The Simmonds Signal

Modern monetization strategies school can’t teach you.

Micro brand → micro products → micro business

I took a nap and talked to god. 

This is what he told me:

“Are you ready to speak to me?” Said the voice. 

I fell into silence and contemplation.

A decade passed since my last talk with the divine.

A moment I believed to be a conversation with God, in the dry expanse of a Canadian desert, under the influence of psychedelic mushrooms.

But this time was different…

… I was sober. Lost in a vivid dream.

Suddenly, a difficult memory appeared — a fight with my ex-girlfriend.

A surge of red clouded my vision, raw anger began coursing through my veins.

As the memory unfolded, a new level of awareness hit me.

“I’m stuck in the past.”

Living in ice cold memories.

In that epiphany, autonomy hit — I didn’t have to live in past pain anymore.

I possess the agency to move beyond it.

A hand appeared, seizing the memory like a painting and casting it far into the distance.

Tranquility.

I hadn’t realized the heavy weight of old memories.

Then gods voic

“Yes,” I said assuredly.

“Tell me.”

“Reflection is not wallowing in the past. It’s identifying the changes I need to make in the future.”

God smiled

Moments later, the chime of an Iphone.

Yet, something had shifted.

Inception.

Using Rest to Speak to God

The above story played out during a nap.

Which begs the question…

… Did I actually speak to god?

Some might say, yes.

I say, it’s highly unlikely.

I don’t believe I talked to god.
I do believe, I listened to my higher self.

What do I mean?

Psycho Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz, is one of my favorite books.

One of the books core ideas cemented itself in my mind well over 10 years ago.

Only at rest, do our best ideas arrive.

⇢ In the shower
⇢ On long walks
⇢ While falling asleep

But why?

Knowledge is found in the head.
Wisdom is found in the body.

Think of the passionate writer entering a deep flow, making time itself stand still.

Intentional practice move knowledge from your mind to your body.

Refining your intuition.

When you’re stressed, overwhelmed, or anxious, your body’s wisdom pathway is blocked.

It’s only by relaxation that your body loosens and wisdom thrusts into your mind.

Think I’m crazy? There’s more evidence.

Last night, I arrived in Salobrena, Spain.

Working beside the ocean relaxed my body instantly.

After a long walk on the beach and a nap, it smiled.

Entering a restful state where I could find my infinite wisdom - intuition.

A state where I access the lessons deep in my subconscious.

Science has found the conscious mind capable of handling about 40-60 bits of information per second.

The subconscious is believed to process thousands of times more, handling millions of bits of information a second.

Your conscious mind’s logic will never be as powerful as your body’s intuition - your subconscious.

This makes your body, your true source of wisdom.

By resting you can access it.

This is a secret only top entrepreneurs, artists, and athletes know…

It’s also the secret I used to build my profitable micro brand…

(Btw, read Rest by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang if you’re interested in the science of rest).

The Boss Babe Who Changed My Life

Jodie Cook is the definition of a boss babe.

A SaaS founder, international power lifter, and author.

A few years back, she exited her marketing agency.

While climbing a mountain with her in Cape Town, she shared the philosophy behind her insane levels of productivity.

(The philosophy she uses to be a world-class powerlifter from Great Britain, senior Forbes contributor, world traveler, have a 15 year long marriage, and be a SAAS founder).

Productivity is born by marrying your ‘Big 3’.

1) Obsession
2) Profession
3) Decompression

Jodie’s obsession is powerlifting.
Her profession is serial entrepreneur.
And for decompression, she hikes, chats with friends, and travels the world.

If an activity doesn’t fit within these three categories she doesn’t do it.

The result?

She cuts all the bullshit, and gets twice as much done.

And prioritizes decompression (rest) leading to insanely production work hours.

Even crazier, my wacky creative mind realized the ‘Big 3’ is an amazing mental model for building a micro brand.

Jodie has 15,000 followers on X.
And 18,000 followers on LinkedIn.

Guess what?

That’s all she needed to build an influential brand that opens up amazing new career opportunities.

And meet so many amazing entrepreneurs, builders, and creators.

Her micro brand is her digital resume.

Here’s how you can build yours…

Build a Micro Brand With the ‘Big 3’

1) Profession - Your Micro Brand’s Authority Pillar

Start turning your career experience into actionable ‘how to’ content.

If you don’t have experience yet, identify a high-value skill, study it, and share what you learn.

In my case, I had 10+ years of experience before building my micro brand.

❖ 7 years college teaching experience
❖ 5 years real estate investing experience
❖ Read 300+ self help, business, and psychology books

But I knew little about marketing and digital business.

So I read all the top books. And curated content on my learnings.

This built massive authority while attracting 10+ inbound ghostwriting leads per month.

The days of attending college for 4-8 years to gain credibility are over (look at how many grads are fighting for $30K per year jobs).

The age of 6-12 months of self study has begun (and it can make you a millionaire).

To be a Modern Monetizer:

Don’t go to college. Consume up to date knowledge.

Share it to build a profitable micro brand long before your competition enters the ring.

2) Obsession - Your Micro Brand’s Uniqueness Pillar

Obsession differentiates you from your competitors.

It transforms your brand into a ‘category of 1’ by pairing seemingly unrelated interests.

Jodie’s micro brand = SaaS founder + powerlifter + digital nomad

My micro brand = Education + philosophy + fiction

Obsession + profession = marketing that gets attention

It will repel some who have a negative association with your obsession.

But attract many with the same obsession as you.

Turning empty followers into die hard dollow-ers.

Dollow-ers - dollar weighted followers.

Identify your obsessions.
Weave them into content as examples, evidence, and graphic assets.

3) Decompression - Your Micro Brand’s Lifestyle Pillar

The habits and activities that help you relax.

❖ Walking
❖ Reading
❖ Napping
❖ Mediating
❖ Exercising
❖ Journalling
❖ Calling your mom
❖ Drinking with friends

These habits become relatable examples that attract audiences with a similar lifestyle.

Pulling on their ‘in-group tribal bias’ and need to belong.

Now they can belong with you.

Jodie decompresses with weight lifting.I decompress with naps, meditation, and staring at walls - maybe you do too?

To attract a like-minded tribe of loyal dollow-ers, share the life changing benefits your daily habits have to offer.

Decompression is the new lifestyle marketing.

And there you have it.

How a spiritual dream and a boss babe changed my life.

Many overcomplicate branding but with this system, you can’t be one of them.

You already have endless content ideas inside of you.

Remember, you are the content.

With a little guidance, you can use them to build a micro brand and leverage your influence into a profitable micro business.

(More on this another time).

Your anime loving friend,

-Taylin John Simmonds

PS. This newsletter marks the start of a massive rebrand.

Since starting my brand, I’ve wanted to do something different.

But I didn’t know what different looked like.

Everyone is copying big creators like Dan Koe, Lara Acosta Justin Welsh, etc…

Why?

Because it’s safe.

Their ideas are market tested. We know they work.

The alternative of going all in on your obsessions, intuition, and personal interests is scary.

⇢ Will people like them?⇢ Will I get made fun of?⇢ Will it detract from my business?

These terrify me.

Only, I can’t let fear guide my decisions anymore.

It’s time to follow my intuition.

What does this look like?

I’ve renamed the newsletter to The Simmonds Signal.

Modern monetization strategies that school can’t teach you.

(Which I know for a fact because I used to teach at one).

Which I know for a fact because I used to teach at one.

I’ll also be attempting to weave fictional stories and anime into my marketing.

This might fail.But my gut’s telling me I need to try it.

I’d rather fail than wonder ‘what if?’

Ideas are refined as they come into contact with reality.

Which is why my brand has changed so much over the past 2 years.

And will continue to as I evolve.

This will upset some. But hopefully inspire many.

Building in public is messy.

Thanks for changing, failing, and discovering yourself with me.

-Taylin John Simmonds

PS. There’s more “goodies” below ;)

Oh. Are you still hungry?

If your mouth is salivating for more goodies, check out these free courses and cheat sheets (more coming soon):

❖ The Ultimate Content Creation Hub ($999 But You Get It for Free)

❖ The viral hook writing cheat sheets I use to get millions of likes and impressions

❖ My free video course on how to make $10,000 / month with high ticket services (less than 2 hours to complete)