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a weekly(-ish) newsletter on websites, workflows, writing & getting paid
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Summer’s officially here, Reader!
(Ok, maybe not ~officially~ but who waits for the solstice anymore?) 🌞
I’m currently road-tripping with my family, and somewhere between gas station bathroom breaks and “are we there yet?” on repeat... this thought has been floating around in the back of my mind:
Summer is a weird time to be a business owner.
It’s like, just when you get in a groove—suddenly the kids are home. Unless you homeschool... in which case it might be the opposite. Now you’ve got VBS and camps and, for the first time in months, the house is actually quiet.
Or maybe you don’t have kids—but everyone's on vacation and things feel sloooow.
I might not be the only one that might need the reminder:
Summer you isn’t school-year you—and she deserves a different kind of to-do list.
I definitely don’t have it all figured out, but I do know this: when I set an intention for what I want to get out of something—and track it in some simple way—I actually get stuff done. Even if it’s less than usual, it still feels like progress.
So I made a list of summer goals for me ~and my kids—and thought I’d share:
✨ Summer Bucket List: PARADISE EDITION (with a work-from-home/kids-are-home/biz twist)
- Have my kids set and chase ONE medium-sized goal. We do this every summer—they choose something like running a mile, learning a song on piano, reading a book a week, or picking up a new skill.
- Take ONE weekday off each week to enjoy this time with them. Float in a pool, go to the zoo, find something local we’ve never done. Just no laptop allowed.
- Let the kids plan our vacations. Research, routes, restaurants, fun facts about local history... all of it.
- Stick to my weekly content goal: One blog post. One newsletter (hi 👋🏼). Share on Pinterest. Chalkboard scoreboard to keep me on track.
- Put the kids in charge of cooking duty once a week. Meal ideas, grocery list, clean-up. All of it. (as a self-taught family chef, this is really important to me!)
- Read one book just for fun—not productivity. And actually read it. Not audio. Not a podcast. A real, hold-it-in-my-hands book.
- Help get 2 websites launched before the school doors open back up again. If that's something you're working towards, here are 8 things (I think) you need in place before you take that leap.
- Finish building out my full-blown template shop (!!) And invite some amazing business owners to be beta testers.
If one of those made you nod along—hit reply and tell me what you’re working toward. Maybe it's something we can do together? (Not opposed to a newsletter book club)
And if you’re more of a DIYer, and legitimizing your business with a website is on your larger goals list...👉 Grab my current website template here and you'll be an automatic beta tester—I've already started updating it. Win-win. ✨
That means you’ll receive early versions plus all the final deliverables as they roll out this summer (and yes the price will be going up)
Here's to soaking up the sun (and the strategy),
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Psst, that link up there for the templates? It's currently a hidden page on my site. This is the only place I'm sharing it right now as it's going under the knife. Also, the one-page site will be combined with the full site template and will not be available on it's own... possibly next week? Not sure how long it'll be there!
WATERCOOLER BUZZ
Let’s spill the tea—web, design, and biz trends comin’ in hot.
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🎨 Skillshare: Came for the free trial, stayed for a yearly membership. See Bucket List Item #1 ^^^ This is how we do it. My kids and I have def got my money's worth. Our faves? photography, Procreate, when my son learned to play his drum set, business taxes, SEO... they have classes for everything. Here's a link to a free month.
💜 Dubsado 3.0 update: I was invited to join the Dubsado 3.0 Alpha Community—a behind-the-scenes Slack group where we get to help shape the next version of the platform. It’s a wild mix of sneak peeks, messy prototypes, and collaboration for new features. I’ll share details when I can, but just know… exciting things are coming. 👀
🧠 Kit’s FREE Creator Business Summit on June 18th. The online space changes constantly—chasing algorithms and marketing trends can get noisy (and 'spensive). But the creators with staying power focus on timeless strategies. We’ll be learning from the best of the best: Pat Flynn, Amy Porterfield, Nathan Barry, Katelyn Bourgoin, and Stu McLaren.
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WEBSITES in the wild
SERVICE PAGE EDITION:
A great service page has ONE job. To convert visitors to buyers for that service. It answers questions, tackles objections, highlights deliverables, and tells what is needed to know. Sprinkle in a few testimonials and an easy way to move forward, and it's golden.
When it comes to your *actual* services, keep it clear and condensed, and all in one spot. Make it so easy for people to see EXACTLY what you can do for them. /re
There are so many ways you can do this—here is just one example from my own template.
Want to see the entire page? Here's the full demo site (password is demo). Click on the SERVICES tab.
📰 DUBSADO INSIDER TIPS
FROM YOUR PERSONAL CERTIFIED DUBSADO SPECIALIST
Q: I added a photo to my signature, and now I’m seeing a tiny pixel image appear underneath it. On my phone, it even asked if the email was spam. When I open the email on my Mac using the Mail app, the whole signature doesn’t show up at all. I’ve tried deleting and re-adding it, but the issue keeps happening. Could this be why my emails are going to spam or junk folders?
A: That little pixel is a tracking image Dubsado uses to see if someone opened your email. Some email apps flag it as suspicious, which can affect deliverability.
If you want to avoid that, you can turn off email tracking in your Dubsado settings (look for something like “see when clients read my emails”). And just in case, double-check that your domain has SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records set up—those help keep your emails out of spam.
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WEEKLY ROUNDUP
ROAD TRIP/CAMPING EDIT
📖 READING: Lone Survivor on audio (need ideas for the road trip home—hit reply if you have any. I'll have an 11 & 14 year old in the car with me)
📺 BINGING THIS: Harry Potter—we have no wifi, and those are the DVD's that have been living in the RV for a while, ha!
🍽️ IN THE KITCHEN: Try this on a griddle. Cook bacon on one side. Spread the grease over across the whole surface and throw down a bag of frozen hashbrowns or tater tots. Crack a few eggs wherever there's room. Add seasoning (we love the Blackstone All Purpose) and mix it together as it cooks. Don't forget cheese to top it off!
🔨 WORKING ON: Making Squarespace templates badder and better than ever (full new template shop launching later this summer - grab the current one now and be part of my beta team >> this is a secret link and not searchable on Google anymore.
🖼️ SCREENSHOT OF THE WEEK:
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There may be affiliate links in my emails. ❤️ These links are provided for convenience only. Made in Paradise does not endorse, warrant, or assume liability for the content or practices of these businesses. If you choose to do business with any of them, do so at your own risk.
matt 5:16
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