Moving Forward

Times change and things evolve. In the next couple months I plan on rebranding and renaming the site. I always liked the name "Practical Pick Up." And up until recently, I think it succinctly and clearly described my content: a practical and no-nonsense alternative to meeting and dating more women.

But as you guys have probably noticed, the content has evolved quite a bit this last year. A lot more time has been spent on emotional processes, lifestyle development, vulnerability, motivation, male psychology, and the process of improvement.

These topics have been discussed in as much as they related to picking up women. But the truth is they are deeper than that. A lot deeper. And that have wider implications than simply going for the kiss here, asking her for her number there.

The more I research and understand this stuff and the more I work with guys with these problems, the more I feel like we're just scratching the surface of what's going on here. Getting laid was just the catalyst. This is a self help movement. But it's more than just self help, it's a men's movement -- made by men for other men -- as a way of discovering our own roles and value in a post-modern, post-feminist society. As the first generations of men who grew up without gender roles lunged upon us and without traditional male role models in the home, we seem to be a bit amiss. And it took getting pissed off about not getting laid for us to finally wake up and try to start figuring it out.

My interests haven't left discussing pick up or women, I guess you could say they've simply broadened beyond simply picking up women.

This site has also spent much of the last year debunking a lot of myths and poor teaching that have long existed in the pick up industry: techniques as placebos, the fake alpha male syndrome, the toxicity of the 10-scale, misogynistic fallacies, shit test paranoia and the unimportance of state control, just to name a few.

But I finally feel like there's not really anything else to debunk. That. And there's only so much you can say about meeting and dating women before you start repeating yourself. And I'm tired of repeating myself.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of topics relevant to present-day men that still go without discussion: handling our emotions around women, how to connect better in our relationships, understanding our own contradictory impulses, finding professional and personal happiness in the new global economy, developing every day discipline to live more healthy and content lives. On and on and on.

Obviously, the name "Practical Pick Up" doesn't do these new topics much justice. The advice will still be here. And it will still be practical. And it will still work. But the site and brand needs a makeover. The term "pick up" in particular draws up too many negative connotations. It feels too limiting now.

I'd like to create something that men are proud to be a part of, proud to show to their friends and family, proud to put on their Facebook pages, without compromising the content or utility at the same time. I'd also like to have a business that I'm proud to talk about with people I meet without having to launch into a 20-minute explanation that no, it's not misogynistic or manipulative, yes, it is real and men actually do need help. I'd also like to have a business that mainstream sites, magazines and shows would be happy to promote or be involved in without it being seen as some circus sideshow.

Originally I was going to wait until after the launch of the new G3 program before rebranding the site. But I decided it makes sense to do it the other way around.

I have a couple more large articles planned for PP, including one monster article that is totally over-intellectual, totally self-indulgent yet brilliant, and will probably require multiple posts to complete. It will kind of be my farewell and final offering to 100% pure pick up content before moving over to the new brand.

The new site will be more broadly focused on life development for men and delve deeper into the psychology, lifestyle, relationships and masculinity. Dating and women will still be a large part of it and in the beginning still make up most of the content. The quality control of the content will be taken up another notch. You probably won't see anymore short one-off articles, or side-musings. I will be bringing on a couple other writers and/or collaborators as well. The only products that will exist will be Models and the new G3, once it's complete, which will also be rebranded. Other products and programs will be released in the future. In-person coaching is on an indefinite hiatus, although phone and email coaching are still available. PickupTube will continue to exist but in isolation.

I'd like to take a moment and thank everyone for reading and contributing to this blog over the years. It's been almost exactly four years since I put my first blog post down at the egging on of my roommate at the time. He had been telling me for months to start a blog so I could write down my thoughts and experiences about women. I always blew him off saying, "I don't know what I'd write about. Nobody would read it anyway."

Boy, was I wrong.

The evolution of this blog in many ways has paralleled my own personal development, and has slowly changed from a distraction, to a hobby, to a source of income, to a business and now to a full-on movement. Thank you for coming along for the ride. And stick around. It's only going to get better.