This was a month of reconnection after a stomach virus took up a week of February. Sometimes, I believe we can feel alone as we create content for our audiences. I know you and others will read this Performance Report and consume more of my content.
However, when I’m typing this Performance Report or creating any other piece of content, it’s just me. Then I get comments (which I will catch up on) and realize that there are people consuming my content.
I reconnected with the fact that I’m providing the content to real people who go beyond grouping terms like content creators and entrepreneurs. Hosting webinars this month helped me grasp this concept under a new light. I’ll talk more about that later.
iCalendar For Productivity
Now that I learned how to use iCalendar productively, I honestly don’t think I need another productivity tool.
One piece of advice I frequently came across in books was to schedule tasks into your day or else they won’t get done.
That’s why I wrote out different tasks and when I would do them on a sheet of paper. However, that took up time, and those pieces of paper got messy when I needed to make adjustments.
Enter iCalendar (or Google Calendar or your equivalent). I now schedule my entire day on iCalendar so I know what I have to do and when.
Here’s an example of what a day can look like on iCalendar (I could only get part of it in the shot).
I can look at this day and see what’s scheduled and when I have to do everything. I can also see how long each activity is supposed to last. This results in mini deadlines within my day.
I know I have a limited amount of time to pursue a task. If I go beyond that limited time, my schedule will soon become a mess due to the way I squeeze tasks throughout each day.
I’ll also print out each day from iCalendar so I can cross out each task with my pen upon completion. Crossing out your goal or using a checkmark with a pen is very different from just deleting it from iCalendar once you’ve completed the goal.
Webinars Are A Big Part Of My Future
I finally hosted my first webinar of 2018. While that one had no audio, my second webinar had audio and had a big impact on some of the attendees. With Twitter’s big changes having a significant impact on my traffic, I am now looking for new ways to drive traffic to my brand.
Webinars combined with ads will open the doors to more traffic, and more importantly, conversions.
I’ve already hosted a webinar for the Content Marketing Success Summit All-Access Pass. I plan on promoting Virtual Summit Blueprint next and working my way up to promoting the Content Marketing Plaza which is my flagship course.
For my first webinar (I’m referencing the webinar with audio), I got an EPC (earnings per conversion) of $1.38
That’s a small margin for error when using CPC (cost per conversion) ads to drive traffic to the webinar.
That’s why I’m promoting the Virtual Summit Blueprint at $197 in some of my future webinars. That way, I have more room with the EPC assuming everything else remains equal. In the everything being equal scenario, the webinar featuring my Blueprint would have a whooping $5.79 CPC.
That’s more than enough room for an ad.
The only challenge I have is that the first webinar I did was in-house. Everyone in the audience already knew me. Most of the people I get from ads may not know who I am which would affect the conversion rate.
CMSS II
One of my greatest successes in 2017 was the Content Marketing Success Summit. Over 50 speakers gathered together to share their insights and give attendees an incredible experience.
Now we’re in 2018, and I’m eager to run another virtual summit. I love the model, but I made two big mistakes last year.
The first big mistake was doing most of the work by myself. With the exception of video editing, I literally did everything by myself. I created the webpages while playing my part as customer service and the affiliate manager.
If you think that’s stressful enough, add the fact that I got excited and launched the Productivity Virtual Summit less than three months after CMSS. I was essentially working on two virtual summits at the same time. I believe this is possible with more preparation, but I definitely overdid it.
That’s why I’m only doing one virtual summit this year. My codename for it is CMSS II which will feature all past interviews and a bunch of new ones. The goal, which is very doable based on how many people I know and interview for my podcast, is to have a total of 70-80 speakers for CMSS II. It will be the same landing page and everything with a few minor tweaks.
Right now, the launch is slated for some time in November. I haven’t finalized dates yet since I want to see what other affiliate promotions are happening in November, but it is slated for November.
That gives me 7 months to prepare instead of the 3 months I got to prepare for the previous summit (while preparing for another one at the same time). I have more time to recruit affiliates and land top level speakers for the summit.
Books I Read
I didn’t keep track of this the way I should have. I read the books that I re-read each day, but I need to strengthen my reading habit for April.
I have 10 audiobooks that I haven’t read yet. The reason is that lately the bike has been bothering me, and that’s when I listen to most of my audiobooks. I also need to start biking again, so I’ll do more of a stretch beforehand to get on the bike and listen to more audiobooks.
I also need to read more paperbacks and hardcovers as well.
At the same time, I want to ensure that I’m reading books but taking action as well. This is the juggling act many of us face, and a focus on audiobooks will help me on the action taking part.
Review Of March 2018 Goals
#1: Run FB Ads For The Content Marketing Success Summit: While I do not have FB ads running for CMSS, I have hosted multiple webinars. Once I have a high converting webinar (likely in April), I will use Facebook ads to get more attendees.
#2: Get Involved With 4 Cross Promotions: This didn’t happen but I have reached out to several YouTubers about collaboration series. I’m excited about putting out daily content on YouTube soon and hope to collab with a bunch of awesome people.
#3: Plan Out A CMP Promotion: I have a vague idea of when I’ll promote CMP again. I know it will be after CMSS II, but I’ll run some webinars for it beforehand to get the conversions solid.
#4: Write The Draft For My Next Book: I made progress but not enough progress. I still have a decent way to go but can get it done in April.
#5: Delegate More Tasks: I either stayed the same or slightly improved.
April 2018 Goals
#1: Run A Webinar On FB Ads With A $3 NEPC: I intend on making a net profit of $3 for every opt-in to my webinar. I’ll test it first and then run FB ads right after. EPC stands for earnings per conversion, and I added the N for net. That’s why NEPC is there.
#2: Finish The First Draft Of My Next Book: I have two rounds for my book. The first round is me getting to 30,000 words and laying out all of the topics. The second round is more focused on storytelling and incorporating examples throughout the book.
#3: Confirm CMSS II Dates: This is something I can do in less than an hour, but I need to go back to last year’s launch and analyze what worked before I determine how long the launch will be and when it will take place. I also need to make sure my launch doesn’t conflict with another launch in my niche.
#4: Start Uploading Daily YouTube Videos: I am very excited about this goal. I’ve always wanted to hit 100K subscribers on YouTube, and while I am a long way from that goal (I’m about to break 3K), I am excited to be back in action. You’ll see daily videos from me soon enough.
#5: Get Traffic From Twitter Again: Twitter’s new rule about no evergreen tweets in a repeating cycle threw my traffic off towards the end of the month. My goal will be to regain traffic that I lost by using Twitter in new ways. I believe these changes are better for Twitter overall but will be a pain for marketers in the short-term.
In Conclusion
The biggest win, without question, was getting back in the webinar game. I see so much potential now that I’m taking webinars seriously.
The revenue I generate from the webinars will help pay off current expenses while expanding my horizons…all while boosting my profit (reminder: that’s different from revenue).
What are your thoughts on this Performance Report? Do you have any questions for me? Sound off in the comments section below.
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