tim Ferriss and James Clear examples.
0:07:07 Most people are shy about marketing.
0:08:18 If you build something people want, it’s easier to market it and tell people about it because you’re proud.
0:08:34 Noah lists products he’s tried that DIDN’T work, easy to forget when you have success that tons of stuff didn’t work.
0:10:19 Make sure people want the thing you’re about to sell. Start Today. Ask People. Stick With It.
0:10:40 Cliches are true.
0:11:35 Example: Guy built a podcast guest research tool for $20/mo. Meh. BUT if you send people more podcast listeners that’s more valuable. When you don’t have to convince someone to buy it, that’s when you know it’s valuable.
0:12:22 I validated a newsletter writing service (or dis-validated). Get closer to the money. Help people save more money or make more money.
0:14:00 The right answers are often simple and boring. The complex answers are more exciting. Keep things very simple. Complexity is not better.
0:15:58 I’m calling it TwitterX from now on.
0:16:11 Companies will do things end customers don’t care about, like new logos. Instead just gimme a cheaper price!
0:16:37 Why did you wanna write a book? I wanted to embrace something that will take a long time. Have done self published books before, but wanted to do full publisher route. Started writing proposal on March 2020 and book came out February 2024.
0:20:30 Noah’s book goals: 1,000 reviews. 25,000 sales in first 7 days.
0:21:42 We got a publisher to agree to publish a book, and they didn’t care what it was about so long as you can sell 10,000 books.
0:22:50 Almanack of Naval Ravikant self published, crossed a million in sales, but won’t appear as a NYTimes best seller.
0:24:35 A book proposal needs stuff like how big is your audience, first full chapter, table of contents and market differentiation.
0:25:00 Self Publishing vs traditional publishing. Traditional feels like you have to swing for the fences and take it more seriously. Self publishing is probably the future, but for now traditional still feels different.
0:25:53 Noah asks Neville what he saw from his vantage point when creating this book.
0:28:19 “Yesterday we did $284,000 in sales, but that originally started from a PayPal button and Gmail.”
0:30:07 Find things that don’t feel like effort to you. Craft your life to include more of those things.
0:32:56 Seinfeld said he loves the boring “long Shawshank slog through the sewer” which is why he lasted in comedy.
0:35:44 Copywriting Course email marketers and freelancers making more money.
0:38:29 We watched two of Noah’s videos, the supposedly “cheesier” one about asking yacht owners what they do was far more educational.t
0:44:23 The Ten Year Rule: Can I do this for 10 years? Will it be easy or hard for me?
0:46:05 Do you write much? For the book launch 30 days of content for social media, plus 5 emails for launch week, plus a weekly email. I really enjoyed doing the actual writing and marketing. Creating an email that’s so f’ing good that even if you don’t buy you enjoy it.
0:47:05 There’s an absence of really good long-form blog articles. Seems like newsletters have taken over.
0:47:43 I started writing on NevBlog again. No comments. No distribution. But it’s a cool place I can write in semi-peace.
0:49:25 “The Artist’s Way” book. When you just sit and write stuff you can come up with more ideas than you expect.
0:51:42 Where do you come up with ideas? Mostly just shared Google Docs
0:53:43 How do you develop taste? You taste a lot of dishes!
0:57:53 Do more of what works over a very long period of time.
0:59:25 Noah’s guiding star to keep focus. “I hate losing. I like competition. I need an enemy.”
1:01:55 Noah likes having a team because then outputting a lot of stuff is sustainable.
1:02:28 Noah actually works very hard. Knowing him for years I see that when he works, HE WORKS, and he’s locked in for long periods of time.
1:03:10 There are certain days I don’t do anything…but systems in place keep things going.
1:03:58 “Anger is a gift.” Use frustration to work harder. Don’t mask it.
1:10:15 Internet allows you to live way different lives than a few years ago that weren’t possible. You can live in a small town in Ireland and be the creative director of Red Bull.

The marketing and behind the scenes he goes into is a masterclass in book marketing alone!

Watch the interview here -->