a day in my life (while running a $10k/mo brand)

The Beadle Newsletter
Friday, 5 April, 2024
Read the online version here

Most days I’m done with work before 12pm.

Yet I own a $10k/month personal brand.

So I thought I'd give you the inside scoop on what a day in my life looks like (since people are always asking, lol).

Now, please bear in mind:

I have the wonderful benefit of no longer being trapped in a soul-sucking 9-5.

I’m well aware many of you do NOT currently have this luxury.

But I'm also aware you're currently grinding your way out of it - props to you btw. You're smashing it.

So this is just to show you what your day could look like once you’re ready to pull the plug.

Right, let's dive in.

Here’s how I structure my day to run a $10k/month personal brand with nothing more than a laptop and a WiFi connection:

The Quest for Black Nectar (6am to 7am)

First things first, I have to get out of bed (fuck).

6:00am.

Alarm goes off.

(I use the “Early Riser” iPhone ringtone because, well, it seems apt).

When I used to wake up for my 9-5, I would sit there delaying, watching shitty YouTube videos and spamming the snooze button more aggressively than gambling addict on a slot machine in Vegas.

Now?

I just get up. 

No drama.

No procrastinating.

In fact, I’m actually excited to get out of bed.

I guess that’s what happens when you enjoy what you do.

I’ll skip all the boring shit (brushing my teeth, shower etc.), but just rest assured - I’m not a filthy animal and I do do all this stuff.

I’m out of my house by 6:30am.

Still a bit groggy, but the 15 minute walk to the coffee shops near me usually does the trick to get the ol’ creative juices flowing.

I rotate between 3 coffee shops:

Option #1: Starbucks has good coffee, but the WiFi in the one near me is more temperamental than the England football team (RIP). Not always an option.

Option #2: Cafe Nero has good WiFi, a nice quiet section to focus but the coffee is kinda shit.

Option #3: “Esquires Coffee”. This is local, has good coffee, and the people in there are nice. Unfortunately, it’s often pretty busy. So this isn’t always an option. 

Each has their pros and cons.

I make my mind up on the day (I like the variety).

Side note: I watched a pretty cool YT clip the other day from Cal Newport (author of “Deep Work”) on Chris Williamson’s podcast. He was describing how the writer Brandon Sanderson built a literal hidden dungeon under his house so he could have a new, stimulating environment to do his writing in. Now, I don’t have a dungeon. But I’ve certainly seen HUGE improvements in my writing since deciding to do it outside my own home. Just food for thought.

I’m sat down and ready to work between 6:45am and 7am.

I put on my headphones (usually some sort of light, ethereal-sounding house music since this offers the unique benefit of both not being too distracting while simultaneously blocking out the sound of whatever irritating background music the coffee has stuck on today).

I split my morning into 3 x 90 minute blocks.

Block #1: Writing to you lovely lot (7am to 8:30am)

This typically takes me between 60 and 90 minutes.

60 mins for free-flow ones like this.

90 mins for my more in-depth ones that require a bit more planning and freeflow.

I write with 2 tabs open.

Tab 1: Google Doc

Tab 2: Google (mindblowing, I know)

I use the Google Doc to write (Notion freaks are gonna tell me why I’m an idiot for doing this and to that I say: you do you, fellas. I like it my way).

I use the Google tab to research.

What do I “research”?

Synonyms that will better capture what I’m trying to say.

Phrasing that will make my writing more concise.

Inspiration for some of the weird, winding metaphors that I use in these emails

The lads on my group coaching program got a good laugh the other day when I described my process for coming up with the metaphor “I’ll help you stand out more than an NBA player at Frodo’s house party.”

Here’s how it went:

Who stands out?

Well, quite literally, tall people.

OK. Who’s tall?

Googles tall people.

Basketball players. Done.

Now I need a contrast.

Who’s NOT tall?

Dwarves?

Googles dwarves.

Clicks into images

Scrolls a bit.

Gimli from Lord of the Rings appears.

Lord of the Rings?

Hobbits.

Frodo.

Ding ding.

Anywayyyyyyyyyyyyyy…

Once the email is written and edited (which normally involves me going through and hacking out about 30% of the gobbledegook I’ve manically spammed onto the page), here’s what I do:

1. Upload the article to my blog

2. Whack the article text in my newsletter

3. Insert the link from the top of my blog at the top of my newsletter

4. Press Send

5. Screengrab a teaser image from my blog, publish that on X and link the blog article in the comments

(I’ll explain why I’m building out my blog some other time).

At this point it’s about 8-8:30am.

My brain’s pretty fried (newsletter writing is stimulating AF when done right).

So I’ll take 10-15 mins to just chill out. Maybe get another coffee. Maybe take a quick walk outside.

Then I come back in and lock in for another 90 minutes.

Block #2: Project work (8:30am to 10am)

I always have a backend project I’m working on.

Whether that’s a giveaway, a new paid product or some longer term plan I’m building out (as I am right now).

So I spend 90 minutes making some headway on this.

Right.

It’s about 10-10:30am now.

And at this point I’m bored of the coffee shop, I’m starting to get hungry and the irritating git sat next to me that’s loudly chewing a ham and cheese croissant is about 5 seconds away from getting RKO’d straight into the table.

So it’s time to leave.

I head home, pick up some brekky on the way (normally something involving bacon), and head home.

After I’ve eaten, it’s time to enter my third and final “work” block of the day.

Block #3: Client work (11am to 12am)

This is when I check in on how my clients are doing.

I’ve normally got some Telegram questions I need to address. This is when I do this.

I’ll spend 30-60 minutes clearing any of this stuff off my plate, as well as closing out any “open loop” tasks that have carried over from the previous day.

At that point, my “work day” is done.

I might have some calls later on in the day.

I also frequently spend an extra few hours building out my backend projects (this doesn’t feel like a chore to me and I often get sucked down the rabbit hole and spend more time on this than I probably should).

But the rest of my day is filled by stuff like:

• Going for walks

• Going to the gym

• Hanging out with friends

• Reading copywriting books (Gary Halbert’s Boron Letters is currently on the menu)

Just normal “life” stuff.

And if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll have noticed one key detail at this point:

It’s past midday, and
I still haven’t logged into Twitter.

That’s because stuff like:

• Replying to tweets

• Sending out comments

• Getting back to Direct Messages

Those are all LOW leverage tasks.

None of that is urgent.

Do I still reply to tweets? Sure.

Do I still comment on other people’s posts? Sure.

If I get a spare 10-15 minutes throughout my day while I'm cooking dinner or something like that then that's where I'll handle Twitter shit.

But I’m not sat there locked and loaded at Tweetdeck like a 14 year old kid, headset on, 4 Red Bulls deep and ready to be dropped into a Call of Duty Warzone skirmish that’s gonna make his palms so sweaty Eminem has to release a whole new album.

I fit that stuff around my day. 

I don’t fit my day around that stuff. 

Big difference.

And that's my biggest tip to you in this email:

If any part of your morning routine consists of you being on Twitter I would STRONGLY advise you to cut that shit out immediately.

Focus on the big, lever moving tasks:

• Growing your list

• Serving your clients

• Building backend projects

• Getting better at your chosen skill (highest ROI activity you could be doing right now)

Do this and I guarantee you will see an EXPONENTIAL growth in your authority, credibility and, ultimately, money-making capacity of your brand.

Anyway, that’s the inside scoop of what running a $10k/month brand looks like guys.

Of course there’s some variation.

Sometimes I work more. Sometimes I work less (especially on the weekends).

But that’s the long run average.

Talk soon,

Harry

PS. Have a 9-5 and struggling to find time to grow your brand?

Reply to this email with “9-5” and tell me what your typical day looks like.

I’ve been where you are and I’ll be able to give you some quick, actionable tips to make it easier to grow while you’re working a job.