Before I heard Ramit use the word “artisanal” to describe an online business, my whole idea of business, especially online business, was overcome with tacky brashness.

This set up conflicting desires inside me, because I wanted to create something beautiful, AND I wanted to create something effective.

Until Ramit and Zero To Launch, I literally thought beauty and effectiveness were mutually exclusive.

Thanks to him, I began my entire business journey on the foundation of well-crafted artisanal excellence, which alone was probably my biggest ZTL revelation.

2: Speaking to my audience with genuine care and respect.

In my market of dating advice for men, there is a lot of sleazy advice that is disrespectful to both men and women. (See more about my views on that inside my email marketing material here.)

Not only disrespectful towards the women “targets”, but towards the men who are earnestly trying to better themselves with women.

The whole vibe is just not something I resonate with, and before Zero To Launch, a part of me thought I had to be tough like those PUA teachers and use a challenging tone with my readers.

Turns out, they really don’t like that.

My readers, students, and clients come to me because they want to be respected.

My guiding intention in all my communication is to write and speak as an intelligent and genuine person, to intelligent and genuine people.

The more skillful I become at this, the more deeply thankful emails flood my inbox, and the more people want to hang around Introverted Alpha and do business with us.

3: The peace of mind that comes from creating a funnel that works.

When I first started Introverted Alpha, I created a Core Confidence 5-Day Email Training as a free gift (you can get the most current gift I have here), which led into a strategy session with me.

From there, we would begin a coaching relationship if we both felt it’s the right fit.

Just like Ramit suggests with a 5-email series, the first 3 emails were content-only, and the 4th and 5th I invited them into a strategy session with me (a valuable and fun sales call).

Now I have multiple updated funnels, but that’s what I started with, and it worked great!

This email series is a crucial part of what makes the business work.

4: Systematic mindset and solid strategic thinking, including long-term consistent output.

This is HUGE.

One of the main reasons I enrolled in Zero To Launch was to integrate into my own life the strategic mindset and success habits Ramit exemplifies and teaches through his life.

There are many success habits I learned in ZTL and by watching the way Ramit goes about his business.

One habit is creating weekly blog posts as well as regular guest posts and interviews. That content creation is a cornerstone commitment for me.

Hearing consistent, heartfelt thank-you’s from readers and having a steadily growing email list and customer list shows me that I’m making an impact in a genuinely helpful way.

5: Freedom to only collaborate with people I genuinely like and respect.

In the world of dating advice for men, there’s a lot of advice that just rubs my guys (and me!) the wrong way.

I’ve had to search to find teachers I truly respect and resonate with, and the search is worth it.

The example and leadership of Ramit helped me make that decision early on not to partner up with dating teachers I feel weird about, even for something small like a guest post.

This has freed up so much energy and really makes all my interactions a pleasure. Also, it creates trust with my readers and clients and other teachers who I’m on the same page with.

All in all, I am so happy and grateful to Ramit for helping me establish solid footing quickly with a bright road ahead.

Ramit has had a profound impact on my business and life, arming me with the courage, tools, and mindset necessary to create an artisanal business right out of the gate.

I plan on Introverted Alpha thriving for a long time to come, and I will forever be deeply thankful to Ramit for his indelible role in that.