Well, 2023 was a year unlike any other in my business.
I spent most of it sick – actually, if I’m being completely honest here, between my own illnesses and having three kids who seemed to catch every bug going around, health issues dominated a good 9-10 months of my year. And that’s not even counting the stretch from October through December 2022 when my kids were constantly ill, leaving me already exhausted before my own health struggles began.
But here’s the thing – despite the constant health battles, I was fortunate enough to maintain a steady client load and keep my podcast running consistently. Should I have cut back a bit? Probably. Maybe I would have healed faster if I had gotten more rest. But I didn’t, and while it was an overwhelming year for me personally, it wasn’t (for the most part) for the clients I served. I’m incredibly grateful for their flexibility, and even more grateful that I work with some of the best people who made me actually look forward to showing up for their projects, even on the tough days.
So let’s be untraditional here. Instead of writing a typical business review post about wins and goals (because, let’s be real, being upright and working was sometimes the biggest win), let’s focus on something I can actually measure and report from 2023: What I learned.
From Digital Hoarding to Active Learning: My 2023 Journey
How many courses do you have littering your inbox, Google Drive, and course platforms? If you’re anything like me, it’s probably quite a bit. The real question here though, is…what are you going to do with all of them?
Last year, I decided it was time to stop course collecting and start using what I had to help me grow personally and in my business. Why? Well, I was already getting quite annoyed by my digital hoarding, overflowing inbox, and massive amount of products I paid for and did nothing with. But also, while I didn’t have the capacity to take on a ton of intensive client project, I did have the energy and capacity to work through some courses at my own leisure.
If it was a day where I felt like I was dragging and I couldn’t get myself together to get much work done, I’d lay down, flip open my laptop, and watch a video-heavy course that I previously bookmarked for the future.
Quick disclaimer: I know I’ve talked a ton about being ill in 2023, but I was fortunate and privileged enough to be able to maintain a steady stream of clients and income, while also being consistent with my podcast. Should I have cut my work down a bit? Probably. I mean, maybe I would have healed faster if I did get more rest. But I didn’t. And while it was an overwhelming year for me, it wasn’t (for the most part) for the clients I served. And I am so grateful for their flexibility, and I am so glad to be working with some of the best people that made me actually look forward to doing the work I needed to do for their projects.
But back to business: I spent a lot of time last year taking courses, going to workshops, and joining groups so that I could learn more and better myself and my business..
In this post, I’ll share the biggest takeaways I gained from a year of focused learning, how they’ve transformed the way I approach my work and life, and what I plan to work on in 2024.
Evolving My Services: The Seven-Year Itch Pivot
For seven years, I offered almost the same exact services in my business: website copy for small businesses, copy coaching for DIYers, blog content for big brands—and SEO for all of those groups.
But the Seven Year Itch proved to be true for my businesses and I knew I needed to make some adjustments to still find joy in the work I was doing.
I just wasn’t sure if I should adjust my offerings, move from being a solopreneur to an agency owner, or burn it all down and start again. In truth, this is something I’m still sorting out, but I feel a lot better about some of the shifts I’ve made. Let’s dive in:
Why I’m Putting Strategy Before Deliverables
Since strategy is the base for….well, every single service I offer….I knew that no matter which shift I went with, I wanted to adjust the process of working with me to lean more heavily on the strategy work that I offer than the deliverable.
So many businesses think with the deliverable in mind, and what I find when I analyze what was happening with the leads who didn’t become clients is simply that there were too many elements in their own businesses that needed addressing before they were ready to commit to the deliverable they actually had in mind.
For example: Everyone wants an updated website, but not everyone is ready to move forward to create a site that’s strategic. If you’re not sure what your offer is, what precisely your client needs, or how much it will cost…you can’t possibly write website copy that will attract new leads and convert them into clients and customers.
Which is why I jumped at the chance when Maggie Patterson offered a Study Group version of her Sell Your Strategy course this summer. Working through the program helped me to dream up a few new strategy-only services, and it allowed me the opportunity to review all of my current offers to see them from a new light.
VIP Intensives: An Honest Look at Refining What Works
Another program I worked through was Sarah Masci’s VIP Accelerator.
I’m going to be completely honest with you—I’m not sure why I bought this as I already had a VIP intensive offer.
I think I happened to see her launch marketing at a moment when I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with work and trying to figure out how to adjust things in my business. I bought it hoping that I’d learn something new about what I was already doing. And that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I just didn’t have much of an interest in niching down to a VIP-day only type of business, so I should have minded my business and focused on something I was actively working on instead.
This all being said, Sarah’s program was very well laid-out and I enjoyed working through the modules.
I think the program is best set up for someone new to VIP intensives, but what worked so well for me was that it gave me the opportunity to review all my systems, processes, automations, and workflows and determine what I could improve. And there were quite a few opportunities for improvement that I may not have even noticed if I didn’t work through her course.
Building Out the Product Side of My Business
A big goal of mine in 2023 was finally finishing the many courses I started (to create) but never launched and getting a shop set up on my website to sell them. The shop didn’t come to fruition because I knew I’d be making some bigger website design updates in 2024, but I’m thrilled to share that I’ve got quite the product suite started with more courses and products to come in the near future.
To accomplish this goal, I didn’t need to take any courses in course creation as I had prior teaching experience. I felt comfortable developing curriculums and presenting the materials to my students. In fact, this process is something I really enjoy doing.
Building My Product Suite: Adventures in Selling
While I did have curriculum design experience, I didn’t have much practice selling digital products, so one of the programs I joined was Lizzy Goddard’s Silver Moon Sales to help me get more consistent sales from the courses that were live and available for purchase. (I’d share a link for the program, but it’s not currently open for outside enrollment.)
I liked that the program was set up with different Moon Missions—which were pretty much just a focused course of study with gamification built in to encourage students to complete the missions. It was also interesting to watch some of the guest workshops that Lizzy included, as many of the topics weren’t sales (or marketing) aspects that I was focusing on at the time.
One “mission” was a Get-It-Done week in which participants would create or update an Everything Page for their website using Lizzy’s Everything Page course. (It’s only $9 if it’s something you’re curious about!) I did create one that is acting as a temporary sort of “shop” for my site until I do the updates and create an “official” shop. You can learn more out the people who were in this challenge with me here.
Silver Moon Sales didn’t start until halfway through the year, and many of the elements were brought in over the next few months, so between that and being sick for a while, I didn’t really get into Silver Moon Sales until the end of the year. Here’s hoping I can focus on it in the beginning of the year, as my time in the program comes to an end mid-2024.
Building My Affiliate Program: A Two-Course Journey
While we’re on the topic of sales, let’s talk about affiliates—both being one and having them. As a proud affiliate for many other business owners, I knew I wanted to create an affiliate program so that people who wanted to promote my products could. Now, I didn’t take any courses that taught me how to be a better affiliate—though, that could be something to look into—but I did work through a few programs to help me set up a successful affiliate program from the get go.
I took both Lizzy Goddard’s The Lazy Guide to Affiliate Marketing, and Dama Jue’s Pay Your Pals, and used them as a guide to set up my own affiliate program for my business. I actually highly recommend doing them together if this is something you’re interested in doing for your business.
I worked through Lizzy’s program first, and it really set me up with a solid foundation for how I wanted to set up my affiliate program. Then, I moved onto Dama’s and was blown away with how actionable everything was. It was specifically helpful for me because I planned to use Thrivecart to help me run my affiliate program, as it was a tool I already owned. Dama also uses affiliate and there was a tech overview that really made it so easy to move through my own set up.
Behind the Scenes: Strengthening Business Foundations
There was also some behing-the-scenes things I wanted to focus on, and I was fortunate to have some programs and courses that could help me accomplish those goals.
Getting Serious About Legal and Money Matters
I signed up for Braden Drake’s ProfitRX program right at the end of 2022 with the high hopes that I’d finally get a better know how about some things that were going on with my legal set up, as well as with my accounting and bookkeeping.
And Braden’s course really brought it. The problem was that it was a live cohort (which is exactly what I wanted, to be honest. I appreciate live programs for the public accountability and group think aspects). More specifically, it was a group cohort that ended up taking place in the thick of my health issues. So I barely attended the live elements of the program, and when I did, I just felt like I needed to catch up to really get something from the conversations.
Now, the great news is that there are so many pre-recorded elements, so I was able to answer some of the pressing questions I went into the course with, and I did learn a bit of new stuff too. I just didn’t get what I wanted from the program—at no fault of the course—just because I didn’t have the time and energy for the program.
My hope for 2024 is that I can get back into study mode and finish some of the content I’ve yet to work through, or maybe even join a future live round, if Braden and team offer one. I don’t think there’s currently an open link to ProfitRX as it isn’t open to join at this moment, but I do want to point out that I highly recommend Braden’s Contract Club if you want to get those stinkin’ contracts in order for only $200 bucks.
Rekindling My Visibility Strategy
I love Angie Trueblood, and before she made adjustments to The Podwize Group to be a 100% service-based agency (a decision I fully support!), I was a student in her Go Pitch Yourself DIY program and a member of her Podwize Co-Op.
Angie’s podcast Pitched (formerly Go Pitch Yourself) is the first business podcast that I became obsessed with. She’s a friend, a colleague, and just an all-around smartypants when it comes to all things podcasting. Which is why, when she sunset her courses and community, I made the choice to work through all of her content one final time as a refresher of sorts. And I’m so glad that I did.
As I told Angie when the transition happened, I made the choice to work through the content not because I forgot what she taught me, but because the refresher was a great motivator in actually getting out there and pitching myself again.
I did a great pitching sprint in 2022 that got me a lot of visibility opportunities, but this year it has been sorely lacking. And with being sick for so much of 2023, I guess I understand why the lack of effort happened with visibility pitching. It’s definitely something I’d like to improve in 2024.
While Angie doesn’t have any DIY offers you can purchase, I HIGHLY recommend her and her team if you’re looking for help with your podcast pitching.
Easing Into 2024
While 2023 wasn’t the year I planned for, it wasn’t a completely wasted year, either. Instead of collecting more courses to gather dust in my digital library, I finally made use of what I already had. Those days when illness slowed me down became opportunities for learning and reflection.
As I ease into 2024, I’m carrying forward not just new knowledge, but the practical experience of putting that knowledge to work. Perhaps that’s the biggest lesson of all — that sometimes our most significant progress comes not from doing more, but from making the most of what we already have at hand.
Until next year.
