The Simmonds Signal

Write to bring peace to your mind. Write to create financial abundance. Write to find your people. Write to discover your personal path to spirituality. Write to know yourself. Write.

Insights, actionable tips, and philosophies for writers, creatives, and storytellers…

You ever get sick of the same ol newsletters each week?

The predictable story. The boring lesson. The “meh.”

Me too.

Most weeks, I hammer out an essay and fire off one or two newsletters stuffed with writing wisdom. Tactical tips. Powerful philosophies.

But today?

We're trying something new.

This is my first build in public newsletter. A raw, unfiltered, behind-the-scenes look at scaling Growth Ghost and Ghostlii to 7 figures.

The wins. The losses. The ugly. And hopefully some gold.

Because let’s face it…

Most people will never build a business that pays them to write. They’ll overthink. Undercharge. Waste years playing small while they watch others win.

Not you.

You’re here because you want to learn. To leap. To win.

So get ready cause today we go raw and unfiltered…

This Month Has Sucked—Energetically Speaking

People love to act like business is just… business.

Like it exists in a vacuum. Like your personal life doesn’t bleed into your profits. Like your energy, your emotions, and your habits don’t dictate your results.

But they do.

And this month? My energy has been sh*t.

Why?

Because I committed to two simple but sinister challenges:

1. Spin class every day

2. No Netflix & mindless consumption

Sounds harmless, right?

I thought so too.

Spin class is like a medieval torture chamber disguised as “exercise.” Dripping sweat. Burning lungs. Legs that feel like wet noodles.

And me? I’m not built for 28 days straight of this madness.

But 16 days in? Here we are.

I’m grumpy. I crave naps like a junkie craves a fix. My dopamine levels are more confused than a teenager after their first breakup.

And without my usual dose of evening Netflix? My brain hates me.

But honestly, it hasn't been all bad…

• My mind? Razor sharp

• My focus? Crystal clear

• My evenings? Wildly productive

I’ve been writing more. Finished a meditation course. Making actual personal progress.

But—and this is a big but—both Ghostlii & Growth Ghost have suffered.

My creativity feels stiff. My writing feels dry. My marketing is limping along like a wounded dog.

The lesson?

You can only hyper-grow one area of life at a time.

Right now, I’m forcing fitness into submission. Which means business and relationships have taken a hit.

But once my body adapts and this fitness habit is locked in I’ll shift gears.

And when I do? Business gets the full death grip again.

One obsession at a time. That’s how you win.

The Month of Murphy's Law (Everything Takes Longer Than Expected)

This month, I had three big business goals:

1. Finish 3 new lead magnets

2. Start posting weekly on YouTube

3. Build a free community tier for Growth Ghost

Here’s why I’m focusing on these:

• I need better lead magnets to pump up newsletter subs and pull in leads for Growth Ghost

• But a lead magnet without video? Wasted potential.

• Why? Because video converts 7x better than written content.

Translation: No video = leaving money on the table.

The writing for all three lead magnets?

Done weeks ago.

But the videos? A never-ending f*ck fest of problems:

• My old camera was a dinosaur. Wouldn’t work with my software.

• The lighting rig was too big. Made me look like a ghost.

• The new lighting rig? Too grainy. Made me look like a 90s VHS tape.

I still shot some short-form videos (check them out here), but the quality? Not even close to good enough for evergreen lead magnets or YouTube.

I just got the lighting fixed today.

But guess what? The whole project got pushed back by three weeks.

The lesson?

Expect things to break. To glitch. To take way longer than you thought.

It’s a constant battle against Murphy’s Law—what can go wrong, will go wrong.

And the ones who win?

They don’t whine. They adapt. They keep going.

The Dan Koe Playbook (Why I'm All In On Video)

Truth is… I want a Dan Koe-level brand.

What does that mean?

It means he can write about whatever the hell he wants—and people care.

Not because of some magic trick. But because he’s Dan Koe.

His brand is so strong that the who matters more than the what.

He's become so popular that he can make ideas popular.

Unlike everyone else who needs popular ideas to make them popular by association.

Me? I’m still in the second camp.

Which is why I’m going all-in on YouTube and video.

Here's the 'creator science':

🧠 Time under attention = trust
🤝 Trust = brand authority
💰 Brand authority = $$$

The more time people spend consuming your content, the more they like you, trust you, and want to buy from you.

And video? It builds connection 100x faster than text.

Which is why now that my video setup is locked in, I’m:

• Dropping weekly YouTube videos

• Hosting podcasts with top and up-and-coming creators

• Adding short-form clips to my X threads & LinkedIn posts

The lesson?

Video accelerates brand-building faster than writing ever could.

And most creators suck at it.

They’re either too lazy, too camera-shy, or too clueless to make high-quality videos.

Which means?

This is a massive competitive advantage.

One I'm betting will pay off huge over the next 6-12 months.

The $100K Mistake That Cost Me My Authority

I’m about to expose one of the dumbest, most expensive mistakes I’ve made since going full-time as a writer and creator.

My goal? Get Growth Ghost to $100K/month.

Right now, we’re halfway there.

But there’s a problem I never saw coming…

Over the past year, I stopped talking about writing and ghostwriting.

And guess what?

That decision cost me my authority in the writing space.

When I ask my students who their favorite writing accounts are, I hear the same names over and over:

• Dan Koe

• Dickie Bush

• Kieran Drew

• Nicolas Cole

• Tim Denning

• Dakota Robertson

You know who never gets mentioned?

Me.

Which sucks considering I was one of the top writing accounts just 2 years ago.

And honestly? I can’t even be mad.

I spent a whole year not talking about writing.

So why would anyone associate me with it? Hell, my own students didn’t even know I run a multi-6-figure ghostwriting agency.

As far as the writing world is concerned, I’m invisible.

And when people don’t see you as an authority? They don’t trust you. They don’t hire you. They don’t even think of you.

Doesn’t matter if I’ve been writing for three straight years.
Doesn’t matter if I pull in $500K per year doing it.

None of it matters if my audience doesn’t associate me with it.

The lesson?

Brand = the associations your audience makes with you.

If you don’t constantly reinforce those associations, you disappear.

So here’s how I’m fixing it:

• Sharing my ghostwriting wins

• Talking openly about the money I’m making

• Dropping my best writing insights & lessons

It’s gonna take time to rebuild that trust.

But I’m here to play.

And I’m here to stay.

There you have it.

What do you think of this weeks issue?

Love it? Hate it? Somewhere in between?

If you want more raw, unfiltered, build-in-public breakdowns like this…

Hit reply and type “more.”

I have hundreds of more lessons I'd love to share.

Until next time,

-Taylin John Simmonds

PS. When you’re ready, here’s 3 ways I can help you:

1. Watch this podcast to learn how I built a $500k per year digital writing business from square one. This is by far my favorite podcast I’ve been on.

2. Read this to land your first $3,000 per month ghostwriting client. No bullsh*t, just an actionable system.

3. Watch this video created by my mentor, Dakota, to learn more about ghostwriting. Whether you’re an amateur or seasoned writer, this is you fastest path to earning 6 figures as a writer (I’m biased, of course).