For a hot minute last week I considered shutting everything down. I ever-so-briefly dreamed about quitting tech and opening a trampoline dance studio called tramp stamp. I can already feel all the studio owners on my list shaking their head at me at that really bad idea.What got me in a tizzy?Dealing with a technical grouch who didn't want to give control of a website back to a friend.This comes up more than you'd think.Are you the owner on your accounts? Or is your web designer? Your IT...
23 days ago • 2 min read
In the nebulous world of email marketing, there's surprisingly few important things to track. There's open rates. Click-Through Rates (CTR). Bounce rates. Revenue per email (RPE). And my personal favorite metric, Open to Write Back Rate (OWBR) - thank you Ann Handley for that one. But my new metric has an n-of-1. Getting Laura Belgray to open my emails right away. And as I learned talking with her this week, what gets her to open emails will likely get your readers to open yours too. Watch...
28 days ago • 2 min read
My friend Anika is in the midst of her Kickstarter campaign to launch her first book.She needs 12k to make it happen by next week. Yesterday morning I got an email that she had just crossed the 10k mark.The genius part? In her email, she nudged early pledgers that they could upgrade their donation to help her cross the finish line.Of course I want to be part of that - there's nothing I like more than seeing numbers go up on a screen. So I promptly raised my pledge.This is why you have to send...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
The one thing I'm convinced I'm never going to do?Write a book. I've witnessed too many mid-draft "I don't wanna do this anymore" tantrums from clients to know I don't have it in me - and I'm in awe of anyone who actually gets one published.While I'm never gonna write one, I do love helping people with the back-end of their book launch. A proper book launch can be just as much work as launching a digital product (and frankly, way harder to fully control).I feel for authors who think their...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
My husband Zane and I don't buy gifts for each other. After almost 20 years of marriage, we don't need more tchotchkes cluttering up the house.Instead we try to find unique experiences we can share. So when I asked my husband what he wanted to do for his birthday last month, he said let's do a past-life regression session. Now I'm pretty much a fly on the woo-adjacent wall (thank you Laura Belgray for that term) and I'm game to try pretty much anything at least once. Somehow in his infinite...
2 months ago • 2 min read
A few weeks ago I decided to come out of my winter cave and invite some friends over for Greek food and mocktails. In the course of 3 hours we covered everything from how we're using Claude to hormone stacks to client persuasion tactics to how to save thousands on software. We're way beyond surface level info - we want gritty details and exact how-to instructions.Which is how most of my friends of a certain age are these days. You need a room where people are having real conversations - and...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Might be my new favorite sign tacked up on telephone poles around my neighborhood.I'll draw your pet. For money.Clear, to the point and even has a QR code for easy scanning.More people could use that kind of simplicity when sharing their offers. Recently I tried to register for a local retreat and while the instagram carousel looked delightful, there was nary a link to click nor a trigger word to use to get more info. I'm someone who appreciates a ManyChat* automation to share info quick with...
3 months ago • 2 min read
One of my friends gave me an odd request while we were waiting for the knife sharpener guy at the the farmer's market (middle-aged joy=sharp knives).Could I curate her instagram feed for her?She's opted out of scrolling for the past few years citing *waves arms everywhere.* But she's missed connecting with people and wants a clean slate. This means she's back on my pebble list - now I can send her my special blend of elderly dog videos, time-lapse crocheted frogs and always on-point muppet...
3 months ago • 2 min read
I'm sitting here nursing my twisted ankle like a wounded bird.Got a little ambitious last night in my first proper House music dance class.Now I pride myself on being a pretty good dancer. I spent many a youthful night sweating it out til 6am in deep house clubs. Even met my husband thru my fav DJ.Turns out I've been doing a few basic moves wrong most of my life. But if you've never learned how to do it right, you keep doing it the same way you've always done it. In my line of work, I see the...
4 months ago • 4 min read