#i think a good chunk went dormant too it was an awful time in my life
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I don't remember if I actually made a post or if it was just a joke I told blood but I'm sure I said something along the lines of me after taking antipsychotics with that bit from NWH after Otto is cured and he's like the voices stopped
#luly talks#anti psychotics dont affect negatively systems unless its mine in which case they completely severed all communication#i think a good chunk went dormant too it was an awful time in my life#it was bc i moved away too btw#nobody was winning it was rough am i bitter still wrll ever so slightly#but we all committed our sins#things are looking up now tho#yeah but the horrors aside NWH was really important for me in this front#BC GOBLIN OF COURSE BC GOBLIN MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE GREEN GOBLIN#WILLEM DAFOE ACCIDENTALLY RECREATING MY EXPERIENCE VERBATIM ON THAT MIRROR SCENE#ANIME GUY GRIPPING THE TV HE'S JUST LIKE US FRRRR#very life changing fixation#otto and norm f/os ever. my husbands#brain stuff
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Swan’s Hourglass (4/?)
Emma Swan had a mission. Find a place to start New Hyrule, her kingdom apparently. It was her mission as Princess or Savior or whatever. It’s going terribly if she’s honest. No one ever gave her Princess or Savior lessons growing up. She really has no idea how to be a Savior. She doesn’t even really want to in the first place.
But when the Demon Ship kidnaps her son and she gets stranded on a strange island with only an old woman and peppy fairy for help, Emma will have to do what she has to do to rescue her son, even if that means putting a certain self-proclaimed pirate captain in his place.
Ao3 FFN
AN: Thanks so much for the support! This story would not be what it is without the lovely @spartanguard beta reading, @eastwesthomeisbest for providing that glorious cover art( Have you seen it? No? Go check it out!!!) As well as @cssns for giving me a reason to finally start posting this creation.
Chapter 3: Isle of Ember
The goddamn mountain is on fire.
Because of course it is. They couldn’t go to a regular island. The whole island had to be a giant death trap. It was the only island with a seer that could help her.
She wondered if someone just made this stuff up to annoy her.
“Come on, Swan, where’s your sense of adventure?” Hook calls, seeing her disgruntled expression. “I’ve been looking for the Isle of Ember forever.”
Emma rolls her eyes. “Some pirate; this was literally like a few miles away from Mercury,” she responded.
“You do recall that map is an ancient treasure and the whole glowing thing it did, right?” Hook responds. “This place was concealed.”
She sighs. Of course it was. Emma didn’t understand why she was even here, she should be out looking for that ship. It had found them so easily, why couldn’t they just…Emma didn’t know. All she knew was that the longer she spent away from her son, the worse she felt.
“Sooner we meet this psychic, the better,.” she says simply, looking away from the pirate.
“Of course, Swan.”
“You know it’s Emma, right?” she says, leaning into the railing of the ship.
“I have been informed. Swan just seems more fitting,” he replies, leaning against the rail. ”But what about this child the old bat mentioned before departing?” he asks.
“My son,” she replies. He has a right to know, and perhaps knowing what Emma stands to lose will remind him of how far she’s willing to go. “We were sailing on The Darling , a ship under Captain Wendy Darling and her brothers, when the Demon Ship appeared. My son, Henry went over to it. He thought he could take it; he thought we were right behind him. I heard him scream and tried to go and get him, but I fell overboard, that’s how I survived. It’s also how I ended up on Mercury Island,” she explains.
He nods knowingly. “We’ll find him, Swan,” he says. “We’ll find your boy.”
//
The seer’s house is surprisingly easy to find, especially with it being the only house on the island. It is small and wooden, which Emma finds to be a completely awful design choice, considering it sits at the foot of a not so dormant volcano which, according to Hook, occasionally spews out balls of molten lava.
However, when they get to the door, they find it in fragments, wood chunks everywhere, the small living room ruined with jagged claw marks and blood. It’s quite a lot of blood.
“Scorch marks,” Hook points out as he makes his way inside, “It looks like this seer fought back and managed to vanquish some of these creatures,” he observes.
“And the blood looks fresh,” Tink adds, although she looks like she’s trying not to look directly at it.
Emma just nods. “Then we should see if she’s still alive.” The claw marks seem to lead downstairs. “And I guess the basement’s a good place to start.” Because of course it’s the basement. It’s always the basement.
They hear something as Emma, leading the group, steps onto the basement floor. It’s a shriek and Emma only has seconds to move before a red monster jumps at her face. She swings her sword wildly, hitting the monster away from her. She curses as she sees it in the darkness, stunned but not quite done yet.
It’s bigger than the ones she fought on Mercury. And it’s not alone. She readies for it to jump again when Hook joins her in the basement, his own sword at the ready.
“You know, you swing that thing like a club,” he comments. “Perhaps some lessons are in order.”
Emma rolls her eyes. “Seriously?” she asks. “This is not the time for this, and I can sword fight fine,” she insists. He smirks at her.
“Darling, you wouldn’t survive two minutes in an actual sword fight. Would you like to see how a sword is actually supposed to be used?” he asks. She glares at him but says nothing as he steps towards the creatures. They eye him suspiciously, yellow eyes glaring at the sword.
They shriek before they jump, all at once towards him. Emma readies her sword to try to help him, but she has a gut feeling he doesn’t need her. He strikes the first one and ducks out of the way of the other two, letting them hit something with a crash. He turns, not even watching as the injured one bursts into ash, before giving the next two killing blows before they even recover.
Emma has to admit that he knows how to use that weapon; perhaps he was right about those lessons… He turns back around, putting away the blade.
“I could have done that,” she mutters, looking away from his smug face.
“But not as dashingly as me, love,” he snickers, looking around. “But are we sure there was a seer here? Perhaps she wasn’t home when the monsters broke in?”
She looks around and agrees; it just looks like a bunch of junk in here. She walks around the place, hoping for some kind of clue.
“Is it safe?” she hears Tink timidly call from the staircase. “I found a torch,” she adds.
“All good, love,” Hook calls. Tink glares at him as she emerges, the torch in her hand lighting up the room.
“How many times do I have to tell you? I’m not your love! Can you please stop with the pet names?”
One of the walls looks different from the rest, Emma realizes. It’s not as smooth, and it’s hollow.
“You really suck out the fun out of everything don’t you, lass?” Hook notes. “A few pleasantries among friends isn’t going to kill you.”
Emma feels along the wall looking for something, anything that can prove to her what she’s suspecting, that it’s not a wall at all. She tries knocking on it, and after a moment, she hears something.
“First of all, I have a name; it’s Tink. Secondly, we are not friends. We are two people with a common goal: help Emma rescue her son. Thirdly, pleasantries with you might actually kill me,” Tink says fuming at the pirate.
“Will you both shut up?” Emma snaps. They do. She knocks again. She can hear it better this time (without the needless talking.)
It sounds like help. “Hey can you hear me?” she says louder.
“Can I—“ Hook starts, but Emma shushes him.
“The monsters are gone; if you can hear me, know that it’s safe to open this door,” she says.
“ Is Kayto there? ” the voice says, muffled by the door but clear enough.
“No, just me and my companions,” she insists. “But we mean you no harm I promise,” she says gently.
“Kayto is the only one who can open the door,” the voice replies. “Please, you have to find my friend.”
She looks at Hook and Tink; she knows they’re thinking the same thing she is. The blood in the room—it was probably Kayto’s.
Emma considers telling this person that her friend is most likely dead and that there’s a good chance they’re going to have to blow the door down to free her, but Emma doesn’t have the heart to tell her that.
She doesn’t have it in her to leave someone behind, leave them to die. Or worse.
“Emma…” Hook says. He’s ready to tell her all the things she already knows.
“Ok. We’ll go find your friend.” Emma insists, giving Hook a look. “Will you be ok in there for a little while?” She asks.
“Yes, thank you. Thank you so much,” the voice replies.
Hook waits until they’re outside to comment. She’s thankful for that.
“You are aware he’s most likely dead, right?” Hook asks.
Emma doesn’t respond. She just trudges out of that place, looking around for some direction as to where to go. She needs to hurry if there’s any hope for this guy. She notices a blood stain and follows it.
“Swan, this isn’t going to end well,” he continues. She doesn’t need to hear it, she doesn’t want to. She doesn’t have it in her to hear how she should just leave this guy behind. “He’s lost too much blood. You and I both know that.”
She does, but Emma doesn’t care. She has to try. She just has to.
Hook grabs her arm and Emma snaps.
“Then go if you don’t want to look!” she nearly yells at him. He recoils sharply. “Go if you just want to leave this guy behind, see what I care; but I’m going to go look for him, I’m going to go find out for sure one way or another, so stay out of my way.” She doesn’t wait to respond, just turning back towards the path. A single goal in mind.
She hears Hook following along behind her. He doesn’t say a word.
Good. She thinks. She doesn’t need his smug attitude anyway.
The trail leads along the perimeter of the island. Monsters block her path but she makes quick work of them, mentally preparing for more snark and comments about how she fights. She doesn’t care if she wasn’t trained right; it’s working.
He still doesn’t say a word. Emma can feel his eyes boring into her, but she refuses to look at him. She doesn’t want him to say more things about how this guy was dead, more about how she’d fail, again.
She was a Savior who couldn’t save a goddamn thing.
“Hello?”
Emma jolts, feeling something on the back of her neck. She turns around quickly, nearly hitting Hook with her blade. He curses as he barely dodges.
“I know you’re mad, but you do still need me to sail the Jolly,” he says with a hint of a joke.
“Sorry, I thought…” she says, avoiding his gaze. She turns back around.
“You thought what, Swan?” he asks. It sounds crazy. It was this damn island, and a whole bag of issues playing tricks on her. “Come on, Swan—talk to me,” he insists.
She doesn’t want to. She doesn’t want to hear any more negativity.
“Doesn’t matter,” she mumbles. They keep walking. He takes up a position beside her.
“Something that didn’t matter almost made you take off my other hand,” he notes casually.
“I said I was sorry,” Emma snaps back.
“Can someone help me?” It happens again, a feeling in the back of her neck. She looks around, for something, anything to explain this…feeling.
“Swan? It’s happening again, isn’t it?” Hook insists, his arm grabbing hers. She tries to pull out of his grip, but he holds firm.
“Tell me what’s happening,” he says seriously. “I can’t help you if I’m left in the dark.”
She pulls away violently. “I don’t need your help!” she snaps angrily.
Hook’s eyes darken. “Bloody hell, I’m not him alright?” he nearly shouts, his body rigid. “I’m not whoever it was that left you, so stop thinking every word out of my mouth is me trying to leave you, or this Kayto, or this quest. I’m trying to help and your own stubbornness is what’s getting in the way.”
Emma blinks. “How—“ Hook rolls his eyes, taking a step closer to her, getting in her space and staying there.
“You have the look in your eyes of someone used to being abandoned. I saw it the moment we met, but your outburst earlier showed me how deep it ran. Tell me—they said they loved you and then they ran? They left you in some peril; said they thought you were dead, aye?” he asks.
It strikes a nerve deep in her core, leaving her rattled. She can’t find the words.
“Don’t think everyone is going to be the same. Don’t think I’m going to be the same,” he says sternly, gaze morphing into a smirk. “Trust me, love—you’ve never met a man like me before.” He adds a scandalous wink, making her cheeks turn red.
“Can anyone help me?” It’s louder this time.
“I keep hearing something,” she admits reluctantly, her shoulders sag. “A voice and it makes my whole body tense up, like something dangerous is near,”
He looks at her calculatingly, eyes tracing over her face. “Well…what’s it saying?” he asks. She’s surprised by his response.
“It's…asking for help.” She wonders if he believes her, or wonders if he’s just humoring her.
“Well…have you tried answering it?” Hook replies with a bit of a head tilt. “Offer it our assistance?”
Emma blinks in surprise. “You’re not serious.” Hook shrugs.
“Perhaps it can help us find our friend?” he suggests. “Can’t hurt.”
She turns around, trying to remember around where she heard it last. “Hey? Anyone here?” she calls.
Emma doesn’t expect an answer; she honestly believes she’s crazy, or sleep deprived, or both.
“Hello?” the voice calls again, almost as if on cue.
“Hey!” she shouts. “I’m here; do you need help?” she asks, looking around for anything out of the ordinary. She doesn’t see anything.
“Be friendly, Swan,” Hook encourages with a wink. Emma rolls her eyes.
“ Can you hear me?” it asks. She sees something flickering in front of her.
“Yes, I can.” It’s a blue flame of some sort. She looks at Hook; it’s obvious that he can’t see it.
“ Oh that’s fantastic; I don’t know what happened to me!” it says, pure relief in its voice. The blue flame seems to morph as he speaks
“What do you remember?”
“ I remember cleaning My Lady’s home, sweeping, and the door burst open. My Lady was downstairs organizing her supplies. I called out to her, and told her monsters were attacking; usually they aren’t so strong, they fear My Mistress. They don’t bother us out of fear of her wrath, but these...these monsters attacked. My Lady got into the safe room, but I had to stay outside to close the door and—“
The ghost trails off, as the blue shape forms a person, short and small in stature, dark hair and eyes but a kind face. He seems worried.
Emma comes to the conclusion quite quickly that she’s speaking to Kayto’s ghost; they were already too late.
“ I don’t know what happened to her. Please—you have to find her and make sure she’s alright!” he insists.
Emma smiles sadly; she doesn’t know what to say, what to do.
“Are they saying something to you, Swan?” Hook asks. Emma nods.
“Your lady is fine.” Emma tells the ghost. “She sent us looking for you. We can’t open the door; she said you were the only one who could.” He looks relieved. “She wanted us to help save you from the monsters,” she adds. “She’s very worried.”
He nods. “ Of course. The password is her name. Tell her to speak it without fear and the door will open.” She nods in understanding. She wonders if the ghost knows he’s dead, knows how to move on and not stay stuck here.
“I’m sorry we were too late,” she says. He shakes his head, looking peaceful. His form flickers, his voice getting quieter.
“ Don’t be. Will you tell her not to think sadly of me? Will you tell her I was not in pain? Tell her to have hope, the change we are waiting for has arrived.”
Emma furrows her brows in confusion. “The change?” she asks.
He doesn’t respond to her question, she can barely see him.
“ Tell her I’m at peace knowing that she is safe and that soon, she will not be alone…” The voice fades as the figure does, but Emma feels…she doesn’t know. She feels something was missing. She feels like he isn’t gone.
“Everything ok?” Hook asks. Emma shakes her head; it’s probably nothing but while it looked to her like this guy was finding peace, she felt nothing. Emma doesn’t understand what’s happening, but she feels like peace should feel different from fading into nothing.
It feels wrong.
“It’s nothing,” she says. “Nothing that matters anyway. Come on; I know how to free our seer friend.”
When they return to the house, Tink is sitting on the floor, chatting happily with the seer. Tink is surprised to see them. “Where’s Kayto?” she asks immediately. Emma glares at her silently as she wanted to free the seer before breaking the news. You should have someone besides you when you learn your loved one was gone.
However, the seer surprises her.
“ He’s dead, isn’t he?” she asks. Emma sighs.
“Yes, but I know how to open the door,” she says hopefully. “And I have a message from him,” she adds. Emma tells her what to do and she can hear the seer chuckle.
“ Kayto was always silly like that, making the passwords my name, or my eye color or my favorite flower,” she laughs. “ Lily!” she says sternly and without wavering. Without hesitation, Emma hears the gears shift and the door between them drop to the ground.
“Welcome to the other side,” Tink says, holding out her hand for the Seer, Lily, to grab. She takes it and Emma can see the woman’s face is filled with tears, despite having a smile on her face. Tink pulls her into a firm hug. “I’m so sorry about your friend,” she says.
“Me too.”
//
It takes some time to clean up as Tink takes Lily to her bedroom to rest.
“Something bothered you, before,” Hook notes as he picks up pieces of the broken furniture as Emma mops. “When you were speaking to the dead.”
Emma shrugs, wishing he’d drop it.
“Sorry I wasn’t perky,” she says dryly.
“Does that often happen? The dead telling you their last wishes?”
“Not that I recall.” He doesn’t respond after that, seemingly getting the hint that Emma didn’t want to talk about it.
They have the room mostly clean by the time Lily and Tink return from upstairs. She gets a good look at her now. Lily was dressed in dark purple silks, tanned skin with darker brown hair. She was smiling, but Emma could see the grief radiating off the woman.
“You came to seek my assistance,” Lily says simply.
She feels nervous all of a sudden, unsure if they’d made the right decision to come here.
“I um…are you sure you’re up for this?” Emma asks.
“You brought me Kayto’s last wishes; assisting you is the same as honoring my friend,” she confirms. “Tell me your—“ but Lily is cut off by the earth beneath their feet shaking.
“Bloody hell!”
Bloody hell is right. Emma nearly loses her balance due to being forced to hug the wall to keep herself standing. Tink falls back on her butt, while Hook’s hook makes a scraping sound in the wall as he tries to avoid falling.
The shaking stops almost as abruptly as it begins.
“Sorry about your wall, lass…” Hook says sheepishly. Emma glances at the jagged marks in the wall. “I have something to patch it up onboard,” he offers.
Lily smiles kindly in his direction. “Thank you, Captain. It’s been a while since the island shook like that; it’s not a good sign,” she admits. “But that is none of your concern.”
Hook quietly makes his way out of the room.
“Tell me your desire,” Lily says, pointing at a chair, now upturned besides the crystal ball on her table. “And I can take a glimpse into your destiny.”
Emma does as she asks; she’s not one to put much thought into ‘destiny’ and fate. She’s been screwed over by such thoughts before. But she’s willing to give it a try if it means finding Henry.
“I need to find the Demon Ship. There’s supposed to be something on this island that the Demon Ship wants. I need to know where it is,” she states.
“Many have come for this island’s treasure; none have found it.”
“Failing isn’t an option for me.”
Lily takes her hands, and places them on the crystal. “Close your eyes.” Emma expected it to be cold, but it felt like ice, sending a shiver down her whole body., She closes her eyes, trying to relax to let Lily work her magic.
“Mom?” Emma’s eyes snap open. She knows that voice.
“Henry?” she exclaims, seeing her boy in front of her. He looks the same—same clothes, hair rumpled and dirty, but same bright and hopeful eyes. “Oh, Henry,” she says pulling him into her arms. He hugs her close, burying his face into her chest. “Are you alright?”
He nods, “I’m fine, but I want to go home. Please come take me home,” he says, tears appearing in his eyes.
“I will,” she swears. “I’m coming to find you. I promise nothing is going to stop me.”
He nods. There’s a loud creaking sound, making Henry jolt to look away from her, in the direction she can’t see.
“Henry?” Her kid starts to fade from view, becoming translucent.
“Mom?” Henry says turning back towards her, looking panicked. “Mom!”
“I’ll find you, Henry!” But it’s too late, her eyes blink open and she sucks in a large breath, pulling away from the crystal and Lily. Her whole body is trembling.
“What did you do? Where did you take me?” Emma demands, her whole body is trembling and there are tears streaking down her face.
“It’s you,” Lily says in amazement. “You’re the Savior.” Her eyes widen with delight. Emma’s widen in horror. “I thought it was...You’re here to save the island, and defeat the evil.” Emma shakes her head.
Not this again…
“ The Island needs you; you’re the only one who can do it,” she says, standing to embrace her, but Emma avoids her touch. Why this? Why this again? “The realm needs you, Emma. You can save this island; you can save us all from this evil.” She shakes her head.
No. No. No.
“Are you sure?” Tink asks. “That she’s this Savior? What does that even mean?”
Lily turns to her. “The Savior was prophesied by my mother before I was born, to defeat a great evil, to restore balance. Now she is here, exactly when she is most needed. The Isle of Ember won’t last much longer.”
“Then it's a good thing she’s here,” Tink says with a nod. “I’ve learned not to doubt Emma. What does she have to do?”
“Why, climb Mt. Ember of course. Deep in the mountain lies a shrine to the Fairy of Power, but it’s been corrupted by evil—the same evil that has your child, Emma.”
They both look at her expectantly, like handing her responsibility for a whole island was a gift and not the burden it truly was.
“I don’t want to save anyone!” she exclaims loudly now. “I can’t do this. This savior you’re looking for its-its not me,” she insists. “I just want to save my kid. I just want Henry back,” she says in a smaller voice. “I don’t want to defeat some grand evil. I just want to go home!”
Lily and Tink look at her in surprise, or maybe it’s disappointment. Emma isn’t sure, so she doesn’t stick around to find out. She turns around and bolts for the door. She nearly trips as the ground shakes from another eruption, but Emma doesn’t care. She wants to run so that’s what she does. She just runs.
But with no destination, she happens to run right into Hook, quite literally as her body collides with his as he’s leaving the docks. Emma almost topples over, but Hook steadies her.
“Whoa, lass—what’s wrong?” he asks. Concern is written on his face, which is just great. Because if the pirate is showing concern for her then she must really be a wreck. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. She was supposed to find a home for her and Henry, not let him get kidnapped. What kind of a mother is she?
What kind of Savior is she?
“A bloody great mother, Swan,” Hook insists. Emma hadn’t even realized she had said any of that out loud. “What’s this about?” he asks; his hand is still on her arm, holding her steady, keeping her rooted to the spot.
“They want me to go there,” she says in a too small voice, pointing to the mountain. “They want me to defeat whatever evil thing has taken over. They want me to save this whole place and I-I just can’t. I’m not a hero, I’m not the one for the job. I barely know how to hold a sword,” she admits. Her knees tremble at the thought of going in there.
He doesn’t respond at first, but he doesn’t let her go.
“Does going in there help you save Henry?” he asks. It catches her off guard.
“I don’t know. She said the same evil that has Henry is in there, but he’s not here, he’s…lost.” She knows in her soul that he’s not here; the vision—it felt darker, colder. He was scared; he wanted his mother.
Hook nods. “But going in there lets you weaken that evil, right? Help you find your boy?” She nods. Emma hadn’t thought of it that way; all she heard was another mission, another thing she’s expected to do because she’s the only one who could and she just…she shut down.
But if it’s for Henry…
“When it comes to your son, Swan—well, I’ve yet to see you fail.”
She turns to look at him, watch his eyes, his expression. He’s telling the truth—he believes in her and that feels…odd. A strange warmth settles in her chest.
“Do you really mean that?” she asks in a soft voice, frightened of ruining this feeling.
“I don’t say things I don’t mean.” He says like it was nothing. Maybe it was. Maybe for people not raised how she was, being believed in was normal. “You’re bloody brilliant.”
Emma feels something in that moment; something precious and new. She felt like she could do anything if he kept looking at her like that.
“Besides,” he says, “How can you fail when accompanied by yours truly?”
“You're coming with me?”
“What else do I bloody have to do? Trust me, Swan,—I wouldn’t miss this for the world. Besides, perhaps you’d accept a sword lesson or two on the way?”
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Underestimated.com By Kelly Felix
New Post has been published on https://autotraffixpro.app/allenmendezsr/underestimated-com-by-kelly-felix/
Underestimated.com By Kelly Felix
Buy Now
The 7 Step Formula I Used to Quickly Build a $50 Million Dollar Online Business While Quarantined in My Home Office, Starting with a “Dumb” Idea & a Notepad
Plus the 2 Additional Steps I Missed That Would’ve Put Us Over $100 Million
Warning: these closely-guarded secrets have only been shared once at a mastermind that cost people $35,000 to attend…
My name is Kelly Felix…
And I must admit something embarrassing…
Not long ago I overheard some top marketers discussing me in private…
And what I heard was soul-crushing…
They said I was:
A Has-Been
Overrated
A One-Hit Wonder
And although the words pierced through me like a knife…
They were kinda right.
I had once been talked about in some circles as a “top marketer”…
But that was well over a decade ago.
My peers were now on stage with Tony Robbins or Richard Branson…
Changing the world.
Meanwhile I was sitting at home twiddling my thumbs…
Thinking about “the good ole days”.
I hadn’t created a massively profitable website in ages.
I wasn’t even sure if I knew how anymore.
Maybe there was just too much competition these days…
Or maybe I just wasn’t as smart as I thought I was.
Or maybe…
I had gotten lucky in the past, and my luck simply ran out.
In 2005 I created a product that 500,000 people purchased.
It was an ebook called “The Rich Jerk”.
I sold that company for a few million dollars…
And I thought I was a genius.
But being in my twenties and stupid…
I spent all the money in less than 2 years, until I was flat broke.
“Broke” as in…
Selling all of my stuff on eBay…
Going through a bitter divorce…
And my house going into foreclosure…
That kind of broke.
I was definitely less rich, and more jerk.
Not long after that, I was fortunate enough to partner with some people who were smarter than me…
And I earned a healthy income for a couple years, working alongside them.
But nothing to get overly excited about.
When those partners ultimately moved on to new, more successful projects without me…
I was left scratching my head.
What should I do next?
Well, for the next 5 years I jumped on every trend I could, such as:
Selling t-shirts from Facebook ads
Creating a Shopify Store
Selling on Amazon FBA
Being an Entrepreneur “Coach”
Doing Affiliate Marketing
Orchestrating a Big Product Launch
None of it worked.
Meanwhile, my friends were posting pics of their new Lamborghini’s on my
Facebook feed every other day.
And those posts chipped away at my confidence…
Like death by a thousand cuts.
Was I a loser?
What was I doing wrong?
Maybe I truly was the Vanilla Ice of marketing…
Now this is the point where some marketers, or entrepreneurs might say this was a “dumb” idea…
Because “credit repair” is a massively competitive industry.
Billion dollar companies.
And thousands of mid-level to smaller companies.
All competing for the same people.
But I had pretty much failed at every other website I made over the previous 5 years…
So why not be willing to fail yet again?
I didn’t have much to lose.
My ego was already pretty decimated at this point anyway.
It was so bad that I had actually developed a debilitating case of “panic disorder” and “agoraphobia”…
Meaning I was so terrified of the panic attacks I had every day, that I wouldn’t even leave my house.
No shopping trips, no meetings with friends, nothing.
Everything was a trigger.
So I was self-quarantined before that became a thing.
All in all, it wasn’t a good time.
I tried over 50 medications…
Like a pharmaceutical guinea pig.
Despite the side effects, I powered through each day as best I could.
Focusing on my credit repair website helped to take my mind off the fear and constant battle within my brain.
Thankfully I could work from home, keeping the scary outside world at bay.
I forged on, and organized my credit repair notes into a Microsoft Word document…
And then I put the guide up for sale, on my little one page website, for $19.95
I didn’t really know what to expect.
“Oh well”, I thought. “Let’s just see what happens.”
I channeled my inner Kevin Costner, and thought maybe…
Just maybe…
“If you build it, they will come.”
But…
I built it…
And nobody came.
So that was that.
But just before I gave up altogether…
I thought, what if I got a little more creative?
My website was so basic.
I had been so focused on improving the credit repair tips…
That my website suffered, and it wasn’t very compelling.
It was ignoring the basic rules of marketing & copywriting altogether.
I mean at least I could try positioning my guide as being filled with credit repair “secrets” instead of just “notes”.
Sounds more interesting, ya know?
So I literally just changed the name of the product.
Could a simple change like that really move the needle, turning a losing website into a winner?
Well, wouldn’t you know it…
A few more people started trickling in here and there…
And some of them actually plunked down their cold hard cash for my newly renamed credit repair “secrets”!
Not only were there no refund requests…
My customers were over-joyed and thankful.
Maybe I was onto something here?
I began to think about how to reach more people.
How to cast a wider net, without breaking the bank.
Little did I know, we would end up being able to purchase a $2.4 million dollar house, have our cars paid for, and be able to put a nice chunk of change into long term investments, some bitcoin, our kid’s futures, and much more…
My wife Alison was so moved by the tearful videos people were sending in…
She offered to join me and be our lone customer service representative…
Answering any comments or questions that were sent in.
Since most of the messages were very uplifting…
It was a pretty feel-good job for her.
Messages from people like Brian Murray (below).
This guy was so appreciative of our help, he actually flew out to San Diego to shake my hand and thank me in person.
And I made sure to have a camera ready!
(Fair warning – we both shed a few tears)
I knew it was time to go all-in.
For the next several weeks I hunkered down in a little studio apartment we have in our backyard, away from the main house.
I needed to completely re-program my marketing brain.
And truly learn to craft words that sell.
Muscles that don’t get exercised don’t grow.
And my marketing muscles felt more like love handles.
So it was back to basics.
I spent days and nights devouring every noteworthy “copywriting” and “direct response marketing” book I could.
Even if I only learned one solid tip from a book or course, it was well worth the time & money spent.
I gravitated to studying the all-time greats of marketing and copywriting…
– David Ogilvy
– Gary Halbert
– Dan Kennedy
– Clayton Makepeace
– Craig Clemens
– Chris Haddad
– Travis Sago
– Jon Benson
– Russell Brunson
– Evaldo Albuquerque
Just to name a few.
When I wasn’t reading, I was watching Youtube videos….
And studying salesletters…
I would get the best sales messages transcribed, so I could really study them.
It was all marketing, all day. Every day.
I hardly slept.
I listened to Eye of the Tiger from the Rocky soundtrack on repeat…
Meanwhile, the apartment began to look like the sanitation department had gone on strike.
Dishes and trash piled up everywhere.
Empty cans of Red Bull were scattered about.
I think I may have personally smelled worse than the room itself.
But I was “In the zone”.
It wasn’t long before light bulbs began to go off in my head…
And my previously dormant creative juices were starting to kick in.
After weeks of studying the greats…
I began to feel like Neo in the Matrix, clearly seeing the exact path to take.
It was time to stop studying, and time to start “doing”.
So I put all of my energy into creating a sales video…
Detailing the many benefits of my credit repair “secrets”.
At first it was one of those “white board” videos…
Where you see a hand drawing on a white board, as a narrator reads the message out loud.
And truthfully, it turned out awful!
First off, the guy was left -handed, so his arm kept covering up the pictures as he was drawing…
Second, his arm had more hair on it than an 800 pound gorilla.
When I say hairy, I mean HAIRY.
Hair so thick, it made me nauseous to watch his arm jostling around.
This video wasn’t going to sell anything except an electric razor.
I was relentless.
I kept trying and failing.
Editing the sales message over and over and over.
No whiteboards.
No Neanderthal arms.
No gimmicks.
Just a simple video with text, stock images (of people in despair) and scary music.
Until I got it just right…
Like this:
Obviously a lot more went into taking the business from a one page website to a $50 million dollar success story.
We did Facebook ads.
We did native ads.
We did direct mail.
We did Youtube ads.
We did email.
We worked with affiliates.
We pretty much did it all.
I got a crash course on the do’s and don’ts of each part of running a successful business.
We even did TV….
We partnered with Larry King on an infomercial selling Credit Secrets.
At the end of the day I was selling a book.
So no matter what medium I used to advertise…
I was still just selling an “info-product”.
Information that was already out there available.
But scattered in a confusing way.
I just organized it.
And then I built a sales funnel tailored to each advertising source.
For example, the people coming to us from an article on Yahoo…
Would see a completely different message and offer than the people who saw us on TV and Googled us.
The people who called our 800 number would hear something completely different than the online messaging.
It’s all very precise.
I’d like to say I’m a genius, but the truth is, there’s a recipe to the success of Credit Secrets.
No matter what medium you are advertising on…
To sell an informational product…
Where you are just selling words that you organized from the internet…
There’s a detailed blueprint to follow.
I’ve used it 4 times now, and each time my business did 8 figures.
That’s $10 million+
I have 3 new businesses using the formula RIGHT NOW…
They’re each on pace to be 8-9 figure success stories.
So it really isn’t your fault if you haven’t created a massively successful info-product business.
You just don’t have the blueprint. (yet)
And there are so many fake-gurus out there peddling nonsense…
It’s easy to become overwhelmed and annoyed.
Here are just a few quick examples of info-products:
– Cookbooks
– Meal Plans
– How to Lose Weight
– How to Grow Your Own Food
– How to Make Money as a Mystery Shopper
– How to Buy Wholesale Goods from China
– How to Negotiate & Persuade People
– How to Buy & Sell on eBay
– How to Win Your Ex Back
– How to Meditate
– How to Get Rid of Panic Attacks
– How to Survive the Next Big Market Crash
The list goes on and on…
They all typically fall under one of these
3 major categories
:
Health, Wealth, or Love.
If you go to Clickbank.com, you can see thousands of examples of info-products for sale…
Or if you go to Youtube or Google and search “How to”…
There will be suggestions showing what most people are searching for…
In all sorts of categories.
And remember, it doesn’t matter if it already exists, because…
The key is, YOUR info-product should promise (and deliver) a new breakthrough on an old idea.
So that you stand out from the rest.
Instead of “How to Lose Weight”…
You could sell…
I’m Pulling Back the Curtain on it All…
I’ve put together a video blueprint of
everything
I did to create a $50 million dollar business from scratch.
– Creating the perfect pre-sell “advertorial” page that warms people up
– Creating a VSL (video sales letter) that converts “cold traffic” (people who have never heard of you) into customers
– Creating the perfect upsell (if your first upsell doesn’t convert, your business is dead on arrival)
– How to split-test ONE page above all others (nobody does this) and increase profitability by 20% instantly
– What to do on your thank-you page, after people order (crucial, and 99% don’t do this)
– The #1 email that makes the most sales (nothing else even comes close)
– How to significantly increase your AOV (avg order value) on DAY ONE, without selling any extra products
– How to create & include a free bonus that makes you extra money on autopilot
– How to make sales on 80% of incoming calls, and 25% of outgoing calls, without hiring a single person
– The simple “10 second trick” to use at the end of every phone call that got us an added $100k/month in profit, without needing the caller to purchase anything extra
– Putting together a customer service team for FREE, who are better than any paid person could ever be (I’ve never seen anyone else do this)
– The #1 selling Facebook ad that drove $1 million per week in sales for us
– Our top converting advertorials
– All of our native ad winners (as well as those that didn’t work)
– How to make a cheap infomercial in ONE DAY that outsells the companies spending millions
– The
one thing
to NEVER do on an infomercial (this cost us millions in profit and is a huge takeaway)
– A sneak peak inside my other thriving businesses, that are using my proven blueprint
– I also recently filmed several new tv infomercials in various industries, and I’ll share them with you… including details on how they’re doing, how much they cost etc
– And much more… (including some special surprises)
If you want to build a multi-million dollar online business, that sells information…
You’re in the right place.
And if you’re curious about how well an “info-product” company can do…
Last I checked, Agora Financial was a $2 billion dollar company…
Selling nothing but information.
And don’t worry…
If you don’t have anyone to help you create your info product…
Or enough confidence or experience to do the marketing for it…
I’ll share the freelancers I use for EVERYTHING, and they charge very reasonable rates.
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