✨ the SPARK 157 ~ Reframing & killing an entire market

Welcome to the 157th issue of the SPARK. A weekly newsletter where inspiration meets real online strategies, behind-the-scenes stories, and a boatload of valuable resources.

We spent hours pouring over Christmas catalogs as kids (I know I’m dating myself here).

The Sears catalog had to have been at least 2 inches thick.

We’d circle what we wanted; then, we’d prioritize what we really wanted.

To a certain extent, we probably had FOMO before FOMO existed.

Back then, we had catalogs, TV commercials, and whatever we saw if and when we happened to be at the mall (as nostalgic as some people are for malls, I can’t say I miss them all that much) to write out our “Christmas list.”

I was lucky that Christmas as a child was always magical, regardless of what showed up under the tree Christmas morning.

I miss that magic. 🪄

I’m on a mission to reframe this time of year and capture the magic again.

What I love: the lights, the Christmas movies, the music, the cozy days, the holiday decor, and most importantly, spending time with people I love.

What I don’t love: feeling squeezed, pressure to buy (self-inflicted, I know), crowds, and inevitably, a little stress.

As I looked at how to reframe this time of year, I realized I could do the same thing in my business. 🤯

Both require conscious choice and effort.

Here are a few of the things I’m doing:

• Saying no to anything that makes me feel even the slightest bit squeezed
• Saying yes to things that bring me joy, even if more effort is required (I’m always glad I said yes.. after the fact)
• Meditating: this allows me to stay present (way less reactive)
• Planning ahead: Even though the season is upon us, I am taking some time to schedule some holiday activities (movies with family, baking, being deliberate about shopping, game night, etc. Yes, I’m still obsessed with Rummikub)
• Focusing: What are my priorities? Deciding what things (personal and business) align with my goals and how I want to feel. Example: As cool as a new tool would be, even discounted, if it’s not in alignment with what I’m focused on, I’m skipping it.

The other challenge:

Not getting irritated with the outside world and the flood of marketing that comes with this time of year… especially as a marketer (nothing like a bit of irony, because yes, I have offers I’ll be making).

Here’s an image I created in ChatGPT using DALL-E (um, how amazing is it that this is included with the paid version of ChatGPT? More on that later).

Ignore the random words (this is a zillion times better than images were even two months ago)… but we’ve all probably felt this at one time or another.

I also miss the magic I felt the first few years I was in business (2008 – 2011).

✔ Social media was exciting.

✔ Connecting with people all over the world blew my mind.

✔ Learning new skills.

✔ Creating.

Over time, though, anything can start to feel “less fun.”

This separates the people who make it from those who don’t.

Doing the same things consistently can not only feel boring sometimes (even when you love what you do), but there’s a window when it can feel like you’re working with minimal to no ROI.

That’s when you dig in deeper and put blinders on.

Keep your BIG goal in front of you.

Make a list of all the things you have accomplished and how they’re paying off.

Then, decide where you’re going to put your time and money.

And if you want to cut straight to the chase before purchasing something or committing to something, ask yourself, “Will this bring me joy?” 😉

SPARK Spotlight 🔥

I’ve been wanting this since I first started using ChatGPT. A way to organize chats into folders! Thanks to my friend Cami MacNamara (aka WebCami) for posting on X about this.

It’s a free Chrome extension, or you can upgrade to color-code the folders. Of course, I had to go for the color code.

Get ChatGPT Organizer here

A Little Brainpower 🧠

Custom GPTs are going to put a lot of apps out of business. Here’s a free tutorial on how to create one.​

This goes deeper into the above. OpenAI Just Killed an Entire Market in 45 Minutes.​

A super easy-to-implement process for growing a newsletter from my friend, Jamie Northrup. The Complete and Simple Blueprint For My 5-Figure Newsletter Business. ​

Tool Time 🛠

• Partner Network: Passionfroot, the newsletter sponsorship platform, has released a partner network. Grow your newsletter here.​
• Black Friday: Blaze.ai has created a toolkit to help you get your offer(s) ready. Check out the toolkit here.​
• Email template builder: This looks pretty great if your ESP doesn’t have a great visual builder. Use Blocks.io for Free here.​
• Custom GPTs: Speaking of Custom GPTs…Explore 10,000+ Custom GPTs in the GPT store by OpenAI.​

If you’re unsure what custom GPTs are, consider them a specific type of AI tool (GPT) that you can import into your ChatGPT account. Giving you whatever AI tools you need, all in one place.

Here’s an example:👇

Upload your IG images directly in ChatGPT, and this GPT will craft captions with emojis and tags! Get Insta Caption Generator here.​

Um… not too shabby! I’m pretty impressed! 🤯

These are all FREE to use (as far as I know anyway), but you do need a paid ChatGPT account.

Touché 😂

I have to admit, I’m a little blown away by everything OpenAI is doing.

This helps bring back a little of the magic and excitement I felt when I was first getting started.

The biggest difference now is that I bring 15 years of experience to this new playground.

This is my biggest recommendation for exploring and discovering how to use AI in your business.

Like my recommendation on deciding where to invest your time and money at this time of year, if you can stay focused on your goals (i.e., what’s important to YOU, not what you think you should do), and choose AI tools that support that, you can’t go wrong.

And maybe add in a little time to play. 😉

I hardly need to Disnefy a photo of myself, but it was fun.

Have a wonderful day, my friends,
Kim