Stick to Your Guns Volume 1: Contrarian Wisdom for Reluctant Marketers
When I finished writing this book, I had a moment of doubt.
"Is this enough?" I wondered. "Will people need more practical guidance? Should I have included more frameworks, more tactics, more step-by-step instructions?"
Then I realised: doubt is exactly why this book exists.
For years, I've met business owners who felt like marketing failures. They weren't comfortable with aggressive tactics. They hesitated before following up because they didn't want to seem pushy. They second-guessed their messages because they worried about bothering people.
They knew they should be "more aggressive" with their marketing, but something in them resisted.
If that's you, you're not broken. You're not doing it wrong.
You just need permission to trust your instincts.
What This Book Actually Is
This isn't a tactical book of techniques. This isn't a 90-day roadmap. This isn't "7 Frameworks to 10x Your Sales."
This is something more fundamental: permission.
Permission to:
- Be slow and patient when everyone says you need to move faster
- Be human when everyone's automating everything
- Be simple when everyone's overcomplicating their message
- Be different when everyone's following the same methods
- Respect your prospects when everyone's treating them like targets
These aren't just nice ideas. They're contrarian business principles, drawn from 20 years of building genuine client relationships in an industry obsessed with aggressive tactics.
What's Inside
18 carefully curated essays organised into 5 permission frameworks:
SECTION 1: Permission to Be Slow & Patient
- Why the need to keep going might be your bravest move
- The relationship-building power of the call-back rota
- Balancing urgency with patience
- Why releasing the handbrake is sometimes harder than pressing the accelerator
SECTION 2: Permission to Be Human
- Why face-to-face conversation still outperforms social media
- The detective vs. the automation: which approach builds trust?
- Quality over quantity: the contrarian data approach
- Why human contact beats perfect branding every time
SECTION 3: Permission to Be Simple
- How jargon destroys trust accounts (and how simplicity builds them)
- Why your prospects don't always know what they need (and what to do about it)
- Finding your authentic professional style without becoming someone you're not
SECTION 4: Permission to Be Different
- The courage required to challenge industry norms
- How a Norse word defines professional purpose (and why being "odd" is your advantage)
- Why Jurassic sales tactics need to become extinct
SECTION 5: Permission to Respect Prospects
- Treating objections as requests for information, not combat
- Balancing persistence with adaptability
- Why every relationship starts with strangers (and how to approach the clean sheet)
- The truth about rejection: they don't hate you
Just over 6,100 words of contrarian wisdom that validates your instincts and gives you permission to market authentically.
Who This Book Is For
This book is for you if:
· You're a business owner who combines marketing with other roles (accountant, consultant, engineer, specialist).
· You're uncomfortable with aggressive marketing tactics but know you need to generate business.
· You hesitate before following up because you don't want to seem pushy.
· You've been told you need to be "more aggressive" but it feels wrong.
· You value relationships over transactions but wonder if that's commercially viable.
· You're a reluctant marketer who's excellent at delivery but struggles with self-promotion.
· You suspect your human-centred approach might actually be your strength, not your weakness
Who This Book Is NOT For
Let me be honest about what this book doesn't provide:
· Detailed tactical frameworks (I will be offering these here, on Gumroad, in the coming months.).
· Step-by-step implementation guides (those are in the upcoming Starter Toolkit).
· Quick-win strategies for immediate results.
· Aggressive sales tactics that make you uncomfortable.
· Generic marketing theory you can find anywhere
If you want the "47 Growth Hacks to 10x Your Revenue in 90 Days" approach, this isn't your book.
But if you need reassurance that your instincts aren't wrong before you learn the systems - this is exactly what you need.
What Readers Are Saying
"Richard's approach completely validated my instincts about relationship-first marketing..." - BC, Chartered Accountant.
About the Author
Richard Bull-Domican is the Director of New Era Financial Introductions Limited and a 20-year veteran of relationship-first lead generation.
While the industry embraced automation and aggressive tactics, Richard championed a contrarian approach: treating prospects like intelligent human beings, building relationships patiently, and trusting that quality conversations improve conversions.
This philosophy has served clients across sectors and generated thousands of meaningful business relationships. Now, through his writing on LinkedIn (600+ posts, 8,500+ connections) and Medium, Richard is building a publishing empire dedicated to one mission:
Not forgetting the human in business-to-business relationships.
Why £3?
You might wonder why this book costs £3 when it contains over 6,100 words of accumulated wisdom from 20 years in business.
Three reasons:
- Accessibility - I want this in the hands of every business owner who feels like a marketing failure. Price shouldn't be a barrier.
- Commitment - £3 filters out freebie seekers but shows you're genuinely interested in a different approach.
- The Beginning - This is the foundation. Volume 2 is coming with more contrarian wisdom on lead generation, follow-up, rejection, and patience in business development. The complete Starter Toolkit follows. But first, you need permission to trust your instincts.
Think of it as the price of a decent coffee - except this insight lasts much longer than the caffeine buzz.
What Happens After You Read This Book?
If this resonates with you, here's how to continue the journey over the coming weeks and months:
· Follow me on Medium & LinkedIn for ongoing contrarian marketing wisdom (free)
· Subscribe to my daily newsletter of lead generation insights – between 300 and 500 word insights from 20 years of business to business experience. Monday-Friday delivery. £5 per month. Coming Q2 2026.
· Explore the Starter Toolkit when you're ready for the complete practical systems. Coming Q2 2026.
This isn't a sales funnel. It's a relationship. You set the pace. You choose the investment. You decide what serves your business best.
Just like I propose in the book.
The Volume 2 Promise
Volume 2 is already in development.
Where Volume 1 gives you permission, Volume 2 gives you depth:
- Why most people get lead qualification completely wrong
- The follow-up philosophy that competitors won't match
- Why rejection is information, not failure
- The patient approach to business development
- Challenging conventional sales wisdom
Same format. Same straight talk. Different topics.
But you need Volume 1 first. Because tactics without the right mindset just make you a more efficient version of what you're already uncomfortable being.
Expected release: Q1 2026
What I Promise You'll Get
I can't guarantee this book will 10x your revenue or transform your business overnight.
What I can promise:
· You'll feel less alone in your reluctance about aggressive marketing.
· You'll understand why your instincts are valid, not weak.
· You'll have intellectual ammunition when people tell you to be more aggressive.
· You'll see a clear path forward that honours who you are.
· You'll save years of self-doubt about whether relationship-first marketing really works
And when you read the first essay and think "Finally, someone gets it" - you'll know this £3 was the best investment you made this week, maybe this month, or even over the past year!
Ready to Stop Feeling Like a Marketing Failure?
6,100 words. 18 essays. 5 permissions. £3.
Download now and discover why your human-centred approach isn't your weakness - it's your greatest competitive advantage.
Click below to get instant access to your PDF.
Specifications
Format: PDF (A5 size, optimized for all devices)
Length: 6,100 words across 18 essays
Reading time: Approximately 30-45 minutes (but you'll want to take notes)
Sections: 5 core permissions with opening and closing reflections
Quotes from: Dale Carnegie, Stephen Covey, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Vincent van Gogh, Sherry Turkle, Brian Tracy, and other luminaries
British English throughout
File delivery: Instant download upon purchase
Device compatibility: Read on computer, tablet, phone, or print it
DRM-free: It's your copy. Read it however you want.
Contact & Connect
Email: richard@newerafi.co.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardbulldomican/
Medium: https://medium.com/@richard-bulldomican
Company: New Era Financial Introductions Limited (UK Company Registration No: 06006398)
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is this available in formats other than PDF?
A: Currently PDF only. EPUB and other formats may come later based on demand.
Q: Can I share this with my team?
A: Each copy is licensed for individual use. If you'd like to buy for your team, email me at richard@newerafi.co.uk for volume discounts.
Q: When is Volume 2 coming?
A: Expected Q1 2026. If you buy Volume 1, I'll email you when Volume 2 launches.
Q: Is this just theory or are there practical applications?
A: Volume 1 is primarily philosophical foundation and permission-giving. Detailed tactical systems will be offered here, on Gumroad, in the coming months.
Q: Will this work for my industry?
A: The principles apply to any B2B relationship-based business where trust and credibility matter more than lowest price. If you sell commodities on price alone, this probably isn't for you.
A Final Word
If you've read this far, you're exactly who I wrote this book for.
You're thoughtful. You're cautious. You care about doing things right, not just doing things fast.
The world needs more people like you in marketing and sales.
Don't let aggressive tactics merchants make you feel inadequate. Don't let hustle culture make you feel slow. Don't let automation evangelists make you feel old-fashioned.
Your approach isn't broken. It's rare. And rare is valuable.
This book gives you permission to trust that.
£3. 30 minutes. Instant download.
Click below and let's begin.
INTRODUCTION: WHY STICKING TO YOUR GUNS MATTERS For years, you've probably felt like you're doing marketing wrong. Too slow. Too gentle. Too human. Every marketing guru tells you to automate, scale, and optimise. To send more emails, make more calls, and post more content. To create urgency, overcome objections, and close harder. They tell you that patience is procrastination. That caring about prospects' comfort is weakness. That if you're not "hustling", you're failing. They make you feel like your reluctance to pressure people means you lack what it takes to succeed in business. But here's what they won't tell you: your instinct that this feels wrong is absolutely correct. The relationship-first approach you keep gravitating towards? That's not naivety, that's wisdom. The uncomfortable feeling you get when using aggressive tactics? That's not weakness, that's integrity. Your preference for quality conversations over quantity metrics? That's not inefficiency, that's strategy. You're not doing marketing wrong. You're doing it differently. And in a world drowning in automation and manufactured urgency, different is exactly what prospects are desperate for. This book gives you permission to trust your instincts. Permission to be slow, when everyone else is shouting "faster." Permission to be human, when everyone else is automating. Permission to communicate simply, when everyone else is drowning in jargon. Permission to be genuinely different, when everyone else is following the same methods. Permission to respect your prospects, when everyone else is pestering them. Over the next eighteen short essays, you'll discover that everything you've been told to feel guilty about, is actually your competitive advantage. The patience you've been criticised for, builds deeper relationships than speed ever could. The humanity you've been told to suppress, is exactly what makes prospects choose to work with you. The simplicity you naturally prefer, cuts through the noise that confuses everyone else. These aren't just feel-good principles. They're battle-tested wisdom from twenty years of relationship-led lead generation. They work because they treat prospects like intelligent human beings rather than conversion metrics. The world will continue shouting at you to do it their way. To move faster, push harder, automate more. This book whispers the truth: you were right all along. Let's begin. SECTION 1: PERMISSION TO BE SLOW & PATIENT Section Opening The hunger for quick results is killing more campaigns than any other single factor. Business owners abandon strategies just as they're building momentum because everyone else is shouting "faster, faster, faster.". But what if slow and steady really does win the race? What if patience isn't a weakness, but a strategic advantage in a world obsessed with speed? ________________________________________ Patience, Tenacity and the Sales Paradox Everything worthwhile takes time. Strip away all the emotion and success-related agendas from any project and ask what is needed to deliver a result? Patience. What can be missing from sales, marketing and lead generation projects? Patience. The hunger for success and the drive for positive results shortens timelines, putting pressure on participants to deliver. The actual result? Abandonment: often just as a project is building momentum. Any campaign needs to scale up and build relationships with strangers. Relationship building takes time. Taking short cuts, sprinkling stardust and waving a magic wand won't build a solid foundation. Collaboration, communication and trust in the process will. It is widely known that there is a link between patience and tenacity. Both patience and tenacity are qualities that are important in achieving success in various aspects of life. Patience is the ability to remain calm and composed in difficult situations and to persevere in the face of obstacles or challenges. Tenacity, on the other hand, is the quality of being persistent and determined in pursuing objectives and outcomes. When we are patient, we are more likely to be able to keep going in the face of challenges. We are able to wait for the right opportunities to arise and to keep working towards a successful outcome, even when progress is slow. Tenacity is also important because it allows us to bounce back from setbacks and to stay focused on our goals despite obstacles that may arise. In combination, patience and tenacity can be a powerful force in achieving success. By being patient and persistent, we can weather the ups and downs of life and stay focused. It's important to cultivate both. "Before every great reward, comes the footprints of persistency, consistency, perseverance, courage, faith and patience." — Edmond Mbiaka But patience alone isn't enough. You need something to aim for...