← Strategy Hour | Online Marketing for Business Growth
Strategy Hour | Online Marketing for Business Growth
975: Behind the Build: Why I Started 100 Day Visibility School
00:41:51
I am posting for 100 days in a row on social media, and I am putting out content that is meant to help people grow their visibility, their followers, their email subscribers, or their buyers.
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- [00:02]
Abigail Pumphrey
Welcome to the Strategy Hour Podcast brought to you by Boss Project. I'm your host Abigail Pumphrey and I'm dedicated to supporting online businesses. I don't believe in one right way to build a business. I'm here to help you build business your way, one that supports not only the life you have, but the life you want. I'm on a personal mission to help you become financially free. I'm taking all the lessons learned as I turned a layoff into a seven figure online business. I'm here to help you prioritize your life every step of the way. Whether you're creating your first digital product, growing an email list, or scaling an already profitable business. Settle in. It's time to talk strategy. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Knowing you could be saving money for the things you really want, like that dream house or ride, is a great feeling. That's why the State Farm Personal Price Plan can help you save when you choose to bundle home and auto bundling. 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Snap photos of your expenses on the go, send professional invoices in seconds and track payments seamlessly. Feel more confident about your numbers. Get FreshBooks now 60% off for 6 months@freshbooks.com get started today and thank yourself tomorrow. That's 60% off for 6 months@FreshBooks.com youm can be rested and radiant. You can have your chill without being invisible. Your most infectious self isn't quiet. You know this. I know this. So why are you being so dull? If you follow me on social media, you've probably seen me posting about 100 day visibility school. Now. This episode is meant to be the full behind the scenes. Like why I even decided to do this. How it's different from my 100 day LinkedIn experiment and why I'm kind of scared out of my mind, but I'm confident this is exactly what I am supposed to be doing. Now, a quick overview of what it is, in case you've missed it. I am posting for 100 days in a row on social media and I am putting out content that is meant to help people grow their visibility, whether that be their followers, their email subscribers, or their buyers. And I specifically wanted to put this out into the world so that I could too grow my own list with the goal of adding 10,000 subscribers in 100 days. I'm here to like pull back the curtain and tell you why I'm really doing this. There's like 17 layers, so I feel like I have to let you in on the whole story. It all started because I got an ad, which is gonna sound so ironic, but it was for a very random person's social media account. I couldn't even tell you who it was at this point. It was just some guy on the Internet talking about his viral strategy. And the video is good, don't get me wrong, it sucked me in. I watched the whole video, but he specifically talked about one of his students on the video and mentioned his handle and how quickly he'd grown from implementing his strategies. So obviously I could have taken his course or like gone on to learn more from that guy in particular, but I just wanted to see what his student was up to. And this guy, his name's Julian Honaker, I believe, and he is a video editor and he teaches specifically about editing, mostly using DaVinci Resolve, but that's his skill set. He is absolutely in that world and he is sharing tips and tricks all around that now it was very clear the reason his account grew was because of this series that he started and he called it 100 Day Editing School. And I know that's not an original idea. I've seen plenty of people do signature series on social media and I've definitely wondered what I should do before and really kind of struggled to land on what's my one thing. Because I like talking about a lot of different topics. I like talking about the operations side of business and systems. I like talking about growing your team or shrinking it on purpose. I like talking about sustainable income and creating more reliable, consistent sales. I like talking about social media and email list growth and all of the things in between. And I like to consider myself a jack of all trades, so to speak. And they say the thing ends in master of none, but that's not true. If you're an entrepreneur, it is required to know a lot about a lot. And I've had to learn so many things by building this business. And so part of my hesitation around doing any sort of signature series was, what's my thing? But I have talked about visibility before and it has been something that has really hooked for people because there's a lot of intimidation factor around showing up and being seen. And it feels a little bit in contrast because at the same time, I talk about doing less than you're capable of and really making sure the things that you are putting time and energy to are respecting the life that you want and, you know, not crossing those boundaries and all of those things. So in some ways it would be easy to think that visibility is in juxtaposition to kind of this softer side that I have presented. But both need to be true. Like, I did a post I don't know, a week or two ago about, like, being lame. Basically, I'll just give you a little snippet of it, okay? Because I feel like it really sets this up. It sets the tone. So it starts with, you thought you were protecting your piece. Turns out you're just low vibe background noise. That spark that once drew people to you has gone dim. You're like one soft breeze away from a plume of smoke. And yeah, people are still around, but are they clapping? Are they leaning in? Are they even paying attention? You can be rested and radiant. You can have your chill without being invisible. Your most infectious self isn't quiet. You know this. I know this. So why are you being so dull? That's just part of it. Okay, that is just part of this post. But I think it really illustrates for me that just because you want a business that honors the way you want to show up in life doesn't mean you have to be this chill version of yourself that you're not. And not to say that if you're not like a soft spoken person that you shouldn't turn up the volume and be this actor all of a sudden. Like, I don't want you to pretend to be anyone. That's not the point. But I think so often when we assume that we need to protect our peace and like, stand by our boundaries, what we end up doing is while doing that, we just make ourselves invisible. We slow down so much that we stop showing up altogether. And I get it, you're tired and you want a break and sometimes you just like, want to burn it all down and make it all go away and go Get a quote, unquote, real job. But it's not that simple. And you know, it's not that simple. I know I couldn't be traditionally employed, and this is my plan. There is no backup plan. This is the business that funds my life and my lifestyle and is the reason my husband gets to stay home full time. And it is essential. And so I want to be a model of change. And I think there is a way to do both in a way that's authentically you. And I needed to figure out how to show up as myself. So in some ways, part of the reason why I started this whole thing was because the things I was saying is how I was actually feeling. I was feeling lame. I was feeling dull. I was feeling like people stopped paying attention, and I couldn't figure out why. And it was because I just, like, turned off the lights. I was just. I don't know, like, this checked out, quiet, kind of not so fun person to hang around with. And I miss being me and full disclaimer. A huge part of why it has been hard to show up with the same level of energy that I have all of these years is because I'm going through a lot. Like, life is challenging right now, and I've talked about it briefly, but we're going through our own infertility journey, and IVF is around the corner. At this point, it feels like that's our only solution. But I transparently have been on fertility meds since November of last year. I don't know if anyone has been through this, like, I have, but it is a roller coaster, not just emotionally, from, like, the, okay, we're gonna do this and it's gonna work, and then the hopefulness that you hold on to. And then, like, sometimes you start getting symptoms, and sometimes it starts feeling like it could be true, and then it's not all over again. And that, on its own would be enough. But when you're on fertility medication, all of the normal things that happen during a cycle are heightened. Your emotions are higher, your hormone swings are higher. You could be laughing your ass off one minute and then be bawling on the floor wanting to die the next. And I wish I was joking. I wish I was joking. I have wanted to not live during this process, so it's been hard to want to continue when it got so dark. But despite all of that, realizing that part of the reason I felt just worse and worse and worse was because I was acting like this softer version of myself that I'm not really at all, but Was just so exhausted that it felt like the only way I knew how to show up during that time. And I knew that if I reinvigorated myself and put some things in front of myself that I felt excited about, that things could change. And that's been incredibly true with this journey to figuring out how to write a book and find the right editor and put the proposal together and get the agent and go after the book deal. And like, on the surface level, that honestly could have been enough. It really, really was making an impact on how I was feeling in a very positive way. And writing both when I was inspired, but also when I felt like I had to required me to process and kind of move through some things that were blocking me. And I could have just kept on that path. And I think in some realms I may have. But I also don't like doing things halfway. And I knew if I wanted to get the book deal of my dreams, that growth online, visibility online would only make this process easier, would only create more momentum, would only result in a higher book deal, a higher advance. My current email list has been hovering in between 41 and 42,000 active subscribers. And I really, really, really know that getting it to 50,000 would make a huge difference in the ultimate deal I land on. And so while I could try to do that after the fact, I'm trying to sell this thing before the end of the year. So I want to get visibility now. So I was doing the math. It was the evening of July 23rd, and I knew in my head that I wanted to, by the end of October, hit 50,000 subscribers and have my book proposal done and start footing it in front of people with the hope that it sells either at the end of October or early November. And when I did the math, the end of October was exactly 100 days for from July 23rd. And I was like, well, I feel like this is a sign. And I had just watched that hundred day series, not all of it, just a handful of those videos, literally just the day before. And I was like, you know what? Maybe this is what I should do. Well, let me back up one step, because I knew I wanted to grow my list. And so I was brainstorming, what are all the ways I could grow my list? I talked about giving away a course that I currently charge for for free and making it an opt in. I felt like that could work. I knew I wanted to create movement because if I can get people to do something, not just sign up for something, it's going to work far better. It has in the past. I know it will in the future. There's a reason why my one day launch challenge has the most opt ins out of anything I've ever done. It's almost 10,000 people, but that's a quarter of my email list and so sure I could do the challenge again and I'm confident that some of my lists would do the challenge again. But part of what gave it momentum is enough of my current list was was doing it that there was chatter around it that helped it pick up speed with cold people kind of in my universe that ultimately became aware and signed up and participated in all of those things. 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- [18:18]
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- [19:14]
Abigail Pumphrey
I know you know the feeling fear that keeps you from admitting what you really want self doubt whispering who are you to really claim this? The overthinking that turns every decision into a time suck spiral. I've been there and I know how suffocating it feels. But here's what I've learned. The biggest thing holding you back isn't a strategy you haven't figured out or a resource you don't have access to. It's how you think, how you decide, and how you take action. That's why I created Mindset Reboot. This workshop series is my way of helping you break through those mental barriers once and for all. But don't wait. You won't be able to grab this for just $11 for long visit creativetemplateshop.com mindset to find out more on WhatsApp. No one can see or hear your personal messages. Whether it's a voice call message or sending a password to WhatsApp, it's all just this. So whether you're sharing the streaming password in the family chat or trading those late night voice messages, that could basically become a podcast. Your personal messages stay between you, your friends and your family. No one else, not even us. WhatsApp message privately with everyone. And so I was like, well, I do think I should do a workshop and I do think I could give away like a high value thing to incentivize people coming live. But how do I promote it? Like, how do I get people to come to this thing? And so I thought about a signature series and I was like, well, do I just make it about documenting? My journey to try to get it was like 8,500 and something subscribers, my 400 and something subscribers in 83 days. Because my original plan was to try to do it before October 15th. And then I was like, if it's 100 days exactly to the end of October, then I should use a hundred days. But 8,500 and something is just a hard number to say. So was 10k and 100 days. I was like, okay, I feel good about sharing my journey, but I have a tendency and I know this about myself, I love sharing my story and like sharing what's working for me and teaching what I have learned along the way. And that has worked really well and I have built a following off of that strategy. But I know to reach people that are completely cold, like they don't know I exist at all, they need to see more of what's in it for them. So if someone were to stumble upon here's me documenting how I'm going to grow by 10,000 in 100 days. Do I think some cold people would attract that? Sure. I think most of the momentum, at least early on, would be current people. Current like warm audience members. And hopefully they comment and engage enough that it gets traction. Now, do I know any of this is going to work? No. Do I know that I'm going to breeze past the 10k and do way more than that in a hundred days? No, I. I don't know that. I've added 10,000 people to my email list in the span of six months. So doing it in three feels a little bit nuts, but not impossible. So then I was like, okay, I could document it, but I'm making it about them. So is it how to grow your email list? And I'm doing like a hundred day series that has like a hundred different tips to help them grow their list. And I was like, that's just part of it. Like people want to grow their list, sure, but they also want more followers, they also want more email subscribers. They also want more sales. And so then I was thinking audience and I really liked the format 100 day blank school. And I was like, okay, so I was trying to plug in a bunch of different things there. An audience school was the closest I got. And then I slept on it and I was like, what about audience Academy? Because I like an alliteration. I'm just like a fan of that altogether. But I did a few more minutes of brainstorming and landed on visibility school. And that felt the most right. So that is the thing I ran with and it was nerve wracking because one, I hate short form video. I need to stop saying that because your thoughts will manifest into how you actually feel. I find that short form video is time intensive because I care a lot about quality and I am fantastic at doing things with B roll and I still plan to do so. But for a series like this, it felt like it needed to be a talking head series, probably with some visuals on screen where I could like show an example of something or whatever. So could you not 10:30 at night. I'm like, okay, this is the plan. Felt good about it. And I was like, shoot. I said 100 days and it's exactly 100 days from today to the end of October. And I was like, well, I guess we're starting in the morning and it's from today to November 1st. Which gave me no time to like change my mind. I was just going to commit to doing it. And I know I'm the kind of person that if I share it then I'm going to feel obligated to continue. The irony is I was already in the middle of a hundred day experiment over on LinkedIn, but my only goal with that was to show up every day on LinkedIn, every working day on LinkedIn. And originally I was putting like the day number in the post, but since I wasn't necessarily updating on my progress with the experiment in those posts, that felt a little strange to me. So I stopped putting the day number in it and have just been posting consistently, mostly sharing about new podcast episodes that are coming out to incentivize people to go and listen and try to attract new listeners to the show. So I honestly could not tell you I would have to go back and count. I have no idea what day I'm on for this LinkedIn thing. I'm going to keep doing it though. This felt different. This is a series, which means I'm gonna post a video a day for 100 days. Now the thing that sucks is, like I said, there's exactly 100 days until November 1st, and with the impending deadline of I know this book has to go to auction before the holidays, I don't necessarily feel like I can skip weekends. Like I need to be focused on growing my list for a hundred days straight now. It doesn't mean I can't batch content and like put it together in advance and not be present on the weekends. I think that's totally fine. But I think to get the traction I want to get, I need consistency. But then like the pieces started falling into place and I was like, wait, like what if I use this on multiple platforms? Like if I'm doing short form video then there's more opportunities for cross posting. I do think it's going to work best on Instagram because part of my strategy is going to be sharing opt ins or low ticket digital products in the videos themselves and having people comment a keyword to both help with engagement but also to get those leads. Because that's the whole point. Like I want them on my list, not just watching. But I was like, well I could very easily take the same video and post it on LinkedIn. I can't use ManyChat, so I would have to like remove that part from the script. But I could very easily edit it so just the last few seconds are swapped and have two versions of the same video. But like 98% of it's the same. Then I'm like, well if I'm gonna do that, I might as well cross post it to YouTube Shorts and then I'm like, if I'm gonna do that, then I might as well cross post it to TikTok. And then I was like, shoot, okay, well, what does this mean on TikTok specifically? And I feel kind of stupid for even saying this because you're gonna be like, really? Again, why? But I think I'm gonna start a new TikTok again. I know, I know, I know. But my other account, I have posted a fairly significant number of times, but it didn't get a lot of traction in the beginning. So it only has like 500ish followers. And I feel like this series is going to be more sticky, but with the 500 followers, I feel like it's only going to get a few thousand views and then like kind of fizzle versus if it were on a new account and people are like, yeah, I want to stick around for the series, then maybe it'll take off. Will it? I don't know. I don't even know my handle yet. I haven't made the handle yet because I haven't even posted day one when I'm recording this. I have recorded day one. Okay, so this is happening also when I share about stuff on the podcast, it is also accountability that I have to do it. With one exception. There is one project I shared this year that I just cut, and I'm curious if you know what it is. Okay, so back to 10:30 at night. I have decided I'm doing this series. I've decided it's going to be a talking head series. I decided it's going to be about visibility. I'm not going to limit myself to just talking about email list growth. I'm going to also talk about being seen and being visible and, like, the mindset stuff about that. I'm going to talk about growing your followers, the actual audience that's paying attention, and growing your buyers. I'm going to be willing to kind of go across the board and with a hundred posts, like, I'm going to have plenty of things, plenty of room to play. And I feel like if it's just limited to email, I would personally get bored. But. But this feels broad enough that I can really play with a lot of different things. So I sat down and I studied five or so different videos of Julian's to see what was his formula, like, what was the structure of his videos. Not because I'm going to use any of his copy. I'm not creating videos about editing at all. But I was curious what was working about it, and so I figured out A formula where I'm. I have a hook. And then I'm reintroducing the fact that this is a series so that people understand that they should follow along. And then I'm kind of sharing the goods kind of midway through so that it's not so far off that people leave. But it's a far enough in that the watch time will increase, which will help increase views. And then after that I'm giving them some sort of sexy call to action that feels related, like that feels like a continuation of what I've already just said. And then I am giving them a tease of what's coming the next day. And that felt like a formula I could do again and again and again. But then figuring out how to make it short is the problem. Okay, because here we are 28 minutes in and I am only on bullet point two of my outline for this episode. So writing a script was really, really essential because I knew otherwise I would just yap. And while I love yapping, this is not a long form project, this is a short form project. So I really want to keep it under two minutes, ideally under a minute and a half and ideally under a minute if possible, if I can get across the gold nugget that quickly. So am I nuts to committing to doing 100 day video series and writing a book proposal at the same time as going through the IVF process? I have lost it. I have lost it. But I think in some ways each of the projects will distract me from the other so that I don't get as stressed. And I'm hoping that staying creatively stimulated will help actually reduce stress rather than add to it. But we don't know. Will I abandon this project in the middle of it? I hope not. I do want to finish it. I do want to go strong. And I am the kind of person that if I tell other people I'm going to do it and it's for them, I'm far more likely to follow through than if it's just for myself. Which is why I feel like if I just committed to posting for a hundred days with the purpose of all of them being around, getting new people on my email list, I think I would have stopped. But something about it being a part of the series and kind of teasing one thing after the next, like I will feel accountable for posting the next thing because I just teased what it was about the day before. Plus, I think in many ways I am ready for more, but a different kind of more. I don't want to just have people watch on the sidelines. I want people to benefit from the things I'm putting out into the world and my end goal is to make all of my education free anyways. So sharing tips publicly on a regular basis feels very aligned with that. And a lot of people would say giving away a hundred dollar course if they sign up for a workshop or if they show up live for a workshop rather is dumb. But again, I think it's in alignment with what I'm trying to do, which is give away my education for free. I can only afford to do that if things fall into place. And part of those things falling into place is this book deal. So it would mean so much to me if you would take the time to follow along and to comment on a regular basis. Even. Even if you already have the thing I'm talking about, because I know a lot of you will have already opted in for whatever it is or already done the thing or even taken the program. But truly, truly, truly, even if you've already done it before commenting, you don't even have to comment the keyboard. Just commenting in general is going to be so helpful. You sharing the posts would be so helpful. You cheering me on in my DMS to tell me to not quit would be so helpful. I'm not just trying to grow 10,000 subscribers for vanity. This is part of a bigger strategy. This is about earning the platform I want the book to stand on. Every post is built to do one or more of three things. Well, maybe four things. I either want to grow followers, grow subscribers, grow buyers, or grow interest in what I'm putting out into the world for ahead of this book. I want to connect with people. I want to feel more in community with the people I truly care about. I want to see the opportunities that are in front of me and truly capture them instead of just watch them pass me by. So definitely go pay attention and follow on all of the platforms. But if you are too interested in growing your list by your first or your next 1,000 subscribers, you need to be at my workshop. Period. You need to be at my workshop and you need to come live because I'm doing something I haven't done before. And when you show up, when you take the time to be there, I'm giving away one of my hundred dollar courses completely free. Now this course I could have charged far more for. I made it a hundred dollars to make it accessible anyway. But I truly want you to have access to this information and so you showing up live is going to be helpful for me. So I Want to reward you by giving you access to this program. So if you're interested in finding out more about what that looks like, go to bossproject.com 1000. That's the number. 1 0, 0, bossproject.com 1 0, 0. Oh, my gosh, 1, 0, 0, 0. There's three zeros and a thousand. Lordy, it's gonna be a long 100 days. I'm hoping this whole process gives me a mindset shift because I think often it's so easy to slip into a pattern where you're just showing up to post, but when you're visible on purpose, with purpose, it makes such a huge difference. And there's a tension between growing fast and growing right. And my hope is this allows me to do both in a really thoughtful and meaningful way. I'm not here to do the most. You know, I could spend many, many, many hours editing these videos and making it just right. And that's not gonna work. It's not gonna work for me. I wanna make this simple. I wanna make this feel accessible. And I don't think spending more time editing is going to dramatically change the effectiveness of what I'm saying. So. Now, granted, I haven't edited my first video yet, so we'll see where we land on that. But I'm hoping I can create almost a formulaic approach that makes editing fast and simple, even though I'm producing a talking head video anyway. I could ramble on for days and keep talking about this, but that's not going to be helpful to you. I just want you to know that when you're feeling lost or off track, there are ways to rein it back in and make things that feel in alignment, that don't feel like you're overdoing it or overcompensating, but are actually excited about showing up again. I know it's taken a lot for me to get here, but all of the hard days, they were for something. They weren't for nothing. They had a purpose. So thank you so much for listening. You're the best. You listening to the very end just means you're my favorite person. So come tell me that you're my new favorite. I would love to hear from you and I can't wait to see what you do to grow your visibility on purpose. Hey, a few quick favors before you leave. I'd love if you'd share today's episode, send it to a friend who needs to hear it, and post on social. You can show us where you're listening from your favorite takeaway or why someone else should listen. Be sure to tag me at Abigail says and ossproject so we can share it. Okay? Second favor to get podcast updates and all the behind the scenes news from Boss Project. I'd love if you'd join my VIP list. Just head to bossproject.com signup to make sure I have all your contact details. Really love this show. It would mean so much to me if you'd leave a rating and review. It not only helps more listeners find the show, but allows us to bring on quality sponsors so we can keep bringing you this valuable content for free. Thanks so much for listening. Until next time.