Pretty soon, many of you will get an email from me. It’ll probably surprise you.
See, when I sketched out the original 4-Hour Workweek site in 2006 (sorely in need of a redesign), I included an email capture field, as that’s what friends said I should do:
Then I promptly forgot all about it. I hated email, so I didn’t want to send you email. Simple as that. Do unto others, right?
But things have changed.
Now, with Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, and hundreds of clones, the Internet and mobile are a battlefield of noise. Even if you “like” my Facebook fan page, my updates will rarely reach more than 10% of you.
For years now, thousands of you have complained that Feedburner delivers time-sensitive blog posts days or WEEKS too late. This means missed giveaways, meetups, competitions, Q&As, parties, and all sorts of fun stuff.
Needless to say, this sucks.
So I reluctantly decided to re-examine email. In a world where people change email addresses less often than physical addresses, it just made sense.
My first step was to dust off the keyboard and log into AWeber, which I’d decided was best for me eight years prior. What I found shocked me. I had nearly 300,000 email addresses from sign-ups! Holy negligence, Batman!
Ah, well. Yet another reason for my friends to make fun of me. Enjoy, Kevin Rose.
But better late than never. Within the next 10 days, I will start emailing new blog posts to anyone who’s signed up (on the homepage or the newer blog form), generally around one post per week. Plus, you’ll get VIP treatment, like private Q&As, exclusive content, giveaways, and other things that don’t appear on the blog.
Here’s the deal:
– If you haven’t signed up yet (or you’re not sure), please do so now. Here’s the link. No spam, ever. Just good stuff.
If you sign up now, your first email will also include a link to a free download of the entire 4-Hour Chef audiobook, which includes narration by yours truly and Neil Gaiman (!). And to kick things off, I’ll be doing a 2-3-hour Q&A — for email subscribers only — next Monday night, 8/11. Ask me anything: business, personal, “inappropriate,” whatever. Nothing is off limits. Sign up here to get the details via email. A recording will be made available to email subscribers who can’t make the live session.
I’ll also be giving away a round-trip ticket to anywhere in the world. For details, you guessed it, you need to click here.
– If you’ve already signed up, you’re all set! Please keep an eye out for a welcome email from “Tim Ferriss” within the next 10 days.
It’s not spam. It’s from me. Following that, blog posts and VIP goodies will show up, roughly once per week.
If you’re using Gmail and my email ends up in your “Promotions” folder, please do me a favor and drag it to your “Primary” so it doesn’t get lost in all the OKCupid notifications and whatnot.
###
And please realize — I and my assistant get about 1,000 email a day. It’s funking unreal, and it’s brutal. No one is more sensitive to email abuse than I am, so I will NOT abuse your inbox.
If you get annoyed, you can one-click unsubscribe. Easy peasy and no BS.
Things will be intermittent (usually once a week, sometimes twice), and posts will be high-quality (like this or this).
As mentioned, I’ll be doing a 2-3-hour Q&A next week to kick things off, and also giving away a roundtrip ticket anywhere in the world. For details on both, just add your email here.
If you have any questions about all this, please ask in the comments! I’ll be paying close attention and answering as many as I can. I’ve literally put off email for years, but enough is enough. It’s the right thing to do.
And thank you for reading. Whatever this blog has become, I owe it all to you.
Pura vida,
Tim
The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than one billion downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.
Comment Rules: Remember what Fonzie was like? Cool. That’s how we’re gonna be — cool. Critical is fine, but if you’re rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Brian Oberkirch for the inspiration.)
I am really enjoying the podcast and look forward to the audiobook (my eyes are kinda messed up so they are huge in my life). Really stoked to hear that Neil Gaiman is involved. I’ve listened to some other books he’s narrated and he’s top notch. He would be an awesome guest for the podcast.
hi Tim,
Do we get an e-mail confirmation once we sign up? Thanks
Tim! Love everything you touch, and for exposing new people to the magic of KStar. When are you going to have Dan Ariely on the pod? I’m sure you’ve read him.
Hi tim,
So glad Ur doing this!! Better late than never. I emailed u several times n was waiting patiently for Ur response. Mayb u can email me when u have a minute for a question or 2 that I only want you to answer. I read all your books n I think Ur quit modest of all the lives you have changed. Even now years after 4hb I’m seeing news n magazine articles repeating what u said years ago! ! Hope u can remember me “big al” haha that’s what my friends call me! ! So curious to see what u come up w next but whatever it is I’m sure it’ll b great like everything else u do! ! Good luck w everything! !
I’ve been wondering why I never received any emails posts, lol. Good stuff, can’t wait.
I’m glad to have read this blog post! This will sound silly, but for the longest time, I thought I had email issues or your subscriber list maxed out so that I didn’t get any updates from you.. 😛 Anyway, I’m looking forward to the future emails!
Also, I really enjoy the TF Show podcast. I find that the “super successful” people interviews are extremely inspirational and educational in a variety of ways. The fact that you branch out from health related topics to business, music, and more, makes your podcast more interesting. Every time I listen to the TF Show, it’s an uplifting experience. Thanks for creating a wonderful podcast Tim!
Hi Tim ! Kinda cool you accept your errors in public, but cooler you take advantage of them !
I’m already waiting for your email, since, we can say I’m an “old-fashioned” guy, I do have a Facebook and Twitter account, but I rarely use them. I do like email because I’m in charge !
Glad to join the list Tim! Keep putting out no BS content. Love it!
I couldn’t figure out how to get the free audio book though. I’d enjoy listening. I’m probably still going to buy the kindle version, but it’d be nice to have ability to listen as well. Thanks!
Pura Vida, Tim!
Cheers from Costa Rica (or maybe you are here?)
Seriously… Tim Ferriss bowing down to the smelly, fungus ridden feet of email… “giving in” to the worst productivity abyss of our age? Can’t be!!
Email sucks… a lot. You know it, we all live it. But, with all due respect… I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed because what you do is WAY too important.
Here I am figuring you must be just sitting back abstaining from email all these years asking yourself, “Why don’t we have some sort of WhatsApp meets Evernote for coaching and skills development? Hmmm… well now that ain’t right! I’m totally the guy to friggin’ do something about this.”
Lets talk.
PS: for you… even an email notification to start the convo will work 😉
Thanks for the information.
By the way, just for personal interest, for anyone who doesn’t check email often, You can find the latest fourhourworkweek feeds in http://needforfeeds.com in Marketing and Money section, named as Tim Ferris 🙂
Hi Tim,
You said you forgot an email newsletter on Aweber with 300000 subscribers, am I correct?
But do you know what does it mean?
Looking at Pat Flynn report he pays almost 800$/month for less number of subscribers.
So I can assume you pay about 1000$ month for you list (Aweber does not declare pricing above 25000 subscribers). You want to tell me that Aweber charged you 1000$/month and you didn’t noticed it?
I hope my calculations were wrong. I understand you are rich, but throw away money in this way is very very insane.
Hi Tim,
In my last comment I reported my shock when I heard that you had 300.000 subscribers and you paid for them each month (since Aweber charge for it) and didn’t used this powerful weapon.
Howerver, I am a your huge fan. Hope to have quicly news from your newsletter. Have a nice day.
this is a very cool idea!
i just got your email. Thank you very much – i like it very much!…i read your book in 2007 so it must have been
a long time that in signed in..
ben
Is Joe Polish behind this, somehow?
Thanks Tim. You are an absolute stud and inspiration. Your candidness and drive should be a everything anyone should ever need to pursue whatever integrous path they should so choose.
Health & Serenity, Sean
Looks like an interesting read :), can’t wait for the email
Hi Tim or anyone else that knows. The four hour chef audio book comes through as a zipped file how do you open one of those if you dont have winzip ? thanks in advance
Grab a free zip app, one-time simple setup, then will work automatically for your future zip downloads.
Hey Tim
Thanks for the awesome audio book!
I find your pod casts excellent and very relate able, i never miss one.
It doesn’t matter if your planning to be super successful or live a neatly trimmed quiet life, the listener CAN take away real and workable advice from the speakers you choose to talk with.
You can close your ears and decide a mega successful speaker has nothing for you or choose to find what works for you within each podcast. Much like you can in life.
I am a great example of this…a successful self employed Dominatrix in little Ol’ New Zealand of all places, no one would ever think that even I could use your systems in my personal life and more importantly my business, to great effect. (Ha!)
You have stayed relate able as a person by being honest about the times when your nervous and feeling “human”… i love the direction your going so good on you and keep up the great work.
We love you in New Zealand!
Judging by the number of comment @tferris responded to, he may be tied to his computer more than before he email on a diet. LOL. I’ll come along for the ride, it been interesting so far. @tferris, thank you for new and interesting takes on the world around me.
Hello Tim , If you wouldn’t mind I would like to know your thoughts on ThinkThin’s high protein bars, I plan on using this as my main source of protein just so that I can be accountable and have less friction when it comes staying on schedule.
Tim, I followed your UFC Weight Cut that GSP uses primarily just out of curiosity and sure enough, I dropped 20 lbs. One question, is coconut flour, which I use in a Paleo pancake recipe permitted?
Estimado Tim,
I love the book 4 hour work week(Audi books, kindle, hard copy)It is inspirational. Email sucks, I used to spend my work day reading and responding. I have, thanks to you, reviewed what is important for me to accomplish, rather than just answering whatever question comes in. I have taken the guest chairs out of my office, so that associates do not come and just sit down to talk. I have a plan and my mission to accomplish. I am thinking about mini retirements and working on plans to accomplish that.
Saudis from Chile.
Hi Tim,
I see one theme in the comments section; making podcasts for “Normal Joe’s”, versus, “special” folks like Tim Ferriss.
One note; normal people stay normal until they do what exceptional people do. Point blank. Until the self image change, you’ll get normal. Something tells me, you ain’t following Tim’s blog to live a normal, average, hum-drum life. If you want normal, go listen to the advice of your boring neighbor.
Just yesterday, NY Times best-selling author Chris Brogan – Tim, I know you must know this guy – tweeted a link to my new eBook, Blogging from Paradise(plug, but in alignment with what you do Tim, and you were an inspiration!)
Anyway, the guy who wrote the eBook, me, was a broke, unemployed security guard 4 years ago. If I received normal advice I would have ran back to get a job. If I followed a blog, with a normal blogger giving advice, I could expect making an extra few hundred bucks per month, while still working my security guard job.
If you want normal, stop following Tim’s blog 😉 Seriously, I’m writing these words from a beach front home in Fiji, with a million dollar view, and although my blog has helped me fund my travels, and also, has helped me sock a bunch away, this place is free.
Yes, in Tim Ferriss, style, we manifested a house sitting job, in a cliff-side home, in Savusavu, Fiji, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, 50 meters up high. It is ridiculous. I learned from you TF, how to manifest this life. I didn’t want normal results, nor does anybody who’s following you, earnestly, because why would you listen to some guy’s podcast, said guy who does ridiculously cool, uncomfortable stuff? Again, your humdrum neighbor will give you that advice, or maybe a podcaster of the average variety.
If you want average, Tim’s not the guy to follow. Even if he admits to maybe having some normal folks on, to appease some folks 😉
Tim, please carry on. Get more billionaires on your show, Not because I want to make billions, but because I don’t want to selfishly – and it is VERY selfish – to play small, and dream small dreams, because when you play small, it’s dishonoring those people around you, people who’s lives you can change, if you played big, and dreamed big, and made a real impact on the world.
Tim, keep up the great work. As for email, I get your point. But had to clear the air on the podcast thingee 😉
Thanks TF.
I’ll tweet this in a bit.
Signing off from Fiji.
Ryan
Well, I’ve been receiving your emails, sent from “The Blog of Tim Ferriss,” for many months now, so I’m not sure how this new campaign is different, or if by signing up I will start receiving everything twice. However, the last few emails have been quite difficult to read in my Outlook.com client, because they feature black type on a dark-color background. If this is an intentional design decision, it’s a very poor one.
Hey Tim, I’m late to the party here but I’m currently travelling and just caught up on emails. I’ve read through your first and second email and can confirm that I won’t be unsubscribing! 🙂
The links to your blog in your first email aren’t working for me though, and I wondered if anyone else was having problems? In every link, including the link to the audio book and the list of blog posts I’m getting a 404 error. I’m currently in Australia and wondered if it’s something to do with the location and content being blocked or something.
Anyone else had the same problem? All links in the second email are fine.
The spreecast link is expired now. Is there any other way to listen to the Q&A?
I own a hair salon. It is a very personal business, which i am converting to Team Based Pay to maximize profits. My staff gets paid hourly and i only draw from the business what is necessary to live. My clients are wonderful, ive known most of them since i was 15…I’m now 37. How do i convert to this 80/20 option when my clients would all most likely go elsewhere if i raise my prices from $35 per haircut to approximately $270? Is it possible that there would be those who wouldn’t care? How do i even begin to take that approach? I’m on board since the Four Hour Body is phenomenal, but i guess I’d like to know if it can apply to a hair salon. Thanks, Tim!!
Dana Homka
Great, looking forward to the emails! Several years ago, I noticed co-workers doing weird things – suddenly they were negotiating work from home agreements and I noticed the auto responder emails (“I only check email at 12noon”…) etc. Then I picked up a copy of 4HWW and I was like “ah, that’s what they’re doing!”.
Anyway, while I found the book interesting and helpful, I was probably the only person who couldn’t negotiate a work from home agreement, I was an Executive Assistant / Office Manager and therefore expected to be in the office 9-6. I liked my job but but resented the hours and it sucked to be the only one there on a Friday when everyone else was out enjoying the life or riley. Personally I think many people abused the whole “work from home” thing without improving their efficiency. For me, I felt the only way to freedom would be to quit being an Office Manager and find something else to do that was more flexible.
Then the financial crisis happened and with that came lots of belt tightening from bosses, there was a sense that employees had to be reigned in and couldn’t be taking liberties anymore. Some of the “work from home” types found that they had to be in the office or they “weren’t being team players”. Employees suddenly got scared about losing their jobs. Bosses were like “ok, the fun’s over, go back to doing things the old fashioned way or be fired”. It totally sucked to be an employee at that time! People got cynical and 4HWW seemed like an outdated fantasy.
Anyway, sorry for the ramble. I now work from home as a book-keeper (having moved to a cheaper area so no longer have to work myself to death to make a living) so have just picked up 4HWW again in the hopes that I’ll get something different out of it now that I have freedom of location 🙂
Love the emails, they work perfectly as a spring board to jump over to your blog and dig deeper, and also allows me to easily file and follow up later when I have time to properly digest all the great content! Thanks, and keep up the great work!
Tim,
I know how busy you are so if you have the time to shoot me a real quick reply I would really appreciate it. I really enjoyed your podcast and have listened to everyone and AM awaiting more.
I’m creating an online training system based around mastermind groups for financial professionals and real estate professionals to work together systematically. Could you recommend some good seminars, books, or blogs that I can learn from.
Thank you
All the sign up links produce a 404 error! What to do?
YOU ROCK TIM!
Your sign up links are all 404-ing?
When I try to ‘sign up now’ or ‘click me’ or ‘add your email here’, I get a 404 from fourhournewsletter.com. Was the newsletter a short-lived exercise?
And as regards the podcasts, I am sorry to see that you’ve gone over to video as opposed to writing. As an imbiber of content, I prefer to read. It’s faster. Easier to skip ahead. Easier to go back. Quieter for people sitting near me. Doesn’t require an internet connection.
tim!..i read your book and i have some questions.
i wanted to ask about the 80/20 law..u said that u should cut down things which make u unhappy and do which gives u more outputs..but what if i hate going to university nd i rather like studying on my own which i fel is more productive should i just dropout?
Hey Tim – good reminder. Just curious if you’ve written anything regarding your thoughts on better online marketing in an age when social media is much more difficult to use unless you’re paying big bucks to the social giants?
Hello Tim,
I’ve purchased your ebook today while at work. Then after work I purchased a copy from the book store. How did you start your first business? How can I do the same? I to want to start a supplement business.
Thanks for your time,
Jim
What is your view on college education, like if you know what you know now when you were 18 would you have treated education the same way?
Hi Tim. I was wondering if you are interested in talking at Rutgers University for charity. All of the proceeds would go to Relay for Life. Relay for Life is a charity that supports cancer research, provides temporary lodgings to families that live far from their hospitals, etc. If you’re interested, please let me know.
Hi Tim,
Everything you do you win, right?! Lets see if you could this…..Please consider a challenge to your next project, a TV/Youtube “big brother” show, were you train a normal no money person like me all the abilities you have wrote in the books and transform me in a new millionaire!!! Sure I will give 10% royalties for all my life.
My last entrepreneur experience was with 15y IT business consultancy company with 50 people with +3-5MM revenue and would love start start a new business from scratch with you, right now!! Just waiting your invite to fly from Brazil to whatever this will be.
Cheers from the cold Ireland.
Marcelo
Needing helppp
cool! great info 🙂
Dear tim i need your help for learning english
Your poster common chinese that you said in ted .com .is there any method like this for english??if it was pls tell me about it .i need it as urgent .thank u. [Moderator: email removed.]
Okay inventive and innovative life guru from the west coast … what’s with the green knit skull cap? [Moderator: link removed.]