I talk about digital writing & personal progress

Here's a quick rundown of how I've spent my last 5 years:

1. Studied math and played football at Princeton. I graduated in 2018 with a degree in financial engineering and played center for the Tigers. In college, I was a 280-pound offensive lineman, so for the last 5 years, I've had to completely rewrite my personal operating system on the health & fitness front. I currently weigh 185 pounds and have learned a lot along the way!

2. Graduated and immediately started working for BlackRock in New York City. I worked as a junior hedge fund trader for 4 years, focusing on global macro markets. This was my dream job and the only corporate job I've ever had. In fact, it's the only job *interview* I've ever had (since I interned there as a junior in college).

3. Realized working for someone else was not going to be the long-term path for me. 12 months into working on Wall Street, I saw someone in their mid-40s ask their boss for permission to go to their son's Little League game. At that moment I realized I wasn't cut out to take directions or instructions from other people for very long.

4. Started to write on my old blog, then on Twitter. Rather than quit immediately, I started to passively explore other opportunities by writing online, starting out on my old blog (which no one knew existed), then transitioning to Twitter in July of 2020.

5. Changed my trajectory with a 30-day writing challenge, which led me to start Ship 30 for 30. In September 2020 I was ready to give up writing entirely. But I gave it one more shot, this time moving from a weekly blog post to a daily Twitter thread. The challenge was a huge success. It took me 9 months to reach 100 followers and 1 month to go from 100 to 2,000. And that personal writing challenge turned into the foundation of Ship 30 for 30, which started as nothing but a Slack accountability group to help people publish consistently.

6. Scaled Ship 30 while working remotely for all of 2021. I built and scaled Ship 30 with Nicolas Cole to over 2,000 students in 2021—all while continuing to work full-time (remotely) for BlackRock. But towards the end of 2021, Ship 30 hit an inflection point and it no longer made financial sense for me to continue working on Wall Street.

7. Left BlackRock in March of 2022 to write and build on my own. After weeks of weighing the pros and cons and trying to project my path forward, I made the decision to leave BlackRock and chart my own path. 15 months into making that decision and I'm confident it's the best one I've ever made.

Dickie Bush 🚢

I used to have one severe addiction:

Planning.

My brain loved the cheap dopamine of gathering:

• Books to read
• Tasks to complete
• And videos to watch

But when it came to taking action, the euphoric rush faded.

What ended my addiction?

This story of two men learning to fish:

The first fisherman heads straight to the marina to buy the best fishing boat money can buy.

He specs out a custom, carbon fiber rod.

And he spends time reading up on everything there is to know about fishing:

• Casting techniques
• Baiting techniques
• Reeling techniques

You name it, he's bought the book on it.

And of course, he's watching the fishing channel every night for hours, learning from the best of the best.

A few months later, he finally feels ready to fish.

The next day, he heads out on the lake in his new boat with his fancy rod and wealth of fishing "experience" built up over the last few months.

But six hours in, nothing. Not even a nibble.

What happened?

Turns out, the second fisherman had already sucked the lake dry.

On day one, the second fisherman grabbed a shitty rod, sliced up a hot dog, and went out to the lake.

• The first day, nothing
• Second day, nothing
• Third day, nothing
• One week, nothing

But on the eighth day? His first nibble.

And every day after, he honed his technique.

He found a baiting technique that worked a bit better. Or a new spot with a few more fish.

And after three weeks of iteration, he found the winning combination.

Before long, he was hauling in hundreds of fish every day. To keep up with his daily haul, he hired a small team to help him. And from there, he opened a restaurant with fat margins to sell his fresh fish.

And after that, he opened a fishing school to teach others his craft.

He did all of this while the first fisherman sat around gathering gear.

Sure, the first fisherman felt productive. He was "learning" after all, right?

But there was one difference: feedback.

Every day the second fisherman had an idea of something that might work better. And he went right to the market to validate his assumption. If it worked, his strategy improved. And if it failed, he learned something new.

The moral of this story?

Get to action as quickly as possible.

When you find yourself gathering gear, grab a shitty rod and start fishing.

Bad way to learn copywriting:

1. Bookmark dozens of posts
2. Read all the books
3. Apply none of them

Instead, just read The Adweek Copywriting Handbook by Joseph Sugarman.

It taught me more about copywriting than dozens of books combined.

And you can steal Sugarman's 7-step process to write high-converting copy (that helped me generate $15,000,000):

—
📌 Copywriting helped me build a 7-figure writing business.

(While working 12-hour days at my Wall Street job)

But I made my first $10,000 on the internet as a ghostwriter.

And right now, becoming a LinkedIn Ghostwriter is the easiest way to land high-paying clients.

Want to know how to land LinkedIn writing clients in 2025?

Here's a free, 5-day email course on how to get started: https://lnkd.in/eCFfC5cX

7 Steps To Write High-Converting Copy (From Joe Sugarman)

At 24, a stranger on the internet paid me $5,000.

The crazy part?

I thought they'd sent it by mistake!

But I'd actually just stumbled across an insanely lucrative business anyone can start:

Ghostwriting.

Everyone should have writing clients who pay $5,000+ for a project.

(This is ultimately how I quit my job on Wall Street so I could travel and work from anywhere in the world.)

But most people are stuck figuring out:

• What service to sell
• Which clients to target
• How to charge premium rates

So, last month, Nicolas Cole 🚢👻 and I put together the Writer Positioning Playbook to help you:

• Escape the freelancer rat race
• Confidently charge high-ticket prices
• Land ideal clients who value your expertise

Inside, you'll find:

• The 1 simple shift to 10x your rates overnight
• A 3-step framework to upgrade your Positioning
• An AI prompt to find 5 high-paying clients for YOUR specific background

Plus, you'll see real examples from a $3M ghostwriting agency.

Want access?

Comment "playbook" and I'll send it across (for free).

And if we're not connected, send me a connection request with the word "playbook" and I'll DM it to you.

How To Land $5,000 Writing Clients

A daily habit I wish I'd started earlier in my 20s:

(It's not investing)

Writing & publishing online every single day.

In the beginning, I tried everything:

• Every app
• Every "simple hack"
• Every piece of writing advice

And I still struggled to build a daily writing habit.

But then I studied the routines of legendary writers.

And their secrets have helped me write every day for 5+ years.
 
These are the 10 tiny habits that make writing every day effortless:

—
📌 Writing online completely changed my life:

• Helped me quit my corporate job
• Made my first $10,000 online as a ghostwriter
• Built my $19,000,000 digital writing business

And it also taught me ONE thing for certain:

The easiest way to make money online is to become a ghostwriter.

Want to land high-paying ghostwriting clients?

I wrote a FREE 5-step blueprint with everything you need to make money ghostwriting on LinkedIn.

Click here to get (free!) instant access: https://lnkd.in/eQW3B7Y4

10 Tiny Habits To Make Writing Every Day Effortless 

This French teacher had one goal in mind:

To 4x her income.

Why?

Because Laura B. wanted to fund the work she's most passionate about—teaching her students how to become fluent in French.

So she took the plunge and joined our Premium Ghostwriting Academy.

And as a ghostwriter, she scaled quickly.

She sold:

• 5 Email Courses
• 8 Consulting Packages
• Dozens of Thought Leadership Packs

And now she's using this extra income to build her tutoring business.

Laura's example goes to show that anyone can become a ghostwriter and use this in-demand (and lucrative) service to either:

1. Create a new income stream
2. Or scale their existing income

Because executives, founders, and creators around the world are realizing how much they need a personal brand to scale their businesses.

And the salaries I've seen them pay are wild:

• Content Strategist at OpenAI ($319K - $393K/yr)

• Thought Leadership & Narrative Manager at Google ($211K - $297K/yr)

• Head of CEO Content at PayPal ($137.5K - $236K/yr)

And the best place to start right now is LinkedIn.

Want to start making money as a LinkedIn Ghostwriter?

I put together a free, 5-day email course to help you land high-paying writing clients.

Click "Visit my website" at the top of this post to get instant access.

IA Path

We help new adjusters get to work in 90 days with our online adjuster mentorships.

Founder

Stanley Crew Publishing

How to Write Your Big Ideas in Small Books

Author of Mini Book Model

Unlock the Secrets to Reaching the Lost for Christ With the Principles of Internet Marketing

Author of God is Like Marketing

How Chasing Money Is Holding You Back From the Life and Business of Your Dreams

Author of The Misleading Money Mantra

Co-Author Noob Angel 02: Joshua and the Big Wall

Co-Author of Noob Angel 01: David vs the Giant

30-Day Devotional for When You Need a Brighter Day

Author of God is Like a Box of Crayons

Learn How to Stop Stressing and Start Enjoying Your Job As an Insurance Adjuster

Author of Burned Out Adjuster's Playbook

30 Day Devotional for Those Looking to Level Up Their Character

Author of God is Like a Video Game

30 Day Devotional for People Who are Looking for God in the Chaos of the Year

Author of God is Like 2020

A Career Guide for Getting Hired and Promoted as an Adjuster for an Insurance Company

Co-Author of Insurance Company Adjuster's Playbook

A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating an Insurance Adjuster Resume

Co-Author of Adjuster's Resume Playbook

30 Day Devotional About God's Viral Nature Through Human Interaction

Author of God is Like a Virus

Insurance Adjuster Secrets For PDR Technicians: How to Increase Your Earnings and Lower Your Stress When Dealing with Insurance Companies & Shops

Author of PDR Cash Box

30 Day Devotional For When You Are Looking for Purpose

Author of God is Like a Rocket Launch

30 Day Devotional for When You Need Reconciliation Due to Politics

Author of God is Like a Democrat & a Republican

30 Day Devotional For When You Are Waiting on God

Author of God is Like a Geyser

Will vampires suck all the fun out of Halloween?

Co-Author of Sailing Adventures of Sol & Vox: Vampires of Vero Beach

Step by Step Field Guide to Writing Auto Damage Estimates as an Independent Adjuster or Auto Damage Appraiser

Author of Auto Adjuster's Playbook

Step by Step Guide & Journal to Successful Networking as an Independent Adjuster

Co-Author of Networking Adjuster's Playbook

Step by Step Guide & Manual to Writing Auto Damage Estimates With Audatex

Author of the Audatex Adjuster's Playbook

Category Thinkers

Ambassador

Independent Appraiser

Independent Auto Damage Appraiser. Meeting owners, inspecting vehicles, writing estimates, and uploading files. It's been woven into my career for 13+ years and introduced me to so many great people and businesses.

Independent Auto Damage Appraiser

Mobile Tech RX

I have the pleasure of finding ways to engage with the amazing customers-to-be of Mobile Tech RX. Key functions are marketing and sales.

Client Engagement Specialist (Consultant)

Hi-Tech Paintless Dent Removal, Inc,

Maintain and create new long lasting relationships with body shops, dealerships, insurance companies, and other potential clients. Create a team culture with our paintless dent removal technicians. Respond to hail catastrophe's and oversee operations in Colorado and Wyoming.

National Operations Manager

PARS (Paintless Automotive Repair Specialist)

Oversee technicians, write insurance quality estimates. Travel the country for catastrophic events.

Estimator/Project Manager

I Help Dadpreneurs Find Work-Life Balance & Have Time for the People & Things They Love | Independent Adjuster Mentor | 23x Author

For most people, self-publishing isn’t just hard. It’s wildly impractical.

They tell you:
🔹 “Write for months or years in isolation” (Without knowing if anyone even wants what you’re writing?)
🔹 “Do 100+ podcast interviews to promote your book” (Who has time for that?)
🔹 “Go on a book tour” (For what? Five-dollar royalties?)
🔹 “Hire four different editors for thousands of $$$” (Why, when I can use AI to edit it & most readers don’t even finish the book?)

No wonder most authors never finish, never sell, and never make money.

But there’s a smarter way.

Practical Publishing.

Practical Publishing isn’t about chasing visibility.
It’s about building income from your ideas.

It’s not about writing a book for exposure.
It’s about writing to build a business.

Some people write books.
Others build assets.

I call them Revenue Writers.
They use Practical Publishing to turn words into income, not just finished manuscripts.

Their go-to format?
Mini Books. Short, focused books that are fast to write, easy to publish, and built to sell.

Revenue Writers think differently:
They don’t write and wait.
They write and earn.

Every chapter, every Mini Book, every newsletter is a chance to generate revenue through coaching, courses, premium content, digital downloads, and more.

They monetize as they write.
They turn finished chapters and books into systems that bring in leads, customers, and sales.
They use Mini Books as tools, not trophies.

They create livable income from hundreds of readers, not tens of thousands.

And the result?
They keep writing.
Because the more they write, the more they earn.
And the more they earn, the more lives they change without burning out in the process.

I’ve used Practical Publishing & Mini Books to build a $700K per year business without a massive following, viral videos, or a publishing deal.

If you’re tired of playing by the old rules, it’s time to become a Revenue Writer and publish the practical way.

Join the Practical Publishing movement and start your first Mini Book today.

Visit https://www.minibook.news/ or DM me to get started.

Chris Stanley 🚢🏴‍☠️‍

This week I slowed posting on LinkedIn to apply what my coach Ryan Musselman wanted me to do.

I put on my first Workshop last night with a 2nd night coming for people tonight.

I normally charge $500/hr, but these 30 people are getting six hours of working with me to start their Auto independent adjusting career for FREE.

For those who follow me for Mini Book content I'm planning to follow this same model with Mini Books as well so stay tuned.

My workshop was filled within 1 hour of qualified prospects and I have 30+ follow up calls already scheduled.

Ryan knows his stuff and I appreciate him helping me find ways to serve my adjusting audience at a higher level.

Let's go!

Tonight Day 2 of the 30 Day IA Workshop.

If you need someone to help you fix your lead flow as a coach... check Ryan out.

Chris Stanley 🌀🏴‍☠️

The Mini Book Guy | 21x Amazon Bestselling Author | Founder @ IA Path | I help you write a Smart Book that builds belief in you, your business, and your category

Had to tell 2 clients I couldn't take them on over the last few days.. and I don't even publicy have a coaching offer for authors!

No, I don't hate money, but I'm already working with amazing people and have my own big projects going.

If you are struggling to get clients... write a mini book... thats how I get my leads and people coming to me for help.

It isn't by me screaming about my offers, just by helping through my Mini Books and they assume I could help them more.

It's a great busines flywheel to build for anyone struggling to get leads.

I found out you don't have to write a big book to be taken seriously.

You can write a 5,000 - 15,000 word Mini Book and build your business on the back of it.

That's what I did for my company that trains insurance adjusters.

If it can work for me it can work for anyone.

You can easily get your book's manuscript on every major bookstore for FREE 

I recommend doing this in 2 stages,

1. Use Kindle Direct Publishing (to publish to Amazon)

2. Use an aggregator like Draft 2 Digital for all other bookstores

I realized early on that much of the world doesn't rely as heavily on Amazon so getting your books on,

- Barnes and Noble 
- Kobo
- Apple
- Google 

Can be a great way to expand your audience and make additional sales.

5,000 words is all you need to establish yourself as a credible expert in your niche.

Write it as a Mini Book solving one problem your ideal customer faces and let them trust you because they get results just from your book.

They'll come back for more to solve bigger problems.

Here is the most powerful writing advice to help your book be a success, after 21 Amazon Best Sellers,

"Know what you believe."

Sounds stupid, but if we aren't clear on our point of view the reader feels it.

Katrina Kirsch 🏴‍☠️ does an awesome job helping other creators communicate their POV by writing for Category Pirates and others, but recently doubled down on finding her own voice around this topic so you can find your POV.

Follow her you won't regret it.

https://lnkd.in/eUEzKrbd

I help entrepreneurs turn scattered thinking into compelling content. | Co-Author at Category Pirates & How Solos Scale

View Katrina Kirsch 🏴‍☠️’s profile

Erica Schneider scraped my LinkedIn last month and asked: "You've only written 73 posts in 13 years?" I laughed. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

The wildest part is I'm a professional writer.

I've spent a decade writing for entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and businesses. I've ghostwritten hundreds of articles, newsletters, and books. I've helped grow the Category Pirates Substack and created courses that brought in over $500k in revenue.

I know writing, but I couldn't write for myself.

Not because I didn't know it mattered. (I did. I've gotten that advice countless times.)

I couldn't do it because I didn't have a clear point of view I felt confident sharing.

But in the past few months, Nick Bennett 🏴‍☠️ and Erica pushed me to articulate it. (Thank you both!)

Here's what I've discovered:

The point of a point of view is to have the VIEW first.

You can't refine your thinking into a clear perspective if you haven't first explored it through conversation, debate, and pressure testing. You can't compress what you haven't expanded.

Most people try to start with the one-liner, or the tagline, or the elevator pitch.

But you need the establishing shot first—the wide-angle view of how you think and why you believe what you believe before you can zoom in to the point. 

Articulating your POV is confronting.

But you can't stop thinking about it once you do. You know exactly who you're helping and why. Content ideas flow, and your business has a clear direction.

I've seen this happen for my clients and for students in the Category Design Academy. There's always an "a-ha!" moment when they explain what they do, and we instantly recognize it as a POV. Having that anchor changes everything.

You can't build the business you want when your POV only exists in other people's work.

(Photo: What it feels like when you don't have a clear view.)

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The Battle

Dickie Bush 🚢

Chris Stanley 🚢🏴‍☠️‍

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The Battle

Dickie Bush 🚢

Chris Stanley 🚢🏴‍☠️‍

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Dickie Bush 🚢's LinkedIn Performance

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