No one’s coming. That’s the good news.

_{Day 110/100}

Hey Tim—It's Tim.

You don’t feel ready.

You’ve got a full-time job.
A side hustle.
And a voice in your head that keeps whispering:

“Who do you think you are?”

Here’s who you are:

You're the guy who cold-emailed 200 local businesses after work.
The guy who offered free audits just to start a conversation.
The guy who got his first client... and still thought it was a fluke.

It wasn’t a fluke.
You just hadn’t caught up to the belief yet.

This email is for me, eleven years ago.
Maybe it helps you.

That First Client? That Was Proof.

Mine came from a cold email.

I’d written 200. Got ignored 190 times.
One person said: “Can you do local SEO for us?”

I didn’t know what I was doing.
But I said yes anyway.
And then I became the person who could deliver.

I learned to track calls. Built reports in Google Sheets.
Made their Maps ranking jump from nowhere to #1.
They were happy.
I was hooked.

That wasn’t luck.
That was me, in the arena, with one toe in the door.

Stop Acting Like You’re a Junior in Your Own Story

You're not underqualified. You're early.

You don't need a course.
Or a logo.
Or a permission slip.

You just need someone to say yes. And it might as well be you.

Looking back, I wish I had:

• Raised my rates earlier

• Said no to the wrong clients faster

• Stopped discounting to justify my insecurity

But most of all,
I wish I stopped waiting to feel legit.

Your Underdog Phase Is a Superpower

No audience.
No expectations.
No pressure to “scale.”

That’s the moment to experiment.
To underpromise and overdeliver so hard they write you love letters.

To quietly become undeniable - before anyone knows your name.

So if you’re sitting in the parking lot, about to take a sales call on your lunch break?

I’ve been there.
I see you.
Keep going.

✌️ Tim "Said Yes. Panicked for 2 weeks after." Hanson
CMO @Penfriend.ai

Same brain, different platforms: X, Threads, LinkedIn.

P.S. Sunday is Sunday Scaries now. Because let’s be real: this stuff hits hardest on a Sunday night when you're trying to feel “in control” again.

I know we all feel them. And maybe writing through it is the way out.

Penfriend.ai
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