Hi Reader,

"I'd recommend she gets into software engineering - if she cracks that, she'll never be out of work."

That's what I told my sister several years ago when she mentioned that one of her daughters, Sam, was struggling to decide which field to get into after Uni.

Back then, I genuinely believed it. Software had served me well for many years, with seemingly endless demand for developers.

Fast-forward to today. Sam now runs a team of developers at a large software house - but I'm no longer so sure about that "never be out of work" prediction.

AI has transformed many sectors, but to my surprise, software development has probably been hit as hard as any.

I guess the lesson is that no career, skill or business is truly future-proof.

The best we can do is keep adapting to whatever comes next.

💡 My key takeaway Disruption is guaranteed, it's just the disruptor that changes. Whatever it is you do in your business, look for opportunities to adopt and embrace the technology rather than fearing it. Those who do, will stay ahead of the curve. (Btw, you don't need to be techy or nerdy to embrace technology - you just need to be willing to learn about what it can do for you and then seek the relevant help you need to use it)

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Kit Feature - Send emails based on subscribers' time zones

If you haven't come across this feature yet, it's worth knowing about - especially if you have subscribers across multiple time zones.

Here's the scenario...

You're based in the UK and send your weekly newsletter every Friday at 9:00AM.

But your subscribers are scattered around the world:

Laura - London: 9:00AM
​Neil - New York: 4:00AM
​Susan - Seattle: 1:00AM
​Alannah - Alicante: 10:00AM
​Steve - Sydney: 6:00PM

Until recently, getting everyone to receive the email at 9:00AM their time meant scheduling multiple versions of the same broadcast for different locations.

Kit now has a much simpler answer.

You can schedule a broadcast to be delivered at a specific time in each subscriber's local time zone.

So, schedule it for 9:00AM and Kit will attempt to deliver it at 9:00AM wherever each subscriber is located.

There are, however, a few caveats...

🎯 Location inaccuracies

Kit determines a subscriber's location using their IP address when they subscribe.

That's not foolproof. IP-based location isn't always accurate, and someone could simply be travelling when they join your list.

So think of local-time delivery as very useful, rather than infallible.

📬 Broadcasts only - not sequences

For now, this is only available for Broadcasts.

Perhaps Sequences will eventually get the same treatment, although their additional complexity makes that a rather different challenge.

🕖 The 30-hour rule

You need to schedule your Broadcast at least 30 hours in advance to use local-time delivery. If you leave it too late, the option will be greyed out.

There's another slightly mind-bending detail...

Some subscribers will actually receive your newsletter before your scheduled time where you are.

If I schedule an email for Friday at 9:00AM local time, someone in Sydney needs to receive it at 9:00AM Friday in Sydney. Because they're several hours ahead of me, Kit has to start sending the Broadcast while it's still much earlier here in the UK.

Have I confused you...? I think I may have confused myself! 😵‍💫

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Protect your privacy using Kit's address

To comply with email marketing regulations, your marketing emails need to include a valid physical mailing address, but that doesn't mean you have to publish your home address to every subscriber.

If you're a Kit customer, Kit allows you to use its own mailing address in emails sent through the platform, free of charge.

It's a simple way for home-based solopreneurs to meet the physical-address requirement without revealing where they live.

You can enable this under Settings → Email → Mailing Address.

For more details about the actual address details for Kit, check out the link below;

Check out Kit's address

There are some terms you need to agree to, but nothing too onerous... but don't start sending all your Amazon deliveries their way! 🤦🏻‍♂️

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I have a new job...

And that brings me back to where I started this email - AI and software development...

Over the years, I've been part of many Scrum teams, normally as a software developer or business analyst.

If you're unfamiliar with software development, Scrum is simply one way software teams organise themselves to decide what needs building and then build it.

One of the key roles is the Product Owner.

The Product Owner doesn't necessarily build the software. They understand what's needed, decide what's important, set priorities and provide feedback to the people who do.

And I've realised...

That's increasingly the role I'm playing in my own business.

I figure out what I want to achieve, define what needs to be built, then work with AI tools such as Lovable, Codex or Claude Code to build it.

I'm the Product Owner. AI is my software development team.

And you can do exactly the same thing.

You don't need to be a developer. You need to understand your business - what you want to achieve, what would make it better and what problems need solving.

You already know that better than anyone.

Your job is increasingly to communicate those requirements clearly, review what AI produces, provide feedback and keep iterating until you've got what you need.

Had you told me 10 years ago that I'd eventually have an AI software development team at my disposal, I'd have walked away thinking you were on the magic mushrooms!

We can have mixed feelings about where AI is taking us. But it's here, and I'd rather look for ways to use it to my advantage.

Try becoming the Product Owner of your own business. You might be surprised by what you can build.

Have a great weekend, whatever you have planned!

Cheers,
John

Want to up your email game? If you've been thinking about creating an income from email but haven't gotten around to it yet - change that today! Book a free call with John