Grand rising kings, today is the big day.
After a lot of anticipation, today is the official launch of Simple Men 2.0. I’ve been going on and on about this new phase of Simple Men for a long time, promising a lot of big things and massive changes coming to SM, and today is the day when I finally reveal all of them to you.
Housekeeping
Now, first things first: some housekeeping. If you’re reading this, it’s because you either subscribed to my newsletter, downloaded one of my free guides, or bought one of my programs. By doing that, you got automatically added to this list.
I want to keep this list clean of any negativity and bad vibes. So if you’re not at all interested in reading the articles, engaging with the community, getting special deals, or staying in touch with me, you can unsubscribe freely.
I recommend you read what’s in store before making that decision though.
If you decide to stay, make sure to mark this email address as ‘not spam.’ If the newsletter isn’t in your spam folder either, you should look in the promotions tab.
Why this change came about
Moving on, I think it’s fair to give you some context about why this change came about.
I’ve been posting content on Instagram for two and a half years now. When I began, all I wanted to do was share my thoughts and writings with men all over the world that could find some value in them. The goal was to help men who felt lost find their way, their purpose, and rekindle the fire in their souls.
I believe I was very successful with that purpose, and my page grew nicely for a few months. The community became stronger, and I was really happy working on it. It was honest and genuine content, and my main focus was never growing the page or making money. It was always to bring value to the conversation and help men improve their lives. Ironically, not caring about growth and money is what allowed my page to grow so quickly and build such a strong following.
But a few things happened that simply put, ended up killing the soul of Simple Men.
Firstly, it became a business. This is an overwhelmingly positive thing, because the business has been very successful, allowing me to make a living off this. It has also, I like to believe, allowed me to help a ton of men through the courses, in depth programs, and coaching I’ve done. But this being a business also meant my focus shifted from just writing honest content, to bringing in more cash.
Secondly, and this is related to the first point, some time ago, I stopped posting the content I wanted and posted more of the content I thought would hit the Instagram algorithm. This in an effort to grow more and more.
What this meant was that all content started being short-form, and I stopped doing what I really liked doing: writing. For those who don’t know, I’ve been a writer on the side since my teens, I published books in college, and I have always dreamt of doing this for a living. It’s my chosen form of art. It’s what brings peace to my soul. But I let myself be led astray by the business side of things, and as a consequence, I stopped putting my heart into it fully, and lost some of the interest in what I was doing. Simple Men essentially lost its very soul.
That's why I'm restructuring the whole thing and going back to what this was in the beginning: A writing project to share valuable advice and experiences I've learnt, in an effort to help young men, specifically Christian men, find a place and a direction in this world.
In the spirit of full disclosure, this means I am literally giving up my current income in order to create content from the heart. This was a difficult decision but I know it’s the right one. There’s no point in making great money if your soul is not in it.
I’m not a monk though, and I am of course interested in growing financially too, but I will do it in a way that is aligned with my purpose, which is writing. On that note, if you want to support this new phase of Simple Men, you can become a paid subscriber and access a ton of benefits for $5/month or $50/year in the button below, which will also help me get some income going again. I will go over all the benefits of subscribing a bit further down.
I refuse to be another generic Instagram "theme page" about masculinity like the thousand others there are out there. Maybe that would bring me the most money, but I love this project too much to watch it become just another soulless page posting viral reels. (Doesn’t mean I won’t post reels from time to time, because it’s important to keep growing the audience, but they won’t be the main focus nor the main source of value).
What’s coming?
Okay, enough for the context. Now let’s talk about the future. What can you expect from this new phase of Simple Men?
More long-form content. What I dream of being is a writer. So I'll write. I’ll go in-depth into various topics relevant for modern men in this Substack page.
A more personal page, posting not as a business or brand like "Simple Men Blog", but as a pseudonym, "Simple Man". Which means there will be more content about my personal life too. I’ll remain anonymous mainly because I’m a very private person and don’t see the need to reveal my identity.
A whole new brand identity. Yes, I will and am using the help of AI to create a unique style and branding. It is meant to be classic, elegant, aspirational, and traditional.
Physical books. In line with the whole “writing as the main activity”, I will release physical books. In fact, the first one is ready and will be coming next month (I explain how you can get early, discounted access to it below). Here’s a sneak peak:
Multichannel presence. Whereas before I was focused exclusively on Instagram, some shadowbans and attacks on my reach made it evident that I needed to branch out. I will be posting on Instagram, Threads, Twitter (X), and YouTube from now on. I will link each platform below and would greatly appreciate a follow in all of them.
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SimpleMenBlog
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtGQEeyOww8uMEVBco2hL4g
- Threads: https://www.threads.net/@simplemenblog
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simplemenblog/Podcast. Don’t have a release date for it yet, but it’s called “Masculine Christianity” and you’ll be the first to know when it launches (will be here on Substack).
More focus on Christianity. Why? Because I came to understand true masculinity is forever tied to Christianity, and I want to lead men away from toxic, secular, red-pill manosphere ideologies into the light of Jesus Christ.
What do you think about all of this? Also, what would you like to see in this new stage of Simple Men? Reply to this email or drop a comment with your thoughts, promise I’ll reply to all of them.
How it all works
Finally, here’s how things will work from now on.
As I’ve said already, the main platform I’ll now use is Substack (this one). How it works is very simple: it’s a platform designed for writing articles and sending corresponding emails. Any time I publish an article (at least once per week), you’ll get an email where you’ll be able to read the full entry. You can also access all the articles by going to the website simplemen.substack.com.
Additionally, you can download the Substack app from the app store and access all the content on your phone (highly recommend this if you also read other Substack publications or want to have access to the chat feature, notes, etc. The Substack app is similar to Twitter in how it works).
I will continue to post content on all the aforementioned social media accounts, each one tailored to each social network, so highly recommend you follow all of them.
On Substack, there is also the possibility to offer premium subscriptions. I have set the starting subscription price at $5/month for the first 100 members that subscribe, and will raise it to $7/month after that. The goal is to always keep it affordable to everyone, but give an extra benefit to those that sign up earlier.
Here’s what those premium subscribers get access to:
Full access to publications: around 60-75% of the content will be available to all subs, and 25-40% will be for paid subs only. The exclusive contents will be longer, more controversial and raw, and will contain actionable steps and specific “assignments” to help you take action after reading.
Early and discounted access to books: premium subs will get access to all books I release at least one month before the rest of the subscribers, and they will get access to them for a special discounted price, available only here, to premium Substack subscribers.
Long series of posts: From time to time I’ll create in-depth, topic-specific series of articles for premium subscribers. The first one is already up, and it’s a series of posts explaining how to make money online, step-by-step.
Community engagement: Paid subs have the ability to comment directly on the posts and will get priority answers to any questions and concerns.
Any other benefit I think of in the future.
If you like these benefits, or have found any kind of value in my writing over the years, consider becoming a paid sub and supporting this journey so I can keep creating even better content.
There is one more subscription tier, which is the “Founding Member” subscription. This is a yearly plan that allows readers to subscribe at any amount higher than the regular plans, starting at $280/year ($23/month, paid yearly). Aside from all the benefits listed above, Founding Members get:
A one-on-one welcome video call with me to meet and thank you personally.
A free copy of Rivers of Fire, my first physical book.
A hardcover notebook (choose one of three designs below).
A coffee mug (choose one of three designs below).
There’s nothing more to say for now other than I’m incredibly thankful with you for being here. It’s surreal to look back on two and a half years of posting almost daily, of working my ass off, and to see the results that that effort has brought. I feel deeply grateful to you for the support you’ve shown over the years and I hope I can keep counting on it for many more years to come. On my end, I’ll do my absolute best to keep creating something worthy of that trust and support.
Looking forward to reading all your answers and comments and may God bless you always!
Simple Man