Goodbye Freeday Friday

One of the things I always say is that you have to stop doing some things in order to be more successful in others. Well, I am actively taking my own advice. I have recently made a decision to cut out several of the  activities I have been engaged in.

I wish I could say that they're not successful or not paying their way. But some things aren't intended to pay their way. All activities should point to a goal. That might mean more subscribers, more book sales, more consulting business, etc. Frequently, there is no direct line between an activity and its intended payoff. But there should at least be an indirect line!

Anyway, the first two activities that I am cutting out are the Promotion Monkey newsletter and the Freeday Friday broadcasts.


Dropping Promotion Monkey

Most of my SMB/MSP readers are probably not aware of the Promotion Monkey newsletter. I started it in 2008 primarily as a means to building a mailing list among online marketers, authors, and speakers. Eventually, it became the newsletter associated with the Publish Your First Book web site (www.publishyourfirstbook.com). That site has a low-volume blog that will continue.

I moved the Promotion Monkey subscribers to my Relax Focus Succeed mailing list with the following email:

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Dear Promotion Monkey subscriber:

Thank you for signing up for the PM newsletter. I have received a lot of positive feedback over the years.

But things change. The world keeps on spinning.

I am changing the focus of my activities to spend more time with another brand I own called Relax Focus Succeed. You can find out more at http://www.relaxfocussucceed.com.

As a result, I am closing down the Promotion Monkey newsletter. As I tell people when I speak: You can't focus on everything. The only way to be successful is to focus on something. So I'm moving my focus more in line with my long-term goals.

If you have a major promotion or marketing project, and a budget, I am happy to help out. But I will not be putting out a newsletter regarding these matters.

Note: I am going to move subscribers of this newsletter over to my Relax Focus Succeed list, which is very low volume. If you do not wish to be on that list, please note that every email has an un-subscribe opportunity. But I hope you'll stick around.

Thank you for your support over the years.

-- karlp

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Dropping Freeday Friday

It is much more likely that my SMB/MSP readers have seen the Freeday Friday broadcasts. These were marketed through my weekly newsletter and a domain that redirects to a specific page there. The recorded sessions were then posted to the combined SMB Community Podcast and Cloud Services Roundtable site (http://www.smbcommunitypodcast.com or http://www.cloudservicesroundtable.com).

The June broadcast (June 15th) has been posted. This broadcast includes the announcement that it would be the last Freeday Friday broadcast.

And let me freely admit that the Freeday Friday project was simply a failure. I get LOTS of emails asking for help. So many that I simply cannot answer them in a timely manner. I try to answer them all, but sometimes it takes six months. So I decided to create a forum where I could answer questions for one person, but lots of others could listen in. That way, if other people had a similar challenge, they might get some tips to help them.

In addition, I acknowledge that many people do not have the resources to pay for a coach. This gives them access to a coaching session for free.

That worked for awhile. When we started, several people sent in questions and several others called in to listen. But the questions phased out, as did the eavesdroppers. The strange thing is that we get lots of people signing up to call in, but most of them simply never join the conversation.

In the end, I have to take some of my OTHER advice: People put value on you offerings in parallel with the value you put on them. So giving away coaching for free meant that people placed no value on it. And, in the end, if it is not perceived as valuable, then no one will participate.

I want to provide value to people, but I also need to feel like I’m making enough impact to make it worth my while.

As a result, I’m going to refocus my energy to other endeavors. Thank you to everyone who participated. I love the community. And, trust me, I’m not going anywhere. We’re just not going to do “this” any more.

This concludes our Freeday Friday broadcast.

Goodnight Gracie.

:-)