I should be working on Field Notes... but I'm procrastinating. What about you?

I was editing some emails with ChatGPT. Write Without AI starts soon, so I wanted to see how good or not good it can be. Alas... it remains a dum-dum. For example, I ask it to edit an email where I'm trying to sell X. The structure is teach a thing -> for more, sign up here. Simple, right? But ChatGPT has a problem with that. It doesn't like that I'm teasing. It wants me to either not introduce an idea or, if I do introduce an idea, then finish it. So I have to be explicit. I have to tell it that "I AM TEASING," and only then is it like... oh yes, with that context, it makes total sense. It also doesn't like bold claims. LIke... if I have... "If you do X, you will get Y," ChatGPT will panic... it will flag that sentence and be all like... but can you really guarantee that your audience will get Y? Maybe soften the claim a bit. People might push back. It's too bold. Yada yada yada. I wasn't even THAT bold... Leave it up to ChatGPT to write copy from scratch (without explicitly defining your parameters) and it will write you copy that tastes like tap water. Not even good tap water... not NYC tap water... more like Denver tap water. Yuck. Point remains: Unless you already know what you're doing, AI copy is not only useless, but it will actually do more harm than good.

A couple of disclaimers: • Once the challenge is finished and I've either thoroughly humiliated myself... or come out the other end of the tunnel basking in the limelight that is a fatter bank account thanks to deposits... I SHALL remove all the posts related to this experiment. • If this ends in humiliation, there's that • But if this is a success, I'll bundle up these posts and turn it into a paid offer Basically, all of you in this group right now are getting front-row seats (or backstage pass... dunno which is more appropriate) to this primetime Skool show for free... temporarily. Ok... that said, let the challenge commence. === ⚽ Day 1: List of Brands I decided to start by making a list of brands I’d like to work with. By the way, this is happening in real time. I haven’t done ANY research in advance. So… here’s what I’m starting with: Making a list of brands with the following criteria: SaaS companies | products I have used, currently use, or know of that are pretty great. 1. SiteGround (my website host) 2. Kinsta (another host I like, even if I’m not with them) 3. Kit (ESP) 4. MemberPress (membership plugin for WordPress) 5. Skool (community platform) 6. TK (writing platform by Medium) 7. Luma (event scheduling) 8. StickyHive (Skool community management software) 9. AuthoredUp (LinkedIn management software) 10. PayHip (online store platform) 11. Sponsor Mole (finds brand contacts and relevant stuff) 12. Lulu (book publishing for self-publishers) 13. Bear (blogging platform) 14. Castos (podcasts) 15. Transistor (podcasts) 16. Tailwind (pin scheduling) 17. Atticus (book writing app for self-publishers) That’s my preliminary list. I should go start digging up some info on them now. If you guys have suggestions, I’m all ears!

I've been telling myself that I need to start doing brand outreach... but I'm also finding all sorts of excuses to not do it. So, time for some public accountability. Despite my natural reluctance toward anything "build-in-public," I've decided to make this challenge officially public and totally free. Here's the plan: ~~ 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝟲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽. ~~ I know some folks do 6 brands in a single day, but yeah... not happening. Instead, I wanna do six brands, with proper research, vetting, and just... I don't know... do as good a job as I can. You're welcome to follow along.

Print subscriptions are booming, it seems. I mean, I know some marketers who have a print newsletter... Ben Settle, Chris Orzy, and a few others? I know FN member @Rene Kerkdyk has one for his music business.... But recently I came across a bunch of solopreneurs just running snail mail type businesses with hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of subscribers! There's even a business for these snail-mail type businesses... that does the printing and shipping, called StampFans. Through StampFans, I found a super cool bi-monthly printed newspaper subscription business called Found and Flowered (attached photo is from their website). They run TWO separate print subscriptions. One is in the newspaper format (here's their latest... it looks sooo cool!!!), and the other is a snail mail subscription that they run through StampFans. Anyway, wanted to share in case there are art enthusiasts among you looking to start a side gig... this could be fun! And with a service like StampFans, easy to start and manage, too. But it doesn't have to be art-related. I think any of you can start a print subscription business like this if you want to. Something to think about, maybe... if the format appeals to you.