You're receiving this email because you've either signed up for one of my free giveaways, taken one of my courses or you were curious when someone else recommended my newsletter and you decided to hit the "subscribe" button to check things out. You can unsubscribe any time.

Missed an issue or want to forward to a friend? Find it all right here.

---

Hello Reader,

I stared at my morning report in dismay.

If you’ve been following along with me for awhile, you’ll know that I’m in, boots and all, learning how to use AI tools to help me streamline my workflows.

One of those things has been setting up a specialised assistant to help me manage my (far too many) emails. And part of this assistant’s job is to report back to me every morning and tell me what it’s found out and what it’s done on my behalf.

Well. This particular morning there was a little note, right at the bottom of the report.

It said something along the lines of … “oops you missed this email and you should probably have a look.”

Turns out it was the response to an email I’d sent out way back in late 2025, pitching one of my stories to a travel publication.

Their response had been an excited (and completely unexpected) “yes, please send it to us so we can have a look”.

And I was only just now seeing it. Nine months too late.

I was horrified. And embarrassed. And super, super cross that I’d missed a great opportunity to get my story published.

After mentally growling at my past self for a few minutes, I started arguing with my current self.

Was it even worth finding out if they were still interested?

One part of me said “no, it’s been 9 months. You’ll just embarrass yourself by asking.”

The other side of me said, “what have you got to lose?”

So I pulled together an email, openly confessing my mistake and asking whether they were still interested.

And sent it.

Then 2 minutes I later, I realised I hadn’t attached the story. So with my ego now crawling on the floor, I emailed them again with another “sorry, oops, here it is” message.

And now it’s fingers crossed.

Either it’s too late or it’s not.

But at least, this way, embarrassing or not, I’ll know.

And I have a sneaking suspicion that the editor will remember my name the next time I send another pitch.

The thing is, I nearly talked myself out of it. Nine months felt too long, too awkward, too much of a "how dare you presume" moment.

But luckily, with me, embarrassment fades fast. Whereas a missed opportunity would leave me stewing for years.

So here’s a tiny thing to try this week. Think of one email, message or follow-up you've been putting off because you're worried it's "too late" now. Send it anyway. The worst that happens is you get a no you already had.

---

Back to Basics Reminder

So learn from my sad tale of woe and audit your inbox habits. If your AI assistant caught something you missed, it's worth asking what else might be slipping through. A quick sweep of unread or unactioned emails once a week can save you from a big "oops."

---

A Quick Time-Saving Tip

Set up a weekly "missed and unactioned" check with ChatGPT (or your AI tool of choice), and get it to flag opportunities, not just tasks.

Here's how:

• Open a new chat with your AI assistant (or set it up as a recurring prompt if it can run automatically).
• Ask it something like: "Once a week, scan my inbox for anything older than three days that hasn't had a reply from me. Flag anything that looks time-sensitive or opportunity-shaped, like a pitch response, a client query or an invitation, not just admin."
• If you're already using an AI assistant for email management, add this as a standing instruction so it shows up in your regular report, not as a one-off check.

It's a small tweak. But it's the difference between finding a missed opportunity nine months later, and finding it nine days later. Nine days is salvageable. Not so sure about nine months.

---

Highlight of the Week

If you’ve ever dreamed about starting your own business, then this might be exactly what you need to get you started.

Circle is running a free 2 day event called the Build Summit on August 25 and 26, for anyone sitting on a digital business idea they haven't launched yet.

I’ve worked with enough people to know that most people don't fail because they're short on ideas. They fail because they never get to the “doing” stage. Or to put it another way, they never get past the planning stage.

Day one has six sessions from people who've actually built what they're teaching, including Chris Donnelly on running a program that keeps people engaged instead of dropping off, and Melyssa Griffin on building something that’s true to you, not just something that sells.

Day two is the Circle AI Hackathon, where you take what you've learned and build it live, with Circle's team on hand to help.

Whatever you've been meaning to build, whether it’s a course, a membership, or a business around what you already know, this is your two day opportunity to actually make it real.

Both days are free. Save your seat on Circle (affiliate link).

---

And that's it for this week. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Trudy

P.S. Speaking of putting yourself out there, Treasa's Content Strategy Bootcamp is coming up. Five days, three teaching sessions on the foundations of content strategy, two live Q&As, and you'll have the replays for 30 days after.

If you've been hearing "content strategy" tossed around and want to actually understand what it means (and whether it's something you could offer), it's worth a look. More details here.