Okay, so welcome to this edition of office hours. I'm pretty excited. I don't know if you all noticed the date. Do any of you pay attention to numbers?
I do. I feel that the universe is orderly and numbered in biblical numerology and God speaks through numbers.
And so today is 12-12-24, which is two more 12s. It's just like 12-12-12, which is really about divine authority, about government, about leadership.
And I feel that as we are moving out of this season and moving into the next season, it's a season about God's people, God's women, rising up into their full divine authority.
So we have power and we have authority. Power comes from God and authority is really the permission to use that power. We've been gifted that from the Holy Spirit.
But we use our human ability to step into that fully and to realize who we are and what God is calling us to.
And so we've been talking about different things. I always have everybody share before I do the recording just to protect privacy and things like that.
I have them share what they're working on and what the questions are and then I formulate that to share with you.
So one of the questions that came up is around a newsletter, having a newsletter.
Now I feel this is one of the kingpins, this is one of the foundational pieces of your business, of your ministry.
You know how I feel, business tree, business and ministry, faith integrated business.
And so there's a lot of powerful reasons for having a newsletter and they don't have to be long.
They need only be as long as what you need to powerfully tell the story or share the point.
So I don't want you to feel that it needs to be this massive thing. A newsletter could be a paragraph or two.
It could be a couple pages if that's something that's really readable and pulls people in.
So don't worry about the length as much as the purpose of the newsletter and how to craft a good one and why.
Why do you even want it in your business?
I believe and I get this feedback a lot, a lot, a lot over the years that people really look forward to my newsletter.
And I made a decision early on before it was even in vogue to share your faith in the marketplace.
That's becoming more in vogue, which is exciting marketplace ministry.
But even before then, I always called it the Sunday edition.
So no matter what else I was teaching about business or life or anything on Sundays, it was my way to minister to people.
And so I really get a lot of people say they look forward to that.
So you pray before deciding.
And so here's some of the technical sides of it. How often?
At minimum, once a month.
However, things are moving so fast and attention is such a commodity that I cannot recommend highly enough that you do a newsletter every single week.
And that you do it on the same day at the same time.
If you notice as much as humanly possible for the last 10 years, my newsletters come out at noon Pacific time on Sundays.
This has a lot of reasons.
You want to. Well, first of all, let's just back up for a second and understand your audience.
You've got a funnel, right? You've got a you've got a group of people from the broadest public and bringing them down to know you closer, closer, closer to the bottom of the funnel of wanting to work.
work with you, which, of course, is less and less and less
people, OK?
What you have to understand at this bottom of the funnel,
at any given moment, 5% or less of the population
is ready, the timing is right, and capable financially
to use your service, 5%.
So the problem that people face and they get frustrated
is they put all that energy in, where
are my people that are going to buy from me?
I'm doing all this work, and where are they?
Because they've got all of the attention on 5%.
They're neglecting the long game of the 95%.
And in particularly, there's another.
So these are the ones ready and able, the 5%.
There's another about 10% that are researching.
They're thinking about it.
Man, I've heard a lot about this coaching.
I think I need to get a coach maybe next year.
Maybe I should.
What are coaches?
Like their or whatever your field is,
they're not ready at this moment,
but they're next in line to be ready.
If you are talking to those people,
you just increase from 5% to 15% people you're reaching.
And then there's others that you're
building the relationship to even create
the awareness of what's possible,
why they need you, et cetera.
But what you want to do is to have consistency.
Consistency is your friend.
I always say consistency creates momentum.
Have consistency.
And my philosophy is, because attention is such a commodity
right now, is to make paying attention to your materials.
And let's talk about newsletter right now,
since that's the focus that was brought up on this call.
To make your newsletter a habit.
You want to be a habit for them.
And so to make it a habit for them,
it has to be rewarding to their brain chemistry
that it feels good after they read it.
They're inspired.
They got something they can use.
They have hope, whatever it was.
They lined up with your values.
People are buying more from values these days.
Because of the trust recession, they're
more likely to buy from you if you have common values.
And how do they know your values if you're not
talking about it?
Well, what's one of the best places to talk about it
is the newsletter.
That's where you can share a common interest and love.
This is relationship building.
You can share common values.
And so having a newsletter once a week
is, in my opinion, the kingpin of staying in touch
with your audience.
Growing your audience.
Nurturing your audience.
So you keep that in mind.
So OK, I'm going to do it once a week.
Now, where do the topics come from?
Somebody said, how do I do topics?
Well, I look at that two ways to really generate topics.
One is, they're both spiritual, but one is direct line with God
that you're meditating and you're praying.
And out of service and out of love,
you say, God, what does my audience mean to hear?
What's on your heart?
What do you want me to talk about?
Speak through me.
Write through me.
I want to be your vessel.
I know I'm the temple of the Holy Spirit.
I have the mind of Christ.
So write through me.
Speak through me.
What do you want me to talk about this week?
You can journal that.
And that, of course, is going to be rhema, word.
We've got two kinds of word, the Greek for word.
You've got logos, which is the written word,
and rhema, which is the revealed word.
And so you're getting a direct download from God.
It's going to be very powerful.
And so that doesn't happen all the time for me.
I don't have a consistent on switch.
But man, when I do that and that comes through,
I get a lot of replies to those emails.
It's like, wow.
spoke to me, that was just in time, I was praying about that,
you touched me, OK?
And they're very powerful emails, OK?
So that's one way of coming up with topics.
Second way of topics is, I've always told you,
have two lists going at all time.
Well, I have several lists, but this
is two of the lists I want you to have
when it comes to this topic.
One is a list of topics to talk about.
And you're always adding to that, OK?
I actually have a book that is my list book.
Every page is lists.
It's a powerful, creative way of going through things,
and you just make lists.
Well, one of those lists is topics,
and you're always adding to that.
And that's for your blog, that's for future lessons,
that's for the newsletter.
But if you've got this, it's not a blank page.
You've got this list, and you glance through it,
something's going to jump out at you,
and it's not going to feel like you're just
working on a blank page.
So always having a list of topics.
The other thing that you're ever growing is your story bank,
OK?
So every time you think of a story, you have a story,
something happens, you pop it in the folder, the story bank,
so that you always have a story to tell.
Jesus, 90% of the time, told stories in parables.
This is the best way to capture attention,
to have people remember, to touch the heart.
So if you can have more story in your newsletter
and in your posts, they're going to be far more powerful.
And the more senses you use in the story,
the more experiential it is, the more powerful.
So if you have a story bank, that also
helps you when you go to write your newsletter.
Lastly, I would talk about research,
so that you're not operating in a vacuum.
And do real-time research with your ideal clients,
with your clients.
If you say, hey, you probably know
I write a Sunday newsletter, and I'm just curious.
If a newsletter was coming to you,
what topic would you love to hear about?
What's on your mind these days?
What would you love to talk?
What do you wish more of the coaching space, mentoring
space, healing space was talking about?
Get in touch with your audience.
Use their words.
When they give you questions, a lot of my material
comes from your questions in your own words, right?
So that's one form of research, which
is live research with your existing potential clients
and clients.
The other form of research is using AI.
And you can use chat GPT.
And you could do things like this.
You could say, this is my audience.
I am just going to make up something right now,
so you could hear what I would do.
I work with female Christian entrepreneurs, most of them
coaches.
Some have profits.
Some have nonprofit businesses and ministry.
What is the number one challenge or problem?
And you could add more details if you have it.
They're married.
They're single.
They're around the age of 50.
They're post-menopausal, whatever
it is that you know about your audience.
What are the top 5 to 10 problems, challenges
that they are facing or you believe they will face in 2025?
What newsletters or topics for newsletters?
Give me 5 to 10 topics for newsletters
for this audience that would be very relevant for this season.
A lot of times, I know the problems or challenges
because I'm in the trenches all day that they face.
A chat GPT will give me another 3 or 4 I didn't even think of.
So it's another way of expanding.
Remember, this is a large language learning model.
It's getting fed by a million coaches right now,
and people searching, and all of those things.
So this is another way that you can have an ongoing.
list of topics. Now another reason for writing the same time every week, one is you want to get them
in the habit. You want to be a habit for them. Two, you want to stay front of mind and you want
to be relevant for them. But number three, it's also for you to help you be consistent that it
becomes a habit for you. So it's so ingrained in me after 10 years that I have a newsletter going
out on Sundays that I'm thinking about it during the week. And even if I write it that Sunday
morning, which I often do, it's just built into my schedule. And I will say of all the things I've
done marketing and growing my business, I would say the newsletter's top of the list of things
I've done to always stay front of mind. And you won't always know that you're touching people.
You won't always know what they're thinking. Not everybody gives you feedback. They're busy. Most
people don't. I have found though, I'll speak at like a Tapestry Women's Network event or I'll be
out at some kind of, you know, chamber networking of some kind and someone or someones will come up
to me and say, I just wanted you to know, I just love your newsletters. They are so good.
They haven't said anything for the years, but it's there. And when they move from that, you know,
researching level 10% to that 5% that's ready to buy, let me tell you, a consistent newsletter is
going to keep you front of mind and be the one that they finally say, man, I need to work with you.
Because through the newsletter, they're getting to know, like, and trust you, which is number one.
They're seeing how you share common values. They're seeing that you know your stuff. They're
seeing that what you do really moves them forward and gives them an experience, right? And they're
learning more about your craft. They may not even know everything about what you do and your
newsletter helps them understand. You might be in health and part of your newsletter is talking
about EMFs and they're like, I didn't even know about that subject. Wow, I wonder what else I
don't know about my health, right? Or you might be the relationship or like Bev, you know, you use
so many tools to help people know themselves to get in the right career. I hadn't even heard of
all those tools. I hadn't heard of the COBE index and I'm pretty in the know about things coaching,
right? So as you use the newsletters, they can be a time to inspire. They can be a time to teach.
They can be time to share a conviction. They can be a call, have, you know, a strong call to action,
what's coming up. They can be a time for them to see the craft that you know.
Okay. So with that being said, is that helpful? Then we can go in and look at some things
and talk about some specific newsletters. But I want to know, first of all, am I
hitting the right mark? What questions do you still have? Now, remember,
ChatGPT can help you write this. It can save or whatever AI you're using,
especially if you have trained it to know your voice. The more you use it and train it to know
your voice and you stay in the same thread with ChatGPT, the better results you're going to get
or whatever AI you're using. So I have one thread that is just for newsletters. So it has all the
newsletters I've written. It knows how I like newsletters. There's formatting that I like.
Um, so it also knows my voice. I, you know, ChatGPT can be very verbose. AI can be very
verbose. And it can write these long, complicated paragraphs that's not going to reach your audience.
So getting it to write your newsletter is only the first step. Getting it to write the newsletter
in your voice is another. So it knows for me that I like very short paragraphs,
no more than two or three sentences, because that's how people read now.
I like a lot of white space. I like short sentences. I like engaging, meaning that I
involve the reader a lot. I ask questions. You often hear me say, can you relate? Is this you?
Does this happen to you? Um, so that you're engaging the reader in conversation with you.
You're not just talking at them. Nobody likes
likes to be talked at.
So involve the reader, let them feel.
The use of story is so powerful, making it heartfelt,
if that's where you're coming from.
So when you have AI write, you're
letting it know who are you writing to, what is the style,
what is the tone, what is the call to action,
and what story could be included.
And that's often how I will frame a newsletter.
I'm writing my weekly newsletter.
It already knows because I do it every week.
I've trained it now.
It knows my audience and my voice.
And the topic is, and the story that made me think of it,
or the scripture I was reading today that made me think of it,
or the question my client shared
that made me think about this, or the experience I had,
whatever, is this.
So that it's very personal.
It's not just computer ease.
It has your story, a client's story.
Those things will make it, especially story,
make it very powerful.
Remember, I've taught you this before,
but with AI, when you have it write something,
don't assume that's the best version.
I go back and I say, it's a large language learning model.
How would you improve this to make it even more engaging?
Or how would you improve this, like what you were asking,
Tracy, to get more people to respond to my call to action?
How would you improve this to make it more engaging?
And it will usually rewrite it again.
And you can choose what you like, the first or the second.
But usually, the second is even better.
Usually, not always.
You can also write the whole thing
and you don't want it touched.
You write the whole thing.
And like in my book, I don't want it changing my book.
I write, but I submit it and I say, how would you make this?
Whatever it is I want.
And make any changes.
Do not change any wording.
Just tell me what changes you would make or put it in italics.
And so that's another way that you don't
want it to write for you.
You just want suggestions to make it more powerful, more
engaging, more heartfelt, more likely to drive conversion,
et cetera.
So with that being said, of course,
include a good picture with it.
Include good formatting.
I sprinkle bolding.
The use of bolding.
Remember that people these days, they don't like to read a lot.
That's why I use the short sentences and things.
And so they like to skim.
If you can make your work skimmable,
it'll be more powerful.
Well, how do you make it skimmable?
I use bolding throughout single words, sometimes a sentence.
And I make it so that starting at the top left
and over diagonally to the right and then back down
to the bottom left.
So if they skim it, it takes that pattern.
And so that if all they did was read the bolding following
that, they would have the gist of the entire article.
So this is another way.
And of course, with LinkedIn, I love
that you can really break up the newsletter.
So I do my LinkedIn first.
I'm going to show you something.
Most of you have probably seen it.
But in case you haven't or those watching on the recording,
let me just give me one second here.
So on your LinkedIn, what you want to do
is make sure that people know about it, first of all,
which means that if you have turned on the creator mode,
you have a featured section.
And so it's one of your call to action.
So you can see mine right here, subscribe
to the Prosper newsletter.
So I've got my freebie, I've got my newsletter,
and I've got book a call.
That's first.
Then when you actually go to the newsletter,
Linda made me a template.
So my newsletter template is.
always the same.
So you could see, unlike pictures,
there's a newsletter template.
And she made me three or four in my branding.
So that's also consistency, is having that.
And I have chat GPT do this top intro, which
is the teaser as to why they want to read it.
You always ask yourself the question, so what?
Why?
Why should I read this?
OK, now when you go to format your newsletter,
remember some of the tools that you have.
And then I cut and paste this for my email newsletter
because the formatting is so nice.
So you've got a full headline, and you
want to really make your headline engaging,
really think about that.
Then notice the title is what gets them to open,
and then the first sentence is what gets them to read.
So my first sentence, have you ever
felt like your prayers are hitting the ceiling?
Ask, re-ask, and yet no visible change.
So that's called an engaging sentence.
I'm asking them a question.
I'm pulling them in.
Maybe you're believing for a breakthrough
in your coaching business, or a long-awaited opportunity,
or a restoration of something broken,
but so far the wait has been long,
and the result's elusive.
You think people might relate to that.
See, I'm pulling them in.
Now notice, I break it up.
You're not alone.
Notice the molding.
If we learn how to pray from faith and not fear
from presence, not panic.
If they don't read anything and they just go,
you're not alone, if we learn, oh,
what's the difference?
Do you see how I'm pulling them from curiosity
to what I could do to, ooh, what is it?
I'm pulling them through with what's important and molding,
problem-centric versus presence-centric.
And then it has the ability, when you write a newsletter,
to do quotes.
Sometimes I make my own words quotes to make them stand out.
This is not a quote from someone else.
This is a quote from me.
I'm just kind of praying because it makes it stand out.
It magnifies the issue, and it shrinks our faith.
Makes it stand out.
And then other times I do it when it's a quote, especially
Bible verses.
So do you see how this is a lot of white space?
It's broken up to pull them through with molding,
with quotes, with bullets, especially when it's long,
like this one.
This one was pretty long.
With practical things they can do.
Now, this is a call to action post.
I'm inviting everybody to my Jumpstart 2025,
December 27 to 31.
So I built that into the newsletter.
If you've got something coming in,
you need to build a runway to that.
Don't just tell them a couple of times.
They won't notice it.
They have to see it 10, 12 times before they'll join you.
So it's part of my newsletter, but it fits
to what it's in the theme.
If you're ready to move from powerless to powerful prayer,
I'm still on the same theme.
Turning your morning routine into faith-building,
miracle-inviting practice, then join me at the Jumpstart.
And I'm also promoting becoming a Prosper Leader member
because everybody else is going to pay $27,
but you get it for free as a Prosper Leader member.
Which, by the way, the code is all capital letters,
jump, and 25 when you register.
I've sent it to you by email, but OK.
So do you see how it's really broken up?
And so when it goes to formatting,
those are some ideas.
So let me open up in the last few minutes
for conversations and further questions that you might have.
I'm going to go ahead and stop the recording
and just dedicate my time to those of you that are here live.
So let me stop the recording.