Putting out Content daily - let's see what happens

[Nicoknowsbest]

Hi @Pat D. Rick,

brilliant progress thread, love it. I like how you write things up. It's an interesting strategy you are using - something I haven't done so far.

It seems like we started out in very similar positions. Fiverr, freelancing - you name it. Seems like we are in the same location as well? From your marathon pic I could tell, not sure if you live in this city though.

Wanna meet for a coffee and have a little chat?

 

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[Andy Black]

That's actually a really good idea, thanks!

Then post them to YouTube and natively on your Facebook page.

Check out my YouTube channel for a few Loom videos.

 

[Pat D. Rick]

Hi @Pat D. Rick,

brilliant progress thread, love it. I like how you write things up. It's an interesting strategy you are using - something I haven't done so far.

It seems like we started out in very similar positions. Fiverr, freelancing - you name it. Seems like we are in the same location as well? From your marathon pic I could tell, not sure if you live in this city though.

Wanna meet for a coffee and have a little chat?

Sure, you can send me a DM any time. Always good meeting with likeminded people.

 

[Pat D. Rick]

New Update for May:

It was actually a better month than expected.
The website audit for the small webshop I did went great. Client was more than satisfied with the results. This was an eyeopening experience for me as I wasn't sure at the beginning if he will be happy with what I delivered.

Turned out that my own expectations of myself are higher than the clients expectations of me.
He also asked if he could come back at me in the future for some more help and if he could put my logo on his website for recommendation.

Putting out content on social media (especially Linkedin) is going pretty good. Just today an hour ago I got a DM from someone asking for my service. To be honest I don't get too high on these requests since a lot of them don't turn out as real business - maybe I'm just bad at closing deals?

What I like most about putting out content on a daily basis - besides from building a relationship with people online - is that I'm learning things blazing fast. You see much quicker what works and what does not.

When people say "quality over quantity" I agree. But let's face it, you can figure out much faster what quality means when you're posting more often!

For this month I'll keep pushing and keep posting to build my tribe. Since it obviously seems to work I don't want to change my strategy yet again. It's also too early to decide that it cannot work out at all.

Besides that I'm currently building a sales funnel to get more clients in. I don't think it's a good idea to solely rely on just one way to attract new business.

So I created very specific offer to a highly targeted market and recorded some videos with valuable tips. These will go out in a series of email ending with my special offer to get my foot in the door. Let's see how this plan is going to work out.

By the way when I sent my video to a freelancer on Fiverr for editing he responded that he gets a lot of videos daily, but mine was one of the best so far. He meant the quality is top notch and the way I speak is very clear.

@Andy Black seems like I worried too much about the video thing. I now just talk naturally to the camera as I would like to a real person. It also gets easier now as I spent like an hour for recording my first short videos and my last video was done in one go that took a few minutes.

These things are like my personal wins along the way which make it much more enjoyable.

That's it for this months update. Next update will come when June is over.

 

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[Pat D. Rick]

Good thread. Kudos to you for continuing to post. Sometimes in the beginning of running a marketing service it can feel like you are pushing a millstone uphill. Then, with experience and reputation, it feels like you get stronger and the ground starts to level out. Things gets easier. It sounds like you're starting to hit your stride. That's awesome. Keep it up. Before you know it, it'll start feeling like you're going downhill, and the tasks that used to be hard are a breeze. Keep looking for other services that complement your core offerings, and be careful not to stretch yourself too thin.

Thanks for the kind words, really appreciate it!
Your post reminds me of the saying “Everything is hard until it gets easy". And it feels like it’s getting easier month by month.
But don’t get me wrong, I’m still in the beginning and the more experience I gain the more I realize that there are more things to learn.

 

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[Andy Black]

Over time you became a trusted authority on this platform and I’m sure it has paid off financially for you in one way or the other.

True. I'm working on doing the same outside the forum now.

 

[Andy Black]

I'm not sure what you mean by that. Could explain it in more detail?

I worked with a client recently. She didn’t like the work we’d done and insisted we did it a different way. Then she complained about the quality of visitors hitting her site and the lack of leads. So I explained (again) why we should have done it the way we’d started. At which point I politely said we’d not got the results for her that we’d have liked at this stage and that I was refunding her. I preferred to wash my hands of it and let her go her own direction.

 

[Pat D. Rick]

When I get like this, and there's no inciting incident to cause it, I look at my habits. What have I eaten (or not eaten) that may be the cause? Am I getting the right mix of vitamins & minerals? Have I gotten enough sun? Do I need to exercise a little more? Have I been getting less sleep than I need?

Try journaling your daily food intake. That's how I was able to link certain foods (like pizza, which is one of my favorites) to a lower emotional state the next day. Now I'm much more conscious of the choice I make and if I do get down emotionally, I often have a clearer picture of why (cause I just can't quit pizza. Sometimes we're on a break, but I always go back...) It's also how I leanred that avocado, turkey, and green tea are emotion boosters for me. You can combine it with a sleep journal to figure out the "right" amount of sleep for you.

As for the tip, it's easier to keep the downs in perspective and power through when you know its temporary because of one of those issue above and easily addressed. Honestly, a long walk often resets my mood, especially if its around trees, but it could be just on a treadmill..

Hope that helps.

It's funny you mention that because I started reading Atomic Habits again this week and thought about the same thing. You're probably right my habits aren't what they used to be. Will start to change it for the better again.
Thanks for your input.

 

[Deleted68316]

Thanks for sharing.

I love the story and your positivity.

Keep improving.

 

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[Pat D. Rick]

Update for October:

Hey everyone,

So in October I made 12.566 EUR (14.562 USD). Was a pretty good month due to one new client who wanted to pay me in advance for the next few months. I really like having more cashflow.

As for my first part-time employee I published my job description on Linkedin (nowhere else) and applications just keep coming in. Tomorrow I will have my 10th job interview, but I already have some very good candidates.

My job description is suuuuper long and pre-qualifies people because they have to apply via email and add a specific text in the subject line to prove that they actually read the whole thing. I also got 4 applications with a video in which the applicants introduce themselves - the description says that people who send a video already have a bonus point.

To have more time for the job interviews I outsourced some of my operational work to a freelancer on Fiverr. Mostly article writing for my clients. And to be blunt I was more than disappointed with the work this guy delivered.

The briefing was really in-depth and had very clear instructions but he just ignored it all. It wasn’t even a super cheap freelancer so I was really mad and gave him clear (but respectful) feedback - he was actually thankful for my honest feedback.

So a few days later he delivered the order and it was kinda better but still not really where I wanted it to be. I mean I knew that I would still have to work over it a bit, but that was just too much. Now there wasn’t enough time for another revision so I did the last part myself and am now correcting the work.

That whole story showed me again why I prefer hiring someone doing this kind of work in-house (although they will be working from their home office). I think it's just better to have somebody accountable for the outcome and who is improving their work with my feedback over time, so there is less and less for me to correct.

For me personally this is about taking the step from being a freelancer to a small and eventually not so small agency. I never intended to work alone for the rest of my life. I just needed to take the time and build the foundation so that I could safely start to hire cool and motivated people.

Anyway now I need to choose the right person from all the applications so they can start in December and I can plan my marketing activities to get in more and better clients.

I’ll keep you updated.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Wow congrats, nice to see a decent progression upward, really forms a nice foundation for better things to come.

 

[Andy Black]

Update for May:

Hey everyone,

May has been a solid month doing 8.563 EUR (9.179 USD) in revenue.

Our first videos have already been published. Some of them on our website, but also the first two hours of video material have been published on youtube. The youtube videos are pretty simple with just me standing in front of a flipchart, explaining things about SEO, copywriting or content marketing.

After they have been published on youtube I also embed them on my website since for most topics I have already written and published an article before. So now people who come to these articles can decide if they’d rather read or watch a video.

At first I struggled to find topics to talk about in the videos. But now that I’m reading “they ask, you answer” (can recommended) again, I have brainstormed around 60 topics that I can talk about in front of a camera and write about it on my website very easily.

The more I read and learn about online advertising - or advertising in general - the more I’m convinced that inbound marketing is the way to go.

Now that we have videos with lengths of around 15 to 20 minutes we can also cut out smaller pieces of them to publish separately on Linkedin. This way I can now put out short videos on Linkedin which to me is a bigger benefit because users can now see and hear me talk, so it’s a bit more personal.

The only problem in all of that is my videographer because he just doesn’t deliver the results on the agreed upon deadline. To me this is a total red flag cause I can’t work with people for a longer period who never stand by their words. I’m not quite sure how I’ll handle this situation, but if it doesn’t work out, I’ll go back to record the videos on my own and let some freelancer on Fiverr do the cutting.

Another good thing that happened this month was an existing client extending the cooperation for 12 months, even with additional services, after we increased their organic traffic by almost 4.000% within a year. I’ve made a case study out of this and published it prominently on our homepage to show new visitors what they can expect when working with us.


By the way… does anyone have experiences with BNI networking chapters?

I keep getting invited to them, but I’m unsure if it’s the right fit. I have previously attended only one meeting some time ago, but I have the feeling everyone there expects to get leads while not everyone has leads to share.


The last thing I want to share in this update is an eye opening conversation I had this week with an experienced sales guy. After he read one of my Linkedin posts about my first try to cold call the leads that downloaded my white paper (mentioned in the updates above), he reached out to me offering me some advice.

At first I thought he might try to sell me some sales coaching (he actually didn’t). But since he clearly had experience in this field I figured I might just have the conversation and see if he has some valuable advice for me.

I explained to him my process of getting inbound leads and that I’m actually good at qualifying leads and then closing them, but I just hate picking up the phone and calling people to set the first appointment - that might become a qualifying call afterwards.

Now I tried to do some calls myself because I thought I had to go through it myself to delegate it eventually.

But then he asked me why I didn't just hand over the first appointment to someone else if I hate it and instead focus on my strengths. After all, it would be a waste of time to correct your weaknesses if you plan on delegating these activities at some point.

Not gonna lie, this got me thinking big time. Even if it sounds pretty obvious. Sometimes all you need is a look from the outside from an experienced person to completely shift your perspective.

It makes totally sense to me, but I now have to think about how I am going to approach this topic. So far I don't have enough inbound leads giving away their number to employ a part-timer who can set appointments.

Anyway, when I have made up my mind and found a solution I'll share it in one of my next updates.

This turned out to be a very thorough update, but it helps me journaling and reflecting my progress.

Let me know if you have thoughts on any of these topics.

Other than that, there is nothing more to add for this update.

1) What’s working for you? Outbound or inbound? I do zero outbound.

2) If you’ve already got longer form content then what about also publishing 30 second videos as YouTube shorts and maybe TikToks and Instagram Reels?

3) Are you running ads? My preference would be to tell different people the same thing rather than tell different things to the same people.

4) I like Laurel Portié’s method/framework btw (not that I’m doing it… it just makes sense).

View: https://youtu.be/7__iIZ28fYQ

 

[Andy Black]

1) So far all I did was inbound. People were approaching me because they either has been referred to me or because they followed my Linkedin posts.

Focus on what's working?

2) I haven't tried YT shorts so far, but would definitely give it try. I'm very sceptical with republishing my current videos as shorter versions on TikTok or Reels though because it's not native to the plattform at all. My videos aren't really for entertainment purposes.

Plenty of TikTok channels have non-entertainment content. Alex Hormozi has a channel. I was only on TikTok for a couple of weeks checking it out. I thought his videos were quite well done.

3) I'm currently running ads to promote the download of my white paper. Or do you suggest I should run ads just to get in front of more eyeballs?

Keep doing what's working. Check out Laurel's stuff. Her strategy would be to give away a great tip for free and mention an accompanying content upgrade. She'd tell people to reply if they wanted it and she'd then get into message conversation with them. It might be the content upgrade isn't the most appropriate thing to send them, so she'd send something else or end up on a call.

4) Thank you, I'll look into it asap!

You're welcome.

 

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[Pat D. Rick]

Update für June:

Hey everyone,

First 6 months of this year are over and I've made 57.718 EUR (60.194 USD) since the beginning of the year. With a nice new project I closed 2 weeks ago and my MRR I’ll pretty much cross the 100k mark this year for the first time.

Of course anything could happen during the next 6 months, but I’ll give my best and the second half of the year will go even better.

@Andy Black I’ve watched the video you posted last time and I’ve already taken Loriel Porties advice and recorded some videos that are currently being promoted via YouTube ads in addition to my regular YT content.

I really like her approach with not trying to convert cold leads right away, but rather reach them with "commercials" and then converting them via retargeting ads.


As mentioned above, two weeks ago I closed a nice project which was probably one of my easiest sales so far. Some number called me and the person on the other end told me they would need an offer for SEO services.

So we cleared everything I needed to know to make a good proposal. Two days later the deal was sealed. Best thing is they actually found us by searching online for the services we offer, so it wasn’t a recommendation or anything.

It turned out the company is part of a billion dollar global brand with more than 13.000 employees. Now after this first one time project I’ll have to look how I can offer them a monthly based service that would make sense for both sides.


I also took time to think about my tasks in the business, the things I’d like to do more of and the things I'd delegate sooner rather than later. So I've decided to increase my copywriter's hours so that she can focus more on creating content for our clients while I can focus more on our own content production.
After all, I want to stay true to the motto of this thread and as Andy already mentioned above "Do more of the things that already work well!"

In retrospect, content marketing brings us the most qualified leads. Also, with my own website, I want to be a role model for the services that we sell to our customers in the sense of "practice what you preach".

From now on I’ll publish one or two blog articles and two YouTube videos per week. All based on topics and questions that are important to existing and future customers.

It's some grind I admit, but in the long run I'll build some content assets with this strategy that should bring in more inbound leads that are also better qualified.

By the way: I just noticed the “HOT!” badge on this thread. What does this actually mean or which threads get this?

Let me know if you have thoughts on any of these topics.

Other than that, there is nothing more to add for this update.

 

[Pat D. Rick]

Congratulations on the amazing progress over the years and crossing the 100k mark! I've just been through your thread from page 1 and loved seeing the improvements and pivots made over time to get you to where you are today.

How many employees do you currently have? I asked this question based on your feelings regarding the holiday you had. I wonder if you could get one or two more employees, therefore giving yourself more time and space for planning, creativity and structure. Less time working 'in' your business, more time working 'on' your business.

Thanks for the words, it's always nice to hear when someone enjoys this thread.

You have some very good points. Currently it's me and my copywriter. She does the majority of the writing so I have more time for the things you mentioned. So it's partly working on the business and partly working in the business. With the holidays it was more about being away in a completely different country. New employees will definitely come when more projects and liquidity come in.

 

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[Stargazer]

Well done on The Marathon.

Which country are you in and what do you mean by old economy when describing your fathers business?

Dan

 

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[Pat D. Rick]

New Update:

Restaurant Website:
Yesterday I met with a guy who wants to start a new restaurant and needs a simple website. So I got the deal and it should be done very quickly. Will bring in about 500€ so nice cash for a not so difficult job.
But the best thing is that he might need my service in the future as he's planning to grow the business and open some more restaurants.
Bonus:
He wasn't quite sure yet what kinds of wine he should offer. Thankfully I have a good friend of mine who owns a vinery. Somehow I enjoy connecting people. I think that's what everybody is talking about in this forum when they say "just help somebody and expect nothing in return".

Copywriting Gig:
Another guy approached me via Fiverr for a copywriting gig. Payed the highest fee (~100€) just to get it done faster. At first I had to do some revisions as he wasn't quite happy with my copy. But as I tried to REALLY understand how he wants to sell and what his audience looks like, I got the job done.
Already working on the next copy for the same guy, so I guess he liked the results. The client even has a good mindset as he said that he doesn't pay me for a particular word count, but for the value I create for him and his company.

Will keep you updated...

 

[Pat D. Rick]

Hey Everyone,

I know it's been a while since the last update but I decided that I want to write this at the end of the month so I have more to show for.

Important News:
So the guy I mentioned in the last post, that I did the copywriting gig for, liked my work so much he had more customers and additional work for me. Within the last few weeks we were on the phone almost every day speaking about business.
He started a social media agency after he had 2 successful exits wiht his former companys. We make a pretty good team combining our services. Next week I actually fly to Germany (where he lives) to discuss future business.

The best thing:
One day that guy sent me a message about a business idea we should start together. At first I didn't quite get his idea, but after I understood what he was talking about I knew that this has Fastlane Potential as it fits all 5 commandments (depending if the need is as strong as we think it is).
It's not really worth talking about at the current state, however I am confident that together we can make this thing happen.

This month's earnings: 1040€
I also just finished another project today that will bring in about another 1000€, but hasn't been paid yet.

Slowly but steadily I can see things change for the better. As I'm now working on this potential fastlane opportunity I think it might take a couple more months to see bigger changes. I'm happy as long as things go in the right direction.

Next update will probably come at the end of July.
Stay tuned.

 

[Pat D. Rick]

I’d rather get paid a flat monthly fee than a % of sale, so I know what my MRR is.

Yes, this makes totally sense, but because this is my first real estate agent I do FB ads for, I wasn't sure how to go about it as I couldn't tell how fast I would bring in results.
I think I'll go with the monthly fee when he recommends my service to other agents in his network.

For your course, can you first release a small part of it and see if you can get interest?

This is what we (I don't create the course alone) are planning to do. We want to have about 60% done and sell it with a special early bird offer to see if there is actually demand.

By the way what experience do you - and all the other guys - have with selling online courses?
What kinds of online courses do you think work best - videos, webinars, PDFs or a mix of everything?
And do you offer a monthly payment as well? (I think this is a good idea for this particular course because it'll be more expensive.)

 

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[Pat D. Rick]

What I meant was create a mini course and sell that? Instead of a 10 hour course, create a 1 hour course and see if it can help people, and if you can make sales?

Ohh I see, like a "light" version of the real course. Yeah that could work to test the water, thanks!
We planned about 12 modules, so we only need to find a way to make them shorter or do only 3 modules for the mini course.

How will you get the course in front of people who it can help, and who would be willing and able to pay for it?

I thought about a classic sales funnel.
Maybe udemy works for the light version. The biggest problem is that udemy isn't that big in the german speaking market.

 

[Andy Black]

I thought about a classic sales funnel.

How will you get people into the sales funnel though?

 

[Andy Black]

What has worked best for your courses?

I’ve only advertised my course to this forum. Most sales have come through here, but there’s been a few referrals. I’ve not run any ads or built a funnel - not yet anyway.

 

[Pat D. Rick]

Seems to me that Germany is a huge market for IT related , online sales , SEO , Marketing through social media etc.
Should you not look at this a s a potential short course.
What about Offering someone else course in German as a translated guide for instance.
That way both of ye increase your market and potential.
Most of the courses on here are English and ewould have a better following if translated.
Oh wait is that a fastlane idea.....ok nobody copy that just ignore I said it..... ;-)

Well, yes and no.
I'm well aware that there is less competition than in the English market. But there are plenty online courses about online marketing topics out there.
I thought about creating a special Facebook ads online course for real estate agents when I have proven that I can drive in results.

 

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[Pat D. Rick]

Sure. What to?

Thanks. Let's give it an evergreen title "The No Cheesy Title Execution Thread".

 

[Andy Black]

Thanks. Let's give it an evergreen title "The No Cheesy Title Execution Thread".

May I suggest a title that indicates what’s in the thread and what you’re doing? Something that will entice people who it might help or who might help you, yet something that deters people who it wouldn’t be relevant for?

From your first post maybe it’s something to do with going freelance, and/or copywriting/web design/digital marketing?

You could make it a simple “Pat’s Progress Thread”? Maybe with a “subtitle”?

“Pat’s Journey from Freelancer to Business Owner”?

Treat it as an exercise in writing a good subject line for an email?

 

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[Pat D. Rick]

Awesome. I only just read this.

My thoughts on getting content out there:

“Video First” if you can. From the video you can extract the audio, and text. Btw... “Video First” could mean you write an article then convert it to video. To me that phrase means put video at the fore.

However, if video isn’t your thing then don’t worry about it. Audio and text are massive in their own right.

Content marketing with SEO feels too slow? Write articles and send paid visitors to them from Google or YouTube? Learn what works and hone/split-test your content. Maybe run Facebook Ads too (not my wheelhouse so I can’t really comment).

You just described the process I'm planning to go through.

 

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[Pat D. Rick]

Oh and by the way:
I already tried my first videos with just me talking into the camera. It's way more difficult than I would've expected. The second I want to start talking I kinda freeze up and forget what I want to say. As if it would matter if I made a mistake when talking. Stupid.

How are you @Andy Black and @Lex DeVille going for it. Are you guys just naturals or are you using scripts for your videos?

Maybe you can give me some hints on this.

 

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[Andy Black]

Oh and by the way:
I already tried my first videos with just me talking into the camera. It's way more difficult than I would've expected. The second I want to start talking I kinda freeze up and forget what I want to say. As if it would matter if I made a mistake when talking. Stupid.

How are you @Andy Black and @Lex DeVille going for it. Are you guys just naturals or are you using scripts for your videos?

Maybe you can give me some hints on this.

Check out the first video in the “AndyTalks” progress thread in my signature, and also the first video in the “Figuring Out YouTube” progress thread.

Yeah, it’s super weird the first few times talking to a phone/camera with no-one there. Keep doing it and it becomes second nature.

I mention what I do in those two videos... my goal is to help people, and I imagine I’m talking to someone. That way I find everything falls into place.

I tried a script once and it was a disaster. I can’t follow scripts!

 

[Andy Black]

I had trouble with straight talking at first. I'd try to remember the points I wanted to say and get all caught up in my head, which lead to freezing. It took a while, but mostly I just talk free form and let the thoughts flow so it all comes out natural and I don't have to go back and do cuts and piece things together. I'm testing limited scripts in my videos now just to change things up, but it's hard to sound natural when reading from a script. Just takes practice tho.

Actually, I’ve started putting scripted parts on the end of my YouTube videos (the part where you ask people to like, share, subscribe, etc.). They definitely don’t come across as natural at the moment.

I’m sure practice will help. Or maybe I’ll end up just saying it all as part of the main video once I’m more used to doing them.

 

[Pat D. Rick]

I’ll run ads to try to make sales, or email subscribers that would turn into sales.

I also got my new clients through the google ads as emntioned above. Although I don't have an email newsletter yet.

Yeah, it’s super weird the first few times talking to a phone/camera with no-one there. Keep doing it and it becomes second nature.

That's what I thought. As with most things, it's only hard until it gets easy. Thanks for the recommendation!

but it's hard to sound natural when reading from a script

Exactly. I think I'll use some scripts partly at the beginning just to remember what to say. But it should sound as natural as possible.