We have been running the HCPG newsletter now since 2006. We are
very happy with what we have created over the years and believe that
many of the lessons we have learned in running HCPG also can apply to
other businesses. So here’s our case study.
1. Don’t claim anything. The quality of your product is the only
thing that matters. We could be three punks trading from a double
wide in some trailer park, or we could be three very well-off
successful traders. We’ve never claimed one or the other. Does it
matter? No, not at all. All that matters is whether the information
we provide can make you more profit than you would have without the
newsletter. Stay with what is relevant. We stay under the HCPG
moniker without providing personal information because frankly, our
personal life is no one’s business. All we do is provide potential
set-ups for any one who pays $44.76/month. You’ll find out very soon
(including a 10 day free trial) whether it’s all nonsense or whether it
can add to your bottom line.
2. Unless you intend to provide an audited PnL record that you will
provide to your subscribers every week never talk about dollars or brag
about how much money you’re minting. You will never hear us talk about
money, be it on stocktwits, twitter, or in the newsletter. You will
never hear us say Big Kaching!! If we’re happy with a trade we’ll say
it was a good trade; whether we had 100 shares or 100,000 shares should
have no effect on your trading. Keep your ego out of your business.
3. Be nice and always look at the big picture. If you’re in it for
the long-term as we are (HCPG 5 year anniversary in a few months) then
try to build solid relationships with your readers. Don’t nickel and
dime people. If a subscriber forgets to cancel a trial and gets billed
on the 10th day and emails us that they don’t want to stay on, we
refund the money. We believe that readers should consider us a lucky
find — rather than trying to trap people for an extra month because they
forgot to cancel in time. We want readers to stay with us because
they want to stay with us. This is also the reason we do monthly
payments. No contracts, no specials.
4. Be the best in what you do. Easier said than done but what
will propel you on this path is to specialize. Find your niche and
then be the best. We only trade high-beta very liquid US equities,
mostly in the commodity and tech space. We’re not interested in trading
small-caps, Chinese time-bombs, biotech-time bombs, and while we like
to watch currencies and hear about options, they’re not our
specialization and you won’t find them in our newsletter. We want to
only talk about things we know very well and frankly, options and forex
do not fit into that category.
5. Teach people. Subscribers who have been with us for a good
chunk of time know our strategies as well as we do. Create a
community and build bonds and you will see the benefits of organic
growth.
6. Keep your cool. When you are writing the newsletter or posting
on twitter/stocktwits you are representing your company. Don’t get
emotional, or get into cat fights with other traders. If you are
dying to rant then open up a personal twitter account and go nuts. But
everything that comes under your company name should reflect
professionalism and integrity. Don’t get us wrong, we love to joke
around, and believe that’s an important part of relieving stress in a
very stressful job. But you won’t find HCPG losing it in a temper
tantrum.
7. Don’t fret about the competition. We often retweet posts from
our competitors, and consider many of them as online friends. Don’t
be afraid. There’s always room for a quality product in the market.
(originally published April 09, 2011)
