Trusting yourself in business feels like it should be easy.After all, you’ve started your business because you wanted to do something different outside the norm.You knew there was something else you were supposed to do with your life.Or, maybe you started your business because you needed to.Maybe you were let go from a job, could not find a job that justified the cost of daycare/commute, etc., or knew that if you didn’t start something for yourself, your mental health and quality of life would continue to decline.My reasons for starting my business were sort of a combination of all of the above.I had been working full-time in retail management most of my adult life, and after losing my husband in a car accident at 32, with a six-year-old and a two-year-old at home, I knew something needed to change.Prior to that job, I had tried a handful of entrepreneurial things, but it wasn’t until I discovered what people were starting to do online (first discovered this space in 2006) that I knew “this was it!”I had no idea what that looked like, but something lit up in me and grabbed hold of me.I lost my husband in 2003 and started my business in 2008.The five years in between were some of the hardest years of my life. It’s too long to go into here (we’ll save that for another podcast episode), but if I could go back and tell myself anything during that time, it would be to be gentle with myself.On top of grieving, I was in massive judgment of myself all the damn time.My therapist used to say I would “get myself coming and going.” No matter what I did, it wasn’t enough.Learning to listen to our own intuition and trusting ourselves are incredible gifts you give to yourself if you’re willing to do the work.Rise Above the Noise: Subscribe to “the SPARK”Intuition in ActionUntil probably 12 years ago, I don’t think I ever would have considered myself “intuitive.” In fact, I was probably a little judgmental about that word and associated it with people who were a little “out there.”Regardless of how you define intuition or your perception of it, we’re all intuitive.We just haven’t learned to tap into our intuition or trust ourselves with it.A simpler, maybe more acceptable way to talk about intuition is learning to trust your gut.I’m going to try to mesh the tangible with the intangible here if you will – because in order to grow and scale a successful business, you need both.And I’m on a mission to bring more of this language and discussion into the marketing space.Here’s a great example from the first year I was in business.There was an internet marketing who I had discovered prior to starting my business. I had been listening to a CD set by Mark Victor Hansen (co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books) about becoming a speaker.This internet marketer was talking about how he was making money with the internet with niche sites, affiliate marketing, and teaching.I didn’t understand half of what he was saying, but I was fascinated.So when I finally made the leap into starting my business in 2008, I sought out this marketer and signed up for his coaching (which was 5k and the most I had ever spent on something like that).Part of his coaching was coming to his house for a private retreat with a few other coaching clients.By the time I went to this retreat, I had been in business for over a year and was building my first brand, The WordPress Chick.This coach had been building websites with ‘Frontpage’ and was what he recommended.Nothing in me wanted to learn Frontpage or HTML, and despite him telling me WordPress wasn’t anything I should pursue, I trusted my gut.I absolutely knew WordPress was worth it, would only continue to grow, and was where I was planting my flag.Something in me (my intuition) told me that regardless of his financial success, this piece of advice wasn’t worth listening to.He was also of the mindset that you should pick a niche where there was interest and build a business around that.I also knew there was no way I could build a business that wasn’t based on something I loved and was passionate about.This is probably one of the biggest differentiators I see between men and women in business.I’ve seen many men thrive simply from the game of business.Most women I know build a business around something they enjoy and grow into loving the game of business because of what it affords them in their life: time, freedom, quality of life, and income.I know these are both generalizations.Plenty of men pick a passion and build from there, and plenty of women enjoy the game of business, regardless of the niche.I also think this shifts as we age.I found a quote the other day by Drew Barrymore and shared it with my sister because she has a friend who is 48 and is really struggling with aging as she gets closer to 50.Here’s the quote:“Gravity and wrinkles are fine with me. They’re a small price to pay for the new wisdom inside my head and my heart.”Preach sister.The other piece that is vitally important when it comes to using your intuition in business is that it’s going to require courage and faith.Rise Above the Noise: Subscribe to “the SPARK”Courage to do things that are uncomfortable and faith in yourself that you know what’s best for you.Here are some specific examples of courage in business (that might seem like they’re “only tasks”):Creating contentWriting emailsLearning to CopywriteUsing marketing language (God forbid we ‘sell’)Recording yourself: audio or video, and publishing it for other peopleRaising your pricesSaying noAsking for the saleNOT jumping on or into something that doesn’t feel right for you (i.e., Clubhouse or Threads, anyone?)Not judging people for doing what works for them (i.e., not making other people wrong to make yourself right)Investing in yourself: coaching, courses, programs, books, etc.Ignoring the haters (there will always be haters)At first glance, this list looks like a list of ‘to-do’s’ that are required for creating and growing an online business.But it’s not that simple.We all bring our own stories, experiences, and beliefs to everything we do.If you’re one of the 40% of people that has a fear of public speaking, but you’d really like to try your hand at podcasting and video, it’s going to take courage to show up and do it.Or think back to when you were in school.Did you have a teacher or someone you trusted tell you that you couldn’t write well, and for whatever reason, that has stayed with you ever since?It’s going to take courage to start writing online and hitting publish.I truly believe there isn’t anything we can’t learn, especially if it’s something we deeply and truly want. It might take you longer than others if it’s not a natural inclination, but if you want it bad enough, you’ll find a way to learn it.The trick is having the patience to allow yourself to go at your own pace and not borrow trouble that it’s not happening fast enough.Rise Above the Noise: Subscribe to “the SPARK”Trusting Yourself in BusinessThe single best thing you can do for yourself in your business is to tune out the noise.Which can be incredibly hard at times.Here’s what I mean.Right after you’ve committed to doing something a certain way or only using the platforms that resonate with you, something pops up that flips on the FOMO switch, and you doubt yourself and start thinking, “Well, maybe I could try it again, or I should stick with what was working.”I had (well, I guess I still have it) a Facebook Group of over 11k people (Content Creators – it’s been archived).It took a long time for me to pull the trigger and archive the group (because FB is ridiculous and you can’t just delete a group. You have to delete people ONE at a time) because I kept thinking that 11k people was a lot of people and I should “do something” with it.Nothing in me wants to run or manage a free Facebook Group.Owning that felt really good, and even after a couple of people offered to help with the group, I knew it was time to put it to bed.A bigger example of tuning out the noise would be the recent launch of Alex Hormozi’s book launch for his latest book, 100M Leads.This happened a few days ago (August 19, 2023), so if you’re listening much further in the future, this might be old news.Here’s the gist of what this is and why I’m using it as an example to tune out the noise.If you’re unfamiliar with Alex Hormozi, he’s built a 100M a year company (I may be off on the exact figure here) called Acquisition.com.He helps people who are earning over 1M a year scale their businesses.He started his own business selling a system called Gym Launch (after owning gyms) and kept scaling from there.His first book, 100M Offers, came out in 2021. He started showing up everywhere by producing massive amounts of content and sharing it everywhere (people now do ‘Hormozi’ style videos).Anyway…I loved the first book and was looking forward to this book coming out (we all need more leads, right?).It was one of the biggest webinars (think over 200k people registered), he did a typical webinar ‘stack’ (part of Russell Brunson’s teachings for his ‘Perfect Webinar’), and the ‘value’ of everything he offered was over 12k.He gave it all away for free.Here’s where the noise seems to be getting louder and louder…First, I did attend the webinar and found it valuable. I also bought one book.The ONLY thing he had for sale was his book, but if you bought three or more copies, you could also get a baseball hat with his company name (not available for sale anywhere).I don’t wear baseball hats and, quite frankly, wouldn’t spend money to purchase swag with company names on it (tennis shoes or the occasional nice purse are the only things I spend money on where I’m ‘advertising’ for a company. And remember, no judgments here. Just not my jam).During the 90-minute webinar, I had the chat closed. I rarely leave chat windows open during webinars or training because they’re too distracting for me, but apparently, there were all kinds of opinions flying throughout the webinar.People loved him, and people were mad that he was doing a ‘webinar stack’… you name it.Most of this I’ve learned from all the noisy marketers now giving their opinions about the entire event.Nothing like a little free advertising for Alex, eh?Plenty of opinions, sarcasm, and mocking of other people.Seriously… who has the time and energy?If you’re someone who isn’t firmly planted with what you want and how you’re going to achieve it and are committed to staying focused, this could do a number on you.Let’s say you’re new to this space and were one of the thousands of people who were incredibly excited about what Alex was giving away.Then you see someone you respect and admire criticizing the event, the methodology, and what was done. Maybe they even take it a step further and say that what Alex did is ruining the market for everyone who DOES charge for their courses.Now you’re more confused than you were before you knew anything.My two cents on Alex’s book launch: It was interesting to watch how he launched it and how he presented the webinar, and I thought it was a generous offer. I appreciate seeing an old model new again (give things away for free).I’m looking forward to getting the book and focusing on my own lead generation.End of story.I hope people who invested their time and energy into the webinar and purchased the book implement what they’re learning.That’s the only way any of this works.I’m trusting myself to stay focused on the goals I’ve created and how I’m growing both of my companies.I know what’s required of me to get there, and I’m staying the course; it’s that simple.I will always be someone who consumes content that inspires me, educates me, and gives fuels me.The difference is now I know enough that I can keep it all in perspective.I don’t veer off my path unless I feel like “playing” with something, and even then, I make sure it’s also fueling me and not sending me down a rabbit hole that will take a while to climb out of.The thing about intuition and trust in yourself, as it relates to your business, is that they’re just like muscles that get stronger over time with consistency.Every time you say no to something that doesn’t align with your focus, you’re building that muscle.Every time you practice your craft so you can deliver a better end product for your customer, you’re building that muscle.Every time you get up and walk away from the computer because you can feel yourself getting distracted, you’re building that muscle.Every time you stay off the platforms you don’t enjoy, regardless of how many people are telling you they’re working, you’re building that muscle.Eventually, using your intuition and trusting yourself becomes the default.And that’s priceless.

Creating A Black Friday Cyber Monday Offer can be exciting, intimidating, and a little cringe-inducing.It all depends on how you approach it.I’ve been on both sides of the coin and somewhere in between when it comes to creating a Black Friday Cyber Monday Offer.As someone who spent way too many years working in retail management, I had a pretty negative feeling about Black Friday for many reasons, mainly because I usually worked that weekend. I would have rather been enjoying time with family or kicking off my own holiday season.Once I was out of retail, though, I promised myself I’d never go into a store that weekend… and for the most part, I haven’t.I may have gone once or twice with my Mom and sister, but that was more about doing something with them as opposed to shopping.For the sake of all of our sanity, I’m going to stay away from the argument that addresses the ‘for or against’ Black Friday Cyber Monday.It is what it is, I don’t see it going anywhere, and there’s no point getting worked up about it.What we’ll focus on is how to create a Black Friday Cyber Monday offer that aligns with who you are, how your support your audience, and what you can create that feels good for everyone.Rise Above the Noise: Subscribe to the SPARKShould you Create a Black Friday Cyber Monday Offer?This question might seem a little contrary to the topic of this episode (because obviously, I think you should), but there are a handful of things you should consider before deciding whether you should create a Black Friday Cyber Monday Offer.First question: Do you want to?Before you call me Captain Obvious, what’s really important about this question is getting clear on your “why” behind the answer.Many people say they don’t want to because they’re “anti” the whole concept. I’m sure you can come up with many reasons why you or someone else might be “anti” running offers over this weekend. Fair enough.Just make sure you’re being completely honest with yourself.Putting together the right offer for the right reasons and for the right people takes work.You also need to go into it with the right expectations.If you’ve never run one of these offers or created any type of similar marketing campaign, there’s going to be a learning curve, but more on that in a minute.Second question: Do you have an email list?Unless you sell on social media ONLY (and have data that supports how well your social audience responds to offers), you have to have an email list.I don’t care if it’s 500 or 5000.Every single business needs an email list. This is the one source of traffic you control. And yes, if you don’t have one, it’s not too late to build one so you can send an offer over the Black Friday Cyber Monday weekend.Last question: Are you willing to do the work?I might sound a little like a stern parent here, but if you’re not willing to put the time and energy into this, then don’t bother.Can you half-ass it and make some sales?Sure, but with enough lead time and effort, why not go all in and do it correctly? There are no guarantees of how it will go, but keep in mind that regardless of how well your offer does, you’re most likely going to make some sales and will gather massive data.And more than likely, you’ll end up with an offer you can use later with another campaign (different season, sale, special, etc.).Rise Above the Noise: Subscribe to the SPARKWhat Type of Offer to Create Based On Your Business & AudienceContrary to what people might think, creating a Black Friday Cyber Monday offer isn’t just for product businesses (courses, e-com).Service businesses can do extremely well with a Black Friday Cyber Monday Offer as well.I’ve done both e-commerce offers and service offers, both converted.Let’s look at three different business models and different offer types.Service businessCreator business (courses, digital products)E-commerceService OffersThe first service Black Friday Cyber Monday offer I did was for coaching sessions.At the time, I was still running the first planner business with a partner, and since we were running some Black Friday Cyber Monday offers, I knew I wanted to run one for my personal brand as well.I didn’t have the time to pull together a digital course/product offer, so I let people know I was going to be raising the price of my coaching sessions by $100 (from $297 to $397), and this was the last chance to buy at this price.I also added scarcity (please only do this when there’s truth behind it. In other words, no ‘limited’ quantities of digital products) because this was based on my time.I only offered 10 of these and sold them all.Depending on when you start creating your Black Friday Cyber Monday Offer is going to determine what type of service offer you create.If you don’t have recurring revenue in your business, this could be a great weekend to make that offer… even as a presale.Example: If you do website designs, do you have people on care plans? You could use this weekend to create a launch special for care plans for customers (or even people on your list that aren’t customers but have a website you could support).That alone, though, isn’t enough.You need to think about how you can over-deliver and, as Alex Hormozi says, make them an offer so good they feel stupid saying no.I’m a big fan of bundling things as opposed to a straight discount.So, in this case, you could do something like “sign up as a founder for our brand-new care plans and receive half off an SEO audit.”The goal of your offer is to bring in revenue for you while providing massive value to your new customer. You might think you wouldn’t want to discount an SEO audit, but if it means you’re gaining a customer who pays you MONTHLY?!?! It’s a no-brainer (and you can also upsell SEO services after the audit).Remember the Dan Kennedy saying, “Whoever can spend the most money to acquire a customer wins.”The “cost” to acquire this customer is half of the SEO audit.Other types of offers for service providers:A bundle of services (Again, don’t do a straight discount. You can discount, but bundle them together so you raise your cart value)).Adding a physical product to a service offer. You can do this as a wholesaler or simply find something of value they get for free (remember, the cost to acquire a customer)Adding a digital product to a service offerTemplates: Personally, I’d create these or repurpose something I’ve already created. I’m not a huge fan of PLR. It’s usually generic. Don’t cheapen the quality of what you do because you don’t want to put time and energy into doing the work.Creator BusinessThis and the e-com offers seem pretty obvious, but I want to challenge you to think about bundling things as opposed to straight discounts.You can also structure the offer in a way that gives you the end result you desire, but you’ve worded it in a way that has a higher perceived value.The example I always think about is one from Russell Brunson when he launched Click Funnels.I’m paraphrasing here, but you’ll get the idea.He was running live webinars to sell ClickFunnels (for SIX months!). The initial offer was six months of ClickFunnels and a bonus course.When he changed it to purchasing the course and getting six months of ClickFunnels for FREE… it took off.Same price and products, but the perception of six months of software for free shifted everything.Also…One thing creators tend to do (guilty as charged) is give away their time as a bonus.The goal of creating a Black Friday Cyber Monday offer is that you’re providing massive value for your customer while getting a cash injection in your business.If you start “bonusing” your time, you may end up in the negative with this offer.Your time should be the highest cost, not the free cost.Piggybacking on the service offer, if you don’t have your own physical product, is there something you can send your customers? (Obviously, making sure that after the cost of the physical product and shipping, you’re still profitable).Swag: With sites like Printable, Printify, etc., it’s easy to create a branded swag item (your brand, their brand, non-branded item)A book: find a book that supports or complements your digital product. Teaching email marketing? What about your favorite copywriting book?Partner with someone: If someone came to me asking to offer my physical planner as a bonus item and they could get a deal or discount on a bulk quantity, I’d absolutely say yes. You could also find someone who has a software product, and in exchange for giving up your affiliate commission, they could receive that amount as a discount for the software.This is probably the easiest type of business to create a Black Friday Cyber Monday offer for, but try not to do what everyone else does.Discounts are fantastic (and a lot of people wait to purchase over this weekend), but if you give away the farm, you’re going to end up feeling a little resentful.Wouldn’t you rather have one sale for $197, where you’ve discounted two small workshops or courses that individually sell for $197 and bundled them, then “hope” people buy both individually for the same amount?Obviously, you need to ensure they complement each other, but I promise you you’ll feel better while still giving your customers incredible value.Rise Above the Noise: Subscribe to the SPARKE-CommerceI won’t go too into a lot of detail with this one because it’s more obvious, but man, I wish I had understood this much, much sooner.With the first planner brand company, we learned from our first Black Friday Cyber Monday offer, and the second year we only bundled things.We had a “one of everything” – physical, digital, and masterclass.We had a “buy 3 get one free.”And we had a “digital-only” and a “physical + masterclass” offer.What BLEW me away was how many of the “one of everything” we sold.It was incredible.We also sold a lot of the buy 3, get one free offer.These offers did so well that we kept them in the store (and consistently sold them).Based on what I know now about this market, I think I would do one of two things in this example:Test selling a digital course and GIVING the physical planner away, with an upsell of continuity.Sell a discounted continuity program with a BONUS of a free planner while upselling an AI course to create their content strategy.Both of these have high value, create recurring revenue, and cover their costs.Win-win.How to make ANY of these a Feel-Good Black Friday Cyber Monday OfferThe sooner you get started on creating your offer, the better it’s going to be.You’ll also have enough time to get clear on the following:The problem it solves for your customerWHY you’re doing this. It’s perfectly OK to want a cash injection for your business, but if you’re not doing it FOR your customer, it’s going to backfireCrafting the right copy. You can take many different approaches with your marketing message – don’t write something because you *think* it sounds like marketing speak. It must feel right in your body, and YOU need to feel excited about it.If you approach this from a place of creating an incredible experience for your customer where you can deliver the solution to their problem WHILE surprising and delighting them?It’s going to be a WIN-WIN for EVERYONE.As difficult as it might sound (or how much your ego might be fighting this idea), doing the ‘right thing’ will always be to your benefit.Even if you don’t end up with the sales you hoped for, you’re going to end up with raving fans who will probably buy from you in the future.Not to mention all the data you’ll end up with when all is said and done.

The ONE question you can ask yourself is a game changer.This was one of those questions that brought massive clarity in the span of about 1 minute. We’re going to get into that in a minute, but let’s do a quick catch-up and recap from last week.First, if you missed last week’s episode, I officially announced my first-ever Women’s Business Retreat in Costa Rica!The IGNITE Mastermind is happening this October 24th – the 28th. My dear friend and amazing branding expert, Liz Weaver, is co-hosting this with me.We’re just now getting around to promoting the event, but we only have four spots left, so if you’re interested, be sure to head over to IgniteMastermindCR.com for all the details. This is the lowest price this event will ever be. We’ve set this up as an all-inclusive event (food, lodging, airport transportation, retreat workshop, and a catamaran sunset cruise). All you need to do is get yourself there!We’ve even hired a professional photographer so you can get some gorgeous headshots in this amazing location (a luxury beachfront home).Click here to learn more about the IGNITE Costa Rica retreat.Get the SPARK in Your Inbox!Is it me, or does it feel like this summer has completely flown by?Maybe it’s because it was so cold when I moved back in February that winter felt like it was never-ending. Now that we have warm weather and longer nights, it feels like it’s going to be time for all the pumpkin spice everything.Mind you, I’ve missed fall the last couple of years in Costa Rica, and I am one of those nutty pumpkin people, so I’m looking forward to enjoying all the coziness that fall brings.Halloween decorations and candy are showing up in stores already.When I was younger, I loved seeing this (I mean as a young adult, not a child). Maybe it was because it was forced on me by being in retail for so long.By mid-August, I was already getting pumpkin-spiced candles for the house.The older I get, the faster time seems to be moving, so I’m not in a rush to have seasons come and go too quickly anymore (although I’ll probably be ready for summer by the end of January, haha).Every month of the summer feels like it’s been a little busier than I’m used to (or at least what I remember). Being back in California with family has been wonderful, but it also means my calendar is a little fuller.When I start feeling a little squeezed, I remind myself that I always get everything done.My goal is always to stay present and focused.When I keep things simple (my three things), I always complete them, do better work, and enjoy my day more. Novel idea, isn’t it?Sometimes this is harder than others, but oddly enough, I find that slowing down helps me do this. The more I try to squeeze into a day, the faster the day goes.My challenge to you as we wind down the rest of 2023 is to choose to be present.To quote Maya Angelou:If you must look back, do so forgivingly. If you must look forward, do so prayerfully. However, the wisest thing you can do is be present in the present. Gratefully.Get the SPARK in Your Inbox!Moving on.The ONE Question to Ask YourselfI heard this in a video I was watching (yes, Ben Hardy), which was posed by Gary Keller of Keller Williams Real Estate in the United States (one of the biggest real estate brokers in the US).Here’s the question:“What is the one thing, if accomplished, that makes everything else you’re trying to do either easier or unnecessary?” 🤯I knew immediately what that one thing was for me.The community I’m launching in September.I’ve talked a lot about simplifying my business recently, and the community is part of that.I know there will be times when I feel like hosting a workshop or doing a collaboration of some sort, but the foundation for my business will be:Community ==> Group Coaching ==> RetreatsThat’s it.The community is called “The SPARK Collective.I played around with a bunch of different names and ideas, but at the end of the day, this resonated most with me. I love the idea of keeping the name in line with my newsletter, and the word collective was perfect.Here are the definitions of a collective:The SPARK Collective came about because it’s TIME.This is one of those things that fits “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come” (thank you, Victor Hugo, for that quote).Once I decided to double down and focus on women, I realized something was missing in the marketing space.So I’ve decided to create it.Here’s what the SPARK Collective is all about (this is taken directly from the sales page, because why reinvent the wheel):The thriving community for forward-thinking female founders seeking collaborations that catalyze success.It’s time for women to amplify each other in amale-dominated space.– Brainstorm with a circle of fellow phenom females across industries– Receive introductions to potential partners, affiliates, or sponsors– Get matched with niche newsletters or podcasts for highly-targeted swaps– Collaborate on game-changing joint ventures and partnerships– Gain visibility through community spotlights and features– Plug into an energizing space where women lift each other up– Access workshops and training on reaching the next level– Forge friendships and community with like-minded women– Share your wins and challenges in a space built on support– And so much more – this sisterhood sparks limitless opportunities!Click the button below to get the inside scoop on this one-of-a-kind community where high-achieving women connect across industries to cultivate an energizing space for collaboration.As a founding member, you’ll help shape the SPARK Collective and be ready to hit the ground running when we launch, making connections to ignite your entrepreneurial journey.WOOHOO!Get the SPARK in Your Inbox!My plan right now is to keep this as simple as possible.I’ll be hosting one live workshop a month, and we’ll send out a weekly newsletter to members only with a recap of opportunities within the community.I have other plans for my own personal involvement, but I’m starting with the minimum viable for the launch. I’ll launch this with a paid workshop ($10) and an initial offer.You’ll hear more about this as it gets closer, but this is it.This is the ONE thing that, if accomplished, makes everything else I’m doing easier or unnecessary.How much easier do you think it will be to have ONE thing that is my primary focus for creating content and driving traffic? (Obviously, I still have my other brand, but we’re simplifying that also. I’ll save that for another podcast episode).Instead of pulling myself in different directions, I create a process, implement it, and measure what’s working.Because I’m focusing on implementing paid traffic as a consistent part of my business, I’ll be able to measure how well the initial webinar converts, get feedback on the offer and tweak things to improve.I don’t have to recreate the wheel.Instead, I focus on improving the wheel.Once it’s running like a well-oiled machine, then I implement a new machine.In this case, an evergreen model.Followed by an additional paid traffic source (YouTube).Here are some of the benefits of focusing on this ONE thing:While it’s new & growing, I don’t have to create a “new” launch all the time. I focus on improving the previous launch.I’m not starting from scratch.I’ll have a community that will tell me what they want, what was helpful, what they don’t need, etc. Asking for feedback (provided you take action on the feedback) is invaluable.Mastering new skills that I can apply across the board in my businesses. For example, the better I get at paid traffic, the more opportunities I can create for lead generation (and this is for both businesses).My energy isn’t split.Focusing and fostering the community creates better relationships (for both myself and members).What this makes easier or unnecessary:It makes my ‘everyday’ day that much easier. Fewer distractions, consistent KPIs to measure, and knowing exactly what needs attention as I head into my week.I don’t always need to “come up with” new ideas (the perpetual new product idea… guilty as charged).Where to spend my money in my business becomes more streamlined. Support (team) and paid traffic. Pretty easy, right?I can say no to a lot more. I’ve already decided I’m not doing any more summits (unless it’s a good friend), so I can say no to more ‘opportunities’ that don’t feel in alignment (this is also happening just because of where I’m at in my business and life).I heard a great quote the other day, and I apologize, but I don’t remember who said it or where I heard it (may have been on Tiffany Carter’s ProjectME Podcast). It speaks directly to how things look when we have a BIG goal (target).I’m paraphrasing here, but it was something along the lines of “the further the target is you want to hit, the further you need to pull back your bow in order to release your arrow.”I totally botched that, but you get it.Get the SPARK in Your Inbox!If you were an archer and you wanted to hit a target 100 yards away, you’d really have to have the strength to pull your bow back as far as you could, so your arrow had a lot more pressure behind it before you released it.This isn’t to say that you need to put more pressure on yourself, but sometimes you need to take a significant step back in order to move forward with the momentum you need to hit your target.I feel like I’ve spent the last year doing that.And I can honestly say that I believe that everything I’ve done over the last 15.5 years has brought me to this moment.The first Facebook group I had (The Women of Internet Marketing), the movie I did where I interviewed 15 other female entrepreneurs (think it was 15?), and all the work in between.I was interviewed on a podcast this morning and talked about the different directions I’ve taken in my business over the years. The interviewer referred to me as being ‘multi-passionate.’In some ways, this is true, but really it was more about finding what was right for me.I spent ten years as The WPChick, then pivoted to my personal brand.From there, I’ve focused on content marketing and email/newsletters.It’s not like I pivoted to selling dog toys.Everything I’ve done has been under the umbrella of digital marketing; it just took me a while to find my own niche within the space.I just had no idea that it would start with the who rather than the what (serving women).My hope for you with your own business is that you take the time to really think about this question for yourself.Some of you may have the answer come to you right away as it did for me (although, in some ways, I think it’s been the culmination of the last 15.5 years that created the clarity). For others, it’s going to be a process.And that’s OK.Give yourself some grace with this.And start with the end in mind.Be crystal clear about what you want your life to look and feel like, then work your way backward.You might surprise yourself.

The Cost You Pay isn’t necessarily in dollars…It’s much greater.But before we get into that, let’s do a little recap of the last week.In last week’s episode, I talked about ‘burning the boats’ and simplifying everything in my business. Sharing that and getting the podcast published was the fuel I needed.There is something about putting stuff out there that lights a fire in me.I love setting up some sort of accountability that keeps me on track.Whether it’s to a mentor, a friend or publicly putting it out there – it works. I used to judge myself because I always felt like it was weak to need that (this was many years ago), but now it feels like a superpower.I know what works for me, and I’m running with it.I also did something last week I’ve been putting off for far too long – I got back in front of the camera! Go me!And here’s the truth… which I’m guessing most women will be able to relate to: I was having a really good hair day and basically told myself, “Girl, your hair is on point today. You need to record a video.”Whatever it takes, right?So, I raised my desk, decided on the topic, and hit record. I posted the video to both my Facebook business page and personal page. Then I posted it to the biz page first and then to my personal page. On the personal page, I asked people to tell me where they saw it first.I got more comments on my personal page than on my business page, but it’s all a process.Subscribe to the SPARK hereHere’s the crazy thing…After having a conversation with my friend, Emma Hersh, and my experiment posting the same question on Twitter, Linkedin, and Facebook – I’ve decided I’m going to focus on Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.Emma was great and sent over some data she found, and let me tell you, Facebook is NOT dead. Gen Z may not be there, but my audience is.Then the next day, I came across a Gary V video (and I haven’t watched or listened to him in a long time), and he said the three platforms people should be focusing on are: Facebook pages, YouTube shorts, and TikTok.So that felt a little confirming.That being said, I say show up where you feel most comfortable, create what you enjoy creating, and go all in.Because I’ve made the commitment to do more video, it’s easy to repurpose what I’m doing across all three platforms.So, that being said, here’s where you can follow me on all three. And bear with me as I start reworking my profiles on these platforms:Facebook business pageYouTubeTikTokHere we go, friends.The Cost You PayI get super giddy when I come across someone new who inspires me.You’ve heard me talk almost non-stop about Dr. Benjamin Hardy and the books he’s written with Dan Sullivan. I had come across Ben Hardy last year, but for whatever reason, I wasn’t quite ready for that work.Clearly, that’s changed.Well, last week, I came across someone I had never heard of, who is killing it, and I have been bingeing her content. What I love about this woman is that she’s not in the BS guru internet marketing/creator space.I won’t go sideways ranting or throwing shade at anyone here, but I think you get my point.The people who are unrelatable, keeping themselves at arm’s length from their audience, and whose message feels tired (or is this just me?)Anyway…I’m referring to Tiffany Carter of ProjectMEwithTiffany.com.In a nutshell, she’s got two businesses. One is an 8-figure business, and one is a 7-figure business. She’s this brilliant mix of direct business strategy, spirituality, mentoring, and keeping it real.I’m putting this out there now that I fully intend to have her on the podcast.I don’t even remember which podcast episode I was listening to, but when she said, “… the cost of not doing things,” I wrote it down instantly and knew it would be the next podcast episode.Logically, we all get this.It’s not a difficult concept, but we get in our own way and create excuses as to why we don’t do the things we know will help us reach our goals.Subscribe to the SPARK hereHere are two perfect examples- one business and one personal:1. Email Marketing: if you’ve been in this space for any length of time, you’ve heard over and over again how important it is to build an email list. You may or may not have an opt-in on your site, or you have a small list but don’t really know where to start, so you don’t do anything about it.No matter what niche or market you’re in, you need an email list. I’ve said so many times that the only regret I have in my business is not focusing on email marketing sooner. And I stand by this.Question: where would you be today if you had stuck with it and put in the consistent effort… not making it a big deal, but every week you dedicated a few hours to email marketing?2. Health: even though I’d consider myself a pretty healthy person, it’s been a long time since I’ve been happy with my weight.Who am I kidding… as a woman raised in Western culture, have I ever been happy with it?When my kids were little, I had a great routine of taking them to school and then going straight to the gym. I also got into juicing years ago (maybe ten years ago) – and love it (even though it’s kind of a pain in the ass, I know the amount of nutrition I consume is really good for me). I’ve always drank a ton of water, don’t over-indulge in alcohol, etc.The last 6+ years were challenging, to say the least. I had a lot of issues with my son during high school, and the first couple of years after high school, I lost my Mom in 2019, then the pandemic hit, etc. We all have those ‘seasons’ in life where things feel extra hard. I would definitely say I’ve been an emotional eater and used food for comfort.I don’t judge myself for any of that behavior; I truly felt like I was in survival mode.However, now that I’m settled in California (for now), I’ve made my health a priority again. I’m releasing weight, moving more, and trusting the process. Is it as fast as I want? Not really, but the time is passing whether I do it or not. And by the end of the year, I’ll have reached a significant goal I’ve set for myself with my health.Question: Where could you be by the end of the year if you made a few simple changes in your lifestyle that support your health goals?The cost you pay by not taking action isn’t just that you don’t hit your goals.You’re betraying yourself.As someone who has done a lot of personal work, I can tell you that nothing feels as bad as self-betrayal.When I realize that I put someone else’s needs or comfort before my own, it stings.Deeply.And here’s the thing…When you truly commit to who you want to be, what you want to create, and how you want to live your life?The people that matter respond accordingly.This is where you can pull in the “What If” game and completely reframe how you think.If you haven’t heard me talk about the “What If” game, here’s a quick story and explanation.Years ago, in a session with my therapist (this was right after my husband passed away from a car accident), I had said something like, “What if we hadn’t” – and I don’t remember exactly what it was I said, but it was basically implying that had we done something differently, maybe he’d still be here (nothing like kicking yourself when you’re down, eh?).Her reply was so powerful.She told me that if I was going to play the “What If” game in this scenario, then I needed to play it on both sides. Meaning, “What if he had survived the accident but was paralyzed from the neck down?” Or had a brain injury…Ouch.That made me think of “what if” from an entirely different perspective.So I put a different spin on it.Now I only play the “what if’ game in a way that serves me.Example:What if this could be fun?What if it were easy?What if my audience is waiting to hear this from me?What if I listened to myself first?What if this is what I’m really supposed to be doing?You get the point.So the real cost you pay isn’t in dollars.It’s letting yourself down.I remember listening to Dr. Wayne Dyer once, and he was telling the story of why he carried the book, The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy with him. He read it when he was in the Navy as a young man.I’ve never read the book, but he shared that on his deathbed, Ivan Ilyich looked up at his wife and says, “What if my life has been wrong?”Ouch.That weighed so heavily on me that I knew at that moment that I had to live my life on my terms.Sometimes the real cost is intangible.It’s not always easy to quantify, nor does it jump out at us.This is why taking the time to reflect, plan, and be still makes all the difference in the world.When we get caught up in being busy and checking things off a to-do list, we miss being present, and we live life on autopilot. Unaware that our one precious life is passing us by.Subscribe to the SPARK hereYou’re Invited to Costa RicaThis has been a LONG time in the making… my first-ever Women’s Business Retreat!Introducing IGNITE Women’s Business RetreatUnleash Your Inner Spark & Discover Your Next ChapterI have wanted to do an in-person workshop/retreat for as long as I can remember.I’ve attended my fair share of live events and masterminds. The live events have been all different sizes, but most have been “big” events. Most of the big events are selling a program at the end, but I go for the content and connections.Right now, those aren’t super appealing to me.The mastermind events I’ve attended have been predominantly male and not really my vibe. I’m glad I went – I’ve had some incredible experiences, but that’s also not really my cup of tea.So I’m hosting my own!Actually, I’m co-hosting with my dear friend and amazing branding expert, Liz Weaver.This whole thing came about in a pretty divine manner.I had been wanting to go back to Costa Rica in the fall to visit friends and was planning a trip with another friend, but she ended up backing out. We could have done something else, but I really wanted to go back to Costa Rica (a special piece of my heart is there), which is why I had mentioned it to her in the first place.We had reserved the last two weeks in October at my mentor’s house (an incredible house on the beach), and because she rents it out regularly now, I knew I needed to either let her know we weren’t going to rent it OR…I could host a retreat.I called her and asked if she could give me a week, and she said she could give me two.Within 24 hours, I had two people say yes, sent out some more invitations, and voila!There’s only space for ten people, and five of those spots are gone.We’ve really made this a no-brainer deal. Our goal with this first event is simply to cover our costs.It’s a four-day retreat that includes:Your stay at the houseTransportation to & from the airportAll your food2.5 day workshop & a deep dive into your business (everyone gets to be in the hot seat)Professional photographer! We want pictures of the event, so we’re also going to make sure you get some personal photos you can use in your own business & brandingSunset catamaran cruise (this is my absolute favorite activity in Costa Rica – you can’t beat the sunsets!)We have it set up now with a deposit and balance due by September 13th, but we can work out another payment plan if necessary.The workshop itself is based on a brand-new proprietary SPARK framework I’ve created. It combines mindset, lifestyle, and business, helping you define and achieve income goals, create an additional recurring revenue stream, and increase your quality of life.Each attendee will have some “pre-event” homework to do, which you’ll submit to us so we can do a review and prepare for your “hot-seat”… err, “SPARK seat” haha…Anyway, I expect these to go fast once we start “officially” marketing the event. This is the lowest price it will ever be, so if you want to join us, now’s the time.You can also email me directly if you have any specific questions (kim@kimdoyal.com).Register for IGNITE Mastermind – Costa Rica hereLastly, I’ll be hosting a two-part workshop with my brilliant friend, Jason Resnick, called “Conversion Countdown: Craft Offers that Crush Black Friday Cyber Monday.This is a LIVE paid workshop.We’re going to help you craft an offer for Black Friday Cyber Monday weekend in a way that not only serves your audience but that you feel good about.In other words, we’re not going to tell you to offer deep discounts and sell your soul with sleazy marketing.You’ll do this in a way that makes this what Alex Hormozi calls “an offer so good they feel stupid saying no to.”And you’ll know you’re providing something of incredible value to the right people at the right time.We’re splitting it into two parts, so after the first week, you’ll know how to craft your offer, and in the second week, you’ll learn how to create the emails and automations to make this as hands-off as possible.We want you to go and take action between the two workshops so you can walk away with the structure completely set up.Stay tuned for that announcement soon!And on that note…Have a wonderful day.

Well, it might seem like my best-laid plans for the podcast have gone sideways, but I assure you it’s anything but.I won’t go into much detail about life with this episode, but the last couple of months have been super busy with family stuff, and I’ve been quietly working behind the scenes and, for lack of a better description, have been “burning the boats.”This episode is for anyone who has or has had that niggly feeling in their gut for far too long about making a change in their business. It could be niching down, a pivot to something entirely different, focusing on a different audience, or adding something brand new.Whatever it is, my goal with this episode is to both inspire you and give you a few things you can do to get the ball rolling.One thing to remember: this is going to look completely different for each individual. Don’t compare your pivot to anyone else’s.On one hand, the burning of the boats feels like it’s been years in the making. On the other hand, I made this decision fairly quickly because of the level of focus and structure I’ve implemented.Burning the BoatsThe first time I burned the boats in my business was when I pivoted from “The WPChick” to my personal brand. This was back in 2018, and I knew it was time.In fact, it was probably time a few years prior, but I didn’t have the clarity or the courage until 2018.During the last few years as The WPChick, I felt very limited.I didn’t want to:Create any more how-to WordPress tutorialsDo anymore client work, no more websitesContinue creating content about plugins or themesI changed my tagline on my site to “A Place Where WordPress and Marketing Collide,”… which I loved, but at the time, the WordPress space was so anti-marketing (God forbid you made a living in that space outside of service work), and I didn’t feel like dealing with the trolls (I had my fair share in that space).What I loved doing was creating content and marketing.The more I learned about marketing, the more I enjoyed it.In many ways, I held myself back when I was The WPChick. Because there was such a self-righteous anti-marketing stance, I avoided trying things or going deeper with marketing strategies. I’d do the surface work and get some results, but not the results I truly wanted.I tried to please everyone but myself.If I could go back and tell myself anything, it would be to only pay attention to people who were already where I wanted to be.Here’s another way to look at his:Never take advice from someone you wouldn’t trade places with.– Darren HardyI’ve spent far too much of my life worrying about what other people think.This might come as a surprise to people who don’t know me very well or to those who I haven’t allowed myself to be vulnerable with, but I’m over it.This is probably one of my favorite things about getting older… as you start to realize that your time on this earth is actually finite and you may have less in front of you than behind you, you realize it’s time to stop playing small.Or, as Brené Brown shares in her article, ” The Midlife Unraveling,”…I’m not screwing around. All of this pretending and performing—these coping mechanisms that you’ve developed to protect yourself from feeling inadequate and getting hurt—has to go. Your armor is preventing you from growing into your gifts. I understand that you needed these protections when you were small. I understand that you believed your armor could help you secure all of the things you needed to feel worthy and lovable, but you’re still searching, and you’re more lost than ever. Time is growing short. There are unexplored adventures ahead of you. You can’t live the rest of your life worried about what other people think. You were born worthy of love and belonging. Courage and daring are coursing through your veins. You were made to live and love with your whole heart. It’s time to show up and be seen.– Brené BrownThe CatalystThe catalyst to all of this was a letter I wrote to myself from my future self.In May of this year, I took a road trip to Lincoln City on the coast of Oregon to meet up with two dear friends. Friends I connected with online and was finally meeting in person!I chose to drive from California because I thoroughly enjoy quiet time in the car to listen to podcasts and books or just be quiet with my thoughts.The drive was between 10-11 hours, so it was easy to get an entire book in on the drive home. The book I listened to that inspired the letter from my future self is “Be Your Future Self NOW” by Dr. Benjamin Hardy.I dated the letter December 31st, 2023, which was seven months in the future.I’m not going to share or read the full letter, but it starts with “GIRL! What an amazing year! I’m writing to you on the morning of New Year’s Eve, 2023. I’m enjoying a quiet morning with my coffee, overlooking the ocean, reflecting on all this year has brought us!”Taking the time to put down on paper what I wanted to achieve from the place of already having achieved it lit something up inside of me. 🔥I then went down a rabbit hole with the books co-authored by Dr. Benjamin Hardy & Dan Sullivan and have implemented a handful of things that deeply resonate with me (I highly recommend 10X is Easier Than 2X, as well as the supporting series of videos on YouTube).I’ve gone up and down with goal setting and intentions.In my early 20s, I discovered Tony Robbins and his Personal Power Tapes (don’t judge) and proceeded to consume everything I could find as it related to motivation and business (Nightingale Conant anyone?).I listened to them all.Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, Dennis Waitly, Mark Victor Hansen, Jack Canfield… you get the point.Side note: notice how they’re all men?I’ll leave that alone for a minute, but I’ll get back to it.I don’t remember when it was exactly, but in my late 20’s, I found Dr. Wayne Dyer, and it felt like coming home.He had such a beautiful way of bringing spirituality, personality, ego, humor, and real-life examples into his work I felt like he was speaking directly to me.I actually saw him live in San Francisco every chance I could (I have a few books signed by him and even got a hug from him a year after my husband passed away. I told him his work got me through one of the hardest years of my life).Wayne Dyer’s work felt like one big permission slip to me where I could ease off the gas pedal a bit and get to where I wanted to go in a gentler manner.As someone who thrived on being productive and felt much of my value was associated to how much I accomplished, this wasn’t an easy transition.Fast forward to starting my business in 2008, and without realizing it I was back to listening to men tell me how things should be done (Internet marketers).I was so excited about the possibilities of having an online business and being able to be around for my kids that I wasn’t even aware that I was on autopilot. Again.I found myself creating and setting goals in a way that was portrayed as the “only way to achieve X.”This is completely asinine when you think about it…as though people never achieved anything before we had productivity gurus and systems to follow.FFS.Back to 10x Is Easier Than 2X, and my up and down goal setting.We’re all familiar with the 80/20 principle, or the Pareto Principle, which states that “80% of outcomes (or outputs) result from 20% of all causes (or inputs) for any given event.”The example I love from Ben Hardy is that he set the goal to get a 6-figure book deal. He researched what he needed to do in order to make that happen (100k-person email list for one!) so he became a prolific blogger on Medium and wrote for three years straight.Once he got his book deal, he stopped blogging because he knew that in order to reach his next goal, he needed to change what he was doing.What I love about this example is it challenges everything we’ve been told about growing an online business.We think that the things we do well and have been consistent with are the things we need to do forever (or is this only me?).Kind of like the 10,000-hour rule (which, by the way, isn’t based on any sort of data or facts) that says you have to do something for 10k hours to get good.Obviously, if you do something for 10k hours, you’re probably going to get pretty good at it, but what if it takes you less than 10k hours?!Setting a BIG goal for myselfWith the 10X book, which is this incredible marrying of psychology, spirituality, and neuroscience (i.e., it’s not just another high-achieving dude telling you to hustle), I realized I’ve been playing small.And, as the Universe said to Brené Brown in the above quote, “Your armor is keeping you from growing into your gifts.”So I set a big goal for myself to achieve in 3 years’ time (also not sharing because this is sacred to me. I’ll share it when I achieve it).Once I set that big goal (I’ve shared this with a few trusted people), it was like all the extraneous distractions became glaringly obvious, and I knew it was time to let them go.And it was easy.The beauty of this big goal is that I don’t need to know how to make it happen today. I just need to know how to behave in order to become my future self who has already achieved this goal.Since I’ve gone down this path, I’ve created a few rituals for myself that I’ve been consistent with (daily) and am staying the course.There is a fierce level of focus in me that I don’t think I’ve felt before.And I love it.What This Means for My BusinessI am simplifying the hell out of everything.First and foremost, I’m ready to claim that those I want to serve are women.I’ve been afraid to state this out loud because I’ve had a pretty even split of men & women on my email list (more so when I was in the WordPress space), and I was afraid of offending anyone.Ridiculous.When I look at who actually buys from me?Women.I’ve not done the math on everything, but when I run live workshops or cohorts, this is an accurate representation of my customers.SO… here we go.I’ve been working on a lot “behind the scenes” and will share more when it’s ready for a public debut, but my plan is simple:A communityGroup CoachingIn-person retreatsWhich by the way, if you haven’t heard, I’m hosting my first-ever Women’s Business Retreat this October in Costa Rica! 🎉 You can learn more about that at IgniteMastermindCR.com. As of the time of this podcast (late July), we only have 5 out of 10 spots left!That’s all I’m ready to share here now, but all will be revealed and launched in late August.I am very clear on the things I love doing and am focusing on those things only.This all stemmed from making a commitment to myself to create the extraordinary life I want to create and live.In terms of my content…I’ll continue talking about marketing (with an emphasis on email marketing and newsletters) as well as mindset and probably a little spirituality.I’ve incorporated some of that into my content in the past, but it’s going to be less subtle. 😉I’m also going to be doing as much as I can to highlight, share and support women in this space.This doesn’t mean I’ll only talk about women, but I feel a deep pull and, quite honestly, a responsibility to do what I can to raise the awareness of women in this space.I’ve been incredibly fortunate to connect with many amazing men in this space, and I will always share anything that is of value to my audience, regardless of gender…But it’s time.

Women Over 40, it’s your turn.Recently I was at my niece’s high school graduation party.A handful of my sister’s dearest friends came to celebrate my niece as well, and it was wonderful to see all these women. All were friends she’s known since childhood, so I’ve also known them all for 35+ years.In a conversation with one of her friends, we started talking about my sister’s birthday this year (she’ll be 50, and I’m just about to turn 53 as I write this). As we were talking about this, her friend (who is 48) was saying that she’s “not looking forward to turning 50 at all.”My response was so immediate and natural that I didn’t think about it before I said it.“I absolutely love being over 50! I am so happy with who I am at this stage in my life. It just gets better.”She looked at me, a little surprised, and said, “Really?”It wasn’t coming from a place of judgment at all… it was genuine curiosity.Anyone over 40 can probably think back to when you were in your 20s, and 40 seemed so far away. And old. 😅Ha!There’s a lot of truth to the body aging and things changing, but we have access to so much more information and understanding… I truly believe that you can be in better shape in your 50s than you were in your 30s if you want it.It’s all up to you.The magic starts happening when you realize this is your life, and you get to choose what it looks like.I started my business back in 2008 at the ripe old age of 38.Which, at the time, didn’t feel old unless I was looking around at all the 20-something bros who were “killing it” (more on that in a minute).I started my business for a few reasons:I was widowed in 2003 with two small children (6 & 2). I wanted to be home for them.I have always felt in the deepest part of my being that I was meant to do something different with my life (entrepreneurial, not a job).I wanted more freedom.The years between 2003 and 2008 were some of the most challenging years of my life (up to that point, because let’s face it, none of us get out of this life without heartache and challenge. I’ve had more since then, but we learn to hold it differently as we age).Fortunately, I found an amazing therapist who has since become more of a mentor, and I still speak with her/see her today. She’s also an incredible model for creating whatever you want in your life. I have nothing but massive appreciation, gratitude, and deep love for her.She also challenges me.Which is what I’m hoping I can do for you.There have been three distinct “spaces” I’ve been in since I started my online journey. I’m calling these spaces because they’re way too broad to be a niche.WordPressInternet MarketingCreator EconomyThe common thread among all three is that they’re all dominated by men.WordPressFor the first ten years online, I was “The WordPress Chick.I discovered WordPress, grabbed the domain name (which, btw, someone wants to buy… hmm..), and went about sharing what I was doing with WordPress.I wasn’t a developer or a coder, but I was figuring out how to use it and thought I’d share what I was doing.This was truly a case of ignorance was bliss.Until I started getting some skadouchey people trolling me (one guy, in particular, was a complete dick, but I don’t even remember his name, so what does that tell you), then I started doubting myself.When I started podcasting in 2013, things changed.I was tired of being “behind the computer” and creating “how-to” videos for WordPress.Podcasting was a game-changer for me because of the relationships that grew from the interviews.Internet MarketingI don’t think I need to go too deep into this space… it’s been all about bro culture from day one. Nuff said.The Creator EconomyI wish I could say this space was different, but it’s still heavily dominated by men, even though there are amazing women doing incredible things.Is all of this because women don’t promote themselves as heavily as men do?Partially.But it’s a lot deeper than that.Women don’t want to promote themselves the same way men do.I get that these are generalizations, but after 15+ years of doing this, you start to see patterns.It’s high time women start changing the narrative.Last week I was having a conversation with a friend over Voxer.She was telling me that she had picked up a new project management tool during AppSumo days and wasn’t sure she was going to keep it because it lacked a few features.My response to her was, “You know what my problem is with project management tools? I hate using them all. I don’t want to do that work, and it’s not where I shine.”After she stopped laughing, she said she loved my response.The crazy thing is that everything in me fights that truth because there are so many men out there telling me that I have to have productivity systems, create a second brain, and master these tools (obviously, they’re not, but that’s what I hear).There are so many systems and tools available that do the same thing… but does it matter if I don’t want to be the one using any of them?This has been a huge realization for me recently.Hear my heart... I’m not saying you don’t need structure in your business. You do. But when it starts feeling like a part-time job to manage your tools and systems, something is off.This is why I’m hiring someone to manage this for me.So… back to the productivity bros.The responsibility lies solely on me to unsubscribe, stop reading, and unfollow these guys. I have zero FOMO about joining their cohorts or following their systems.And NONE of this is about them.At 53, I’m trusting ME.Women Over 40 Stepping Into Their PowerI don’t know if I can find the words to clearly express how juicy this part of life starts to feel.And for any woman under 40, I highly recommend you hang out and spend time with older women. Soak up the knowledge, the experience, and trust in the wisdom they share with you.Before I left Costa Rica earlier this year (having lived there for almost two years, and yes, I’m going back. My goal is to go back & forth between Costa Rica and California) – I was able to spend some time with my therapist and her friends.All of them are about 20 years older than me.I don’t know if it was after that experience or not, but I told her how wonderful it was to see women in that phase of life living such full, rich lives.It wasn’t as much about living in a foreign country as it was about women consciously choosing what they wanted.It’s incredible to observe.It excites me about this chapter of my life.My therapist once shared a paraphrased idea from the anthropologist Angeles Arrien. When I first heard it, I was younger and didn’t fully grasp its meaning. This was back when I was 32 and began therapy after losing my husband.She said, “Women’s natural pace is medium to slow.”In my 30s, I thrived on being as productive as I possibly could. In fact, for most of my life, I received praise for how much I accomplished.Now I work differently.With intention and ease.The best part? I still get plenty done, and I enjoy the process more.It’s All About Claiming It and Owning ItI want to see more women claiming their skills, expertise, and what they want. Own how far you’ve come and what you want to accomplish, regardless of how old you are or what stage of business you’re in.I’ve been listening to the book “10X is Easier Than 2x” by Dr. Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan (highly recommend). What I love most about this book is that it’s a reminder that in order to reach our 10X goals, we need to get rid of lesser goals.At 71, Dan Sullivan (who is now 75) decided he wanted to write 100 books in the next 25 years. He’s already written 33. 🤯I want to see more women claiming they want to 10X their goals.IF… that’s what they want.My guess is that most entrepreneurial women do want 10X goals; we just don’t say so.Here’s a little food for thought on 10X :There is NOTHING wrong with wanting material things. I’m so over the self-righteous attitude that wanting less makes you a better person.On the flip side, having gotten rid of so much and learned to live with less in Costa Rica, it’s also freeing to realize how little we need to be happy. I’m at a stage where it’s all about quality, not quantity.Wanting to earn a high income does NOT make you shallow. We live on a planet that operates with money as its currency.Women who earn more tend to help more (not that we have to, but helping and supporting tend to be innate qualities in women).Having more money allows you to buy back your time. For most people (women and men), the older we get, the more we realize our time is what is most precious.Retirement is going to look very different for my generation and younger generations. Personally, I want to work as long as I love what I do, but having money in the bank for that stage of my life is peace of mind.Here’s an incredible quote from Susan B. Anthony from 1853:“It matters not how overflowing with benevolence towards suffering humanity may be the heart of women, it avails nothing so long as she possesses not power to act in accordance with those promptings,” she realized. “Woman must have a purse of her own.”Susan B. Anthony, 1853My challenge to you when it comes to what you want is to take the time to go deeper.Get quiet, take some deep breaths, and allow yourself permission to want what you want.Anytime you find yourself judging what you want, ask yourself if that’s really your judgment or someone else’s.The Importance of Deeper Work, Connection, and Rich ExperiencesThe last “big event” I went to was Funnel Hacking Live in 2018.And as of now, I have zero intentions of going to an event that big again. I had debated on going to the High Level event in October, but I decided to go to Costa Rica for a couple of weeks instead (#nobrainer).I think FHL in 2018 was about 3000 people, and it’s since grown to 5000 attendees.That’s just way too many people for this girl.It’s also not the energy I’m craving at this stage in my life.My idea of an “event” is one I’ll be hosting myself (the plan is the first quarter of 2024) in Costa Rica, with a small group of women where we mastermind, connect, and support one another—a combination of learning, experiences, deeper connection, and relaxation (and massages available for anyone who wants one).One of my dearest friends, who grew up across the street from me, came to visit me in Costa Rica three times in one year. Once was with other friends (and we rented my therapist’s house, which, btw, you can rent here), and the other two times, we were at my place.Her trips there were a mix of relaxation, a few experiences, and lots of hanging out together.This is what I crave now.When I think about Deeper Work (hat tip to Cal Newport & his book, Deep Work), it all comes down to one thing:Being present at the moment and enjoying what I’m doing.This post is a perfect example.It’s a Saturday morning, I’ve just finished up my coffee, the sun is out, the windows are open, and I’m not thinking about what else I could or should be doing.The Value of Creating Rich Experiences in BusinessLast week I witnessed a public lashing from one young bro creator about another.Bro 1 was claiming that Bro 2 was stealing all his stuff and using it to sell his own course. Never mind the fact that Bro 2 has been publicly writing and publishing for the last few years.The funny thing was that Bro 1 was so high on himself (he’s grown an incredible business and definitely knows what he’s doing) that he started claiming basic writing principles as his own (for example: Be clear, not clever).Bro 2 handled it like a class act, and I think this public lashing backfired on Bro 1 a bit.Creating rich experiences in business (and life) allow you to see things from a much broader perspective.Something Bro 1 wasn’t able to do because he’s either drank too much of his own Kool-Aid or hasn’t had enough life experience to think through this with a more objective perspective.Had he paused a hot minute to process before responding, er, reacting, that could have gone completely differently.Unfortunately, this is also part of how we learn. I’ve had my own fair share of “oops, I could have handled that better” moments. This is what’s so fantastic about getting older.We become more deliberate and conscious about how we do things (ideally, anyway).It’s imperative that we get out of our own worlds once in a while.I both love being at home and love new experiences – it’s a bit of a dichotomy. Every now and then, though, I push myself outside of my comfort zone for a new experience because that’s when my mind is opened.That’s when I learn.That’s what inspires me and brings a whole new dimension to what I’m creating.Craving More In Business – It’s Up to UsAs I wind down this post, I do want to point out that there are so many amazing women entrepreneurs who have created exactly what they want in their lives and businesses.Find those women and model what they’ve done.Tweak it, adjust it, and pull out the pieces that resonate with you.Then bring all of your “you-ness” to whatever you’re doing and go ALL IN.Maybe some of you reading this are hitting that point in your life where you can say, “Yep, it’s MY turn.”OWN that.I know exactly where I’m going and what I want to create in my business and life. I’m craving more, so I’m going to create it.New relationships, experiences, offers… all of it.My hope for you in reading this is that you feel that spark light up within that says, “Yes. I’m ready to create what I want,” and you go for it with every ounce of your being.

Well, I’ve officially been back in California for four months.Let me just say it’s been an adventure.I won’t bore you with all the details, but here’s a little gist of how the first few months went:I returned to some crazy cold weather and snow like we hadn’t seen here before. I officially don’t like the cold anymore and was pretty miserable (I know, #firstworldproblems).I got sick a couple of weeks in, and with the weather, that seemed to stick around for a few weeks.I was still healing from my back surgery last OctoberI had to adjust to living with someone else… who is pretty chatty. Once my Dad got it in his head that I was working and not to come in and chat with me throughout the day, things seemed to flowA few weeks ago, I ended up with Shingles… my first time getting them, and fortunately, it wasn’t a bad case. The pain is still there but lessening every day.Those are just the niggly things that came up all while trying to adjust to life back in the States.I’ve had a few a-ha moments as well, which is what I’d like to focus on with this episode as I share the future of the podcast (I never intended to take four months off!), what’s been born out of this unplanned little sabbatical of mine, and why I’m incredibly excited about the rest of this year.My original thought in moving back to the States was that since I was moving back, I might as well stay in Northern California, where all my family & many of my friends are. Then I wasn’t so sure.I’m staying at my Dad’s right now (he’s got a pretty big house and has loved the company since my Mom passed away) and had thought I’d be here 3-4 months tops. My Dad is about an hour southeast of Lake Tahoe and about an hour from Sacramento, in a cute little remote town. It kind of feels like Tahoe up here, and he has an acre of property with plenty of pine trees.While it’s beautiful, one of the things I was looking forward to in coming back was the conveniences, which isn’t necessarily the case being this far out. Mind you; everything is much more convenient than it was in Costa Rica.Then I went to Costco on a busy Saturday afternoon with my Dad and realized that, holy hell…this was not for me either.Don’t get me wrong, I love Costco, but having worked for myself for the last 15 years, I haven’t really needed to go on a weekend in a long time, and I always wear AirPods and listen to something while I shop.I was so overstimulated by the time we left (and then went to a huge nursery, which was also incredibly busy) that I could have skipped dinner and just gone home.It was definitely a case of “been there, done that’ – meaning suburbia and the big box retailers. I have zero judgment about it for anyone else, but I’ve realized it’s not for me.I keep joking that “Costa Rica broke me.” 🤣What’s more accurate is that I think it helped me find a more natural rhythm for myself.I miss the ease, the energy, and the way of life.I’m planning a trip back in October, and my new goal is to be able to go back and forth between California and Costa Rica. I don’t know what that looks like yet, but that’s the plan.I’m also at an age where my health is a huge priority – and the truth is I physically felt better in Costa Rica. However, I do appreciate having healthcare in the States again. Even though it’s cheaper in Costa Rica, there’s something to be said for what we have here (and for the sake of all our sanity, we won’t talk about the cost of healthcare here).This is why I think going back and forth would be ideal.Who knows, maybe I’ll just put a tiny house on my Dad’s property.For now, though, I’m content where I’m at.Plus, the thought of moving again makes me cringe. The nice thing about being here and figuring things out is that my Dad loves the dogs, and they can stay here with him when I travel (they’re never getting on a plane again, I think that was too traumatizing for all of us).It’s been nice to be here for the family, and my Dad’s health is much better (that was a big part of why I came back). I’ve been able to see everyone and be there for special moments (my niece’s prom and high school graduation), and I am looking forward to seeing more friends this summer.All with the ultimate goal to go back and forth, ideally following the warmer weather (it’s been lovely having the longer sunlight at night – it gets dark in Costa Rica by about 6 pm every night, all year long).Now that you’re caught up, let’s jump into the business and where things are heading.My FocusI’ve been working on a site revamp with the amazing KadenceWP, which I love (theme and block builder for WP using only Gutenberg, this thing is FIRE 🔥), and while doing that decided I wanted to revamp the copy and messaging on my website as well.My four areas of focus are:EmailNewslettersAI & MarketingCoachingI’ve been talking about email marketing for a while now, newsletters for the last couple of years, and yes, I’ve completely gone down the rabbit hole with AI & ChatGPT.Love it or hate it (AI), it’s here to stay.With this revamp of my website and messaging, I decided to use ChatGPT to help me craft the copy and dial in my offers. Because of this, I figured I might as well do this as a “build in public” and share the journey. I started a new newsletter called “The AI Marketing Chronicles,” where I’m sharing how I’m crafting this.I share the purpose behind that week’s lesson as well as the entire ChatGPT conversation thread so you can see how everything progressed. This has kept me motivated to keep the project moving and continue with my own AI and ChatGPT education (which can be hard because it’s all moving so fast).The AI haters seem to be getting quieter (or I’m just curating my feed better). The thing I think a lot of people are missing is that you don’t have to pivot your entire business or business model to use AI in a way that serves you (I recently spent two days writing a 4500-word blog post with ChatGPT).Even with writing a newsletter and including AI tools and resources in “the SPARK,” – I can’t keep up with it. I pretty much stick with ChatGPT right now because it does everything I need. My goal isn’t to become an AI or ChatGPT expert; it’s to use these tools in a way that supports what I’m doing.That being said, I’ve done a bunch of 1:1 ChatGPT coaching sessions (Chat Powered Strategy Sessions), have a workshop called “Conversations with ChatGPT: A Beginner’s Guide to AI Success,” and am about to launch a course teaching people how to create and launch a course in 30 days with ChatGPT.Email & NewslettersI’m getting back to more frequent emailing, and I’m having a ball.Between my personal brand and Create It (the content planner), there are three newsletters that get sent out every week. Tues, Wed., and Thursday.I know there are overlaps with people being on all three lists, and there may be days when people get more than one email from me, but I’m trying to avoid that.I was using Klaviyo for Create It, but with a little shift in plans for that brand, I don’t think we need something that is as tailored to e-commerce, so I canceled that and am moving that list to ConvertKit. We have our newsletter on beehiiv (which I LOVE).I figure it’s better to use what I’m familiar with and will actually use than spend time trying to get Klaviyo where it needs to be.The biggest priority now for both email and newsletters is to make sure we have a consistent process in place (and when I say “we,” I mean me & my tiny effective team).The other piece of this is making sure we have the right distribution and promotion schedule in place for all three newsletters.That’s a lot of content that can and should be driving traffic to both brands.I’ve also started focusing more on newsletter growth (novel idea, I know) with ConvertKit’s Creator Network and doing some newsletter swaps. So far, so good.I’ll share some numbers when I have more data (probably after three months or so).It’s also been a few months since changing the name of my newsletter from #FtheHUSTLE to the SPARK – and it’s been fantastic. That was such an organic process (the name change), and it’s led to so much more. It all stemmed from asking my subscribers a question.Never underestimate the power of asking questions, surveying your audience, and getting feedback.Podcast & Content MarketingAs much as I’ve missed doing the podcast, I was also feeling a little burnt out.I knew I needed some sort of pivot or change to the podcast, but I wasn’t sure what that looked like.Now that I’m finally feeling settled, the weather has gotten warmer, and I’m physically feeling better (my back is SO much better, not to mention I’ve had my fair share of regular medical checkups, and all is well) – I feel a renewed sense of excitement and clarity in my business.I’ve said this before, and I’ll continue saying it as long as I’m alive…Clarity in business (and life) comes through the doing.Clarity in business (and life) comes through the doing.Click to TweetCan we get clearer on what we want by thinking? Sure, but it’s hard to define that without actually putting some skin in the game and taking action.Because the first few months back in the States were more challenging than I had expected, I knew my only priority was taking care of myself.Which I did (and am doing).With this new sense of enthusiasm, I’m 100% ready to breathe some new life into the podcast.I’m going to continue with the same format (solo shows and interviews) but will be bringing on some new voices. I’ve connected with a lot of new people this past year and would like to use my platform to help them get their message out.I’ll also include some shorter episodes (both the solo show and interviews are between 45 – an hour) that focus on one specific idea, concept, or strategy. I haven’t come up with a name for those shorter episodes, but they’ll definitely be named something unique.I’m also testing a couple of new AI tools for podcasting (primarily for show format, time stamps, and social content), so I’ll share an update once I’ve spent some more time with those. I don’t know how much I’ll use them for the solo shows since I write these full episodes out first (who knows where this conversation would go otherwise), but they’ve got some amazing features for interviews.I’m also planning to publish the video episodes on YouTube.But more on that later.I have a couple of interviews I recorded before I left Costa Rica, so I plan on getting those out first. I’m also going to run a giveaway to celebrate the relaunch of the podcast. The goal is to get that launched in July and run it for at least a month.Business in GeneralThe past nine months have been a lot.It was last August when I was diagnosed with a herniated disc. A month later, I had surgery in a foreign country, no less ( I have no doubt the surgery was done great, but the hospital felt a bit like it was stuck in the 1950s), and then there was the move back.My income has definitely taken a hit, but that’s life.I’ve been in this space long enough to know that we all have ups and downs, AND… you can also turn things around very quickly.When you have a brand, an audience, and an email list, it doesn’t take much to get back on track (yes, that’s my not-so-subtle hint to make email marketing a priority).I have some pretty ambitious goals that I’d like to attain by the end of 2023.I know that with focus (which I have) and consistent action, these goals are achievable. Plus, I’ve thrown in a couple of exciting personal goals that have me more excited than I’ve been in years.This is exactly what goals should do…If you’re not excited about your goals, they might be too small.Speaking of ambitious goals…I want to recommend a book I recently listened to that lit something up within me – and was the catapult to this excitement, energy, and action.“Be Your Future Self NOW” by Dr. Benjamn Hardy.The funny thing about this book is that I got it last year and started listening to it on and off when I was in Costa Rica.I don’t remember why I didn’t finish it (I spent way less time in the car there, which is where I tend to listen most to audiobooks), but I picked it up again on a recent road trip back from Lincoln City, Oregon (it was about a 10-hour drive, so fortunately, I was able to listen to the entire book in one day.One of the exercises he has you do (which you should totally do) is writing a letter from your future self.About a week after I got home, I sat down and wrote this letter to myself, dated Dec. 31st, 2023.The letter started off with, “GIRL! You are not going to believe what we have achieved this year!”That should give you an idea of the tone of the letter.I hand-wrote the letter in a journal, and it just poured out of me (I typed it up later and am going to record it in my own voice so I can listen to it in the morning and at night).And like anything else, one thing led to another, and now I’m listening to the book he co-wrote with Dan Sullivan (this is their 3rd book together), titled “10X is Easier Than 2X.”Which isn’t about hustling and doing more. It’s doing more of the right thing and less of the same thing.Pretty powerful stuff.There’s a lot more I want to share with you that I’m working on behind-the-scenes, but it will have to wait until next time.If you’ve been a long-time listener and are still here, thank you if you’re new to the podcast, Welcome.

Kim Doyal 0:01 Welcome to F the hustle. I'm your host, Kim Doyal. You want a life that is meaningful and exciting. In this podcast, we're going to talk about launching and growing an online business that fits your lifestyle. After the hustle is all about doing good work, building real relationships, and most importantly, creating a business that supports where you want to live your life. You don't have to sacrifice the quality of your life today to create something that sets your soul on fire. And yes, that includes making a lot of money. So we'll be talking about selling, charging, what you're worth, and help earning more means helping more people. My goal is to help you find freedom and create a business on your turn. Hey, what up what up? I am super excited today. My guest needs no introduction, but I will introduce him. We're not going to do the typical rewind of tell us about your backstory, because he's been on the show a few times. My guess is my good friend Jason Resnick. Jason, thanks for being here today.Jason Resnick 0:58 Yeah, thanks for having me, Kim. Um, I can talk nerdy about email all day long. So I'm happy to be here.Kim Doyal 1:06 Yeah, and I always feel a little guilty when I'm like picking your brain on our other calls. I'm like, like, I should be paying for this. But I'm grateful for everything. So I have to explain to the listeners, viewers, why I asked you to do this, because it was kind of funny how this whole thing started. So for those of you who are not familiar, Jason and I ran an experiment last year, we have, we had a newsletter called Get deliberate, where every single issue of the newsletter was an experiment on growing your email list and adding subscribers and we did it from scratch with that brand. And so we kind of hit a point where it was like, I don't know, have we covered a lot, I think 40 Something issues of that. And so we put it on pause the contents amazing, we're going to repurpose that repackage it somehow at some point this year, but this is what happened. So we have we Jason and I both use ConvertKit. And by the way, Jason has nurture kit.com where he's, he is a ConvertKit, expert, duck, duck nurture. kit.co Sorry about that. And of course, res.com but and I'll have all the links in the show notes. So just stay focused on the show. So here's the story behind the evolution of this experiment and conversation that we're gonna have today is that so Jason and I both use ConvertKit. And then we use ConvertKit. For deliver it? Well, because of that we know ConvertKit sends you a weekly summary of sales and conversions that you've had with with your email marketing, once every week, because deliver it was linked to Jason's account and my app and my personal account, we each had it linked. So I was getting these emails, it's like, here your ConvertKit sales, and every week it was I don't know, do you mind me giving numbers through automations? Okay, all right, you know, 1200 $1,500 every single week, and I'm like, well, this isn't my shit. Excuse the language, but it was just like, What is he doing? Because, honestly, Jason, so I have a follow up sequence. And I offer something at the end of it through one, one lead magnet at the same time. There's so many other things that can happen. And it took me way too long, if I'm being brutally honest, to implement that. Because, you know, I just, there's always so much to do is how it feels. And I've had my account, I don't know how long at this point. I'm like, I need to go in and clean up and do this and whatnot. And then I get into everything is liquid, and then I want to do coats. Right? But you've totally simplified that. So for everybody. I just wanted to explain, like Jason lives, breathes, implements, just does all the things. He's not just talking to talk. And I witnessed it firsthand. So I'm like, Alright, this is a priority for me this year with with my personal brand. And of course with create it the content planner, and I use clay VO. So I've already committed to Jason to taking what he teaches me and implement it because it's really platform agnostic, correct. I hope I'm using agnostic correctly.Jason Resnick 4:18 Yeah, no, I mean, it's 100%. I mean, because like I like I am a developer. And there was like, that's what I grew up with. And that's what I started my career as. And I learned a long time ago that it's just syntax, right? Like if you understand the methods, the theories, the process behind something, then it's just a matter of applying a language on top. So whether you're using ConvertKit, whether you're using Klaviyo, whether it's active campaign, as long as the functionality on that platform is there, the methods and the teachings that I talk about all the time and work just fine. You just have to figure out what buttons to push. That's all.Kim Doyal 5:05 Well, and at this point, most of the email service providers use the same language, right tags, segments lists. I mean, there's, there's, for the most part ofJason Resnick 5:16 maps, yes, or no matter of speaking this, I feel like there's like a 2.0. So, like, there, there's the A Weber's and the constant contacts. And, you know, those kinds of folks that are still very much there. They have a lot of customers, they do well, because it just serves that audience. Then there's MailChimp, which I guess maybe even a Weber a tiny bit with, they're kind of bridging the gap, but they're trying to like turn the Titanic, right. Like they just they were part of that first version, right?Kim Doyal 5:54 Turn.Jason Resnick 5:57 Yeah, I mean, that's, I mean, they, they start implementing tags, they start implementing audiences, but they're still very much on list based platform. And that's what version one is, it's any email subscriber is subscribed to a list that you have. And that list is tied to a form. So if you have three forms, you essentially have three lists, even if the same person exists on all of those three lists. So that's kind of how they segmented or bucketed people then version 2.0 came out with the active campaigns and drip and Infusionsoft later you know, I guess I should say confusion self as the first one. Yeah. Now, I mean, which is why they changed the name to keep I thinkKim Doyal 6:44 I'm pretty sure I probably well, yeah, I think Russell Brunson had way too much fun with that one, go ahead.Jason Resnick 6:51 And they started the new trend where it was tags and they were very much tag driven. So it was no matter how many forms you have, you have 100 forms the same person opts into that full, all 100 forms. They only exist once in your platform so Infusionsoft has it. Active Campaign has it drip ConvertKit Klaviyo they're all carp part of that new new breed, I would say. And then there's, I call them the youngins, which are like the beehives and the sub stacks and so on and so forth who are are serving a need out there. They're just not as advanced as that, you know, like Infusionsoft Active Campaign and so on. So, you know, for me, there's definitely different buckets, but for the most part, you can throw a rock and hit an email marketing platform that has a tag based management system and that's really what you're looking for, especially with what you know, we're trying to do for our businesses as well as who I help my clients with. Yeah,Kim Doyal 7:57 I have to tell you so you're using clay VO and for I think it's clay vo I don't know if it's clay vo or Clavijo. I'm going to keep saying clay vo only because I heard one of their people say it on the webinar. So you know it No, but it's kind of like a Zapier. Zapier, like with whatever wrap yourJason Resnick 8:16 head they had to come out with like a post right? They will exactly like zappyKim Doyal 8:20 happier. Yeah, Zapier. That was it. So but it was interesting with Klaviyo. So I integrated it using WooCommerce. And you and I had talked about it, right? I thought about show us active campaigns, I did want something that was really targeted towards EECOM. And that would be easier to use. And so with clay vo it was interesting. So I integrated it. And then it was, I felt like it was even a step above Active Campaign in terms of look, I only have to do this integration, once everything else then happens with flows. So like I didn't have to integrate it with specific lists or forms or tags even it's like it's integrated, then it's all up to you. Based on that initial, opt in, purchase whatever happens, like just create the flow, just create the flow and the conditions. And that felt. And maybe that's exactly what we did with that campaign. I don't remember that. But I felt like every time we were doing something new, we'd go in and create a new starting point versus one starting point of a purchase or opt in. And then everything else magic happens after that point. Does that make sense?Jason Resnick 9:32 Yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah. It's a tool, right? And like, especially, like you meet, I am solo. I mean, your daughter helps. Right? Like, there's not enough time. Right? And did you everything, so things have to be easy, and if they're not, and they're complicated or seem complicated, then we're not going to use it. Right. And for me, email has always been that like, it took me a long Time, I mean, a long time to say, Yeah, you know what, I'm gonna start writing emails, I'm gonna do it once a week or whatever, right like way longer than it ever should have right now. But even then I didn't learn my lesson because I was working with clients at that point in time, like 2016 2017 is when I transitioned my business straight to fully email marketing and automation. And I had clients that email daily, like I saw the numbers, revenue numbers, subscriber numbers, the lack of unsubscribes, because a lot of people worry about that. And I didn't do that until October of 2020. Right? I went six times a week, you know, like, I don't know what it is, even though I'm in it every single day. There's still like, a mindset with it. Like, I don't want to upset the applecart Right. Like if I don't have an email list, so I can't do this, or whatever it is, right? Like, I don't want to make people upset in some way. Right. And so there's definitely a mindset with it. But what a phrase that I love is, Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. And this is a Leonardo da Vinci quote. And for me, that's, that's been a common thread throughout my career programming, email automation, and so on. Because it's the simple things that when you do them, well, you can easily scale and not have to worry about it. Right, like you said, just now I have the entry point. And I'm just going to kind of bucket people into the paths that they need to go. Yeah, right. And so, you know, that's, that's what I talk about all the time. Like, I've direct everybody to the same landing page, like for my newsletter go there. You know, it is what it is. I have lead magnets on my site and things like that, but still even a lead magnet, people still find them in the same same tunnel, so to speak. Yeah, yeah. But it's critical that I start to segment people based off of where they are, to know, like, Hey, this is what I can do to help. These are the kinds of emails that I'm gonna send them, and so on, and so forth. Right. And so, for me, I mean, that's why ConvertKit can do a lot of these things yet, what I've found is, the ConvertKit customer doesn't want to be an email, they don't want to, they don't mind writing the email, they don't mind putting the content out there. But they don't want to one mess things up, too, they don't want multiple emails showing up in somebody's inbox at the same time. They want a system that just works, and they don't have to think about it. And it drives results from and, you know, whether it's a one person show a small team, all of the same philosophies and methods apply. It's just really the content, the content, the segmentation pieces, and how you're going to put, you know, your marketing resources behind that to grow the list. So, you know, for me, it's fun, because I get to learn a lot about different businesses. And I've worked with everybody from like TV talent coaches, that, you know, help athletes transition from the field, to the broadcast booth, to healthcare providers, to, you know, course creators, professional creators, people that sell, you know, communities, things like that. All of it is the same 75% of it is the same that works. And it's just fun to, to, it's fun to watch it happen, right? LikeKim Doyal 13:53 it is,Jason Resnick 13:55 and how like, it's just, it's just, it's funny, when, specifically it's funny, when we write out email sequences, I'm like, This email is designed to do this and get this response from people. And clients give me a little pushback, they like they want to hedge their bet I'm like, just let it go out. Like that's what it's supposed to do. Like if it's supposed to anticipate and create replies in your inbox and things like that and get people to say a certain thing. Just let it go out and then it goes out and then within six hours a client comes back like that was amazing. How do you know that down the road a few times and know what it's supposed to do you know? It's just fun to watch that all unfold because it's all human behavior and for me that you know, that's that's the fun part of it.Kim Doyal 14:42 That's what I got excited about it and I've said that so many times like this shit works like I did the daily emails. I started doing it because same thing where I just said this, I've been in this too long. I'm gonna figure out email marketing, right and I was very much of the mindset of I want to bug people. I don't want to this, I don't want to that. And nobody likes them subscribes. Now I will look at who wants subscribed based on when they got on my list. So I'm very curious now to look at the data. So I'll go in, here's an example, I had recently done a summit, which I'm going to publicly declare that I'm not going to participate ENEOS the rest of the year, like it's a poll for my time and energy, you know, and this was, I've done some and they've delivered great results. I'm also though thinking I'd much rather just run ads to be honest with some of this, or do it strictly through content when you look at your time, right, anyways, needless to say, so But I started looking at who was coming in, out in recent unsubscribes. And, you know, I had an import from Active Campaign like in 2017. So a lot of people will unsubscribe from that. And that was still WordPress check stuff back then. For it's been very recent, through, like a recent Summit. So they've literally only received like, a little bit of a welcome sequence, maybe a newsletter I'm like, so it's, it's that to me is valuable data, right. But the point being the daily emails, I needed to find my voice and figure out how to write right? And I feel like in many ways, I've gotten stuck at the very basic stuff with I feel super comfortable writing an email, I don't mind. And I actually expect replies. Now I get like, Why didn't anybody answer me? Like I usually get, and they tend to be the same people. But that's fine, whatever, you know, but it's also making sure to your point of thinking more from a psychological perspective. And I think that's where people can shift the mindset, right is when you when you look at it. So here's an example I was thinking is, so before we started recording, Jason, I were talking about price points of courses and whatnot. And, you know, in the internet marketing space, it's the sevens, right? 4790 cent, whatever. And like to us, it's like, oh, gosh, you know, but you know what I was thinking about Jason, and it popped in my head after we were saying that was, we don't question the fact that everything in the other the real world in real life is 90 fives. It's been like that forever, who said that 95 is any better, right? But there are these psychological things. And it's just that we're conditioned. Like, I love looking at how do I take a real life example, and then apply it. So this one I've used so many times, but it's kind of like checking out at the grocery store. You don't get mad that there's gum and candy and batteries. And sometimes it's like, oh, shit, I forgot. I need batteries. I don't know why I'm swearing so much today. But anyways, so Jason's like, what else is new? But yeah, that's it. But you know, so it's kind of, but anything that we don't know, is going to feel uncomfortable. So I think with email marketing, there is a certain level of you have to learn to be comfortable with the discomfort while you're learning how to do this, right? Because I think it's like, a huge piece of it is mindset. The rest of it is learnable.Jason Resnick 18:06 Right? Yeah, yeah. I mean, what I've found is super helpful, is like you said, like, it is mindset, that if you know the path that you want the subscriber to take, and you draw that out, visually, especially within like, the first 30 days? What is the path? What is the message? What is the beliefs that they have that I know are wrong, but how do I make it such that they see it? Right? All of these things, if you know, the key points that which you want to get across to the subscriber within the first 30 days, it's super helpful to kind of just draw it out on a whiteboard or iPad, whatever the case is, if somebody comes in through this form, over the next five days, I want them to get these five emails talking about, you know, this, that and the other. Right, and you craft that out, then you start to see key conversion points, right, like, okay, the end of the welcome sequence, they got my first pitch sequence, they started to get my weekly broadcast emails, right, the ones that, you know, you talk about every week, hey, I'm launching this, I'm doing that right. There is a jarring point at which when somebody comes onto your list if you just drop them into that, and then hey, last week, I talked about this, how does that person feel? Well, I didn't see last week because I just joined yesterday, right? And so how do you transition in a way right? So but if you understand all the the stepping stones, so to speak at of that initial subscriber, you can make that super engaged for them, that it just builds the trust, right? And so and I know we're gonna get into it, but one of the things that I'm building right now is is an email course because it's that initial journey is where people really stumble upon, like, you get those talked about the beliefs, right? That, like, Hey, I can't sell too early, right, but then they stress out every quarter because they have this big launch that they want to do that list. Well, if you're launching every day, that big launch, you don't have to worry about right? Like, I too, was at fault of this, right? I fell victim to it. But once I put this initial pitch in place, and it makes sense for them to get the pitch, it's as good as, hey, here's my podcast, season eight, or here's my latest blog post on the right. Just because it's paid doesn't mean it's any less valuable or more valuable to them. It's just packaged differently, and let them decide whether or not it's it fits for them. Right. So that's, that, for me was a big eye opening change. Because I mean, even if you don't have a product, you can pitch in an affiliate product, right, a small sequence around that. I did that for a long time. Because well, I you know, I know my ideal client for...

Goodbye, Costa Rica.For now.I’ve been pondering this decision for a while now, even though I said I would stay for two more years at the end of my 1-year lease last year.Many factors have contributed to my decision to move back to the states, but the biggest one is family.My Dad is 78, and while he’s already had some health issues, they seem to be compounding or worsening. Most people who know him would probably look at him and not think twice. Still, after spending so much time with him over the holidays (I hadn’t seen him for a year in person – he was going to come to Costa Rica, and I got Covid the day he was to fly down), I’ve been reminded that time is precious.I never saw my Mom age since her passing at 71 was unexpected. Even though I watched all four grandparents age, it’s an entirely different feeling when it’s your parent.Maybe because, secretly, it means I’m aging too.I noticed a significant slowing down with my Dad, which I’m sure is partly due to age and health concerns. My aunt also had some health challenges this year (my Mom’s younger sister, who I’m incredibly close to), and I want to be closer.Get #FtheHUSTLE in Your InboxOther factors that contributed to saying Goodbye, Costa RicaI’ve had my own fair share of challenges this year (don’t we all), and being in a foreign country steps things up a bit.Having to take my dog in for surgery on both back knees – and then a second time, because something happened to one of the knees, was a little traumatic (I felt like I’d failed her)- then to have surgery on my back?It was a lot in a short period of time.I also had visitors every month through August, except for February, and while I wouldn’t trade it for anything (I also had some incredible experiences), it was a little hard to start and stop so much (with work).Having just launched “Create It,” I’m pretty head down with my business right now (the new content planner). I think it will be easier to manage things in the states than here. This might sound a little strange since it’s a digital business, but here are a few reasons why:Shipping: we’re shipping the initial orders and will hopefully switch to a distribution service by the second quarter, but we’ll be the shipping department (my daughter and me).Events: with the world opened up. I’d like to get back to networking and traveling to events. I’m looking at joining an e-commerce mastermind to scale the new brand, and there are quarterly events, which are much easier to get to from the states.Another factor that I kind of can’t believe I’m sharing here (although why not? I share everything else, and knowing me, I’ve probably mentioned it in another podcast) is the dating scene.It’s pretty non-existent.I’ve shared before that the area I live in, while amazing, feels more or less like it’s made up of retirees and families (because of the proximity to the international schools).I’ve had my fair share of younger Tico’s ask me out (when I was getting out and about more, haven’t done a whole lot of that over the last 4+ months with my back), but that’s not my jam (as flattering as it may have been haha).When I had started thinking about moving back to the states, I had originally been thinking of Oregon or Washington, so I was still close enough to drive to see family.Then it seemed silly to move back to be closer to family and not actually be close (I know, I’m a genius). So it’s back to Northern California, I go. I’ll land at my Dad’s for a few months while I scout different areas, but I won’t be in the Bay Area proper (I have some friends there still, but all my family has moved out of the Bay Area).I don’t think I could handle the traffic, the people, the constant activity…I have definitely acclimated to a slower pace of life in Costa Rica and want to keep it that way.I’m currently thinking of a little city, Auburn, above Sacramento and below Lake Tahoe. There are a handful of small cities around Auburn as well that I’ll check out. I have a lifelong friend in Auburn, and it’s kind of a mix between the country and the mountains.After being in a condo, I’m ready for space again (and a yard for the dogs where all I have to do is open the door and let them go!).I’m going to watch the real estate market so that I will rent for a while, but ultimately, I would like to find a place to buy in the next year.Does California cost more?You bet.But to be near people I love?Totally worth it (and honestly, anywhere I’d want to live in Oregon or Washington, I wouldn’t be saving that much).I’ve got one month left (I gave my notice to my landlord on January 1st). Basically, all I need to do is sell everything I can (my car and some other big things I’ve purchased or brought down), pack my clothes, personal belongings, and computer, and get the dogs ready (trip to the vet to see what’s required for entry back into the states) and book my flight.I have no doubt that the month will go fast.A friend is coming for a visit on the 13th (the one who lives in Auburn) and offered to take a couple of extra suitcases back with her, so that helps quite a bit.All I plan to do with my last month here is spend as much time with my friends as possible and make frequent beach trips. I want to savor every moment.I’ll definitely be back (especially since I have friends to visit and can stay with), so it’s just a “Goodbye for now.”Get #FtheHUSTLE in Your InboxWhat I’ve learned from my time in Costa RicaMore than anything, I’ve learned a lot about myself.I am incredibly proud of myself for having done this. I literally moved to a country I’d never visited and made the most of it.At times I questioned whether or not I was seeing enough of the country… and my therapist reminded me that this experience didn’t need to be anything other than what it was for me.Much of that came from a former friend who constantly told me I needed to get out and do more, but I don’t “need” to do anything other than what I wanted to do.I’m a grown-ass woman, and I do what I want! (I had a poster that said that – I think I need to buy another one when I’m back).I’m writing an entire post on my experience in Costa Rica and how it completely changed my life. Who I am, how I move through the world, what I want, and my perspective on so many things.Stay tuned for that, but now I want to talk about 2023.Hello 2023Since I shared a bit about what I went through in 2022, I’m not going to repeat much of it here other than how it relates to what I’m doing moving forward.As much as I love doing year-in-review posts, I’m feeling the pull to focus on moving forward (and it was a great year).After my two-week trip to California for Christmas, I’m looking forward to being back and settled and then next Christmas being in my own space while also getting to spend the holidays with family.Since moving to Costa Rica, the only travel I’ve done is back to California for visits – so I’m really looking forward to some other trips and experiences this year.Planning for 2023I love planning (since I have a Content Planner business), but I haven’t had much chance to take a minute and do any business planning for 2023.And that’s O.K.I’m not behind, and it doesn’t mean anything is wrong, and it will happen as it’s supposed to.I’ve started a mind map for this brand (using MindNode for Mac, which I’m kind of falling in love with), and have goals for Create It (which I created when I did the content plan for the sample planner), but the planning I’m talking about is the big picture planning, which always starts with how I want my life to feel.Life Plans for 2023Find my new spot within 3-5 months of being back in California. I’ll land at my Dad’s and start checking out different areas. As he calls it, start “shopping” for where to live. Having lived in Northern California all of my life (up until 2020), I’m pretty familiar with the area I’m looking for but haven’t done it from the perspective of living there.Start dating! EEEK! I’ll probably wait until I get settled in my own place, but I’m actually looking forward to this.Spend more time with family. I want to hang out with my aunt more, go down to visit my daughter in LA, and spend more time with my siblings and my nieces and nephews (since I’m living with my Dad for a bit, we’ll get plenty of quality time together).More time with friends! Some of my closest friends are from high school (and even elementary). The older I get, the more I cherish time with my friends. I’ve always prioritized my friendships, but they feel deeper and richer as I get older. I’ll also spend time with dear friends I’ve only connected with online in person… we’re already planning a weekend on the Oregon coast together!More time for hobbies! I am SO excited to return to my watercolors, pens, drawing, etc. All of my art supplies are in storage… but not for long!Interesting that as I look at that list, everything I’ve listed is about time.And primarily, relationships.It’s lovely.I also think this is the first time I’ve put my life plans first!Usually, I start with business… interesting.Business Plans for 2023Here we GOOOOOO!!!!!As excited as I am, there’s a level of calm confidence I feel as I look at the year ahead.After 15 years in this online space, there’s a knowing about what needs to be done, and I’m doing it.Let’s look at both brands (KimDoyal & Create It).KimDoyal.comCleaning, clarity, and consistency are my priorities.Cleaning: my site needs a good amount of cleaning up. That means cleaning up content, broken links, shortcodes in posts missing images from older posts, etc.This also means a new website. The goal for completion of the new site is the end of the first quarter. I’m also going to move all of my courses into Circle. I’m using Circle for Create It, and it makes more sense to use one platform for all courses on both brands (they’ll be separate accounts).Clarity: As someone who has fallen in love with writing, I need to be way clearer about who I am and what I do. Right now, it’s kind of a mystery (a little bit of this, a little bit of that). My focus is on email marketing, newsletters, and #FtheHUSTLE. People love #FtheHUSTLE, but it’s also a bit of “I get it! What a great name. Now, what is it?Consistency: I have to hire help—end of story. The only way I can create and produce what I want is to have help with the things I don’t enjoy doing or want to do (podcast editing, video editing, reposting my newsletter as blog posts, and social media). The one thing I’ve been very consistent on is the newsletter, but that’s about it. My poor podcast has been neglected for too long.Within those themes are additional elements, but I’m not going to get into the weeds with them.In terms of content for 2023, I want to revamp my YouTube channel and focus on written content that I can repurpose (long-form blog posts, podcasts, and the newsletter).What that looks like in terms of social content, I’m not exactly sure, but I want the majority of what I share socially to come from organic content I’ve published on my site first.I’m working on new keywords and a pillar content strategy.My intention isn’t to produce “tons” of content… it’s to produce quality content that I can get more leverage from. In the Create It Content Planner, I’ve created a strategy focusing on three different types of focus content: Evergreen, Topical, and Connection.My intention isn’t to produce “tons of content”… it’s to produce quality content that I can creates more leverage. @kimdoyalClick to TweetI’ll ensure my content for KimDoyal always falls under those three buckets.Email list growth: add 10k subscribers to my email list.I’ll do this organically and with a paid traffic strategy.Get #FtheHUSTLE in Your InboxNow let’s look at Create ItWhew! It has been a whirlwind getting that up and launched.The physical planners are shipping to us, and then we’ll ship them out (and by us, I mean my daughter, who will ship the initial presale planners). After looking at the cost of shipping the planners from Atlanta to California, I think it might just make more sense to go with a distribution center for the next print run.I have REALLY big plans for this brand!The first thing I’m going to do is hire a traffic company. I’ve already had a call with the agency I’m going to use (female owned), and they’ve been running ads for another planner brand for THREE years (not a competitor), and she loves this space.We’ll start with Facebook and Instagram and will add YouTube and Google next.I learned a lot with the first planner and have already created a higher cart value from what I learned the first time.I know I can grow this much faster (again, I learned a lot the first time).I don’t want to divulge too much here regarding additional products, but they’re coming! I have a second planner I’d like to release by the end of Q2, but I won’t do that until we have the paid traffic, funnels, and content running (with my tiny effective team).I will also join an e-commerce mastermind run by my friend Trey Lewellen. I initially thought I’d sign up in January, but I told him it would be February instead once I was back in California and settled. He’s a master at e-commerce, and I know he can show me how to scale this quickly, source other products, and really grow this.Build my Tiny Effective TeamI’ve talked about this a bit before, but that term is from Jenny Blake’s book “Free Time.”I’m willing to do what it takes to get this going (I already have), but I do NOT want to be so “in the weeds” with the day-to-day (creating content, social media, tech mgmt, etc.).I have a few people in place already.Next will be a VA/project mgr/right-hand person (does that exist in one person? initially, it might have to), then social media, and more content creators (my daughter is knocking it out of the park with our Creator’s Weekly newsletter!).Whew.Right now, the priority is simply getting the main website up. The pages are done. It’s just down to me editing copy and adding product descriptions, images, etc.Then pulling the trigger.I mentioned in the episode that I started writing this post a few weeks ago (finally having recorded it in the 4th week of January).A few things have changed:I extended my stay in Costa Rica by nine daysI’m going to use something else for courses, but I think I might keep Circle for the community piece (i haven’t decided)I will start running ads at the end of February or early March (so I’ve had time to settle in California). The same is true with the mastermind I want to join, but both are happening.I’ve got some interviews I’ve already recorded that I’ll be publishing over the next few weeks and will be back with a solo show and updates after that.

This isn’t my official year-in-review podcast episode (I’ll record that in January), but I’m starting to look ahead at what I want for 2023.Both business and life.We’re about to enter December (or, depending on when you’re listening to this, we’re already there), and I head back to California in a few weeks.The new planner, Create It, is done and off to the printer, so I can catch my breath for a minute and regroup.I’ve worked almost every day since the week off after my back surgery. Still, now that I’m starting to feel a lot better physically, my mental energy has shifted as well (nothing like being resistant to what is… although I’ve stopped saying my back is taking longer than I’d like. My only answer now is that my back feels better and better every day).Not that I could do much else…It’s been raining almost every day (although, as I write this, there are bright blue skies outside… I’m hoping they stick around so I can take the dogs to the beach this afternoon).Let’s get into today’s episode…Launching a New CompanyI went into a lot of detail in the last episode that announced Create It, about the planner itself (as well as my decision to do this).I want to go a little deeper about my vision for Create It Company, why I decided to start another company separate from my personal brand, and how I see them fitting together.My first “real” entrepreneurial endeavor was the scrapbook store I opened with a business partner back in 1998. This was at the beginning of the scrapbooking craze, and I had just been laid off from my district manager position.Even though I didn’t necessarily have the capital to do it, I would have opened another store (and can I say amen that we didn’t). I had BIG visions for that store (and we could have killed it online had I known what I know now … hindsight is 20/20, isn’t it?).My business partner didn’t.It was more of a hobby for her, whereas I needed it to bring in an income.In many ways creating a physical content planner brings me full circle. Even at the Scrapbook store, I taught classes… so much of what I do today has been a part of my journey long before coming online.I’d like to see how far I can take Create It.Not just the planner, but the company.Which is why I needed to do this on my own.I’ve been fortunate to partner with amazingly talented people, but any time you bring on a partner, you’re giving up control.And as crazy as I make myself, I’m much more willing to take risks, even when I have no idea how it will happen.The idea of giving up on myself feels like a death sentence.I have zero intentions of “retiring”… in fact, I see myself creating more as I get older.One of my goals with Create It Company is to scale it to the point where it doesn’t need me. And who knows, maybe even sell it for a nice exit, but that’s getting ahead of myself.Plans for the CompanyIn addition to hiring people (again, I went into much more detail about this in the last podcast episode), we have many more products planned for the brand.I don’t want to give them away too much here, but here are the categories of products we’re looking at:More planners (beyond the content planner)Stickers (physical & digital)PensCard decksLots of training courses (with guest experts)Monthly content prompts and template subscriptionConsulting on planner creation and publication (helping other people produce planners)To do this, I will need a little help and guidance in the e-commerce space, which is where my friend Trey Lewellen comes in.Trey is a master at e-commerce.So I’m looking at joining his mastermind in January.Obviously, organic content and social media will be a big part of our growth strategy, but so will paid traffic. I’m on a mission to dial in paid traffic with someone internally (no outside ad agencies) and keep it in-house to keep our costs down, get ad creative returned on time, and be able to adjust as necessary.Managing the ads isn’t my sweet spot, but I’m happy to create the creative.I’ll update you on how the presale has done when I do my year-in-review podcast episode. We’ll also have some promotions in December (to help people start their planning for 2023).Get #FtheHUSTLE in Your Inbox!Life ChangesI don’t think I’ve mentioned this publicly anywhere, but I’m looking at moving back to the states in the first part of 2023.As of right now, I have no idea if that means February or June . I have a friend visiting in January, and I want to see how I feel after being back for Christmas (it was a little like culture shock last year flying into LAX from Costa Rica).So, why the sudden change of heart, you might ask?It’s a combination of many things, and the first and probably most obvious to me is that I felt this way last year too.I miss the fall and holiday seasons in the states. I miss family, cozy times, and all that comes with this time of year.The difference between how I feel this year versus last year is that I feel like I’m moving towards something (which will make a lot more sense when I explain the other reasons). Last year was difficult because Thanksgiving fell on my Mom’s birthday, and it was literally the first holiday I had ever spent without family.All that being said, there’s nothing in me that feels sad about my desire to move back.In fact, I was originally looking at either Oregon or Washington, but one of the primary reasons I want to move back is to be closer to family and friends. So it seems a little counterintuitive to move back to the states and still be that much further from family.Which means Northern California.I can’t be in the heart of the Bay Area and really don’t want to do suburbia either, so I’m looking at a few areas that are a little more remote but still only about 20 minutes from civilization. After staying with my Dad during the months before moving to Boise, I’ve realized that being that remote is too far (an hour to Target or Costco… and yes, those are measurements for me).And yes, this means all the expenses of living in California. But that’s fine…more motivation to scale Create It, right? I mentioned earlier that I want to join my friend Trey’s mastermind. He lives in St. Louis and has live events there a few times a year. Flying out of Cost Rica to the states isn’t necessarily difficult, but it’s not super convenient either.I have to pay my dog sitter, and except for LAX, there aren’t a lot of direct flights out of Liberia.I love the area I live in (Potrero, Guanacaste), but I’m sandwiched between retirees and families (the international schools are in this area). I’ve realized that I’m not really a digital nomad (I literally work Monday – Friday in my house. I’m not a fan of working in coffee shops because of the noise… even with noise-canceling headphones).I don’t really want to work outside (as beautiful as it is, the humidity or heat would probably make me a little cookoo) – other than my patio every now and then, provided it hasn’t been raining (the mosquitos love me).The other challenge of living here is dating.It’s pretty much non-existent unless I want to date a 35-year-old Costa Rican (I’ve had plenty of opportunities there, but it’s a hard no for me).I’m at a stage in my life where I want a primary relationship again – and I don’t see that happening here (and who knows, maybe that’s just a belief, but either way, it is what it is).A lot of this could also be that this has been one hell of a year. The year started off with me getting Covid mid-January then I had visitors every month through August, except for February. Then literally, the day a friend left in August was when my back went out.As much as I’d like to think I’m Wonder Woman, it’s been a lot.Sharing all of this here and actually putting it out there is helping me get some much-needed clarity. Hopefully, it doesn’t sound like one big complaint after the other. It’s simply where I’m at right now.Costa Rica is beautiful, and I’ve met some amazing people (some of whom will stay dear friends for life, I hope), but it kind of feels like my time here is done, for lack of a better explanation.I’ll also give another update about this in my year-in-review episode, especially since I’ll have returned from California with fresh eyes.When I do move back, I’ll land at my Dad’s for 2-3 months to get situated, start looking for a place and reacclimate to life in the states.A Look Towards 2023I’ve been so head-down and focused on Create It that I hadn’t started thinking much about 2023 until this past weekend (Thanksgiving weekend). With the holiday in the states, I took advantage of a long, quiet weekend to get things done and start clearing my head.I’ve already shared what I want to do with Create it, so I won’t repeat it here.For my personal brand, it’s time to take my own advice and #JustShowUP!For much of this year, I’ve felt like I’ve been in project mode.I will continue focusing on email marketing and newsletters while sharing what I’m doing with content marketing (that will naturally support Create It).But it’s time for me to make video a priority. I don’t see myself focusing on YouTube until the second quarter, but until then I’ll start rebranding my channel (thankfully I had the good sense to use my name for my channel as opposed to The WP Chick), editing playlists, and adding any video I do to the platform.And yes, I still want to focus on TikTok.That came to a screeching halt when my back went sideways and I needed surgery, but I’m feeling much better and am ready to jump back in.There are 3 things I want to focus on in 2023:MasterySystemsVisual contentNow let’s drill down a little deeper on each of these.MasteryThere is something so delicious about digging in and getting better at your craft. I know that might seem like the word doesn’t fit, but think about the experience of eating your favorite food, and it’s cooked perfectly.That’s the feeling I’m referring to.My areas of mastery are writing and marketing.I know those are pretty general buckets (big buckets), but I have slowly fallen in love with writing over the last 10+ years and want to put more energy toward it. Storytelling, content writing, copywriting, and yes, even social media writing (why does short-form content throw me for such a loop?).I purchased the newly updated “Everybody Writes” by Anne Handley (Kindle version) and am excited to dive in.This should help immensely with my plan to write the #FtheHUSTLE book in 2023.SystemsSystems are the bain of my existence. It’s not how my brain works; I don’t like administrative work. Can I hire for this role?Absolutely, but I need to create and set it up (that doesn’t mean I won’t have help or have someone manage it for me. I will 100% be looking for that person in the first quarter of 2023)—someone who loves systems and just wants to do their thing with some security of a regular paycheck.Because we’re selling Notion products, that’s the route I plan on going.When I started Create It, I chose Asana because I knew it and could get it going quickly. Notion is one of those things I want to master in 2023 also, but I’ll start with basic best practices.Last but not least is Visual Content.This means creating and sharing more visuals that I personally create (think doodles, sketchnotes, etc.). I have a tool I use for doing some quick visuals called Sketchwow, but I’m talking about me personally drawing things that I use for my content.This means learning Procreate for the iPad. This way, I can create high-quality doodles and easily export them while retaining the quality (I’m guessing you can export them as vector images).I’ll be jumping into the next cohort of Pencil Pirates (the creator of Pencil Pirates, Laura Evans-Hill, said I could do the next round because of my back. As if I didn’t think she was already awesome!).I’m going to try creating “illustrated guides” to things that are a little more complex (like Notion! haha). Then create content that supports the illustrated guide.Books will be great for this (illustrating concepts from books), but that’s a bigger undertaking, so I’ll start with concepts and frameworks, including my own.