“I did it!” exclaimed our two-year-old granddaughter.

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

That sense of surprising achievement.

Brent Milne

Feb 11

READ IN APP

“I did it!” exclaimed our two-year-old granddaughter.

She’d just managed her first proper somersault.

The look on her face — surprise mixed with pride — was priceless.

She then tried it again.
And again.
Probably fifty times.

Not all of them were successful.

But she’d been trying for six months.

Have you ever experienced that feeling?

Working at something.
Not quite getting it.
Wondering if you ever will.

And then — suddenly — you do.

You never quite forget that first proof, do you?

Whether it’s your first somersault or your first $1 online, the thrill is the same.

I remember my first affiliate cheque.

$1.23 USD.

Completely useless to me — it would have cost more than that to bank it.

But it didn’t matter.

It proved something.

Someone had clicked a link I created and bought something.

Of course, I made many mistakes after that — some of them expensive.

But that first small proof changed everything.

It meant it was possible.

Regards,
Brent

February 10, 2026February 10, 2026

Why I stopped chasing instant money.

I stopped chasing instant results and started focusing on delivering something genuinely useful.

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

Why I stopped chasing instant money.

Brent Milne

Feb 10

READ IN APP

I stopped chasing instant results and started focusing on delivering something genuinely useful.

That shift changed how I think about value.

Years ago, when I ran a main street business, I realised the standard way of pricing products was flawed.

Cost + margin + freight + tax.

It works, sort of.

Instead, I started by looking at what similar items actually sold for.
Then I decided whether I could sell at that price and make it worthwhile.

If I couldn’t, I didn’t sell the product.

What surprised me was that sometimes I made far better margins this way.

The lesson stuck.

Price is irrelevant if the customer clearly sees the value in the outcome.

That’s why someone will happily pay $5,000 for something that doubles their business, but won’t pay $7 for something that does nothing for them.

The same rule applies online.

Chasing fast money ignores value.
Building useful things compounds.

Regards,
Brent

February 9, 2026February 9, 2026

“Will it make the boat go faster?”

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

“Will it make the boat go faster?”

Brent Milne

Feb 9

READ IN APP

“Will it make the boat go faster?”

That was the question the coach used with the British rowing team.

They’d been poor performers for six years.

For the next two years, every decision was filtered through that one question, from the boat itself to how they spent their spare time.

If it made the boat go faster, they kept it and doubled down.
If it didn’t, they discarded it.

Two years later, they won gold at the Sydney Olympics.

From six years of not even reaching the finals to Olympic champions, simply by focusing relentlessly on what mattered.

That question works far beyond sport.

Fewer moves beat more effort.

Focus only on what helps.
Ignore everything else.

That’s why I’ve simplified everything down to a small core of activities.

Regards,
Brent

February 8, 2026February 8, 2026

Results aren’t exciting. At first.

When I talk to marketers who are quietly successful, one thing is consistent.

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

Results aren’t exciting. At first.

Brent Milne

Feb 8

READ IN APP

A woman reads at a long desk in a library.

When I talk to marketers who are quietly successful, one thing is consistent.

It isn’t excitement about activity.

It’s respect for results.

They have systems for getting things done, and they follow those systems even when they’re bored stiff with them.

Because boring systems compound.

The big, visible moments only happen after long periods of unremarkable work.

In marketing, people love to talk about the day a single email “did well”.

They rarely talk about the months spent building a list, writing regularly, and staying consistent when nothing obvious was happening.

The same pattern shows up everywhere.

When the music industry raves about a “new” talent, no one mentions the years spent learning the craft, or the nights playing to indifferent audiences in pubs and clubs.

Sport. Acting. Business.

The story is always the same.

Success comes from repeating the boring parts.

Showing up.
Doing the work.
Continuing when it isn’t exciting.

That’s the real entry fee.

Regards,
Brent

February 6, 2026February 6, 2026

Activity isn’t progress

I used to confuse activity with progress.

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

Activity isn’t progress

Brent Milne

Feb 6

READ IN APP

I used to confuse activity with progress.

If those were the same thing, I’d be far further along than I am.

I once heard a story about a man in a timber mill whose boss passed away.
No one replaced him, and no one told the man what to do.

So he walked around the mill every day with a clipboard.

For two years.

No one questioned it — he looked busy.

Eventually someone asked what he’d been doing.

The answer was: nothing that mattered.

Looking busy isn’t the same as being productive.

And it’s definitely not the same as making progress.

I’m reminded of an old phrase:

“The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get.”

There’s a similar line I’ve seen in military and sci-fi writing:

“Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.”

I’ve slowed down.

I’m building smoothly and deliberately.

Smaller things.
Tighter focus.
Less noise.

Small niche sites come together quickly.
Traffic builds slowly.

And that’s exactly how it should be.

Regards,
Brent.

February 5, 2026February 5, 2026

This took way longer than it should have.

This took way longer than it should’ve.

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

This took way longer than it should have.

Brent Milne

Feb 5

READ IN APP

a turtle sitting on top of a wooden plank

This took way longer than it should’ve.

Sometimes I thought I was a slow learner.
Other times I wondered if I was just avoiding the work.

The truth is simpler.

I’m stubborn.

I spent over 25 years as a technician, and I was good at it, not because I was the smartest person in the room, but because I didn’t quit until the problem was actually fixed.

Internet marketing had me going in circles for a long time because I kept trying to outwork problems that needed to be understood.

What finally clicked is this:

Consistency doesn’t come from hustling harder.
It comes from doing one thing long enough for momentum to build.

That usually takes less time, not more.

Consistency is boring.
Boring is profitable.

Bouncing around feels productive.
It rarely is.

Regards,
Brent.

February 3, 2026February 3, 2026

Quick clarification.

I realised after yesterday’s email that I may not have explained this very clearly, so let me try again.

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

Quick clarification.

Brent Milne

Feb 3

READ IN APP

I realised after yesterday’s email that I may not have explained this very clearly, so let me try again.

This is about consistency, not cleverness.

If you’ve ever built something that should have worked, but didn’t, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

I’ve been there more times than I’d like to admit.

What I’m exploring now is a much simpler idea:
building small, tightly-focused micro-niche blogs that earn a little each month, and stacking them instead of chasing big wins.

I’m considering running a 30-day, hands-on beta where we’d build 3–5 of these sites together, focusing on:

niche selection
keyword-driven content
simple monetisation

This isn’t a pitch.

I’m genuinely trying to work out whether this would be useful to anyone else, or whether I’m off track.

If this wouldn’t interest you, a quick “no” reply would genuinely help.

And if it would be useful, just reply and tell me that.

No commitment, just feedback.

Regards,
Brent.

February 2, 2026February 2, 2026

A quick question about traffic

Most online marketers share the same problem.

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

A quick question about traffic

Brent Milne

Feb 2

READ IN APP

a man with a beard and blue eyes posing for a picture

Most online marketers share the same problem.

They don’t get consistent traffic — which means they don’t get consistent income.

It’s usually not because they don’t have something to sell.
They can promote affiliate products if needed.

It’s not because they can’t build things.
Most marketers know how to:

build a website
set up PayPal or Stripe
write content or emails
use AI to speed things up

And yet… income is still random.

The real problem is consistency and stability.

I know this because I’ve lived it.
For years.

I’ve wasted more potential income than I care to admit by chasing the wrong things and misunderstanding what actually matters.

Over the last while, I’ve been exploring a different approach — one focused on small, repeatable wins instead of big traffic spikes.

I’m considering running a small, hands-on 30-day beta to help a few marketers build 3–5 micro-niche websites that can realistically earn around $30 per month each.

Nothing flashy.
Just boring, compounding assets that add up.

If that sounds useful to you, just reply YES and I’ll send details.

Regards,
Brent.

February 1, 2026February 1, 2026

Banking without a product – the Brinks Club.

The “Gurus” will tell you that you have to sell your own product if you want to make it big.

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

Banking without a product – the Brinks Club.

Brent Milne

Feb 1

READ IN APP

The “Gurus” will tell you that you have to sell your own product if you want to make it big.

But, what if you could make millions without a product and without being an affiliate?

What would that even look like?

In the dim, dark history of the Internet, about 20 years ago, there was a group of marketers who called themselves the Brinks Club.

Their adsense cheques from Google were so large they were delivered by Brinks.

They were building websites called Made for Adsense sites.

There was very little content on them, just a stack of Google ads.

Then bought cheap traffic for their sites

Obviously, the Google customers who were paying for those ads complained about the poor ROI on their ad spend, so Google slapped those sites silly.

You won’t get away with that today, but the concept is still viable.

Build sites that provide good content on general subjects or trending keywords and link out to more tightly focussed pages of yours that have adsense ads on them.

It’s the volume of traffic that counts here.

You won’t need to buy traffic for these, a decent page on a trending keyword will get fast ranking and traffic.

But you’re not limited to adsense, there are many other sites that will pay you to run ads for them if you have the traffic.

When you can generate traffic you can make a buck, or a shedload of bucks.

Regards,
Brent.

P.S. If you do want to take advantage of this, and also want to sell your own products then this is where you’ll find underserved people to create products for.
https://link.wm-tips.com/overlook.

January 29, 2026January 29, 2026

Never sleep without shoes in South America.

You could wake up with bloody sheets.

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

Never sleep without shoes in South America.

Brent Milne

Jan 29

READ IN APP

You could wake up with bloody sheets.

All due to a tiny native.

The vampire bat is a tiny menace.

At only 3 inches long you could be excused for thinking they’re not a problem, but you’d be wrong.

These pint-sized pests manage to wipe out around a million cows a year in Central and South America.

Looking like mice that lost a fight with a wall, these creatures sink their razor-sharp teeth into cattle, all while injecting a special saliva smoothie that keeps the blood flowing.

They don’t suck blood, instead they lap it up as fast as possible, growing so round and satisfied they can barely fly home to sleep it off.

Humans usually get bitten on the toes, waking up to a bloody surprise with their feet stuck to the sheets.

It’s painless for the Human, and a snack for the bat.

They won’t be turning folks into Count Dracula, but they do add some caution to bedtime routines across Latin America.

Do any readers have experience with these?

Please let me know.

Regards,
Brent.

P.S. This won’t bite you hard enough to draw blood.

https://link.wm-tips.com/overlook, but you might be able to create a cash flow that’s painless for the customer, and makes you happily satisfied.

Sugar Puff

Posts