It's 9AM
I thought it would be easy.
Find 1000 subscribers.
Send them a link to see a picture
Or watch a video.
They click the link and go to the page (traffic)
And I have ads on the page so Google pays me for the views.
A money model that should work.
I did it with stories.
I did it with pictures.
I did it with videos.
But the problem was/is…
No one clicked.
They liked these stories, the vignettes that I use as a way to entice and make sure they emails get opened.
They like the posts.
They like the work they get…
But not the work I do.
So I wondered…
Maybe it was me.
I needed more than 1000 folks so that what I worked on appealed to different people on different days.
I’ve been building a list by giving away books.
Along the way I’ve made a few friends.
Folks I’ve been in touch with for years.
And I want to make a few more.
I have an idea for some of those friends.
A street team getting access to books first so they can offer advice.
And reviews.
A promo team willing to search out places to post the book to find more readers.
And more.
All suggested by friends from this list.
Which shows I follow my own advice…
Sometimes.
Use all the brains you have and all the brains you can borrow to reach your goals.
My friend Noah is launching his biz book
He’s worked on it for six months and used some strategies similar to the above.
(He also has access to big name podcasts with millions of followers, so I suspect his launch will be a success.)
He suggested I put some books in a Google Doc, invite 100 friends to read/edit as it’s written.
Which made me pause and wonder…
Should I add something like that to the plan?
Another friend suggested I give too much away, that the audiobooks and first in series should be behind a paywall.
While another suggested to give it all away and find a way to put ads on the page.
That just shows you that folks have tried something, it worked for them, and may not work for you the way you want it to.
Experimenting.
I’ve talked about it before.
Searching for something that works, something that clicks and then sticking with it.
Until it doesn’t work anymore.
Then experimenting again.
Take Kum & Go for example.
It’s a gas station/convenience store BRAND that dots the south.
I didn’t do a deep dive into how long it’s been around, but at least a decade.
If not decades.
And the company that owns it decided to rebrand as something else starting this year.
Kum & Go will go away and become something else.
Still a gas station/convenience store, but with a new name, new colors, new logo and refreshed feel.
IF I were in charge of that project, I’d do a deep dive on Bucee’s and start popping off ideas about mascot’s and branded merch and reasons for people to pick THIS spot over;
Casey’s
Circle K
Exxon
Shell
Valero
(I think that’s the 6 gas stations within two miles of my neighborhood)
So maybe I should do a deep dive on Bucee’s and build a mascot for us?
What do you think of Armadillo’s?
Could we be an Army of Dillo’s?
The point is, no matter what you do, you can think outside of the box by looking at someone else’s box.
Not that it will be easy to think outside of the box.
But the only easy day was yesterday.
Today is a Get After It day.
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