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You've been researching online business ideas for 52 weeks.
Maybe longer.
YouTube videos about "passive income." Reddit threads on the best newsletter platforms. Courses you bookmarked but never finished. Twitter threads about people making $10K/month.
You tell yourself you're "learning."
But here's what's actually happening: You're not learning. You're stalling.
And next week, you'll do the same thing. Meanwhile, someone else—with half your knowledge and twice your doubts—just sent their first ugly email.
Their email wasn't perfect. But it went out. It got opens. It got replies. It got momentum.
My First Email Made Me $300.
Hear me out…
Exactly one year ago. I scrapped my "perfect" welcome email and wrote something honest and messy in 20 minutes.
Later I learn that the email had:
Two typos in the subject line ("Builidng" instead of "Building")
A broken link in paragraph three
Formatting that looked terrible on mobile
I sent it to five people.
Three replied. One asked a question. I answered it in my next email.
Four weeks later, I had 200 subscribers.
Then something surreal happened… a company offered me $300 to send emails.
That ugly email—the one I almost didn't send—became the first step to my first dollar online.
The "perfect" email I spent three weeks on? Still sitting in my drafts folder. Worth exactly $0.
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The Math of Perfectionism
Option A: Perfect
Week 1-52: Research, learn, bookmark, repeat
Week 53: Still researching
Total: 1 year, 0 emails sent, $0
Option B: Start Ugly
Week 1: Write decent email, 3 people reply
Week 2: Another email, 5 people reply
Week 3: Starting to find your voice, 8 people reply
Week 4: You have 50 subscribers and momentum
Week 12: First $300 sponsor
Total: 12 weeks, 16 interactions, actual revenue
The person who starts ugly learns 10x faster than the person who waits for perfect.
The Only Question That Matters
One year from now, which version of you do you want to be?
Version A: Still researching online business ideas. Still watching YouTube videos about newsletters. Still planning to start "next month." Still watching other people build.
Version B: 50 emails sent. 500+ subscribers. A system that works. Momentum that compounds. A newsletter that makes money.
Both versions take 12 months. Only one requires hitting send on something imperfect today.
Which version are you choosing?
Your Permission Slip
You're already ready.
The perfect domain name, custom logo, and 10,000 Instagram followers? They're not what's stopping you.
What actually matters:
✅ One valuable idea
✅ One email platform (Beehiiv, free)
✅ One person to send it to
✅ The courage to hit send
Your first email doesn't have to be good. It just has to exist.
Because once it exists, you can make it better. But if it stays in your drafts forever, it can't do anything.
The brands you admire? They all started ugly.
Morning Brew's first emails were just curated links in a Google Doc. Tim Ferriss's first blog posts were riddled with typos. James Clear's 3-2-1 Newsletter started with 100 subscribers and zero design.
Nobody remembers the ugly start. They remember the consistent finish.
Start Ugly today.
Here's your challenge:
This Sunday, write one ugly email and send it.
Don't overthink the subject line. Don't stress about the length. Don't worry if it's not "perfect."
Just write something honest and hit send.
Then do it again next week. And the week after.
By Week 12, you'll have 12 emails, 50-100 subscribers, and a clearer understanding of your voice than you'd get from 100 hours of "perfecting."
Ugly beats perfect every single time.
The only mistake is not starting.
Drop a reply and tell me: What's the one thing stopping you from hitting send on your first (or next) email?
I read every reply.
Talk soon,
Digital Savage
P.S. The most successful newsletter operators I know all have one thing in common: They started before they were ready. The second most successful? They're still waiting to be ready.
Don't be the second group.
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