All right, good morning. Welcome to Office Hours. Here we are, January of the new year,
and I want to welcome all of you. If you're listening to the recording, we miss you. Come
live because this is the place you get to come and ask your questions. And so Julie
was on the line here with me, and we're talking about the power of a newsletter and the purpose
of a newsletter, and how to really use a newsletter. I have been a big fan of having
a newsletter. In fact, I started having a newsletter in 2012. So I've been at it for
a while, the Prosper Inspirational Newsletter. And so some keys for a newsletter. Number
one, of course, consistency creates momentum. So I encourage consistency. So you can do
once a month. However, with our very distracted attention span, you're really not going to
be front of mind, having a newsletter once a month. So I recommend once a week. And I
recommend that you choose the same time every week, you will notice, I don't always hit,
but a huge portion of the time, my goal is to have the newsletter out by noon on Sunday.
And because my newsletter tends to be faith based and inspirational, Sunday was a really
great time and having it arrive on Sunday felt really good. Start your week with that.
So I encourage you to pick a day, you know, if you're dealing with how to's or practical,
you might choose Monday morning, we were talking about what can you do in a newsletter, a newsletter
can be inspirational, a newsletter can be how to, it could be a combination of a lot
of things. And so if you create a little bit of a format for your newsletter, it makes
it easy to write. So for many years, I had a format and it just had categories within
the newsletter. And so I would open always with a did you know, and I would introduce
a topic. And then I would follow with why it matters. And that's where I would make
it relevant for their business, for their faith, for their life. And so, you know, did
you know why it matters, I would often include what scripture says, so I'd have a verse or
something about what the Bible says on the subject. And then I would finish with a how
to or the steps, in other words, how to implement it. So it had a range of kind of a freshness,
a how to an inspiration, and it left them with action steps they could take. Now, one
of the powers of having a newsletter is it keeps you very front of mind. So if you're
not going to do anything, so let's suppose, for example, you have a lead magnet. And so
you have to think about your customer journey, right? You think about where does your customer
find you? And what do you ask them to do? So if you're offering a freebie in exchange
for their email, okay, so now they give you their email, you give them their freebie,
but then what? And that's where most people drop the ball, or they're very inconsistent.
And so of course, I want to back this up and say, growing your email list, and nurturing
your email list is your most valuable asset. You really don't have a business if you don't
have an email list, okay? When people come to buy a business, that's the first thing
they're going to look at, is your customer base, your list, your circle of influence.
And then of course, they'll look at assets if we're talking physical building or computers
or whatever. But for us that are in the online space, that is your asset, okay? And so we
look at it a lot of ways. It is your asset in that this is the gift God has given you.
If someone has trusted you enough to give you their email address, you want to consider
that sacred. That's a sacred honor. That's a sacred gift. And you want to be looking
at it as to how can I add value to those people who have trusted me with their email?
So it's not about spamming. So some people think that when they get their email list,
that means that you could just post, oh, having a sale. Hey, come to my new group. Hey, I just
started a new program. Hey.
and they're just using their email list for spam
and everybody's gonna drop off.
There's no connection, there's no relationship.
So you wanna be focused more on giving than asking,
but that doesn't mean you can't ask.
And so there's seasons,
but the first thing is having a purpose and a method
and having a time and being consistent
in getting your email out there
and making sure it's really valuable.
And you can do an ask in the email
and I like it in the form of a soft sell in a PS.
So PS, the new program just started, learn more here.
Okay, no one's gonna be insulted by that.
That's not spamming, it's okay.
And it's okay not to have, and you just give, give, give.
You'll notice that you wanna have seasons
of nurturing your list.
It's like a relationship, right?
Relationships are like a bank account, right?
So you're making deposits and you're making withdrawals.
So any relationship, and that includes your relationship
with your customers or your email list,
any relationship that you're consistently making withdrawals
is gonna go bankrupt, right?
It's gonna overdraw, right?
So when you look at it that way,
you wanna be putting so much more.
You want your bank account to be growing.
You wanna be putting so much more
into your bank account.
And so I look at it that way that I'm always looking
with the question, how can I add value?
How can I add value?
And then when I have trust and as I have trust
and because I'm always adding value,
when I have something big, like I just did,
the large nine day series that I just did,
offers that prosper.
Hey, now I have the kind of trust
I can hit my email list hard.
Every day I was talking about offers that prosper,
especially the closer it got.
And nobody was, I don't know, maybe one or two,
but people are not like flocking off
because they've come to know like, and trust me.
So look at your email list like that.
It's a sacred trust, be consistent, focus on adding value.
So in the conversation with Julie,
we talked about using LinkedIn as another way.
And so I started to share, okay, what does that look like?
She's saying, do you get people to subscribe
or what do you do?
So-
Brenda, can I add to the fact that I have a friend,
she's a coach and she calls herself six figure coach
or whatever, she would go on live and LinkedIn
and that just blew up her business.
So, LinkedIn is a great place.
Oh, absolutely.
And you found me on LinkedIn.
Yeah, that's fabulous.
Cheers.
Thank you for reminding me of that.
You need to understand the platforms
and the people that are on the platforms
and the methodology in the platforms
and because it's very different.
So when you're looking at LinkedIn,
of course it's very professional, it's very business,
it's very community.
And when you're looking, it's much less chatty.
People are busy as opposed to, let's say like Facebook
that is very conversational and much more,
even includes what my dog did and what I ate for dinner.
So, understanding each of the different platforms
and I won't go into that right now,
looking like I remember to change my header right there,
but asking about the newsletter,
when you come in here,
there are some things to do with LinkedIn
that are really powerful, okay?
And I have not been on LinkedIn a long time.
I've been on it, I don't know, since 2012,
but I've started using it in the last maybe three months,
four months, I mean, really using it.
Once in a while, I'd throw some bones over there,
but to have it really be a platform,
I consider my platform and really work with it, it's new.
So I'm definitely new, I'm not huge by any stretch.
I mean, I've got 3000 followers,
more than 500 connections.
So I'm here and my consistency has paid off,
but I'm not a rockstar on it.
And I'm just only pouring value into it
in the last few months, okay?
So, and you can always see your analytics,
and starting to have probably four or 500
looking at it all the time.
When it comes to the newsletter, the first thing,
having a newsletter on LinkedIn as another option
in addition to your email newsletter.
And so to do that, you have to turn the creator mode on
and be established as a creator.
So that's the first step.
Well, when you turn the creator mode on,
it gives you this wonderful benefit
called the featured section, okay?
And this allows you to showcase a few things, right?
And so I went ahead and created both a subscription here
on LinkedIn as well as going over to my email.
So by doing this, it's pretty amazing without even trying.
I got, I think, close to 400 people in a matter of months.
So it's a great, it just added an extra 400 people
that I'm building relationship with.
So, and it's just been growing very organically
and I've been posting.
So that's what I recommend.
The newsletters are kind of unique on LinkedIn.
I like them.
So let's take a look, for example,
at what a newsletter might look like, okay?
With a newsletter on LinkedIn, you get an intro.
It'll ask you at the end, after you've written it,
it will ask you to give two or three sentences
what it is about, okay?
And it also has you create this,
it's the size of like a YouTube
where I think is really a showcase
because people will see you.
It's got the title and you can put your picture or whatever.
So I think that's important for your branding.
And so if you looked at a newsletter, for example,
this is what it would look like for someone to see it.
You'll have a big title and then you are able,
and I believe in newsletters,
using bolding and breaking it up into chunks
to make it really easy to do.
I like the fact that you can highlight quotes.
I think it makes the text look really open like this.
So I was talking about a certain book
and I put a quote there
and I often even make my own quotes.
There are Bible quotes, like you can see right here,
some biblical wisdom that I've put in there.
You can put an invitation.
In this case, I went ahead and put an invitation
to the Prosper Leader membership at a discounted price,
but you'll notice something,
and you do this on all social media,
link goes in the comments.
If you put link in the content,
you will not get a good algorithm.
It will hurt you badly.
So never, if you're marketing something
with a specific link, you finish out
and then you go back and you put it in the comments.
There's the link, okay?
And so that's a little bit about adding
not just your email newsletter,
but also going ahead and adding one in LinkedIn
because it just gives you a whole new population
that they're subscribing.
And that's another active audience that,
so you could repurpose your newsletter
and you could use the same one
or you could repurpose it a little bit
knowing that the audience may be different.
If the audience is the same, don't worry about it.
So does that help you?
Oh, liquid gold.
Well, not liquid, digital gold, right?
Digital gold, yeah, yeah.
So does that help you on how to use a newsletter?
Oh, 100%.
I just didn't even thought about doing a LinkedIn newsletter
so, ta-da!
Good, good, yeah.
And there is a way because consistency creates momentum.
And remember, everything I'm teaching you,
it's about creating systems, it's about creating habits
so that you're not sitting there
scratching your head every day and going,
oh, how am I gonna reach my LinkedIn?
Oh man, I forgot, I've been neglecting Facebook.
Oh, what about my email?
Like, no, you're building something that's very automatic.
And so, and repurpose is the name of the game.
of the game, and that would be a different office hours.
But that's really the key, is learning to do something
and then repurpose it so that it's
meeting the needs all over.
So this makes you not have to think.
Like I said, when you have a set day, when you have a set time,
like in this case for me, because mine
is faith-based and inspirational, the set time,
my newsletter goes out by noon on Sundays.
This also, when you give yourself a schedule,
your brain is always working on it.
So during the week, you know, oh, Sunday,
this would be good for Sunday.
And you can make a note for yourself
on your Prosper Daily plan in the spot that
has for your inspiration and ideas for writing.
You can make a note right there.
So that when you go to write, you're
not writing from a blank slate.
Now, another topic for another day
is how to use AI to speed this process greatly
without losing your voice, with keeping it
heart-centered, spirit-filled, how to use AI and do that.
So all my writing time has decreased.
Prayerfully, my writing skills haven't
decreased because I get so reliant on AI.
So let me ask you, do you type in, like I use chat GPT,
and do you say, in the voice of?
So I was going to say, who is similar to your voice
out there that chat GPT knows?
Yeah, I know you can do that.
And I haven't done that because I'm
trying to establish my own voice.
So I don't say in the voice of.
I'm training it to know my voice.
So I'm glad you don't have in the voice of Ric Flair.
That would not match you.
Not match me, yeah.
No, I'm really not trying to be in the voice of anybody.
I think we have too many carbon copies.
So my voice is my voice, and it's unique.
And I will use AI as a tool to speed up
getting my voice out there, to correct grammatical errors,
to save me time, but not to change my voice.
And of course, if you're only using chat GPT for you,
you are training it to know you.
Mine is a little more challenging
because I use chat GPT to help a lot of clients
with a lot of voices.
And so it probably doesn't know who the heck I am.
I probably look like a multiple personality person.
But it's all good.
You need two accounts.
You need to open two GPT accounts.
Can you really?
Well, yeah, it's just a different email, isn't it?
I haven't thought about that.
That's smart.
I really should have one that's just me
and start developing my voice.
That's a good point.
Appreciate you saying that.
So the question you oh, so I don't
put in the voice of anybody.
I use chat GPT in a really interesting way.
It's kind of like my little slave.
And it goes like this.
If I was going to write something,
it would go something like this.
I want to write a newsletter, and the subject
is going to be on managing your time using time chunking.
And I really want to bring out the power of doing things
in 20-minute chunks that are uninterrupted,
not having anything interrupting you.
So no bings and dings, no.
And the article is going to be for faith-based women.
And I wanted to have a call to action
to take a look at my jumpstart where
I will teach how to do this.
I want to include a story.
And the story is Susie, who started using time chunking
and wrote this review.
I'm thrilled to tell you I'm saving 15 hours a week.
Thank you, Brenda.
Boom.
That took me three minutes.
And it's going to be a pretty fantastic article,
I can tell you.
It's got the story.
It's got teaching.
It's got who the audience is for.
It's got what do I want to accomplish?
What's the main point?
So that's the way I use ChatGPT.
I brain dump onto it.
And I know where I'm going, and then I let it create it.
And then if I don't like it, or I remember something else,
or then I'll say, actually, rewrite it.
Make it more sassy.
Make it more personal.
Include a how-to section with these five tips at the end.
Include an application section, five steps to use time chunking.
And give me a great title, an engaging title.
And that would be a way I would talk to chat GPT.
And so I'm just brain dumping straight from my head and my content and just letting someone
else write it in the same way as when I was a founder of a large networking company sometimes
I would hand write out everything but a lot of times I put out a concept and you know,
one of my one of my assistants that did all my writing I mean she did all the writing
I'm going dating way back but Mervin's she was like assistant to the president of Mervin's.
So she had a lot of skill in writing.
And so you know, in the past I hired that and I still do I have an amazing copywriter
that I've used for many years.
So you know, there's an assortment of having people help you with things and having computers
help you with things and things that you just need to write yourself.
And so sometimes when I'm sitting down to write a heartfelt story or what God revealed
to me this morning or anything I'll write the whole thing or I'll write a chapter to
my book and then I might copy and paste it into chat GPT and say how would you improve
this right or are there any grammatical errors or give me hashtags comma separated hashtags
to go with this.
And so, you know, that's, that's the way that I use it Julie.
Yeah, I've just been using it for titles and what's their pain and that's it.
So yeah, that's great.
Yeah.
Good, good.
All right.
So welcome Angela so great that you joined us Hello Hello.
We have been focusing on and you can go back and catch the recording.
We have been focusing on the power of having a weekly newsletter.
And so the what's the how's the where's and then I branched out to show that once you've
got that for your email list, because growing your email list and nurturing your your email
list has to be a priority in your business, then you know you could expand and so I showed
how I expanded it over to LinkedIn and that got into a little digression in how I use
So there you are all caught up.
So is there any, anything, any questions, comments, aha's that you were bringing to
office hours that you wanted support around Angela?
No, coming to learn and glean and soak up.
Wonderful.
So glad that you did.
All right.
Well, Julie, you feel full, you got the value, you know what to do, go get your newsletter
going.
Yeah, tons.
Yeah.
I do have another thing.
If you're looking for content, you may want to wrap it up.
I don't know.
I don't know if Angela had anything.
She said she didn't.
And I'm trying to keep these short unless Oh, well, then no, that's fine.
I didn't know what this was.
Yeah.
Not that important.
Yeah.
Okay.
We will.
We'll always do a different topic.
Now.
I had actually originally planned to go over the journal template, how to use a journal.
And I did not go over that.
So that would be a separate, a separate thing.
So I think what I'm going to do is stop the recording and start a new recording around
that.
So hang tight here.