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Performance Reports

December 2018 Monthly Performance Report

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The last month of the year…

It’s during December when I begin to reflect on the year and have a ton of extra time due to winter break. 

This was a solid month that will set me up for a dominant 2019. Let’s get started…

 

Virtual Summits

I am going all-in with virtual summits in 2019. When I first decided to go all-in on virtual summits, I decided I’d host three virtual summits in 2019.

Then that number became 4. It then became 8. We’re now capping it at 10.

That’s a little less than one virtual summit each month. I will also maintain the three weekly interviews for Breakthrough Success which means I’ll probably interview over 500 people this year. 

It will help that I’ll have interviews scheduled into mid-March by the end of my winter break. That will give me more time to interview people for summits. 

That’s fine with me. I really enjoy interviewing people and learning along the way. 

Furthermore, all of the virtual summits I create will be evergreen. In the past, the Content Marketing Success Summit has been my only evergreen summit. However, the Wealthy Author Summit is now evergreen and the Productivity Virtual Summit will follow in a few weeks. 

So in addition to interviewing people for new summits, I plan to invite speakers to speak at some of the evergreen summits. Combine that with the fact that each new summit I launch will quickly become evergreen (I now know how “evergreening” a summit works), and each summit can stay relevant and valuable long after their launch dates.

 

Content Marketing Plaza

I’m working on this. I can’t say too much about this now but I know it’s going to be awesome by the time May comes around.

 

Advanced Influencer Mastermind

While I can’t say much about the Plaza yet, the Advanced Influencer Mastermind is finally up. The mastermind is for anyone who wants to grow and monetize their influence using content and social media marketing. 

You’ll get weekly masterclasses from me and a bunch of FB Lives in between. You’ll also get a free 30 day trail to the Advanced Influencer Mastermind if you join us here.

 

Content Distribution

One of my big goals for 2019 is to hone in on content distribution. I’m currently active on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. I have an evergreen posting cycle for Pinterest but I’m not as active there as I could.

One of the big themes of success stories is that they don’t do it by themselves. I’ve always been an advocate of delegating tasks, but sometimes you can shift the delegation to achieve better results.

I now use a 1-sheet for each Breakthrough Success episode that covers the show notes and editing. This used to be a big expense for my podcast as each episode would cost over $30 to produce from start to finish. 

I initially cut down on production at the recommendation of my podcast coach, but the 1-sheet I have in place is now a game changer.

Instead of focusing delegation efforts on show notes and editing episodes, I now get to focus on heavier distribution of my content. Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook are on the top of my list. 

 

Accumulating Passive Income

You have to hustle to earn passive income because you need preexisting money to build up your passive income.

However, passive income is possible nevertheless. You’ll never stop working, but it’s nice to have consistent money coming in each month even if you don’t do anything. 

For 2019, I am focused on three passive income sources. Two will definitely be realized in 2019 while the third may be realized after I graduate college. 

  1. Using FB ads to drive more traffic to my evergreen virtual summits
  2. Investing in REITs that offer a 10% dividend
  3. Investing in real estate

I already invest in REITs and will have FB ads ready to go in mid-January at the very latest. Even if the FB ads give me a return higher than 10% (which I wouldn’t be surprised by), I’d still invest some of the money into REITs.

In the past I relied on one source of income and got burned. So even if FB ads is tripling my investment, I’m still investing some of that money into other areas.

The reason it may be more difficult for me to invest in real estate before I graduate is because I’m looking at warmer climate locations for my initial investment. I’ll probably make my first investment in Florida or Texas. The only problem is that I haven’t visited Florida in a while and have never been in Texas…hence the big problem.

Right now I’m at a stage where I can do research and look at past sales, price per square foot, and other stuff to determine what a good deal looks like, but it may take me longer to invest in my first property.

That’s where REITs fit into the equation for now. I have an income target which I will keep private (I keep all of my income numbers private and was taught to do this at an early age. I know some people share every detail about their income but that’s not how I roll).

I believe we should all think of how we can make our money work for us. That’s a big area I’m focusing on in 2019. 

 

I’m Taking A Day Off Each Week

I took off on Christmas Day. A lot of people did.

As I took this extra time to reflect, I thought, “When is the last time I took a day off?”

I couldn’t remember. I believe I had been working for several months straight. Unless I was sick, I was working.

Which brings me to today. Each week, I’m taking a day off. When you take a day off, you allow your body to recharge. December 26th was one of my most productive days ever.

I had more fight and felt recharged. While you hear about someone like GaryVee working for 16 or 18 hours each day, the part everyone forgets is that he takes the weekends off. Even someone as passionate as GaryVee is taking two off days each week. 

Those off days make you hungry. They put you in the zone when the next workday comes. I felt that on December 26th and want to feel that even more.

So that’s why I’m taking a day off each week. On my days off, I’ll read, work out, spend extra time with my family, and play pool. I’m working to include other options in there but that’s what’s working right now. 

 

In Conclusion

2018 had its ups and downs. Overall, I learned a lot this year. One of the best decisions I made was launching the Wealthy Author Summit. I remembered feeling burnt out after the Productivity Virtual Summit and thought I’d stop doing them (and just rely on the evergreen versions). 

The Wealthy Author Summit was different. Instead of 50+ speakers, I only invited 30 speakers. Even though I’m hosting 10 virtual summits in 2019, they will be smaller than my first two. I’m expecting anywhere from 20-30 speakers for each summit. 

Furthermore, I have a solid schedule for next semester. I only have classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays which gives me a 5-day weekend to grow my business. 

What were your thoughts on this Performance Report? Do you have any questions for me? Sound off in the comments section below.

November 2018 Performance Report

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Some of November was spent preparing for 2019. However, I still made progress in November. The Wealthy Author Summit performed very well and I got to interview incredible people for Breakthrough Success…including Seth Godin who is literally my role model for entrepreneurship.

Before we jump into the Performance Report, I want to leave you with this: One of the big mistakes people make is dedicating most of November and December to preparing for the new year. While it’s great to plan ahead, stay focused on the time you have left for the year. 

With that said, here’s a recap of November…

 

Post Wealthy Author Summit

The Wealthy Author Summit was a great success. Over 1,000 attendees joined in and we got 30 speakers to share top self-publishing strategies to grow an audience and sell more books.

The best part about this summit is that the attendees shared their key takeaways from each day. This was a top priority for me—getting attendees more involved while benefitting the speakers.

The way most summits work is a win-win-lose scenario. The organizer grows his/her audience, attendees get a lot of valuable content, but the speakers don’t usually grow their audiences from virtual summits. That’s why I promoted all of the speakers’ resources on Day 5.

 

My Future With Virtual Summits

I enjoy hosting virtual summits and providing that awesome experience. I’ve done summits in the past that got over 50 speakers. While I enjoy those summits, they take a lot of time to pull off (interviewing 50+ people and finding enough people who will say yes, orchestrating it behind the scenes, etc.)

For 2019, my goal is to host at least 4 virtual summits. However, instead of the 50+ speaker summits I’ve produced in the past, these summits will be closer to 20-30 speakers. That will make it easier for me to provide you with more high value summits and experiences.

 

Evergreening My Other Summits

Of the three virtual summits I’ve hosted, the Content Marketing Success Summit is the only evergreen summit.

That will change in December as I make my other two summits (Productivity Virtual Summit and Wealthy Author Summit) evergreen. Most virtual summits die after they are over and hours of valuable evergreen content gets zero traction.

I have set monthly income goals for each of my evergreen summits that will go up each month. My policy is to not reveal income numbers which is something I was taught to avoid at a young age.

I have a few plans for how to turn my past summits into passive revenue producers which include emails, FB ads, inviting new speakers, affiliates, and other approaches as well. 

 

Addressing Some Of The Backend

While I hosted the summit in November and got a few other things accomplished, my biggest weakness in November was addressing some of the backend. More specifically, the post-sale stuff.

If you bought the All-Access Pass to the Wealthy Author Summit, you will get that video from me by the end of the year where I talk about the behind-the-scenes stuff.

I also have to address the mastermind and the people who won a copy of my book Podcast Domination.

Some of the reason I haven’t been able to address the backend is that I’m preparing for finals at my university. The semester will be over in about two weeks but until then I won’t have as much time to work on my business.

With that said, I can find time between now and the end of the semester to address the issues I mentioned. I’ve honestly been in a funk on the business side for the past few days that I am not proud of but will be out of it soon. I will have more flexibility in future semesters (3 left after this one) since I will take fewer classes than what I’m currently taking.

 

5 Year Goals

One of the exciting things I got to do before November ended was write down some 5-Year Goals for myself. What gets me excited about 5-Year Goals is that you can truly shoot for the stars.

And when you shoot for the stars with your 5-Year Goals, you force yourself to work backwards and set bigger challenges for yourself each year. 

The big 5-Year Goal that I’m happy to share with you is to turn the Content Marketing Plaza into an Inc 5000 Company. There will be a fully dedicated launch for the Plaza some time in May, and I couldn’t be more excited.

5 Year Goals make you think bigger dreams, and I look at mine every day. I hope you take the time to set ambitious 5 Year Goals for yourself before you set your 2019 goals. That way, you can have your 2019 goals align with the big picture.

 

In Conclusion

I was very happy with how the Wealthy Author Summit went. After that, it was more difficult for me to maintain productivity as I’m closing in on final exams.

This will probably be the last time final exams have a significant impact on my productivity for the business since I’m taking fewer classes in future semesters and just one class in my final semester. 

What are your thoughts on this performance report? Do you have any questions for me? Sound off in the comments section below.

October 2018 Monthly Performance Report

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This month had a few launches and prep work for upcoming launches. At the same time, the Red Sox were in the postseason which means I watched every game. But Game 5 against the Dodgers proved it was all worth it.

Fun fact…in last month’s performance report, I predicted the Red Sox would win the World Series and hoped that prediction would age well. Luckily for me, it did 🙂

I unsurprisingly had a strong surge in productivity after the Red Sox became World Champions (one of those games went over 7 hours). Here’s how the month went.

 

Podcast Domination Launched

After several months of prelaunch promotion, Podcast Domination officially launched in the middle of October. The book is currently available as a Kindle edition and paperback.

While many readers bought the book and some scheduled a strategy session with me, one thing I wish I did was release the audiobook at the same time as the other editions. 

I submitted the audiobook for approval in mid October, but I still have to fix a few things with the audio files. As soon as those problems are addressed, I will resubmit the Podcast Domination audiobook and get it out by the end of November.

 

Write And Grow Rich Becomes A USA Today & WSJ Bestseller

Not only did I launch Podcast Domination, but I also launched Write And Grow Rich along with 23 co-authors. Due to our combined efforts, the book became a USA Today and WSJ bestseller. 

These are lists that many authors dream of making, and it was an honor to finally see one of my books make the list. This was one of big the highlights of October. 

One of the great things about hitting a bestseller list is that if you hit it once, you know how to hit it again and again. I aim to publish more books which means I won’t have as much time to set up another USA Today or WSJ bestseller push, but I will plan another book launch soon with the goal of hitting those lists again. More on that later.

 

The Wealthy Author Summit Is Approaching Kickoff

After four months of working hard on the Wealthy Author Summit, we are just one week away from kickoff. The biggest developments in October have been confirming 30+ speakers for the summit and launching the Wealthy Author Summit website.

This summit, unlike most summits, will have a strong focus on taking action. This summit will be more than a place where you watch sessions, take notes, and interact with a few attendees in the summit. It will be a summit where, at the end, you will advance your career as an author whether that means starting your first book or promoting an existing book more effectively. 

 

I Am Looking For Breakthrough Success Sponsors

Hosting Breakthrough Success has been a great joy of mine. I’ve talked with so many awesome people and know I’m going to talk with more action takers in the future. With that said, podcasting is a big investment, and I am looking to increase my average revenue per episode.

One of the common tactics to boosting your average revenue per episode is to get sponsors for your show. I’ve analyzed how others have gotten sponsors and what brands currently sponsor other podcasts.

Now I am reaching out to each of these brands and more in a goal to get more sponsors for the show.

With that said, I don’t want to hurt the listener experience. These ads will be relevant and likely placed in the middle and end of each episodes. I don’t plan on starting an episode with an advertisement because that’s something that would hurt the listener experience…especially for new listeners (their first impression would be of me reading an ad).

I am going to experiment with this, but I have started reaching out to brands about this. I’ll have more details in November’s Performance Report.

 

New Goals

In last month’s performance report, I referenced these three items as my KPIs:

  1. Email list growth (Goal: 16K subscribers by the end of the year)
  2. Breakthrough Success Group (Goal: 3K members by the end of the year)
  3. Revenue: (Goal: private)

Of those three metrics, I am now exclusively focusing on revenue. If I achieve my revenue targets by growing my email list, then that’s how I do it. If I achieve my revenue target by getting enough coaching clients by reaching out to people on LinkedIn, then that’s how I do it.

Revenue is the 1MTM (1 Metric That Matters), so I am primarily focusing on that. The only challenge with Performance Reports is my preference to remain private about the revenue I’m making. People have asked me before but I remain quiet about this. 

Instead of giving you the numbers, I’ll update you on my progress and some of the things I’m doing to achieve my revenue goal. 

Here are some of my new goals:

4 Books In 4 Weeks—A month long sprint where I write a book from start to finish every week for an entire month. I will plan this sprint after the Wealthy Author Summit and Content Marketing Bundle launches.

Successful Launches—the Wealthy Author Summit and Content Marketing Bundle are my two final large scale product launches of 2018. I’m going to do everything possible to knock these out of the park. 

Confirm 5 Breakthrough Success Sponsors—Getting initial sponsors for Breakthrough Success would open the door to more possibilities for the show and my brand.

 

In Conclusion

My top metric is revenue. Every goal’s importance is now measured by the degree that it will help me generate more revenue. At the same time, I will continue to serve you and everyone else who consumes my content. 

I am emphasizing this because some business owners focus so much on revenue that they forget about their customers. That will not be me. I plan on generating more revenue in ways that will provide you with more value.   

What were your thoughts on this performance report? Do you have any questions for me? Sound off in the comments section below. 

September 2018 Monthly Performance Report

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September was my first full month of school, so I’m back to juggling school work with growing the business. I feel more prepared for this semester than I’ve felt in the past, and I used this month to set myself up for a strong 2018 finish.

Here’s what happened this month…

 

My First Audiobook

I am happy to announce that I launched my first audiobook in September. A few people asked me if I could turn Content Marketing Secrets into an audiobook. And while this took me months to pull off, I finally have the audiobook up on Audible.

audiobook creation

The book came at literally just under 7 hours. I attribute it to fast narrating towards the end, but I am happy with the audiobook I put out for you.

I had a lot of fun producing the audiobook. Reading word for word what you see on your screen can be entertaining. However, it did get tedious at time as I completed the entire audiobook in one week.

With that said, I did get to include some exclusive content in the audiobook because I inserted some of my 2018 expertise in a book I originally released in 2017. Audio editing isn’t my strong suite, so I handed that baton to my incredible audio editor. 

Audiobooks are going to keep growing year after year as more people listen to content as they travel, shop, drive, and do other things where reading in the traditional sense isn’t an option.

You can also expect an audiobook for Podcast Domination which comes out on October 16th.

 

Podcast Domination Timeline

I put the finishing touches on Podcast Domination this week. The hard work is over. Here’s what I still have to do:

  1. Narrate the audiobook (I count this as editing since you get to see all of your mistakes when you narrate).
  2. Format the finished book for KDP and CreateSpace
  3. Tell my assistant to create the CreateSpace cover

I’m getting all of this done by October 5th. One reason for this deadline is that I need to submit the book’s contents to KDP before October 12th. If I don’t do that, then all of the readers who pre-ordered their copies will get a notification from Amazon saying their pre-orders were cancelled, and I won’t be able to offer another book for pre-order for the next 365 days.

That’s why I aim to get everything done earlier than I need to.

Podcast Domination is the first book I put up for pre-order. My normal approach would have been to create the sales page 1-2 nights before and then start promoting it. Podcast Domination has already gotten dozens of pre-order sales which wouldn’t have been possible with my previous strategy.

I plan on making all of my books available for pre-order in the future. The looming deadline and customers eagerly waiting for your book to release also boosts my motivation to spend more time working on the book. 

With a virtual summit and bundle on the way, I don’t know what my next book will be on yet. However, I may announce the pre-order date for my next book by the end of the year.

 

Content, Content, Content

At my core, I am a content creator. I enjoy creating content and turn as much of my marketing into content creation as possible. For instance, when I create a Breakthrough Success episode, that’s marketing. I get to build relationships, learn new things, and provide my audience with content all at the same time.

I want to provide you with more content. That’s why I’m making a conscious effort to publish more blog posts, create more YouTube videos, and release the Breakthrough Business Mentor Podcast this month (I also mention that podcast in Podcast Domination, so I better release it soon 😉 )

My goal is to provide you with more value. Even with my school schedule, I’ll have more free time now that the baseball regular season has concluded. Yes, I will be watching the Red Sox throughout the postseason and into the World Series, but now the MLB Fantasy season is over (one of my few hobbies outside of the business and working out).

I know my two best seasons for productivity are the summer and winter. Summer because I have much more time available and winter because there’s no baseball for me to watch.

 

More FB Lives

I aim to do at least two Facebook Lives each week in the Official Breakthrough Success Group. The great thing about these FB Lives is that I announce them in advance and have a set time to create the content.

One observation I recently made in one of my interviews is that I’ve interviewed over 400 people for my podcast and summits, and yet I’ve probably done less than 100 videos during that same timeframe.

It’s easy to show up when you know someone’s waiting for you. When you’ve got your role models expecting you to show up, you find a way to show up. 

That’s not the story with solo videos. To remedy the issue, I decided to conduct more FB Lives and tell everyone in the group about those live videos.

If you join the group now, you’ll be able to see some of those videos including two of the expert interviews I’ve published.

 

My 3 KPIs

KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator. These are the stats that I care about the most. Previously, I mentioned that I had five goals for the rest of the year.

That’s no longer the case. Now I only focus on three things:

  1. Email list growth (Goal: 16K subscribers by the end of the year)
  2. Breakthrough Success Group (Goal: 3K members by the end of the year)
  3. Revenue: (Goal: private)

If a project doesn’t help me with any of those three goals, I won’t pursue it. I am narrowing my focus on these key indicators so I can focus on the things that will lead to the most results.

Ultimately, revenue is my most important KPI. Without revenue, you don’t have a business. With more revenue, you can spread your message, impact more people, and support more assistants on your payroll.

I also have a desire to become a real estate investor, but I’m not aggressively pursuing it yet. I’m in the learning and research stage, and that’s on the back burner in relation to the other goals I’m pursuing.

 

In Conclusion

I’m providing more value while narrowing my focus on the few areas that matter the most. That sentence sums up my September.

What were your thoughts on this Performance Report? Do you have any questions for me? Sound off in the comments section below.

August 2018 Monthly Performance Report

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August is the last month of summer. It’s tradition for me to be on vacation during this month and have a stronger work ethic when the vacation concludes. 

 

A Narrowed Focus

During the school year, I have less time to devote towards my business. While I still work as if I’m full-time, I planned in August so the time decrease wouldn’t affect my results.

It’s tempting to pursue a variety of shiny objects and get distracted. This is a big reason why most people don’t achieve success. With this in mind, I have narrowed my focus to five goals for 2018:

  1. Get over 1,000 book sales in 2018
  2. Surpass 40,000 total podcast downloads
  3. 16,000 total email subscribers
  4. Attract 25 Group Coaching Clients to my upcoming coaching program
  5. Attract 3,000 people to the Breakthrough Success Facebook Group

I have no other business goals this year. Some of the “other” goals I have are all subsets of those five.

For example, one of my initiatives is hosting the Wealthy Author Summit this November. Hosting this virtual summit aids in reaching Goals 1, 3, and most likely 4 as well. Creating more content on my blog and YouTube channel will help me with some or all of the above goals as well. 

 

Making Trade Offs

When you have less time, you need to make trade offs to achieve the same results. I made a notable trade off when I decided to publish fewer blog posts this summer. With the exception of frequent Breakthrough Success episodes and the monthly Performance Reports, there hasn’t been much activity on this blog. 

In reality, it takes a long time to write blog posts. Compare that with the amount of time it takes to speak your content, and that’s why I made the trade off.

I’m fixing that this fall and writing more blog posts, but by pursuing new goals, I need to make more trade offs. 

I’m taking Oprah’s quote to heart: “You can have it all. You just can’t have it all at once.”

 

What’s New

Before we talk about the trade offs, let’s talk about what’s new. 

The newest thing I’m currently working on is a daily podcast. On the podcast, you’ll learn in about 5 minutes each day how you can become a successful author. I will unveil the name and logo of the podcast soon, but you can expect a fall release for the podcast.

This podcast will help me reach 40,000 total episode downloads.

Writing more blog posts is another goal of mine, but I am also going to return to weekly YouTube videos. Right now, my podcast episodes automatically get published as YouTube videos, but I am going to do more videos. 

Not only will I publish them on YouTube, but I’ll start leveraging Facebook Watch as well. I still believe there’s an incredible opportunity there due to Facebook Watch’s relative newness compared to its peers.  

I’m also planning a virtual summit, bundle, and am in the middle of promoting my upcoming book Podcast Domination. 

 

What’s Changing

I’ve alluded to this earlier, but September is the first month when I’ll test releasing 3 episodes per week on Breakthrough Success instead of the usual five. My podcast coach and I are testing this change out to see how it affects total downloads.

The idea behind publishing fewer episodes each week is that it’s less of a commitment for listeners to listen to all of the episodes. Three episodes per week makes it easier for listeners to listen to everything I’ve published without having to play catch up.

Since I recorded in the summer as if I’d still be publishing five episodes each week, I have episodes scheduled into November. 

Now, instead of interviewing more than 10 people on some days, I’ll be interviewing around 10 people each month for the podcast.

Another change is my first virtual summit of under 50 speakers. Wealthy Author Summit will showcase over 30 top authors in fiction and nonfiction who will share how you can write and better monetize your books. Each interview takes approximately 30-45 minutes. Not interviewing 20 people saves me anywhere from 10-15 hours not including pre and post production work. 

Combined with the professional changes are three personal changes. The first change is somewhat a professional change as well. I am not going to stay as on top of the stock market on my own time since I’m a Finance Major. I’ll run across many of the concepts and modern news through those classes that I may have come across on my own. 

I’d sometimes spend hours reading articles about which stocks to invest in, but I’m trimming that down to spend more time on my business. I have several positions in the stock market which is why I stay on top of it, but as previously mentioned, I believe the Finance classes will help me continue to stay on top of my positions.

The other big change I’m making is removing vices from my life. This mainly consists of watching TV and the occasional web surfing. My family and I watched the Monk series this summer. Now that I have less time, I’m only watching TV for 3 hours each week at the very most. Just Supergirl, 60 Minutes, and any Red Sox games I can get in New York (i.e. World Series games…I’m feeling really good about the Red Sox this year. Hopefully this post ages well).

The final change is less pool. I played pool for at least an hour each college day, but I organized my schedule so I get home sooner and don’t play as much. Thursdays are fair game but I’m spending less time on the pool table and more time growing my business. 

 

What Happens Now

Those five goals. That’s what’s always happening for me nowadays. I’ve listed all five goals and some of my key actionable objectives for September. There is an overlap between the goals.

#1: Get over 1,000 book sales in 2018

  • Release the audiobook edition of Content Marketing Secrets
  • Continue promoting Podcast Domination
  • Grow my email list

#2: Surpass 40,000 total podcast downloads

  • Create more episodes for my upcoming podcast
  • Release the new podcast this month or have it out at the start of October
  • Get better at promoting episodes on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest

#3: 16,000 total email subscribers

  • Continue checking on Facebook ad
  • Complete the prep work for Wealthy Author Summit and the Content Marketing Bundle
  • Conduct more joint webinars
  • Create more content and landing pages

#4: Attract 25 Group Coaching Clients to my upcoming coaching program

  • Create the portal
  • Come up with a marketing calendar to promote my new coaching program
  • Grow my email list

#5: Attract 3,000 people to the Breakthrough Success Facebook Group

  • Provide more value to the group
  • Reach out to more people on Facebook
  • Get more active in other groups

In Conclusion

These five goals will stay constant for the rest of the year. I will not change my course towards the end of 2018. This is the current course and I’m sticking with it.

What are your thoughts on these goals and my new approach? Do you have any questions for me? Sound off in the comments section below.

July 2018 Performance Report

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July was a fun month filled with productivity. If I could repeat my level of productivity for a given month, I’d pick this one. Everything seemed to fall into place. Here’s the recap.

 

Podcast Movement

If you’ve listened to some of the Breakthrough Success episodes, you may know that I’ve been very excited about attending Podcast Movement for the first time. It exceeded my expectations and I left with 12 pages of notes in a Google Doc. 

I got to meet with a lot of new people and meet up with people face-to-face who I’d previously only seen on the web. John Lee Dumas, Pat Flynn, and Mark Asquith were some of the many people I got to meet at Podcast Movement.

I also got this nice pic with Chandler Bolt. I’ve promoted his Self-Publishing School course for a while and re-read his book anytime I’m about to do a new book launch. Overall, the event was a big success.

I also had the honor of speaking at Podcast Movement’s Ignite where I went through 20 slides in 5 minutes in front of 300 people. In Ignite presentations, there is an automatic slide transition every 15 seconds giving you very little room for error. Delivering that Ignite talk helped big time with networking at Podcast Movement because I kept on running into people who saw me deliver that presentation.

 

Milestones

July was also a record breaking month for me in monthly downloads for Breakthrough Success which includes the 20,000th download for the show. Back-to-back record breaking months is a great sign for the show, and I am very grateful for everyone who’s taken the time to listen to some of the episodes. 

We’ll be hitting the two year anniversary for the show on August 31st, so this positive momentum is coming at a great time. Meanwhile, my blog is at a little over 963,000 views so we’ll definitely hit 1 million all-time views by the end of the year.

While I am happy with the milestones, I want to provide you with insights you can take away from each Performance Reports. When I looked at the data for my podcast, I saw this:

Before November 1, 2017 (Legacy): 5,851

After November 1, 2017: 15,032

I’m looking at these numbers on July 31, 2018. From August 31, 2016 to November 1, 2017, Breakthrough Success episodes were downloaded a grand total of 5,851 times. That’s a span of 428 days.

In the span from November 1, 2017, to July 31, 2018, Breakthrough Success episodes were downloaded a grand total of 15,032 times over those 273 days. Add those up and you get to 20K all-time downloads.

I got 3X the total downloads in almost half of the time. Over 7,500 of those previously mentioned 15,000 downloads came over the last three months.

Want to know how I did it?

I hired my first podcast coach. That’s very close to May which is when my podcast had its first 2,000+ download month. He told me a few things to do, and I did them. I’ve been more active on Instagram, reaching out to every guest when their episode is published, and a bunch of other things too. 

Hiring the right coach will make a big difference for your business.

 

Email List Growth Goal: 1,500 New Subscribers This Month

I set this goal for July but didn’t get it done. However, I did a bunch of things in July that would prepare me to getting 1,500 new subscribers in August. Based on my strategy, I wouldn’t have achieved the goal in July because the initiatives that would help me reach the goal weren’t taking place in July. 

Hence, I’m setting the same goal for August because some of the things I brainstormed last month will come into fruition in August. Perhaps I’ll hire a coach to help me grow my email list. I know a bunch of tactics already, but as I’ve seen with my podcast, hiring a coach will make a big difference even if you know what you’re doing. 

 

I (Sort Of) Hired Another Virtual Assistant

I promise the sort of part makes sense. 

I didn’t hire a part-time assistant to work with the rest of the team. However, I have been using Fiverr to delegate some tasks that I couldn’t do on my own. I recently hired someone to create a new back cover for Content Marketing Secrets, and it’s a dramatic improvement.

I also hired someone to create a logo for my upcoming Wealthy Author Summit The virtual event starts on November 7th and concludes on the 15th. You’ll hear mixed stories about Fiverr, but I believe it’s a great place to find people who can help with your work. 

 

August 2018 Goals

 

#1: Listen To 50 Podcast Episodes

In the past, my learning goals have been focused on reading books. While I will continue reading books, I only plan on reading four this month. 

The big learning goal for August will be listening to 50 podcast episodes. While some will be under 10 minutes and others will be over 30 minutes, I anticipate an average episode length of 20 minutes.

 

#2: Prepare 3 New Podcasts

In September, only three Breakthrough Success episodes will get published each week. My next bold move in the podcasting space will be hosting more shows—3 more shows to be exact. 

The first podcast will be a daily show where I share my best advice. The second and third podcasts are currently under the curtain, but I’ll be joined by a co-host for both of them. 

 

#3: Over 3,000 Downloads For Breakthrough Success

In July, Breakthrough Success surpassed 2,800 downloads. For August, the team and I are aiming for over 3,000 downloads in August. With a few small changes in the social media strategy, we’ll achieve this goal. Out of all of the goals, this one will probably be the easiest to achieve. 

 

#4: Diversify My Blog Traffic

Right now, I get the majority of my blog traffic from two places (while my email list generates considerable traffic, I’m not counting it here):

  • Twitter
  • SEO

Those two traffic sources consistently attract hundreds of people to my blog every day. I need more traffic sources that will attract at least 100 daily visitors to my blog. 

The plan is to significantly boost at least one new source of traffic each month for the rest of the year. Here are a few of the possible traffic sources that will get me 100 daily visitors by the end of the year.

Pinterest: This social network is easily the lowest hanging fruit. I currently have over 45,000 Pinterest followers but am not as active as I should be. I now have a Pinterest picture format for all Breakthrough Success episodes which is a big win that I’ll be testing in August. At this point, I’m less focused on getting more Pinterest followers and more focused on driving more of my existing followers to my blog.

Facebook: Even though I am not very active on Facebook, I’ve seen consistent traffic come from it. While it could be my page’s old posts getting some attention, I believe it’s more likely people sharing my content with their communities. While it may take a while for me to see the effects of Facebook from a traffic source standpoint, I am cultivating a community on Facebook. More on that in Goal #5.

Instagram/YouTube: Both of these social networks are nice-to-haves based on where I am. While I’m finally active on them both again, it can take a while before they both bring in 100 daily visitors to my blog. 

 

#5: Get 300 People In My Facebook Group

One of the main themes I got from Podcast Movement was building a community. I’ve built a massive audience, but I can do better with the community part. That is why I recently launched my new Facebook Group, Breakthrough Success. 

I’ll be active in the group a few times each week sharing some insights on what I learn from guests before their episodes get published and some tactics you can use to achieve your breakthrough. I want to build a healthy community in the Facebook Group.

My first goal for the group is to reach 300 members by the end of August.

 

#6: Get 120 Pre-Order Sales For Podcast Domination

I set up the preorder page for Podcast Domination at the start of Podcast Movement.  That gave me plenty of opportunity during the event to talk about the book and start building a street team around it.

While I am focusing more of my time on my upcoming Content Marketing Bundle due to the approaching deadline, I am focusing some of my time on Podcast Domination.

With some light promotion to people in my network, I’ve been averaging three preorder sales per day. The required 4 sales per day for hitting my goal isn’t too much of a boost from what I’m currently doing.

Having a preorder goal is getting me more committed to driving book sales, and this commitment will allow Podcast Movement to become one of the top books on Amazon.

If you want to help me with my goal, I’d greatly appreciate if you preordered my book while it’s $0.99.

 

In Conclusion 

July was probably the best month I’ve had in 2018, and I feel very strong about August. There is a two week vacation in there, but I still believe in my ability to accomplish the goals I’ve set for myself.

One of the things I want you to notice about August’s goals is that most of them have a numeric target. There’s no confusion regarding whether I accomplish the goal or not.

What are your thoughts about this month’s Performance Report? Do you have any questions for me? Sound off in the comments section below.