This post is part of my year of alchemy, you can find the whole series here or subscribe for future updates here.
So here we are the start of May, 4 months into the year of alchemy.
CONTENT HAMSTER WHEEL
One of the drawbacks of having a membership site is the potential to be on a constant content hamster wheel. This is the reality for me right now.
Two things are holding me back here. Firstly, getting time to do content due to being a full time mum to two toddlers (one overly emotional the other overly adventurous) has been challenging. Hubby tries to take them a fair bit on weekends so I can get stuff done but it just feel like it’s not enough time to do all the things. I am able to do little pockets of activities like blog, setup the general weekly content, post in the community and send emails but the bulky content with lots of filming/editing/audio recording is a bit harder to get done. I am doing it, just not getting ahead.
The second part is the seasonal nature of my content and having to purchase extra things to demonstrate in the content. These things are things we would generally buy anyway (as the biz is lifestyle based) but it has to fit within the budget, which means a lot of stuff just has to wait.
My goal in this department is to really allocate 2 full days of doing all the things I can’t do with the kids around and batch out 3 months of content. I know this will need a lot of planning to work successfully. Until then, it’s hamster wheel city.
Planning for the second launch
I put together a bit of plan of attack for the next launch. This time I will be doing a 3 part video series (I am still not brave enough to do a live webinar/workshop but hey I’ll get there).
I’ll be repurposing my content from my ‘PDF’ I had for the last launch, and expanding it out.
I am doubling my Facebook ad budget this time (yep breaking the bank with a whole $150, I just keep thinking god I wish I had more to chuck at this), honing in on my niche and My overall goal is to double my last launch. It may be a bit ambitious but I need to put it out there. I will also be ever so slightly increasing the price.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Honestly this had been sidelined. I haven’t really looked much into getting the engagement up, just keep on doing what I was before. Which I know is not going to change anything. So this is definitely something I need to look into. I feel like live video is the answer here, or perhaps the size of the group.
Lead Magnet changes
I’ve updated my lead magnet, again seasonal so I have to change it up every month but I batched this and created 8 months worth (which was an easy task to do with the kids hanging around).
I also removed my pop up on my website and put a constant section for access to the lead magnet. It hasn’t overly made much difference to the number of subscribers but I’ll leave it for now.
The busy work
I’ve consistently been blogging every week, I am struggling for ideas (now that I put the juicy stuff in my membership) but I usually pull an article out of thin air just before I send my weekly edm. It’s generic and not overly meaty, which worries me.
I’ve also decided to do a podcast! Crazy I know. I have managed to record 8 episodes that just need to be edited and put out to the world.
Now Instagram…I have good growth here without really doing much, BUT I don’t think they are my audience (as in potential paying customers), more my peers. I need to let go of that belief and really start plugging things on there.
Mind garbage
This whole online business world feels very lonely right now. I am in a few biz groups for design but no one who really gets what I am doing. The online biz groups are just so big it’s hard to connect. It’s so very different from what I guess is a typical business.
I’d absolutely love to join a mastermind who specialises in online biz or group coaching (and have my eye on in particular) but it just comes down to the dollars right now. And having said that, I know what needs to be done, I am just missing that circle of people you trust to lift you up, that accountability from people who are travelling a similar path.
SUMMING UP FOR APRIL
Launch plan is done and I am tracking along well.
No members lost this month so I am taking that as a win
APRIL STATS
Members – 12 (0)
MARKETING
Email subscribers – 395 (24 new, 8 lost)
Instagram followers – 5401 ( +466)
Facebook followers – 487 (+13)
Average Monthly website hits – 1700 (+8)
DOLLARS
Money earned – $120
Money spent $55.25
Hosting $22.50
Payment Fees $6.97
Vimeo (video storage) $13.20
Jetpack (spam/backup/security) $12.58
Total profit this month: $64.75
Total carried forward: loss of $107.52
TIME
Hours spent on the project – Approx 20
MY COMMITMENT FOR MAY
- Launch No.2
- Get ahead with the content.
- Launch my podcast.
- Increase member engagement.
JUN SNAPSHOT
Start working on second digital product. Wait what?
Until next month, if you’re not on the list to get my regular updates on this project and are wanting to follow along you can sign up here.