100 Day Strategy Experiment!

Listen in behind the scenes in real time for 100 days, as I aim to optimise, strategise, connect and align everything I currently offer and ideas for the future ...all in a way that works for my brain and my life.

You’re in!

Thank you for joining the 100 Day Strategy Experiment

Important: Please connect to the private podcast below.

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Overview Notes…

This is the Central Hub where I will share any links or resources that may support you as the experiment unfolds. Also a note to let you know that every Friday will be Q&A day - so feel free to ping me an email or voice note via Voxer with any Q’s you have that relate in some way to what I have been sharing, and I will come back to you asap.

Q&A Friday…

Email: hello@createwellbeingltd.com or Voxer me @johodson

(only until 31/12/24 for the duration of the experiment)

Resources Hub

Weekly summaries of key points shared

  • The primary goal is to review and consolidate notes on existing digital products, including freebies and courses, but this task feels overwhelming despite its simplicity.

    Past experiences of doing similar lists create resistance to starting, highlighting a need for clarity in goals and strategies.

    Drafting emails for upcoming communication is on track, including a prompt for Q&A on Friday. Posting on Instagram and Facebook (where else?), acknowledging the discomfort of self-promotion. I need to be sharing beyond my own audience more consistently - such as podcasts, bundles, and articles for various platforms.

    Navigating the potential merging my personal and business Instagram accounts, still figuring out blending both worlds.  

    Flown co-working platform works really well for me as productivity booster and sense of connectedness in sessions. Really want to use it more consistently.

    Distractions from various summits and presentations making it difficult to focus on the experiment (excuses!)

    Planning to split an existing large digital workbook into three segments for easier accessibility and more specific topics.

    Set up a Trello board for flexible brainstorming, categorising ideas into services, digital products, freebies, new ideas, and physical products. Aiming to link products to visualize the customer journey and identify gaps before creating new offerings.

    Working to simplify the purchase process on Squarespace; exploring Flodesk for checkout and order bumps.

    Considering ConvertBox for pop-up promotions to enhance customer engagement.

    Spent time creating graphics on Canva, which sparked creativity and led to content creation for social media and newsletters. Allowing time for creative tasks, lead to enhanced productivity in priority tasks.

  • Difficulty settling into work due to anticipation of social events and shared space with partner. Noticed the need for tasks that fit various energy/focus levels, especially during transitions.

    Joined the Rebellious Business Network to expand connections beyond current circles.

    Considered purchasing ConvertBox for customer journey pop-ups but decided it wasn’t the right time due to budget constraints. Plan to incorporate ConvertBox into future workflows as the business evolves.

    Noticed lack of routine affects ability to concentrate on deeper work. Succumbed to "revenge bedtime procrastination," scrolling on a number of evenings. 

    Developing a freebie guide related digital products for wellness-based businesses. This project grew larger than expected, evolving into a more substantial digital product (often the way!) Plan to use this guide as a freebie linked to future paid services, such as coaching and design days. Feeling pressure with how long it’s taking and distracting me from other priorities. 

    Launched blog titled "Why I'm Running Behind the Scenes: A Business Experiment," using AI to format thoughts.

    Acknowledging the need for self-compassion regarding procrastination and ADHD challenges; committed to being kinder to myself.

    Notice feeling resistant to recording daily audios because I lack tangible results to show.

  • Completed the new freebie digital product ‘Beyond One-To-One’. Created a landing sign up page and added a trip wire product Speak To This Training. Wondered if it should be free or low ticket - but I think it will have more leverage as a freebie even though valuable enough to be paid.

    Can’t just focus my time on this experiment  - need to balance: acquiring one-on-one clients, strategising for this 100-day experiment, and growing overall visibility.

    Email Campaign: I sent out the freebie guide to my list, and it was validated by a sale of the tripwire product shortly after.

    Tripwire Success: I made only one sale (£9), but it provides positive reinforcement that the system is effective.

    Blogging Goals: I want to be more SEO-conscious; my current posts lack targeted keywords.

    Content Strategy: I am planning to use AI (ChatGPT) to assist with planning more blog drafts from note sand audio sumos and with SEO optimisation.

    Finding that I am recording audio quite late in the day when I am already tired. Earlier would be better.

    I want to use time in the coming weeks to set up tripwire products on the back of all my digital products. Ideally order bumps too, but currently I don’t have the backend set up on Squarespace to do that - could do it I move to Flodesk Checkout.

  • There was a lot of transition, travel time and peopling this week which I found distracting from work tasks.

    Took some time to reconnect with all contacts from my old Instagram account that had become largely unused when my vanlife account built momentum. 

    Began exploring and engaging with some new Facebook groups. I need to find spaces that feel aligned and not forced. Engaging because I genuinely want to not because I feel I should. Peopling is hard for me!

    I saw a last minute spot available to speak at a summit - Rule Breaking Entrepreneurs Summit. Felt really aligned so I applied. It’s happened in a few days so I need to pull a presentation and freebie logistics together fast. Feels good to have a deadline and doing something different to a new audience.  

    I called my presentation: “Finding my rhythm: Biz lessons learnt from four years, Vanlife on the road”. Should be something I can repurposed in the future too.

    The freebie I wanted to offer was an update of something I half created previously and this gave me the motivation to complete - Life Identity Visualisation process. Helpful for B2B or B2C. Gives me another great optin that I can use elsewhere.

    It’s been so useful having a deadline for the dopamine kick. I struggle to create that same external accountability for myself day to day.

  • Summit presentation week. I really enjoyed creating the summit materials and curious to see who signs up. The summit freebie now links to my welcome nurture sequence.

    I updated my Speak To Think and Voice To Copy Method with additional AI prompts and tips.

    I visually updated my everything page to make it more accessibility and user friendly - out things in clearer categories - freebies / digital shop / work with me.

    Also revamped my About page - that was probably avoidance/busy work really. 

    Went to my first networking event in years. A zoom networking session via Thrive Business FB group. There was a lady there who needs a wellness website, we’re going to set up a call.

  • Struggling to create space to record audios, then it feels overwhelming one too much time passes.

    Little updates: I'm noticing opportunities and I'm throwing my hat in the ring.

    The summit update was pretty low key- I think I had about 30 freebie optins BUT I means I got in front of new people and it was a boost to have the opportunity and it confirmed I want to do more of that kind of thing. Also had some lovely feedback from people who watched my presentation.

    I also think just taking actions consistently to grow my list, even if it's, by 10 people here or there, in my ideal target audience, is still significant.

    Got a new client - the lady from, the networking meeting. Website, flyers and biz cards. She signed up for two Design days to complete the work.

    Went to another Rebellious Business Networking event. Great energy. Still finding my groove in terms of connecting and finding good fit opportunities that don’t feel obligated.

    Updated Everything Page with a banner at the top that says “PS get access to every digital product shown when you sign up for my coaching container” - excites to offer this bonus when people work with me for three months, I can point them in the direction of what digital products would suit them best for where they are at.

    Had a great idea for a new digital product relating to brand photography speared by a conversation with my new client. I want more real conversation that spark real ideas.

    Considering if I was to do anything for Black Friday. I usually avoid it because it’s so noisy.

  • Sciatica issues really hindered my work this week. It also really impacted my mental health.

    Worked on the Brand Photography Guide.

    Created a ‘connect with me’ page on my website that I can link to people I meet at networking events with key the info about me and ideas for collaborations etc. Also helps me to to create better boundaries and filter out connections who are not such a good fit.

    Created an organised database of all my text notes in a notion doc so I can easily find, reference and use context drafts. Will continue to add to this.

    Spent time with my mum.

    Reached the halfway point of this experiment.

  • Recorded a podcast as a guest - wont go out for a few weeks, but it’s something I really enjoy doing and will help put in front of new audiences Definitely want to look for more opportunities.

    Decided on a lot minute Black Friday Offer - 10 spots available for anyone who books a Design Day in December of January will also get access to my full library of digital products. Then decided to turn it into an ‘end of year offer’ since I don’t like the BF energy much. I want to share my digital products more as being entry points to my world.

    Did consider Credit to Your Business (Lizzy course I have) and I really like the principle, but that didn’t really come together for me in the end. Might use that idea in the future though.

    Thrive Business FB group have an online shopping thing - decided to put a couple of my products in it. Not convinced there will be much traction in the event as a whole but worth a try for a few mins of my time.

  • Struggled with my mental health quite a lot this week.

    Worked on the client design project and had a few meetings.

    Had a £60 affiliate payment (two sales) come through from a summit pass (Neurodivergent Entrepreneur Summit) I promoted to my list a few months ago. Was a lovely unexpected surprise and made me realise that I want to make more effort to promote other people products and services that I think I really valuable. I don’t have my own affiliate system set up (may in the future but to a priority) but promoting others things I love more intentionally would make a lot of sense. I will signup to be an affiliate for a few select people.

    Reflecting on this challenge - I didn’t have tangible metrics, so it’s hard to measure progress. I have definitely begun timing things off, but pace is slower than I would have liked. I have also found recording every day too much. There is Alsop too much content for listeners and to summarise in these notes. In hindsight a weekly audio would have been better. All good learning. I still really like audio notes and the private podcast set up overall though.

    Considering joining the Email Collab Collective membership for being matched with other biz owners for freebie swaps etc.

  • This week I had some downtime, as I set a week at centre Paris with my partners family for a pre- Christmas holiday. 

  • Was and to get back on to it after my week off, partly because I spent another five days with my partner because he was away on a business trip for six weeks and then we ended up seeing friends for xmas gatherings.

    Great socially but not business wise. But that’s ok. I have had pockets of time to work but struggled to focus properly in those.

    Next week in Lizzy’s Silver Moon Sales there is a get it done week for Evergreen Email Sequences and this has been on my radar to do as part of this experiment for the entire the entire time. I am on it! Will be great to have a themed email each week alongside my regular email which I try to send each week but sometimes it’s longer.

  • I kicked off my Evergreen email series with four months worth of content created.

    I decided the theme for the emails, which has a banner at the top of each, was Unconventional Life Letters and is a great way to share some of my little brain dump snippets that I’ve been collecting and simply edited into a useful email. I also like the phrase as ‘the unconventional life’ and ‘quietly unconventional’ are two phrases that I am really loving and feel really aligned right now but I hadn’t been sure where to go with them. I think there is a lot more to come on that, but this email series is a good start to feel into it.

    I can also repurpose the snippets for Facebook and Instagram and also potentially expand upon some as as blog posts as well.

    As part of getting the Silver Moos Sales, challenged complete by the deadline, my email series and freebie optin will be emailed to her entire list along with everyone else who completed the challenge - so could create some extra signups.

    I was interviewed for another podcast this week - someone I pitched myself too, so that felt really exciting. The Mischief Movement. Was such a great conversation and she has an aligned audience/message in terms of unconventional. Should come out mid January

  • Not a lot happened this week, and a big gap in audio recording. Gearing up for Christmas. I was in more of a tying up loose ends and reflecting space.

  • Still in holiday mode as this experiment finishes on December 31st and I have been spending time with family. One fun thing I did do in the middle of that was great a Business Goals Bingo template with various designs and intro ideas. Made it for me but decided to add into my website as a freebie. Also sent it to my list and on socials. Will share it more in the new year, and it means I now have a mother freebie option that I can use for swaps etc.

    Also considering add a course element to the backend of my Squarespace platform. I think I have figured out how I can do this at a low cost. This would primarily be the same content but more accessible and bite size. I might add some extra resources etc where helpful. I feel like that would be a big task to get that set up so I will consider further next year.

    I will take some time to reflect month experiment properly and share a more thorough considered conclusion in the New Year.

  • Checking in every day for 100 days felt too much.  Would be ok for up to 30 days. Otherwise weekly is better. 

    I wavered as time went on and gave myself a hard time about it.

    The experiment didn’t have tangible metrics theatre success - pros and cons to that.

    Spent too much time focusing on the backend of my business and dropped the focus on front end client generation somewhat.

    Time blindness in how long intakes to get things done each day/week and whatI can expect from myself is always a thing (ADHD!)

    Considered which other apps/platforms etc I could benefit from - such a Convertbox, Thrivecart or Flodesk Checkout. Haven’t made decisions on those yet - I think Flodesk checkout will be first to come and also likely Squarespace course add on.

    Main things achieved:

    - 2 new networking groups attended

    - Developed three new freebies - Beyond 1-1, Life Visualisation, Goal Setting Bingo

    - Gave my first summit presentation at the Rule Breaking Entrepreneurs Summit. 

    - Developed new digital product - Capture Your Brand DIY photography

    - Added five new blog posts (mostly related to the new freebies) 

    - Interviewed for two podcasts - Into Your Life and Mischief Movement 

    - New client straight off the back off the first networking event who booked two design days 

    - Set up a new evergreen email sequence with 16 weeks of content so far. (SMS)

    - Consolidated all my various text notes into a database on Notion so I can actual find brains dumps more easily. 

    So far I have made great progress with setting up tripwires on all of my freebies as Flodesk can redirect to a specific page BUT I don’t currently have this option with Squarespace checkout on paid products, but with flodesk checkout I will be able to have order bumps and freebies on each of my product whether paid or free. This is an additional cost per month so I don’t want to jump to this until I have enough things aligned ready to benefit from it.

    Ongoing - I don’t think the digital product side of things would ever be main income generation but will be a great entry way to engage people in my world and also add bonus value to 1-1 clients. Focussing on 1-1 clients is my current focus as I live through energy of working with real people rather than abstractly. Glad to have the bulk of the backend in place as per the purpose of this challenge to support the 1-1 work behind th scenes. 

    The digital products and the backend set up also gives me greater leverage to collaborate with other biz owners - freebie swaps, bundles, summits etc - I’d like to do more of those.

    I don’t have any financial stats to offer as it wasn’t that kind of experiment. Going forwards finding a way to track how people can into my world via the strategies I have set up could be really useful. I could then see which types of efforts are gaining most resorts. I am notoriously bad at tracking! 

    CONCLUSION:

    I really enjoyed the process of voice notes - thinking out loud is incredible helpful to me.

    I didn’t enjoy the length of the experiment in this format as I lost my way a few times and felt pressure when I hadn’t recorded. Having a better system for generating a written summary would be useful too as I didn’t this all at the end and didn’t enjoy that part.

    I enjoyed the concept of it being a follow along BTS but I didn’t promote it as much as I could have then when I wobbled a bit after the first week I questioned the value of it. I still believe it’s great value but feel as though it could be packaged in a more effective way somehow - something to consider for future as I would definitely like to experiment more with this kind of thing.

You can find the conclusion audio in the private podcast app, but I am also adding it here as it provides a great standalone summary as to how this experiment played out for me.

I am leaving the intro episode here simply for completeness, in case you need a refresher of what it’s all about.

🎧 Intro Episode 🎧

A bit more about me…

I am a creative multi-passionate person with a career background in the design industry. Over the last 10+ years in my own business, I have created and sold soooo many things - physical products, digital products, online services and in person workshops in the UK and overseas.

In 2020 I was diagnosed with ADHD and it was a huge ‘aha’ moment. I realised I had unknowingly created so many workarounds that catered to my neurodivergent brain when it came to getting the ‘creative chaos’ out of my head onto the page.

But honestly, my attempt ‘strategies’ have all been very haphazard and scattered. 

Now I want to change all that, and (hopefully) inspire you in doing the same.

Listen in behind the scenes in real time for next 100 days, as I hold nothing back and share everything I am doing on my strategy quest.

Ps. for those who don’t know I am a full time nomad, mostly living in my self-built camper van, so I will also be sharing how I’m creating a business structure that flows around my unconventional lifestyle.