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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.

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.

E182: The Only Two Things You Need To Know To Achieve Email Marketing Success With Kelvin Dorsey

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Kelvin Dorsey teaches email marketing through his books such as 81 Days To Becoming An Online Marketing Sales Machine, The Little Blue Book Of Email Marketing Wisdom, and more. His content is designed to help people sell a ton of their products and services.

 

Quotes To Remember:

“Just grow your email list and have great copy.”

“You either gonna grow your own audience or you’re gonna tap into somebody else’s.”

“To be able to do it all, that’s rare.”

“At the start, you don’t have a choice. You have to do it all yourself.”

“Starting a business is the hardest thing in the world. There’s no easy way.”

“You got to write interesting content.”

“You’ve got to be concrete in communication.”
“People remember stories. Go and tell more stories.”

 

What You’ll Learn:

  • Best Approaches on Growing Email List
  • Writing a Good Email
  • Re-connecting When You Feel Disconnect
  • How to Engage More With Your Audience

 

Key Links From The Show:

Kelvin’s Site

 

Recommended Books:

Content Marketing Secrets by Marc Guberti

81 Days To Becoming An Online Marketing Sales Machine by Kelvin Dorsey

The Little Blue Book of Email Marketing Wisdom by Kelvin Dorsey

The Secret of Selling Anything by Harry Browne

Hypnotic Writing by Joe Vitale

Action! By Robert Ringer

Support Breakthrough Success On Patreon

Please consider supporting Breakthrough Success on Patreon. I publish five episodes per week which I carefully prepare for, and I choose to not run ads in my podcast to enhance the listener experience.

I offer my patrons various perks, and even a donation as small as $1/mo would make a big difference for growing and maintaining Breakthrough Success.

You can support Breakthrough Success by going here.