✨ the SPARK 198 ~ Have You Ever Noticed...

Or maybe I'm just jaded

Aug 29, 2024

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Welcome to the 198th issue of the SPARK, a weekly newsletter that helps you transform daily experiences into compelling content that
captivates and sells.

Writing when a little tired and weary can go one of a few ways:

A little all over the place
Not too cohesive
A tad ranty

I’ll let you judge where this falls, but I’m going for the third option. 😉

As I’ve been doing research for Women, Wisdom, & Wealth, I’ve discovered many ‘new-to-me’ people.

Some are solopreneurs, some are companies, and some are bigger businesses.

The observations I want to share with you are specific to their marketing (or lack thereof).

For this email, we’re focusing on the solopreneur.

Here are two specific examples (names withheld; they’re irrelevant). Both are in the women & money space.

We’ll call them Marketer A & Marketer B.

Marketer A: I found her doing research in Perplexity.ai (I pay for this; it’s totally worth it at $20/mo.). Her website has her powerful TEDx talk, and she has written a book. The same day I found her, I subscribed to her email list.

I purchased the book on June 18th, 2024 - the same day I subscribed to her email list.

After a few welcome emails, I haven’t heard from her since. 😳

Marketer B: I discovered her listening to a marketing podcast (you already know where this is going, don’t you?). I went to her website and opted into her email list. I don’t recall if there was a welcome sequence (I don’t think there was) because I instantly started receiving emails about her $2.5k course, which was re-opening.

I haven’t heard anything from this marketer besides offers for her course.

In fact, the person whose podcast I heard her on does something similar: You only hear from them when they’re launching something.

Have you ever noticed this?

And maybe this is where I’m jaded - or have been in this space too long.

I’d like to hear from Marketer A more… I enjoyed her book and would love to hear more updates about her business and how she’s helping her clients.

If I hadn’t purchased and read her book, I'd probably unsubscribe if and when she does email because I don’t think I’d remember who she was.

I’ll be unsubscribing from Marketer B.

I don’t know anything about her and her business other than she has a $2.5k course.

She also sends emails from “we” or is referred to in the third person, but the salutation is from her (is this nitpicking?).

There’s an air of “guru-ness” in these emails that I no longer have the energy for.

And here’s the thing…

My gut tells me that both of these women have helped people (well, that and their customer/client testimonials 😜), but how many more people do you think they could help if they put a little more time and attention into their email subscribers?

Remember a few months back when I shared a screenshot from a marketer who literally sent eleven emails in one day?!?! (yes, I unsubscribed).

That’s what Marketer B feels like but to a lesser degree.

The kicker with that type of marketing is that it’s probably working—to a certain extent. Would they continue doing it otherwise?

This type of marketing works better with cold traffic than a warm list - and I would bet that Marketer B runs ads and then drops people into a pitch sequence.

Again, I have nothing against that… but wouldn’t it make sense to do both?

Keep the conversation going with people who already raised their hands and said they wanted to hear from you, as well as with the cold, incoming traffic.

When someone is a solopreneur with courses and/or coaching, and I give them my email, I’m saying I want to hear from you.

I’m giving you permission to email me.

It might not be the right time for me to take your course or take you up on your offer right now, but if that’s the only time I hear from you?

I can guarantee it will never be the right time for me.

There is no lack of people to follow, subscribe to, or learn from.

Differentiate yourself by caring about the people on the other end of the email who have willingly given you their email addresses.

SPARK Spotlight 🔥

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A Little Brain Power 🧠

Thinking of self-publishing? Here are the 17 best platforms to use in 2024.

A little inspiration to get your Substack going. Unpacking A Million-Dollar Substack.

Tool Time 🛠

Design: Another AI option for creating graphics outside of the marketing space. Use Molypix.ai free here.
Testimonials: Collect video testimonials easily and for free. Try Vibeo here.
Graphics: This is from ai carousels - and wow! Create an infographic or cheat sheet for free. Try it here.
For fun: Sometimes you need an objective opinion - why not ask the Magic 8 ball? 😂 Click here to ‘shake’ the ball for an answer.

Sounds reasonable 😂

That’s all I’ve got this week, so I’ll keep the wrap-up short and sweet.

Have a fantastic day,
Kim