From Problogger’s Training Event
The 2011 Problogger Training Day was fantastic. I walked away with feeling inspired with some great ideas. I was even surprised by some of the things I learned. But what did I do with those ideas?
Nothing.
Roll the calendar forward one year to 2012. The Problogger Training Event is now two days in length and has a theme: From Little Things Big Things Come.
As part of Darren’s opening presentation he talked about how small actions can have a big impact, especially when small tasks become your habit. A bit later in the day Chris Guillebeau said, “We will all be inspired over these 2 days, it’s the action we take that matters.”
This post isn’t a recap of all the things I learned. This post is my pledge for action.
I think the reason I didn’t do anything with my ideas from 2011 is that they were just too difficult to grab hold of. They were big and wibbly-wobbly, lacking real shape or clarity.
So, seeded from Darren’s opening presentation, I have put together 20 actions. Some of them will only take 5minutes; some will take a few hours. But none of them are big enough to paralyse me.
If I am honest, I feel a bit weird publishing this. I feel exposed but I am publishing my action list so the authenticity of my relationship with you will hold me accountable. I am publishing this so I take action.
The Copy Detective blog
Stan Lee Johnson (@BrandDNA) and Chris Guillebeau (@chrisguillebeau) both talked about giving your subscribers a reason to care and connect on your blog. I want The Copy Detective to be a (popular) place of common bonding and with that in mind I am going to:
1. Survey subscribers about who they are why they read The Copy Detective. Goal: understand reader motivation.
2. Survey subscribers about what they would like to learn about. Goal: focus content value.
3. Revise my existing statement about what The Copy Detective stands for, combining purpose with personality. Goal: clarify my mission, message and challenge.
4. Add some personal shizzle to the current blog subscription confirmation and thank you emails. Goal: Invite more personal contact and interaction after subscription.
5. Send out additional emails to touch base with subscribers after initial subscription. Point to other content and products (when created). Goal: strengthen connection and engagement.
6. Test different subject line and send times for The Copy Detective RSS emails. Goal: Improve open rates (as a measure of interest).
7. Update blog subscription call to action (positioned under each blog post) from a text link to subscription window. Goal: increase conversion of readers to subscribers.
8. Investigate subscription window on blog. Darren mentioned his popup subscription window boosted conversion by 600% so this is worth considering, right? Goal: increase conversion of readers to subscribers.
Copy & Co. News [Copywrite Matters newsletter]
Darren’s (@problogger) session on email marketing highlighted many benefits. I think I can use email marketing more effectively to enhance the value for my community. With that in mind I am going to:
9. Get a new Mailchimp template designed for Copy & CO. News. Goal: Present content in a more scannable and visually appealing manner.
10. Test different subject line and send times for the Copy & Co. News emails. Goal: Improve open rates (as a measure of interest).
11. Send additional autoresponder email to touch base with subscribers after initial subscription. Goal: strengthen connection and engagement. Direct people to other content.
Information products
Creating information products was one of my wibbly-wobbly ideas from 2011. Ebooks, I thought, I should do that. This year I had several moments of clarity around how I could create information products that did more than clutter up the internet. With that in mind I am going to:
12. Work through Shane Tilley’s (@shaynet) matrix of problem-solutions-features-barriers-benefits to clarify ideas around ebook and autoresponder concepts. Goal: Create well-targeted niche content. Early idea is to create a series: How to write a better … brochure/newsletter/webpage/blog post etc.
13. Review existing content from The Copy Detective blog and workshop presentations for reuse. Goal: Don’t reinvent the wheel!
14. Spend 15minutes per day writing content for a product. Darren wrote 31 Days to a Better Blog by spending 15mins every day. With a newborn. If he can find 15mins to write with a newborn, I can find 15minutes to write with a dog. Goal: Get the content written!
15. Revisit Shayne’s presentation about launching products. Goal: Nail it!
Beyond products
I have presented a few seminars and workshops on content marketing and SEO copywriting. I really enjoy it and would love to do them more often. With that in mind I am going to:
16. Update Copywrite Matters About page to include information on how to work with me. Goal: Communicate my unique value and make it easy for people.
17. Add new page linked to from the Copywrite Matters About page mentioning my guest speaking and workshop experience. Goal: Get more speaking gigs!
18. Add this information to social media pages with links to Slideshare presos. Goal: Promote and prove experience.
I still have some big wibbly-wobbly ideas, like courses and membership areas but for now I have lots of actionable items that I can see will take me closer to achieving Copywrite Matters’ strategic goals. Of course, my goals should be measurable and my tasks time specific so two more actions are to:
19 . Link these actions to my high level strategic goals
20. Add specific times and measures to my marketing plan!
I am still rocking The Friday Experiment so there really are no excuses! If you’re interested in seeing if I’m all mouth and no trousers Or I’m actually living up to my pledge, check back now and then. I’ll be crossing the items off as they’re completed!
If you want the same kind of inspiration to define your own list of action, get a virtual pass to the Problogger Training Event. If you’re serious about improving your blog I mean. I bet your list will be different. And longer.
Are you in Melbourne? If you’re interested in a regular meet up, to keep each other motivated about making our big goals a reality, drop me a line. I’m all for it!
The Copy Detective
25 Responses
Great post! Thanks for sharing – many are the same as what I’ve taken away, so I think I’ll be using this post as a first draft of my “to do” list 🙂 I *still* didn’t get to meet you! Kicking myself – we were at the same table at the Ita Buttrose Business Chicks breakfast a while back too. Just seems impossible to get around and meet everybody at these things. Sorry I missed you. Look forward to reading more and meeting you at some future event. 🙂
Thanks Rose! It’s seems quite a me-centric post so I’m glad it will be useful for you too. I’m sorry we didn’t cross paths. You were SO familiar to me and now I know why. Let’s pledge to meet IRL before next year’s #pbevent!
Belinda were you looking over my shoulder at the event??? Your list reads a lot like mine, but my focus is on the online courses, which I am very close to launch! I loved Darren’s 15mins concept, combined with Shayne’s point about “ship it”. Sometimes I am so busy doing all the hamster on the wheel stuff that I never put enough time aside to invest in those things that will pay dividends in the longterm. Combine that with a perfectionist attitude when it comes to launching something and the end result is it takes forever to launch! I love that you have set yourself public goals to make yourself accountable. I am about to do the same by announcing my launch date for my Facebook training course for businesses (the first of many more to come) to make me accountable.
I too wish I had the chance to meet you at ProBlogger, but the couple of times I did attempt you were just way too popular!
Oh Loren I wanted to meet up with you too! Rather than being popular, I think I’m just a chatter box who doesn’t take a breathe 😉
I’ll definitely be revisiting Shayne’s launch presentation when it comes to my ebooks. As you said, we can fiddle about with the details forever but we’ve got to “ship it”. I look forward to checking your launch out! Best of luck!!
Hi Belinda,
Oh, I’ve just increased my list from 19 items to 25 after reading your list! Need to slow down, breathe and start crossing things off that list:) Great to see you and love to chat sometime. If you ever need to run any ideas by me I’m here to help.
Thanks Annabel!
Hi Belinda,
Oh, I’ve just increased my list from 19 items to 25 after reading your list! Need to slow down, breathe and start crossing things off that list:) Great to see you and love to chat sometime. If you ever need to run any ideas by me I’m here to help.
Hi Belinda,
isn’t it interesting that, even though you felt exposed writing this post, as a reader I feel like I know you better now, like I’ve been drawn further into your world which makes me really look forward to your future posts. I believe the best writing is always the stuff that reveals something of who we are. Well done and good luck with your list.
Look forward to more great stuff.
Karla
Hey thanks Karla. I feel bolstered by your words and a little more confident about sharing more of my world. You may have just created a monster!!
Hi Belinda,
LOVE this post. Very personal and action-oriented. I feel similarly – lots of ideas, not a lot of priorities and action list with attached deadlines. I’m not in Melbourne but feel free to Skype me anytime as I do plenty of arse-kicking for a living and would appreciate someone kicking my arse in return.
Good actions. I am a virtual attendee and haven’t covered all the seminars but working through them in 15 minutes a day! 🙂 Or a little more. I am taking simple actions too. The conference is extremely inspiring.
hi Belinda,
I read the start of this post the
day it was written but have only just finished your to do list 🙂 Well done on
setting such clear goals (and making yourself accountable) to work on –
crossing each one off will be the fun part!
I admit I have been doing at
least 15 minutes a day on background things but have yet to sit and plan out
such a clear list – I came back to urgent client tasks which has been very
frustrating as I’m motivated to plan and change! Your list certainly includes some thgins I need to do, too.
Looking forward to seeing you
progress through this list – and seeing how that subscriber pop up works – and
yes let’s catch up (despite being unable to manage it at pb event!) to keep
each other on track.
After so many years this post is still relevant today. Thanks for the great tips you posted here.
Thanks Yannique. I’m actually heading to another conference and will be prepping the same way!