Personal Change

Mr. Beyagi’s sage advice

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I was in my shed today, trying to catch a buzzing fly with just a pair of chopsticks, when a rebellious, dark-haired youth of about 17 barged in.

“Hey are you the maintenance man?” he asked.

“No,” I said, without looking away from the buzzing fly.

“So are you gonna come and fix the faucet?”

I grunted. “Not my job.”

“Unbelievable!” the youth said. “Well, will you at least teach me karate?” And then he launched into the following monologue:

===

I’m at a point where I don’t know how to go about my karate practice. I have zero funds, no bank account, and just arms willing to fight. But how do I go about doing this?

Should I start my own dojo and market it as “Join me in my journey as a newbie karateka”? If yes, how do I attract students that way? When I have no credentials or any incentive for anyone to join my dojo for that matter.

I know it’s useless trying to beg for help, because this stuff is what other people pay you for. But I’m proud that I at least tried. I’ve never asked anyone for help before you.

I would appreciate a lesson about for aspiring karate masters. I’m not pitching myself in any way. All I ask is guidance.

===

Maybe, maybe… if only I had a collection of rusted old cars. But I don’t.

So I guided this rebellious dark-haired youth towards the door.

I opened the screen door and nudged him through it. And as I closed the door behind him, I gave him some parting advice, in my best broken English:

“You go YouTube. Free. Watch. Apply. Then go Amazon. Book, five dollar. Read. Apply. Read next book. Watch next YouTube. Apply. Apply. Come back. Five year.”

In less broken English:

It might seem cruel not to take in this youth and give him proper guidance.

It might seem cruel to send him away.

It might seem extra cruel that those who have the greatest need find it hardest to get a bit of good advice.

Except frankly that’s bullshit.

There’s never been such an abundance of free and good information out there. Or if you don’t want free and good, then $5 and really good.

The fact is, there is nothing new under the sun.

What I do, what everybody else in the course and coaching business does, is package up and simplify proven old knowledge, make it fun to consume and easy to believe in, to save you time and headspace, if that’s the kind of thing you can afford and choose to pay for.

If that’s not something you can afford, no shame in that. But in that case, you have to use your other resources — time, ingenuity, willingness to work — to get the same results that maybe you could buy with money.

I don’t currently offer any trainings about starting your own karate dojo.

But I do have a training teaching you the fundamentals of karate itself, ie. writing emails that make sales and keep readers reading.

There’s nothing new in this training. But it is proven, via literally millions of dollars worth of sales. And it is fun and easy to read. And it will save you many hours of time, if time is what you value over the bit of money I ask for this training.

Hai? Then you go here:

https://bejakovic.com/sme/

2 words I like to be reminded of every morning

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I was getting ready to shave this morning — foam, razor, face were all ready to go — when a yellow sticky note floated down from my bathroom mirror and landed in the sink.

“Oh no,” I said, “it’s all wet and ruined now.”

I put that yellow sticky note up on my bathroom mirror three months ago. It survived until now. It did well to live that long. It has now been replaced by a new yellow sticky note, which has the same two words on it:

“PRODUCER MOJO”

Three months ago, I got back into Travis Sago’s world. I wrote about Travis a couple times over the past week. In case the name still doesn’t ring a bell, Travis is basically an Internet marketing dude who’s been in the game some 20 years, maybe longer.

It was Travis’s advice to take a sticky note, write PRODUCER MOJO on it, and put it somewhere where you’ll see it regularly.

The idea is to become the marketing version of a Hollywood producer.

Hollywood producers don’t really “do” anything. They don’t direct. They don’t write. They don’t act. They don’t take a razor blade and cut rolls of film in two and then glue them back together.

Instead, producers… produce, whatever that means. My best guess is that they bring together other talented or resourceful people, and guide them towards some sort of common, hopefully worthwhile goal.

I’d actually first heard Travis promote “PRODUCER MOJO” four years ago, during my first visit to his world.

At that time, the idea of being a producer didn’t appeal to me.

“I like to write,” I told myself. “I don’t want to trade that for managing a bunch of people.”

Somehow, the idea is more appealing now. Maybe because I’ve aged a few years and I’ve had some experience running an Internet marketing business myself.

Or maybe, because I realized that producing doesn’t have to equal managing — maybe it can mean roping in an effective manager.

Anyways, that’s the idea I wanted to share with you today:

PRODUCER MOJO

… because there are plenty of people who have written thrilling stories, or who have tearjerking acting skills, or who just don’t know where to invest the oodles of money that are pouring out of their pants pockets.

There’s no law that says you have to ignore all this, and instead make a movie that you write, film, act every role in, and of course, fund. And don’t forget the special effects and makeup that you also do yourself.

I mean, you can do all those things.

But it’s not the only way.

And if you want to be reminded of that, then get a yellow sticky note, write PRODUCER MOJO on it, and put it somewhere where you’ll see it.

Or simply reply to this email. Because maybe you have some assets already. So do I. There’s no guarantee we’ll end up making a movie together, but if we talk, and compare what we each have, who knows where that could lead.

Where did Justin Goff go?

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On Sunday, May 26, marketer Justin Goff sent a confessional email to his list, in which he said he will only be writing weekly newsletters from now on.

For 5+ years, Justin had been writing a daily email about marketing and copywriting.

He had been using these emails to sell new offers, like clockwork, each month.

By writing daily emails and selling new offers each month, Justin had become one of the more successful and authoritative bros in the space.

But Justin had had enough. This didn’t jazz him any more.

So he announced he was going to write fewer emails, create fewer offers, and take more time to hang out with dogs and play pickleball by the pool.

Fair enough.

I checked, though. And what I found is that Justin hasn’t been writing regular weekly emails since then.

There have been five Sundays since May 26. Justin has only sent 3 emails since. In other words, he missed 40% of his planned newsletters, even just writing an email a week.

Point #1: ​It’s easy to slip up with weekly emails.

​​In theory, weekly sounds easier than daily. And it should be. But in practice, weekly emails can end up being harder, at least in your perception and as a matter of consistency.

Point #2: In a business like creating courses, coaching, or content, or selling yourself as a guide or a guru, regular posting really is the only way to stay relevant.

If you are reading this right now, there’s a fair chance that you were on Justin’s list as well. Both he and I talk about similar stuff, and to the same circles of people.

Assuming you were on Justin’s list, ask yourself, have you missed Justin or his emails?

I can tell you I used to at least skim his stuff most days. But after he went weekly, it never crossed my mind he had been skipping emails until today, when I made up my mind to talk some industry gossip.

By the way, that’s not any kind of special dig at Justin.

I’m sure the result would be the same if I were to stop writing regular daily emails. Some people might notice the first day or two. A couple might even write in to ask what’s going on. But even they would forget by next week.

It’s not that the world is cruel or heartless.

It’s just that when it comes to easy, free attention, the Internet giveth and it taketh away. It’s part of the deal.

All that’s to say:

Write for yourself. Write for your business and your goals. Write because it makes it easier to write again tomorrow, and benefit from the inevitable compounding.

Find ways to make this acceptable and even enjoyable long-term.

Do this, and sooner than you think, you can become one of the more successful and authoritative bros or babes in your space.

And it doesn’t even have to eat too much into your pool time or pickleball with the dog.

I’ve written lots of effective 15-20 minute emails, which sold everything from coaching to courses to cat training guides, and which kept me in the audience’s mind for tomorrow.

If you’d like to find out how you can do the same, and right quick and easy, then take a look here:

https://bejakovic.com/sme/

A hard way to live

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There have been periods of my life — years at a time — when I’ve made a habit of walking up to strange but attractive women on the street, giving them a compliment, and starting a conversation.

It’s surprisingly hard to do.

Not because of the women. The worst that ever happens from their side is a polite thank you and a smile.

The best that ever happens — well, I’ve had two long-term relationships that started in this way.

No, the reason it’s hard is because of my own fears, insecurities, and the stories I tell myself.

For example, if I see an attractive woman walking on an empty street, I will think, “It’s not a great place to go talk to her… she will be freaked out because there’s nobody else around.”

On the other hand, if I see even one other person around, I will think, “It’s not a great place to go talk to her… everybody will be standing around and watching.”

In other words, right is bad, left is bad, and you don’t want to go straight either.

A hard way to live, no?

I’m telling you this because yesterday I wrote an email promoting a new book by Travis Sago. As I said in that email, I’ve listened to Travis and learned more from him this year than from anybody else.

Even though Travis doesn’t sell any courses for less than a few grand, and even though his yearly mastermind costs something like $50k, this book is a $9.99 summary of his best marketing ideas.

And yet, in reply to my email yesterday, I got the following message from a reader:

“It’s only got 42 reviews… not great”

I’m featuring this reader reply because I recognized myself in it. Maybe you can recognize yourself too.

Specifically, maybe you can recognize the part of the brain that likes to make living hard. It says things like:

“It’s only got 42 reviews… not great. It can’t be, if nobody else is reading it.”

Or…

“It’s already got 420 reviews… not great. Everybody else has read this, so I can’t get any advantage from it.”

The fact is, a good idea is a good idea, whether it comes in a new or old package, whether it’s popular or fringe.

I’m currently re-reading the Robert Collier Letter Book, which was published 100 years ago and which has hundreds of 5-star reviews. I’m also reading Travis’s book, which was published a month ago and has 42 5-star reviews.

I could give you more proof to back up Travis’s credibility.

Would more proof matter to you?

Maybe. Or maybe that part of your brain that likes to make living hard would still pipe up with a new story.

One thing I’ve learned over all those years of walking up to women on the street is that you don’t always have to accept all the stories your brain serves up.

Life can be easier, more successful, and actually more pleasant that way.

Also, if you’d like to get Travis’s book, and maybe learn something valuable, here’s the link:

https://bejakovic.com/sandwich

Inadequate performance

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Yesterday, my friend Sam wrote me that he had downloaded the presidential debates so he could watch the bloodshed.

This morning, my friend Peter forwarded me a New York Times editorial that’s calling for Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race after his “inadequate performance in the debate.”

And then this afternoon, I met my friend Olga, who spent much of the day in bed, and who said the only thing she has done today is to watch the presidential debate.

Olga told me her impressions of the debate. And then she said, “Maybe the debate’s something you could write about in your newsletter.”

If you’ve been reading this newsletter for a while, the following will not be any kind of shock:

I am completely out of the loop. Permanently. Always.

I didn’t even know there was a presidential debate until friends started chattering to me about it via text and in real life.

I most definitely have not watched it.

And as for writing about the top news of the day in this newsletter… as I told Olga, I would never do that.

Well, obviously I’ve broken that vow with this email. But I didn’t know how else to get the following point across.

My theory is that you gotta pay the piper somewhere.

If you decide to talk about the immediately available stuff, the stuff that hundreds of millions of people are talking about right now on TV, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Reddit, among your friends and family, then you gotta try really really hard to have something unique and clever and hot-takey to say.

And even if you try really hard, and even if you expose yourself to looking like a tryhard, odds are good that most days you will fail to say something that hasn’t already been said, better, by a hundred other people, just a few minutes ahead of you.

That to me is an inadequate performance.

On the other hand, if you choose to spend your time and effort reading and watching less available stuff, stuff that’s not being talked about today, or yesterday, or last week, then you have a green, untrammeled field to play in.

For example:

Did you know that the problem of bloody, hateful, two-party elections was solved 2,500 years ago?

Two opposed tribes lived together inside one city’s walls.

They were highly suspicious of each other.

​​Each had a strong us vs. them mentality.

The city was ruled by a king from one tribe, who favored his own and harmed those from the other tribe.

​​Then the king died, or more correctly, he was made to disappear after he showed signs of serious cognitive decline.

How to choose a new king without devolving into civil war?

It didn’t look promising.

Each of the two parties was horrified by the leader of the other side.

Each party absolutely refused to accept the other side’s leader as the new king.

Tensions were rising. Weapons were starting to jangle.

​​So what to do?

Simple. It was the old, “you cut, I choose.”

Specifically, it was decided that the Romans, the party that had just lost its king, would choose a new king from the other tribe, the Sabines. The Sabines could not veto or influence the Romans’ choice.

The Romans chose a quiet, reserved man from the Sabine tribe, named Numa Pompilius.

At first, Numa refused to take command of the city. He liked his quiet life. But after being persuaded that Rome would devolve into civil war without him, he agreed to become king.

Numa reigned for 43 years in peace and prosperity. He founded some of Rome’s most important institutions, such as the pontifex maximus, the 12 month calendar, and the cult of the Vestal Virgins.

Two thousand years later, a clever politician, Niccolo Machiavelli, said Rome owed a greater debt to its second king, Numa, then it did to its first king, Romulus.

Good Lord this has turned into a long email.

​​Don’t write emails like this. Or do. It’s up to you.

If you do choose to write emails like this, I have something that might help. It’s my Insight Exposed course, about my notetaking, journaling, and media-consumption process.

I don’t normally sell this course, for reasons of my own.

But since I’ve already broken one law today, I might as well break two?

If you want Insight Exposed, the order form is below. I will close it down in exactly 24 hours, tomorrow, Sunday, at 8:31pm.

And if you have questions or doubts if this course is right for you, write me before you buy.

​​Here’s how to read stuff others are not reading, and make it useful for your marketing and your life:

https://bejakovic.com/ie/

allaboutme: “Men are sexist, and it shows!”

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Last Thursday, I revealed the 5 winners of my Most Valuable Email contest. Then on Friday, I got an email from a female reader, who happens to have “allaboutme” as part of her email address. She wrote:

===

All males.
Gotta say I saw that coming from a mile away.
Been monitoring all-male offerings for a few months and it’s the same.
Men are sexist, and it shows!

===

It’s true. All 5 MVE contest winners were men.

That’s inevitable, because of the dozens of entries I got for this contest, all came from men.

I don’t know why that is.

A good number of women read my emails. A good number reply to my emails. A good number have bought MVE from me.

And yet, no woman decided to enter this contest, for reasons that are beyond my limited understanding.

But let’s get back to allaboutme.

I don’t know about you, but to me, saying “Men are sexist, and it shows!” sounds… kinda sexist?

At least if by “sexist” you mean “discriminating on the basis of sex”… and if by “discriminating” you mean “holding negative, dismissive attitudes about a group of people as a whole.”

If you ask me, allaboutme’s message is a perfect example of the universal law:

Whatever people seem to be talking about, they are really talking about themselves.

“Yeah yeah but — what about you Bejako?” I hear you saying. “What does it say if you are here, telling me how people are always talking about themselves? Aren’t you just talking about yourself?”

You’re a clever cow, aren’t you.

But you’re right. I am in fact talking about myself.

We all make snap generalizations, and we use them to wallpaper the walls of our mind. It’s a normal part of human life and simply how the human brain works.

But sometimes these snap generalizations have an ugly pattern on them, or an ugly color scheme.

So we end up sitting inside our mind, surrounded by all this wallpaper we’ve pasted on, suffering from the ugliness, and thinking how life is unfair. And it shows!

Is there anything to be done?

For the longest time, I thought no. Not really.

Because I’d tried thinking myself right. I’d tried meditating. I’d tried NLP. I’d tried telling myself, “Just create your own reality!”

None of it worked.

But something has been working. For a few months now. Every day.

If you’re curious, I’ll tell you what it is. But brace yourself. Or maybe just keep an open mind. And take a look here:

https://bejakovic.com/allaboutme

Last call for Water Into Wine

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Tomorrow evening, at 8pm CET, I’ll put on the Water Into Wine workshop with a few people.

This is the last email I will send about this workshop. I’ll take the remaining time to talk to people who’ve expressed interest and any who might still do so.

One thing I’ve heard in these conversations is that people default to a few set ways of positioning their offers.

Sometimes those default, set ways work.

​​Other times they don’t, or they fatigue after a while.

​​But people are stuck with their existing positioning ideas, and cannot see new opportunities.

This reminded me of the most popular TED talk of all time, by Sir Ken Robinson, a British expert on education.

Robinson used to live in Snitterfield, England, the birthplace of John Shakespeare, the father of William Shakespeare. Says Robinson:

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Are you struck by a new thought? I was. You don’t think of Shakespeare having a father, do you?

Because you don’t think of Shakespeare being a child, do you?

Shakespeare being seven?

I never thought of it. I mean, he was seven at some point. He was in somebody’s English class, wasn’t he?

[the crowd laughs]

How annoying would that be?

[more laughter]

===

Robinson’s point in that TED talk was that we all have loads of creativity, but we have it beaten out of us in school.

Well, maybe not beaten out of us, just beaten into hiding.

So yes, you had ample creativity once, and you probably have ample creativity still.

​​And creativity is one option for repositioning your offers like I’ll be describing during tomorrow’s workshop.

But creativity is not required.

I’ve gruesomely dissected this method of repositioning to take the creativity out, and to make this a step-by-step process you can follow.

It will still require testing and some work, but it won’t require superhuman creativity — just the right knowledge of magic, and that’s what I’ll give you.

Assuming that is, that you’re on the workshop call tomorrow.

Again, this is the last email I will send about it.

If you’re interested, the only way to get in is to first write me an email and express interest.

It might make sense to hit reply right now, so we can talk and see if this workshop is a good fit for you.

2 words to 8 figures

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Two years ago, I worked for a short while with a business owner who was simultaneously running three 8-figure direct response businesses.

He first started a Google ads agency getting leads for local bidnises. That grew to 8 figures a year.

Then he created a course teaching others how to start their own Google ads lead-gen agencies. That grew to 8 figures a year.

Then he started a publishing business, finding other good bidnis opportunities and marketing them using what he had learned with his own course. And I guess you can guess how big that grew.

All this was eye opening to me at the time.

This guy was reading the same books I was reading, He was talking the same language. He was using the same copywriting and marketing tricks and techniques. And yet, the results for him were three 8-figure business.

The fact is, I have no interest in running three 8-figure businesses.

Still, this made me realize the power of the knowledge I’m hoarding in my head and sharing in these emails. It also made me think I should think a little bigger.

Anyways, I wanna share one valuable thing with you that I learned during a call with this bidnis owner.

He marketed his course (bidnis #2 above) via YouTube ads. One of those ads got over 100M views.

As you can imagine, the ad made the usual promises of stacks of cash in your bank vault… never again having a boss… and walking barefoot on the beach in soft light.

But what about the actual deliverables?

Did the ad talk about those in any way? Did it describe the business opportunity to make people feel this was a real and achievable promise?

It did.

It did so using two words only.

Those two words were not “lead gen” or “ad agency” or “local business,” or anything like that.

Instead, the ad used two words that were completely unexpected. And yet, those two words sold the course and made the promise feel real and achievable in a way that none of those obvious phrases could have done.

You might know the business owner I’m referring to.

You might have seen his YouTube ads — in fact, odds of it are good, considering the reach his ads have had.

You might therefore know the two words I’m dancing around above.

But if you don’t know, or you just want to make 100% sure, or you simply want to hear me go into this topic in more detail, then you might like my upcoming Water Into Wine workshop.

During this workshop, I will tell you a magic formula for describing your offers in a way that makes them feel real and achievable.

This isn’t anything new.

Smart marketers, particularly direct marketers, have been doing this for 100+ years.

But I’ve helped my clients, when I had clients, do this for their own offers. I’ve also done it for some of my more successful offers.

And if you’d like to know how you too can do it, then here’s a bit more info on the Water Into Wine workshop:

===

Next Thursday, June 27th, I will host a little workshop with a few people.

I’m calling it the Water Into Wine workshop.

It will be all about a specific technique for repackaging and repositioning your offers so they sell better.

If you currently have an offer that’s not selling, this technique can start selling that offer for you.

On the other hand, if you have an offer that’s selling already, this technique can sell your offer more easily and for more money.

The ticket to join the Wine Into Water workshop is $197.

The workshop will happen live on Zoom, next Thursday, at 8pm CET/2pm EST/11am PST. It will also be recorded. So if you cannot attend live, you can still get your hands on this info and apply it to your own offers as soon as next Friday.

I’m not sure whether there will be a ton of demand for this workshop. In any case, I’ll cap the number of folks who sign up to 20 maximum.

Are you interested in joining us?

If so, just reply to this email.

I won’t have a public-facing sales page for this offer, and replying is the only way to get more info or get in.

Of course, if you reply to this email to express interest, it doesn’t oblige you in any way. I’m happy to answer any questions you might have and help you decide if this workshop is or isn’t right for you.

Future Pacing Club

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In 2019, FEMA concluded that there were only two kinds of natural disaster that could bring down the entire system everywhere all at once.

The first is a pandemic.

I’m reading an article about the second one right now.

I’m not sure if there has already been a financial promo around this topic, but it seems custom-made for it:

A small, remote laboratory, filled with elite scientists who all have ties to the U.S. military…

… mysterious, almost supernatural events — “electric fluid” seeping out from appliances, spontaneous fires bursting out, telegraph messages being sent via unplugged equipment…

… and of course, really big consequences. Like REALLY big. This isn’t “End of America” we’re talking about. This is “End of World.”

Stop me if you think that you’ve heard this one before.

I’m talking about coronal mass ejections and solar flares, or in one term, solar storms.

If you do write financial, and if this isn’t an idea that’s already been exploited, then maybe you can use it as a hook for a promo.

I don’t write financial copy, never have, and imagine never will.

But the article I’m reading did spark excitement and interest in me. Solar storms happen in 11-year cycles, from low to high. We are currently at the high, so you can expect major solar-related snafus between now and 2025.

And if a catastrophic solar storm doesn’t happen now, it might happen in 2035, or really any time between — because just like storms on Earth, solar storms don’t confine themselves just to storm seasons.

All this gave me an idea. I called this idea Future Pacing Club.

I personally enjoy finding out, researching, and thinking about current trends and what the future might bring.

It’s not just idle chin-stroking, either. This kind of info can be valuable – as marketing fodder, in spotting new business opportunities, or simply in knowing to stockpile cans of beans and tuna in anticipation for the hell that’s coming. (Actually, never mind about that last one.)

Of course, there’s only so many trends I will spot, and most of my interpretations of where the future will go will be limited or most likely wrong.

That’s why I had the idea for an exclusive club, to make this an activity shared among a few interested, smart, invested people.

So if 1) you work in marketing, if have your own business, or if you invest, and 2) if you’re interested in a place to get exposed to current trends and what the future might bring, then maybe such a club could be interesting to you too?

I don’t know. But if does sound interesting, reply to this email and let me know.

I definitely won’t create and run something like this just for myself. I would also want it to feel exclusive, intimate, and valuable.

I’m not sure yet how that might work. ​​

But if there’s interest, and the right kind of interest, then maybe something can come of this idea, and maybe it could be valuable and interesting for you too. The only way to know is to reply to this email.

In the words of Robert Collier:

“But remember, in the great book of Time there is but one word — ‘NOW'” — so drop your reply in an email now.

How to write a better cold outreach message

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Today, I got an email from somebody I don’t know with the subject line, “Need an intern?” I opened it. It read:

===

Hi John,

I think I originally came across you via a Google search after reading Peter Tzemis’s blog. I like your writing style, and I was curious if you need anyone to help you with anything? I want to get hands on experience with direct response.

I currently write on [link to guy’s personal musings Substack]. Let me know if this is of any interest to you.

===

I heard marketer Sean D’Souza say a smart thing once.

If you have a problem in your business, says Sean, don’t work on fixing it. Instead, work on fixing somebody else’s business.

Somehow, we’re all blinded by our own unique circumstances. It makes it hard to see the right thing to do.

It’s much easier when looking at other people’s circumstances. Figure out how to help others, and you figure out how to help yourself.

I’m telling you this because maybe you would like to connect with people you don’t know.

Maybe you’re looking for clients, or for an opportunity to get your message out, or you’re just trying to build your network.

Cold email can open lots of doors. But maybe it’s not opening doors for you right now.

So here’s your chance.

Figure out how you might fix the approach of the guy who wrote me above.

I can tell you I didn’t take him up on him on his intern offer.

​​In fact, I didn’t even respond to his email, and I make a habit of responding to almost everyone who writes me.

What could he have done differently?

Think about it, and maybe you can help yourself. And if you like, write in with your best idea, and I can tell you my opinion on whether it would have made a difference or no.