If you are reading this, you should consider doing the same thing I’m doing here:
Two things: An email newsletter, and building your email list. Here are 5 reasons why right now is the time to begin.
You're here because there’s something about your status quo that isn't working for you.
I’ll share a story.
My husband is a YouTuber.
He makes woodworking videos. Before this? He was a financial analyst, real estate appraiser, homeschooling dad, and opera singer in college.
And now a woodworking YouTuber? Not at all on the radar.
A brand partner of his just sent him two 3D printers.
I’ve been fascinated, watching these things melt and deposit tiny strands of filament.
And the printer flies around this work piece with certainty, following its path, which from the outside, it looks like chaos.
But it’s following a planned rhythm that allows it to create an end product.
You need that end product: The visibility and opportunities and impact from the consistent work building your email list. And to not get derailed by nerves, boredom with the work, or lack of a plan to operationalize it.
Purpose Drives Action
I started this newsletter to share what I learn in the trenches of thought leadership.
I see where people’s dreams of impact and new ventures go nowhere from nerves and lack of clarity. They don’t know what personal thought leadership should look like - so there’s no audience when it’s time to launch, and no practice using their voice and platform to lead, and they give up.
I want to prevent that regret and wasted work.
Like a 3D print stopped halfway through. A lot of wasted work, price of filament, effort - and not much to show for it.
That purpose drives me to get brave and reach out.
Not because I’m the brightest mind in my field or the bravest person to pick up a mic. Not because I was invited by the world to ‘become’ a thought leader.
I hope you gain courage and clear tactics to go build what you were meant to build - whether your portfolio career, to become an author, a content creator - even a mid-50’s YouTuber.
5 Reasons Why it’s Time to Start Your Newsletter:
Write to nurture leads from a place of service and sharing insights. You don’t have to sell. You get to serve.
Write to stake your claim on your ideas. If people don’t associate those ideas with you, they aren’t yours.
Write to own an audience (social media is building on rented land)
Write to publish books (If you ever hope to traditionally publish a book, the first thing they look at is the size of your email list and social media audience.)
Write because the act of writing will crystallize your value prop, frameworks, brand, and usefulness unlike any coach or exercise could do for you.
Bonus - Write because life is short and it’s time to share learnings.
I believe we have all the answers we need to fix the problems of today.
Even the devastation from what I believe is this country’s greatest humanitarian crisis in our lifetime with Hurricane Helene -
There are people still under mud, hoping and praying we get there in time. But we don’t know where they are.
Name a problem - there’s someone out there who could fix it.
But they are instead head down in a corporate office trying to make someone else happy, hoping to keep their role in a wild economy, and praying their leadership doesn’t screw up.
And they’ve never had to look for a job. Always a recruiter calling. Always an offer out there. Those days are GONE.
So my friend Melissa Cohen and I put together a large group of like-minded people, so we could figure out what thought leadership looks like and how to market ourselves.
An audience and visibility gives you opportunity and options.
We are here for the current and former executive leaders who now have to market their work and create their own path, to teach them the tactics of thought leadership
But we aren’t digital natives, and alone, we don’t do it very well. We’re inconsistent, unsure what to do.
Friends, it’s Q4'24, and now is the time to start planning your 2025 personal thought leadership and marketing strategy.
What won’t work in 2025 is an ad hoc thought leadership strategy (it’s been my plan, too.) It’s too much of a cognitive burden to leave on the backburner or have hanging over your schedule. And other people do have their ducks in a row.
I’ll share over the coming weeks steps to consider when building your personal thought leadership plan for 2025.
If you need to move faster on an email newsletter to gain clients and are the face of your brand or consultancy, you’re invited to join a 4-week, soup to nuts email list and newsletter masterclass that will take you from "Where do I start?" to confidently hitting "send" on emails that work.
Do it for yourself or with us, but here’s a plan to follow - either on your own to get ready for 2025, or in our class kicking off Wednesday, October 9:
✅ Week 1: Contacts & Platform Plan
Build your list and create a strategic platform plan. Know exactly who you're reaching and why.
✅ Week 2: Copywriting for Conversion
Tackle persuasive writing with conversion copywriter Rebeca Arango to learn to motivate your subscribers to click, book, and purchase.
✅ Week 3: Email Copy Review & Social to Email with CTAs
Get your email copy reviewed and learn how to turn social media followers into subscribers with compelling CTAs.
✅ Week 4: Set up and Hit Send
Hands-on support to set up your email platform Substack (platform you’re reading now), ConvertKit (business email marketing) or Flodesk (easy email marketing). From DNS records and setup to hitting that send button with confidence.
This is our agenda for the Inbox Influence masterclass is for those serious about building connections, growing their business, and turning interest into action. No fluff, just practical strategies that work.
Registration is limited to ensure attendee attention and success.
Start your newsletter with a buddy, on your own so you’re ready for 2025 before the holidays set in. Or join us and get this big project off your list, with a $525 investment.
(Or if you hired this out, about $1500-2500 to launch, plus ongoing outsourced management. Hold on to your cash.)
Who decides who the writers, speakers, and leaders are that we will follow?
It’s not your peers. Or the local Chamber of Commerce. Not a publisher.
You decide if you will become a thought leader.
The next newsletter explores your 2025 thought leadership strategy. See you then!
Grab time on my calendar for an intro call or with questions. Happy to help.
About me:
Julie Michelle Morris helps leaders become thought leaders, and drags the genius out of organizations and their leaders across cybersecurity, philanthropy, social good, policy, for-profit including Center for Internet Security, World Economic Forum, Asset Funders Network, UC San Diego, along with founders, authors, speakers, and consultants from across the globe.
Julie speaks on developing your visibility toward service at scale, monetizing your expertise, and the how-to of thought leadership. She hosts high-profile conversations on her podcast, 'How To: Thought Leadership'.
Based in Dallas, Texas, Julie graduated from California State University of Long Beach with a Bachelors in Economics and studied Accounting at the University of California, San Diego, and is mom to two amazing daughters and wife to a financial analyst turned YouTube woodworker.