One of the things I like to do before a new year dawns is to clear out the old and make space for the new.
To that effect, I decided on a small, achievable project for us to do this month – because goodness knows we’re busy enough in December without adding an in-depth project to our plates (that’s what January is for!).
So, this month, we’re going to clear up all those old email subscriptions we have clogging up our inbox!
We all have those subscriptions that we never read (and probably never will) – maybe we had to give our email to get access to something, or we simply don’t vibe with that particular person any more. Or those ones we stay subscribed to out of guilt…
Whatever the reason, it’s time to let go of those ‘maybe, one day’ subscriptions and make space to hear from people whom we really gain value from.
I’ll be sharing prompts and reminders during the month, but if you stick to the following formula, you should end December with a whittled-down list of email subscriptions that you actually want.
Option 1: Every time you open your email, unsubscribe from ONE email subscription you no longer want. This is the simplest method with the least time-investment. BUT it also might make you pause and think before you randomly ‘check’ your email 100 times a day 😀
Option 2: Each morning, after you’ve processed email from overnight (deal with the important stuff first), open every single email subscription you’ve received overnight, and if it’s not giving you value, unsubscribe right then and there.
If you want to go even further, and clean out your inbox completely, ready for the new year, I highly recommend you check out the Inbox Zero Workshop here in the Circle, where I teach you my preferred system for keeping a clean and clear inbox!
I’ve used this system for years, and I finish most days with an empty inbox.
Funny story – I recently went 3 days without checking my email because I was unwell, and Nick logged in after the third day to try and find a particular message. He came to me and said ‘it’s not there’… in fact, we determined it was on the second page of my inbox, but because I’ve been following IZ for so many years, I never usually have a second page, so he didn’t even think to look there!
With the holiday season fast approaching, I thought it would be a good time to do a fun project that won’t take too much time, and will help us all support each other’s marketing efforts.
Say hello to #TeamThriverCircle!
All through October, we’re going to be using the above hashtag to help us help each other. Here’s how it’s going to work.
It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3!
1. Through October, when you post a product promotion (this can be a product image, teaser image, promo image – basically, any photo on your IG that relates to your business directly) on Instagram, make sure to include the hashtag #TeamThriverCircle in the first comment.
2. Each day, when you hop on IG, take a few minutes to search the #TeamThriverCircle hashtag, and comment on at least 3 of your fellow Thriver Circle member’s posts.
3. If you want to comment/like more, go for it! The more we comment and like each others posts, the more we’ll help each other get more engagement and traction.
This shouldn’t take more than a few minutes a day, as it’s not like a traditional instagram ‘pod’ where every member has to comment on every post.
And, since there around 500 of us, if we all do it, we will see a huge boost for everyone!
If you plan on participating, head on over to this post on Facebook and share your IG handle there, too.
We’ll also focus on all things instagram this month – I’ll be sharing tips, links and advice, and please share your questions and success stories!
It’s time to get ready for the busiest selling season of the year – the holidays!
Most of us either live in or sell to countries that celebrate Christmas/New Year.
For us, this is usually the busiest time of the year – which means it can also be the most stressful.
However, if we get prepared early, and plan ahead, we can avoid those ‘whoops’ moments and ensure we are ready to market our business effectively.
During September, we are going to work through the Handmade Biz Holiday Checklist below. You can download a pdf copy to print. You can also listen to the podcast episode where I go into more detail on each point.
Even if you’ve listened to it before, I encourage you to listen to it again! These tasks are things we have to do every year, so it will be a great way to refresh your memory, remind you of what you need to do, and get you motivated to be as prepared as possible to have a wonderful holiday sales season!
Happy July 🙂 This month, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make a video for your business!
You can publish a quick vid on instagram. You can do a facebook live (look out for a podcast on that this month). You can record a how-to. You can do an ‘about’ video.
Long, short, impromptu, planned – it doesn’t matter. The goal is simply to get comfortable with the idea and process of using video to market your business.
If you want royalty-free music for your video, try using JukeDeck.
Once you’ve made your video, share it with us in the Circle! Either upload it directly, or post a link to it elsewhere online. Make sure to tag it #JulyProject17.
If you missed the announcement on the switch from Workshops to Projects, you can read it here.
This month, our project is: To update our FB business page, and actually USE it a minimum of once a week.
I can already hear you saying ‘but I don’t like Facebook’! And you know what? I hear you. Many of us prefer to hang out on Instagram these days, right?
BUT – where are your CUSTOMERS spending their time?
From the 2016 Sensis social media report (based in Australia)…
Whoa. 95% of surveyed users and businesses used Facebook. Only 31% are using Instagram!
What does that tell us? It tells us that Facebook is, by far, the most active social media platform – it’s where most ‘regular people’ (i.e. non-biz-having folk) spend their time. And if you’re not there, or totally neglecting your page, people will judge your businesses based on this.
At this time, in our industry, there is definitely an ‘Instagram bubble’. That is – makers love Instagram. We hang out there, chatting to each other, sharing with each other. And sure, sometimes we also buy from each other. But what about all those customers who are NOT makers, who are not in a visually-based field, and who spend their leisure time on Facebook?
You want to be communicating with those people. People expect to be able to find a Facebook biz page for your business. They expect it to be up to date.
Oh, and don’t forget the power of stats. If you have a biz Instagram and a FB page, the demographic information about your followers can be super-helpful when it comes to knowing who they are, what age/gender they are, where they are, and whether or not they are engaging with your page.
So, no matter how you feel personally about Facebook, I strongly encourage you to at least keep an eye on your FB page, and keep it relatively updated.
That is what this month’s Project is all about!
You are going to give your FB biz page an update, and you are going to instil the habit of checking in there at least once a week.
Below is a video I created for you to give you a tour around your FB biz page (as it looks currently – if you are watching this in future, chances are FB have changed something about the layout since I recorded this – they like to mess with things!).
In this video, I highlight some things for you to focus on, as well as giving you some tips to make your page shine.
The hashtag to use when you are discussing this project in the TC FB group is #JuneProject17.
Action Steps
Watch the video – take notes! Or even update things as you watch it…
Update your FB page where necessary – business hours, banner, avatar, links, ‘about’ section etc.
Set a day and time on your calendar (if you have a calendar on your phone with reminders, set it there) to remind you to go to your FB biz page and update it a minimum of once a week for the whole month of June.
At the end of the month, have a look at your stats and see if you’ve improved your engagement/follows!
I’ll be popping questions and reminders in the FB group throughout the month to help keep you on track.
P.S. I know many of you will have this question, so I’m answering it now. Yes. You should be pushing your IG posts through to your Facebook Page. You want that content to work for you in both places! Just remember – FB doesn’t really like hashtags, so don’t be hashtag-heavy in your caption on IG – put those hashtags in your first comment on IG so they don’t get pushed through to FB. If you’re still using a personal IG page, you can always automatically save your IG photos using IFTTT and then manually upload them to your FB page. Or, if they save to your phone, do it that way.
