In this video from 2023, I go over a lesson I still use every time I write.
Author: George
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A strategy I still use: How to revive a cold email list
In this video from 2023, I show you a strategy that’s still effective for reviving cold lists.
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Lessons from first Claude Code experience
Yesterday I told you I’d be using Claude Code to design my website.
AI isn’t going anywhere, and I came to the conclusion that I need to be capable when it comes to using it.
Here’s why…
Businesses are using Claude Code to create everything faster. Including ads, landing pages, email automations, and whatever else you’d need to market your business.
The ability to test different offers and landing pages has always been a major focal point of finding what people want.
So last night I started using Claude to design a website.
I was shocked at how intuitive it was.
It created an entire website for me in less than 1 hour.
Even better, it hooked up my opt-ins and automations.
This alone used to take me half a day to do.
Now I could do it in less than 2 hours.
And I didn’t need to hire a developer to do it.
Color me sold on Claude Code’s capabilities.
My website is still not where I want it to be, but it’s on the right track.
The first pass using Claude Code.
Here are a few lessons I learned…
- Never give Claude Code any user names or passwords: This sounds obvious but I typed in one of my passwords to my hosting site and it gave me a stern warning. Claude Code lets you do the logging in yourself, and it never asks you for information. That was reassuring for somebody new to the tech.
- Be honest about what you want: Don’t be shy to tell it anything you want on your website, even if it seems outlandish. It’s amazing what it’s capable of, and the further you dig, the more your website will look authentic to you. I feel like I held back a bit because I didn’t want to break anything, but will be slowly pushing it harder in the future.
- Take inspiration from other websites: When I didn’t know how to articulate what I wanted, I’d take a screenshot of a website I liked and asked Claude Code if it could create something similar, and it did. This was when it started getting pretty fun for me.
- Start writing down more of your wishlist: If you run out of tokens or time, keep writing down things you want for future request. A great thing Claude Code does is it clears space in your brain and you can get into an even greater flow, and I was getting more and more ideas coming through than I normally would. Capturing those creative echoes is really important otherwise you might lose them.
- The 80% is the easiest part, the 20% gets more friction: The website was done quick, but the last 20% of trying to get it exactly where I wanted it was tedious.
That’s all for now.
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I’m a raging narcissist…
Back when I was starting out in business, I’d do a lot of masterminds.
The masterminds frequently asked one question…
“What is your why?”
Starting a business is hard, they’d say.
You’re going to want to quit if you don’t have a why, they’d say.
A lot of people (including myself) had similar responses.
We’d respond with..
“I want to help my local community.”
“I want to live up to my potential.”
“I want to take care of my family.”
These declarations are all well and good.
In fact, I think they’re among the highest noble things a human can do.
The problem was…
I didn’t really want to do those things.
I actually wanted to make money and live a lifestyle on my own terms.
I’d often ask myself…
“What’s wrong with me?”
Am I just a selfish person?
Then a wave of guilt and shame would hit me and I’d feel even worse.
But after thinking about it deeper, I discovered…
It was all my ego.
The desire to be Mr. Noble was just coming from a “people pleasing” state.
I wanted people to think I was holier than thou.
But after that posturing was over, the reality hit me hard.
It’s what caused me to finally quit my corporate job at Oxford Club last April.
I was tired of the seemingly 24/7 work machine.
I was burned out, resentful and definitely no Steve Jobs.
I wanted to get back to doing what I love the most.
What do I love the most?
Latin dance.
Latin dance is where my energy and happiness flows the most.
I did latin dance for more than 8 years before I decided I needed to quit.
“It was time to grow up” I’d tell myself.
I’m 34 now, and I can’t be out until 6 a.m. dancing like I used to in my mid 20’s.
So I took the corporate job with Oxford in 2022 and moved to Baltimore.
Cut to 4 years later and I wasn’t happy with who I saw in the mirror.
I had gained 30 pounds.
I was addicted to caffeine so I could work.
I slept terribly because of all said caffeine.
I was tired and lethargic all the time.
And all this hype with artificial intelligence was pressuring me to stay at my computer even more because I didn’t want to miss the next Claude update.
I knew this wasn’t sustainable on a physical level.
It’s been 3 months since I left Oxford.
Since then, I’ve been back in the gym, working on my own books (I’ve got 2 published so far), and last night I went back to a dance for the first time in a long time.
I still have some ways to go, but I like the direction I’m headed now.
Does any of this resonate?
Have you struggled with doing things just to please others in the past?
How has it impacted you?
Let me know by commenting below.