October 2016 Performance Report

This month was very exciting for my business. While I did start slow, I got a lot accomplished. Out of all of the months, October represents the month in which I got more of the previously stated goals accomplished from the prior performance report than any other month.

Without any further adieu, let’s dive in.

 

Total Social Media Domination (TSMD)

I am happy to say that I have published my TSMD membership site. The reason you haven’t heard much about it yet is because I’m still working on a few final adjustments.

Before I share it to the world, I need to polish the copy and dashboard. I’ll also have to upload some of the final videos and create a schedule for me to update the membership site.

But the bulk of it (about 90%) is done. For now, here’s a screenshot to whet your appetite.

 

ConvertKit

The swap between iContact and ConvertKit is virtually over. My critical landing pages have made the complete switch. It’s just a matter of getting some email addresses moved over. With October technically not over yet, this is something I can very easily do in the last few days.

 

Public Speaking Gigs

I am in the process of landing public speaking gigs. I sent out almost a dozen pitches to different events. My new plan is to focus on getting local speaking events which are easier to get. These events will help build credibility and result in more events later on.

In addition to credibility, speaking at local events puts you in front of more people, and in particular, more event organizers who can land you more public speaking gigs.

I am more than happy to speak at public speaking events even if they are free because in any public speaking gig, there’s money to be earned. Even if you don’t get paid to speak, you can offer your product or service to the audience. If you get some sales that way, then it was worth it (or if you want credibility it’s also worth it).

 

StatusBrew

I began using a new tool called StatusBrew to grow my Twitter and Instagram accounts. While the Instagram capabilities are limited due to Instagram’s API rules, Twitter growth has no limits as far as API is concerned.

StatusBrew interested me for a few reasons. The big reason being that it’s the only tool I know of that helps you unfollow Instagram users not following you back while enabling Twitter auto DMs.

While I have been strongly against auto DMs and it’s something people encourage you not to do, I have responded to some of the DM call-to-actions I have received over the years.

So I decided to test one out. I currently have an auto DM promoting my eBook 27 Ways To Get More Retweets On Twitter.

I modeled my copy after some copy that recently attracted my attention. It’s too early to tell whether auto DMs work. I will have a better viewpoint a month from now.

 

InstaPower

I am at a position in which any relevant Instagram photos I post will automatically exceed 50 likes. I am very excited about Instagram’s potential for my business. I finally found some extra time to focus on Instagram which is why I can actually grow my audience on that platform.

I recently surpassed 2,500 followers and am aiming for at least 10,000 Instagram followers by the end of the year.

I’m promoting my Instagram account on my other social networks and even plan on doing some email list promotion. I’ll have more on this in the upcoming month.

 

Guest Posts

I got two submissions for guest posts this month that I will be publishing on my blog shortly. These are the first two guest posts that will ever get featured on my blog.

The reason I take guest posts now is because they provide a level of insights that I cannot provide on my own. I want to learn new things on my blog just like you. My goal is to get at least one contributor each week to offer new content for my blog.

If you are interested, read these guidelines.

I plan on contacting some guest bloggers I know and having a freelancer contact other people as well.

 

Unlock Your Potential—BIG NEWS

The manuscript for my upcoming book Unlock Your Potential has been completed. Now I’m on the hunt for a publisher. I have already contacted two people and will choose one of them. I respect both of these individuals and know that they will take my book and my brand to the next level.

The book totaled at 38,000 words (I’m not offering a page count because there are so many factors involved with page count), but that word count will be slightly modified after all of the editing takes place.

But I have put myself in a position to hand off the baton to someone else.

 

I Now Have A Structured Week Plan
Out of everything I wanted to discuss, the structure I created for myself was by far the most exciting thing I wanted to discuss. Every day of the week, I know exactly what I must do from wake up to bedtime.

Some may argue that this level of structure restricts freedom, but it’s quite the opposite. This structure eliminates most of the decision making process which gives me the freedom to pursue my work instead of guessing what work I should pursue now and what I should hold off for later.

Within this structured week plan is 1.5 hours of knowledge acquisition. Every day, I am listening to a podcast episode for 30 minutes, listening to an audiobook for 30 minutes, and reading at least 30 pages of a book each day.

That totals to 900 pages, 15 hours of listening to podcast episodes, and 15 hours of listening to audiobooks. At that rate, it will be easy for me to consume (read and listen) to over 10 books each month.

 

Books I Read

I did not read 10 books this month but I set up a structure so that won’t be a problem for the following month. I didn’t listen to as many audiobooks because my knee was bothering me.

That’s important to know because while I could easily run, I avoided the bike because I did not want to risk an injury. Virtually all of the time I listen to audiobooks is conducted while riding the bike.

With that said, I did get to read some books:

#1: Email Marketing Demystified by Matthew Paulson

#2: SEO 2016: Learn Search Engine Optimization by R.L. Adams

#3: Writing Copy That Sells by Ray Edwards

#4: All Marketers Tell Stories by Seth Godin

#5: Email Marketing Demystified by Matthew Paulson

 

Blog Posts I Wrote

7 Ways To Get More Instagram Followers: In some cases, my writing reflects topics I am investing my time towards. This blog post is no different. By reading it, you’ll discover some of the methods I’m currently using to grow my Instagram account.

Why I Switched From iContact To ConvertKit: I go into detail about what each of the services offer and why I ended up making the switch (ConvertKit cheaper and more valuable. That’s the basic summary).

The Top 3 Email Broadcasts You Should Be Sending: This blog post goes into detail about how you should communicate with your list to serve them the most.

 

Podcast Episodes I Published

The podcast is still growing strong. I even added a tab to this blog leading directly to the podcast. That’s my temporary solution for now. Eventually, I’ll publish all of the podcast episodes straight on this blog in addition to the other platforms I currently utilize.

Episode 10: How Lise Cartwright Starting Making $3-4K Within Her First Six Months As A Kindle Author

Episode 11: How To Land $20K+ Clients With Matt Inglot

Episode 12: Landing More Public Speaking Gigs With Jen Grisanti

 

Looking Back At September

I was not happy with the progress I made from August to September. October was meant to correct that problem, and I am happy with the progress I made. September was all about adapting to a new way of life.

Nothing spectacular happened for my business last month, but it set the stage for an epic October.

While I still haven’t surpassed 1,000 daily blog visitors, it is still a strong goal of mine, and I am moving in the right direction to make that happen.

November Goals

Some of the goals I have set for myself this November are different from the types of goals that I have previously set for myself. This is partly due to reading more books and learning about all of the possible goals I can set for myself. In addition, I discovered which specific goals would yield the greatest impact for my business.

 

#1: Conduct At Least Three Email Swaps

In case you are not familiar with an email swap, it’s a mutual relationship between two marketers in which they both promote the other’s landing page to their respective email lists.

The end result of email swaps is that both you and your partner’s email lists grow. Conduct enough of these email swaps and you’ll have a massive email list in no time.

With that said, I will ensure that these email swaps benefit my audience. I don’t want to promote some random guidebook on fashion because I know that doesn’t resonate with my targeted audience.

If I get the chance to promote a book about generating more sales using Google AdWords, then I’ll promote that to my email list in an email swap.

This will be similar to how I promote affiliates or free guidebooks that I read through. I feel like I’ll have an extensive case study on this topic in the future.

 

#2: Read 12 Books This Month

With my structure in place, I am reading 900 pages and listening to 15 hours of audiobooks each month. AND since I speed up the audiobooks to x2 or x3, I will actually listen to anywhere from 30 to 45 hours of audiobook content.

Reading 900 pages each month puts me on pace to read 4-6 books each month depending on the lengths of the books. 30-45 hours of audiobooks puts me on pace to listening to 4-9 audiobooks each month.

And that doesn’t even include podcast episodes which I’ll be listening to at x2 pace.

The point is that in a single month, I will be far smarter than I was in the prior month. My knowledge will continue to expand, but the true test will be me putting that knowledge to use.

I am very excited with the possibilities.

 

#3: Get At Least 15 S4S Partnerships On Instagram

S4S, otherwise known as share for share (or shout out for shout out) is one of the most powerful ways to grow on Instagram. Foundr Magazine referred to this tactic as their top method for growing a massive audience on Instagram.

Just to give you an idea of Foundr Magazine’s InstaPower, the brand got 10,000 Instagram followers within two weeks and over half a million Instagram followers within one year.

I aspire to achieve similar results for my Instagram marketing as Foundr Magazine. Therefore, I’ll be engaging in more S4S partnerships.

With that said, I’m not partnering up with anyone. I will only partner up with brands who mirror what I can do. I want the S4S effect on my audience to be seamless. No matter what, each of my Instagram pictures will motivate and provide value.

 

#4: Send Multiple Broadcasts Every Week

I need to do a better job at consistently communicating with my email list. I usually communicate with my email list every 7-10 days.

Communicating with my audience via this platform more often will force me to crank out more value. In addition, the relationship between me and my subscribers will be strengthened by this change.

 

#5: Schedule The First Month Of My 2017 Content

I currently have all of my content scheduled until the end of November. While that provides me with a cushion, it’s not a sufficient one. I want to schedule more content for a longer period of time to create a more comfortable cushion.

The more comfortable this cushion is, the more I can focus on providing value instead of strictly getting the content out. While I always focus on value, it’s a difference between 80% focus and complete focus.

 

In Conclusion

October is in the books. I am set up to have a very strong November. Out of everything I did this month, my greatest moment for the entrepreneur side of my life was interviewing Seth Godin. Without him, I’m not an entrepreneur (maybe I’m 20% of what I currently am).

That’s how much of an impact Seth has had on my entrepreneurial journey…and life.

While the interview will come out in a few weeks, one of the topics we discussed was self-criticism. We tend to critique our shortcomings instead of magnifying our successes. This type of self-talk prevents us from moving forward with our goals.

For every 60 seconds we self-criticize, we lose a minute that could have been used to move a little closer to accomplishing your next goal.

In November, I’ll continue raising my bar higher, but I also aspire to avoid self-criticism. Self-criticism is more toxic than any other type of criticism on the planet. If I don’t accomplish all of my goals, I won’t self-criticize myself. I approach each task with a desire to get it done, but I won’t dwell in my mistakes. Instead, I will magnify my successes.

What were your thoughts on this performance report? Did anything stand out? How did you do this month? Sound off in the comments section below.