Hi Reader 👋 -

Happy Wednesday. If you're in the United States, you're probably gearing up for a Thanksgiving meal tomorrow. I'm hosting a Friendsgiving, as I've done for many, many years.

I took the week off (mostly) from client work. The one exception was wrapping up a deliverable on Monday because I was sick last Friday. My kids don't have school so it's been very loud and not at all a "break." But that's frequently my life: bustling with activity. For the most part, I love it and am grateful for it.

1) Reflection:

I recorded a podcast episode this morning about planning for the new year as a solopreneur. It was the 12th podcast I've recorded this year, hitting my goal to record 12 in 2023.

I thought a lot this week about the collaborations I've done this year, from podcasts to guest posts. It's one of my techniques to grow my business since it increases my visibility and helps me reach a new audience.

All of the people — all of them — are people I've met online. We've never met IRL. And yet many of them I would now consider friends. We've traded emails, video calls, and support. Another reason to be grateful.

2) Product:

Black Friday shopping is upon us (also known as "unsubscribe from all the mailing lists!" weekend). Also a time when I scour my favorite e-commerce sites for deals.

I love, love, love skincare and self-care products and have an embarrassing amount of oils, hand salves, eye creams, and more. My latest favorite is the Mount Lai Gua Sha. I don't know why, but this little stainless steel tool makes my face feel so much better. I also use the Brightening Berry facial oil and need to restock, so fingers crossed for a BFCM sale.

3) Tip:

Every year I buy mums and put them by the front door and EVERY year I neglect them and they die. This year was no exception.

Then I saw an idea (probably on Pinterest) to spray paint my dead mums with fake snow. Then I got some Christmas-y ornaments on sticks (probably on Amazon).

The result is a very festive display outside my door for the next few months.

Please note: I am not crafty. At all. But this one is really easy. And made me feel less guilty about my dead mums.

That's it for this issue of Tinkering! See you again in two weeks.

Cheers,
Anna

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Want more ideas?

→ I started writing tutorials for some of the tools I use. I shared one on Medium about using AI to turn longform content into social posts. I'm working on launching a new website of tutorials, so stay tuned!

→ A post on LinkedIn turned into an entire discussion about async communication. You can read more here.

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