📝 Messy or structured? The note-taking style that fuels success

Are your notes fueling productivity or chaos? Let’s break it down.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Your business, audience, and personal productivity all rely on one thing—clarity.

Whether it's structuring your notes for better ideas, building an audience through a powerful newsletter, or creating an exit strategy before you need it, top founders think ahead.

Let’s make sure you’re building with intention.

Today’s agenda:

✍️ What’s your note-taking style?

💰 Secrets from a $75 million newsletter

🔚 Building a strong exit

💼 Briefly: Search intent, farewell to Skype, & cybersecurity

⏱️ Up & coming: Are CRMs collecting enough data for businesses?

📔 Messy vs. structured note strategies

What’s your notebook strategy, and why does it matter?

Join me in my new video as I walk through the benefits and considerations of messy vs. structured note-taking approaches—with a focus on pocket notebooks (Field Notes in particular):

I tend to operate with somewhat of a blended approach that starts messy to get my thoughts and ideas out, and adds in more structure later.

🖊️ Stay until the end to check out a new pen I’m testing.

💡 Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more insights that have helped me achieve wealth while maintaining a strong work-life balance!

🗞️ Newsletter tips for 2025

Are you one of the over 4 million subscribers to the email newsletter Morning Brew?

Founder Alex Lieberman started the newsletter during his senior year at the University of Michigan to help students prepare for job interviews. Today, it’s a massive success worth $75 million.

Why does this matter to you?

Newsletters are a big deal for founders in 2025:

• They’re a direct line of communication with the audience that cuts through social media noise and algorithm changes

• They help position a brand as an expert in its industry

• They provide ongoing value through informative content, promotions, and personalized recommendations

• They guide potential customers through the buyer’s journey

💰 Most importantly, they’re cost-effective—and give you valuable insights on your audience.

Lieberman’s tips for newsletter success

While the Morning Brew model isn’t sustainable for many to repeat (too broad and general), Lieberman knows what will work in 2025 thanks to his own lessons and experiences:

• Pick a very specific niche where you have expertise or can become an expert. Smaller, focused audiences have higher engagement and customer value.

• Solve a specific, painful problem. Morning Brew solved the issue of dry, dense business news by making it engaging. What are you solving for your audience?

• Develop a unique, engaging voice. A strong brand voice (whether witty, formal, or direct) encourages readership.

💡 Make your newsletter a valuable resource while subtly positioning your brand as the solution. Keep it personal and engaging—and let your customers’ needs drive the content.

🚪 Enter your business with an exit in mind

“Your business should serve you — not the other way around,” writes award-winning entrepreneur, author, speaker, and business mentor Saulo Da Rós.

That’s why he urges entrepreneurs to plan their exit strategy from day one to guarantee financial security and the ability to step back on their own terms.

🏗️ Here’s how:

• Identify the right strategy for you (sell, pass to family/employees, go public, etc.)

• Build a business that’s exit-ready

• Determine the amount you need to achieve financial independence

• Carefully plan & execute your strategy

Without a plan, you could someday be forced to exit on somebody else’s terms. A well-crafted exit strategy puts you in full control of your future (and for the best price).

💡 Schedule a Discovery Session to see how we can accelerate your go-to-market and lead-generation strategy.

Briefly

🤖 A LinkedIn study finds that 72% of B2B marketers are feeling overwhelmed about how rapidly AI is shifting their roles—and that 53% worry about being left behind if they don’t stay current with AI. Download the report here or check out a summary of the findings.

🔎 Traditional keyword research isn’t cutting it anymore. Now, search intent is more important than ever. See how Google is prioritizing intent and strategies for implementing it.

👋 Microsoft is retiring Skype in May—see The Verge’s farewell to the application.

🔐 Most businesses fail to prioritize cybersecurity, creating a national security risk by leaving critical infrastructure vulnerable to attacks. Learn what businesses must do to strengthen their defenses.

Up & Coming

CRMs are great for tracking sales and customer interactions, but a new report says that’s just the bare minimum in today’s data-driven world.

The real winners are companies that go beyond CRM data—tapping into product usage, social media feedback, and AI-driven insights to boost revenue and customer satisfaction.