the SPARK 151 ~ Well this is interesting…

This issue is brought to you by Events Calendar Pro​

All the tools you need to manage your events on WordPress effortlessly

 

 

 

Hi, Reader,

A few weeks ago I published a podcast titled “Loyalty to Platforms and Tools is Crushing Your Growth.”​

In it, I talked about moving our newsletter for my planner brand off of beehiiv and into Substack.

I fell in love with beehiiv when it came out (and still think it’s an incredible platform), but there is zero discoverability built in.

They’re great at adding new features and rolling out updates, but with their goal of having the biggest advertising platform for newsletters, I don’t think it’s a good fit for what we were doing with the other newsletter (Creator’s Weekly).

Not that I won’t possibly be back at some point (I’ve learned to limit my absolute statements about things; it usually comes back to bite me), but for now, we’re off to a good start with Substack.

Here are a few reasons we made this decision:

• Discoverability
• People are actively on the platform
• We can engage with other creators (especially those we mention in the newsletter; how great to be able to tag them)
• List growth

Clearly, beehiiv wasn’t the cause of not having the list growth we wanted. Promoting the newsletter is our responsibility.

But why wouldn’t you give yourself the advantage of publishing in a place where some of that happens organically?

Today was the first day we sent that newsletter (and we imported our subscriber list of over 6300 people), but here’s what’s happened so far:

First, got an email early that a couple of people ‘liked’ the post. Nice to know 😉:

Then I got these two emails from Substack, which I have to admit, kind of made my day:

I had NO idea Substack did this! 👇

Yes.

Substack automatically produced social sharing images from our content. 🤯

We have some optimizing of the account to do still, and that’s fine, but I’m super pleased with this decision.

I’m not saying I’m ready to move the SPARK off of ConvertKit, but it certainly makes me think about it.

I’ll always have an account with an email service provider (more functionality, sending of non-newsletter emails, etc.), but it makes me think about treating the newsletter as its own entity.

As opposed to an extension of my email marketing and content.

This isn’t a new idea. Lots of people start and publish newsletters as a primary business model.

My newsletters have always been a piece of my brand(s).

That doesn’t mean that the newsletter becomes its own business model (well, it might with Creator’s Weekly).

The goal will always be to grow an audience of engaged subscribers that I can build a relationship with and make offers that solve their problems.

That’s pretty much “Business 101.”

Outside of the possibilities that AI brings, this feels a bit like the ‘old days’ of social when organic marketing was fun (and I’m probably a little jaded because I’ve been in this space for so long).

All of this is to remind you to test and try things.

Don’t plant your flag in something that no longer serves you – especially if you’re not getting the results you want.

We tested beehiiv, and it was easy to use (and, again, a beautiful UI). We thought about moving that newsletter to ConvertKit but would still have had the same issue, so we made the decision to move to Substack.

I’ll share more about what we’re doing for our email marketing with that brand in another email.

Depending on where you are in your business, I get that the idea of moving things can be a huge pain in the arse (I’ve been with ConvertKit for KimDoyal for 6-7 years?).

The thought of moving and changing everything on my site is less than appealing.

However, when you’re in this for the long game, you have to do what’s right for you.

Choose whatever tools help you get the job done and get results.

A Little Brainpower 🧠

Ready to jump into YouTube? Read “Exactly One Year Ago, I Started a YouTube Channel. Here’s Everything I’ve Learned.” ​

I don’t know about this, but it’s food for thought. “SEO is Dead and Influencer Marketing Stepped In.”​

She’s speaking my language (email). “I made $200,000 online by age 25 with email marketing. If I had to start all over again, here are 5 mistakes I would avoid.”​

Tool Time 🛠

• Digital products: Create, buy, and sell digital products with the help of AI (Thinkific created this). Try The Leap free here.​
• WordPress: Generate professional AI articles at scale (I’d edit with your voice, though 😉). Try WPAutoBlog free here.​
• YouTube: I haven’t seen this before. Find sponsorships for your YouTube channel. Check out SponsorBrew here.​
• Presentations/content: This looks pretty amazing… kind of hard to explain (they didn’t do a very good job). Create a presentation or content with AI. Try Journey Free here.​

Just for FUN…Create your own Emojis!!!

I was pretty impressed with the results of this on the first try.

The prompt was: Christmas gnome drinking hot cocoa.

Result:

I’m not sure why he has TWO cups (a friend said there’s probably bourbon in one 🤣), but it’s still cute.

​Use Emoji Generator free here​

Voting is OPEN! 📣

For all you WordPress users, now’s the time to give your favorite WordPress resources a chance to win a WP Award!

Click here to submit your votes!

I hope your first week of October is off to a fantastic start! 🎃

In a little over a week, I’m heading back to Costa Rica for the first time since moving back. Eight months back in California have flown by (although the first couple of months with the snow and cold felt loooonnnnggg 🥶🤣).

This trip is part vacation/part work.

I’m hosting my first Women’s Business Retreat (IGNITE!) with my amazing friend, Liz Weaver.

We have a small group this first time around to “get our feet wet,” but we will have plenty of pics, stories, and hopefully, some great testimonials to help promote the next one (next year!).

This has been something I’ve wanted to do for as long as I can remember. I never let go of the idea, and it happened very organically (and pretty quickly).

Never give up on the things you truly desire.

Have a wonderful day, my friends,
Kim

p.s. We’re testing a NEW funnel for the planner! You can get ALL three versions of the planner (Physical, digital, and Notion) – for only $14.95!!!
​Click here or the image below to get your copies!​