Right now, I’m keeping my mind focused in the now.
Just so much of what’s out there is emotional and mental pollution.
This is probably the biggest newsletter episode I’ve done, so I knew that I would have to stop everything I was doing for a day or so and bang it out.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. Things that time to make, repeat and iterate.
Even as someone that has a lot of expertise in building and creating systems like this, it’s been incredibly tough to do all these things while managing the rest of a life.
I’ve also been trying to write for people at different levels of engagement or whatever. It’s not always ALWAYS best to post about “what you’re doing” because everything isn’t expert-type content…
But you know what it means to go from a technician to a business-person? That’s right, billable hours. So what are the core tasks that we’d like coming out of here and let’s break them down into billable hours?
Well, this first needs to be broken into a kind of pyramid.
You’ve gotta know what’s critical, what’s going to keep you afloat and what can be dropped by a couple of days.
It’s a lot of ideas that I’ve been wanting to put together which is, documenting the core tasks that I do during my day.
There probably needs to be some kind of output all the time.
So, here they are:
Lead Generation
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator is just an awesome tool.
- You'll still need to spend some time gazing into spreadsheets, and I spend about 4 hours a week just going through those sheets and adding personal notes so I can reach out to everyone at once during the day.
- Getting leads/data in a useable format is pretty key, and there are a lot of tools that will help you get there.
- There's a mandatory amount of time that goes directly into finding people and communicating with people that really can't be avoided.
- Now, Instantly, is such a big and central part of how you generate leads, that you might try too hard to tie everything to it. Like, you’re going to be WORKING in here. This is just to generate leads. When people respond to your Instantly campaign, pull them out of there.
You are not a person that plays in spreadsheets all the time, so it’s important that this stuff is rock bottom and works.
There are two plans, one is $37 and one is $97.
I could go endlessly into the technology but it's easier to say – look for actual individuals in your business and take careful notes on them. Some might become your friends and some might not.
Content Marketing
- A good system can keep mediocre content afloat.
- OBVIOUSLY, you want to build a system where you’re in your peak creative zone and you’re thinking brilliant, well researched thoughts at all times.
- But also, you’re a human being and you’re not going to achieve that at all times, at least if your goal is to produce original content in the world of AI and cheapness and bad editing – and I know it is.
- Give a quick look to blog articles that you’ve written in the past. Some of those blog posts are actually pretty decent? Look for ways to revise or modernize your thoughts.
- Don’t have a database of your best ideas? Start one. Use whatever tools you’re most comfortable with in terms of your lifestyle. Notion and your browser bookmarks are a good place to start.
- Remember to save copies of pages and ideas that you find most interesting, and save them on a really stable service like Google Drive or your Dropbox. I have sooo many really good articles and memories on my Dropbox from like 5 years ago that aren’t even on the internet anymore.
- Take daily notes on what you're doing. Trust me, it’s always a pain in the ass to record business processes, but it’s just as important to record them and file them in an accessible place.
Systems And Operations
Part of what makes a big overhead is that I have to do a lot of technical training. Not everybody has the mentality or patience to “figure it out” if something doesn't work.
If you’re asking someone to help you on something, even if you’re paying them, it’s much more likely they’ll just say “I can’t figure it out” and then it’s your problem again.
So it’s better to just buckle up and write it down.
- Try and write down the core parts of your customer journey on one sheet of paper. This one sheet of paper is going to do you SO much good, because it’s also the central place you’re going to put your information.
- I struggled with the past about where to put directory type information. Originally I had it on a Google spreadsheet and linked to documents from there, but it still wasn’t exactly perfect.
- That’s where I put referable, repeatable process for everything that I do, whether that’s sending emails, making posts, dealing with customers.
- I haven’t really sat down and shared EVERYTHING I know about writing, but Big Ticket Copywriting does cover a LOT of it.
Social Media
If you have some blockage here, if there’s something keeping you from having your hands on everything that’s vital to your business, if you’ve got some social fear of it, something that has put it in the wrong hands, if there’s a blockage, it’s your blockage.
- This sounds like dork stuff, but if you do “local activism” of any kind, you kinda need to have your own technical stack you bring to projects. Learning that MYSELF the hard way!
- Breaking down written media into social media posts. Right now Twitter is my big tool for organizing social media.
- TweetHunter is my favorite right now – there’s also Pika for taking the very best posts and turning them into IG style posts, which is pretty rad.
- I love using Canva for posters and stuff, but it’s never struck me as a great tool for creating daily art on a schedule (and neither is Photoshop, really!)
Weekly Newsletter
I know for a fact that people suffer with making editorial content. It’s hard to get it done for businesses, people, organizations.
It’s tough to even coordinate quality content for people professionally – and I know that typically, producing at this level of distribution, you’re working with people.
In my own time as a social media manager, it was very rare that I was doing that work by myself, or if I was, it was for social media that was designed to have a small reach.
So being the engine for content AND production (which are really two different departments) has been tough.
And it really hits a big value of mine.
Identity is the most important value. I think “doing it” is more important and practical than “how you sell yourself”. Decide to do it. Start doing it. Done.
I saw somebody on Twitter and they said that portfolios were a form of slavery.
I said to myself, “I’ve gotta take a nap. And maybe switch over to LinkedIn for a few days”
With all of “the news” going on in social media, I’ve been trying to reorganize my thoughts in email format.
First of all, I love writing emails.
People who know me get annoyed at me because I will start conversations like a suspenseful email or a novel.
“I can’t believe X did that -”
“No Brandyn, just tell me who did what!”
So – it’s boomer, it’s cringe, it’s mid.
I write like that, so might as well lean into it.
And I mean, it’s also a style I’ll be able to keep up as I get older.
You just need a good editor. No adverbs. Denny Crane.
I can’t predict technology but I think good editing is going to be more valuable than “good writing”. I mean, that just comes from looking at what we actually consume. TikTok is really “good editing” taken to the logical endpoints of the human imagination, right?
You’ve also got to balance the time you spend writing and the time you spend ideas making. You also have to spend time editing your thoughts DOWNWARDS at the end of the week.
“Just Give Value.”
If you want to make it in any sphere online you’ve gotta make something valuable.
Value is subjective, and there are different degrees of it at different times.
But, if you follow these 4 pillars – you will provide value in your content on LinkedIn and beyond.
1️⃣ Teaches them something new💡
- Most people think that there’s something in “the way things are” that holds them back. But new developments can bring new opportunities.
2️⃣ Takes on their enemies 🔍
- There’s almost always some industry that profits off keeping people AWAY from the success they want.
- If you’re talking about improving your relationship to your body, your mind, your personal time, you’re going to get some attention, and if you’re a positive force in a world that doesn’t have a lot of positivity to give out to strangers, you’ll get some POSITIVE attention.
3️⃣ Inspires 👏
- Look for people who are succeeding against the status quo, or people who are finding a faster, simpler, or more fun way to do things. A way that looks better.
- Sometimes we all need a push, and positive inspirations do that.
4️⃣ Finds the drama😂
- Content that draws your attention, tells a story, stirs a feeling, and makes you laugh, cry, smile, share and enjoy.
- If you’ve got a dramatic and compelling situation and then you add one of those, you’re doing a good job.
4️⃣ Is REAL😂
- Just share your authentic process aaand lets it inspire them.
- If you’ve got a dramatic and compelling situation and then you add one of those, you’re doing a good job.
What would you add?
Where Are We Going With Technology?
Here’s a thought that’s been on my mind over the last few weeks.
Suddenly, I have a lot of information that I had to go through different apps and systems for – for writing, for scheduling, for publishing – and they’re all in Notion.
I wonder about this though.
Because we think about our data being owned by companies, but that often seems abstract. And it’s really targeted towards getting the most out of our purchasing decisions.
Here we’ve got a situation where a lot of my processes, standards, how I treat clients, my onboarding and offboarding – it’s all on one platform now, more than ever.
Now, it’s not like affiliate marketing is anything new.
Tools like Clickfunnels have upped the ante here and held a lot of vital systems and processes in one place –
And I think task management and publishing tools like Clickup and Notion/Trello can make this go even further.
More opportunies, but a bigger tech stack – and maybe more incentive to promote it.
I mean, I’ve only been using Notion for a couple of months, and I’m kinda invested in it succeeding at least for my own comfort.
Meet Me In Person
I love when people have links to Calendly or TidyCal or Acuity or whatever.
Sometimes I’m proactive and book myself to talk to people.
But I've never been into attending conferences in person.
I love taking to people, but when I travel I like to think about people and not groups of people. 😬
But as far as this online stuff gooooes – yeah, you can catch me online anywhere.
http://ghostcoast.video/call