SCREECHBYKATIE™
“IDEAS ARE GREAT!”
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CILANTROSPEECHBYKATIE™
“My next tattoo will say ‘Raise your prices'”
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STAND BY FOR TECHNOLOGY
“Done is the engine of more.”
This image:
The longer you work with someone the more you develop your own secret language.
Inside jokes and phrases that carry a deeper meaning than what’s on the surface.
Having a shared language makes working with someone more efficient, more comfortable, because it is part of the whole “we’re humans, not robots,” element of business.
All of those phrases and that picture above are part of my shared language between my clients and me, my staff and me, and some of you and me.
It kinda feels like we all have our own secret club, and the 10 year old maker of mud pies and clubs with secret passwords is delighted that we’ve made it there as grownups.
“Done is the Engine of More”
That one’s from Nick, the Operations Manager of Easy to Grow Bulbs. We’ve been working together for four and a half years. We have a LOT of secret language.
He often whips out “Done is the Engine of More” when either of us or our teams need to be reminded to finish and ship something. Make the email and send it. Develop the collection and publish it. Start the program and tweak it.
It’s so easy to get stuck in the weeds.
It’s so easy to want everything to be perfect before releasing it.
I’m reminded of a couple of stories about that.
My first business coach, Theresa Loe, told me, “If someone’s drowning they don’t care what color your lifeboat is painted. They just want you to show up in your lifeboat.”
They just want you to show up.
Another story: I was listening to Brene Brown interview James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits. He told a story about a man who wanted to be the kind of person that went to the gym every day.
So he started by driving to the gym every day and driving home. He did that for 30 days to just get in the habit of doing it.
You can’t optimize something you haven’t started.
To go to the gym every day, he had to start by going to the gym every. day. (James said the heaviest weight at the gym is the front door and I FEEL THAT IN MY SOUL.)
“Done is the engine of more.”
Find Your MVP
Steph always talks about the “MVP” or Minimum Viable Product.
What’s the smallest thing you can start with so that you’re started, and your product/service/knowledge is out there?
What can you do and get done NOW that will be your engine of more?
We constantly help clients get an MVP up and running.
- A website with Home, About, Services, Contact pages. (Tweak and add later)
- A landing page to collect emails and a basic email template. (Fancy forms can come later.)
- Identifying the ONE THING someone can do for their business TODAY that will have the most impact on their bottom line. (Not what they might want to do or think they should do, but what they can do that will have the biggest effect.)
Today I BYOMVP’d
Let’s make MVP’d a verb!
“I EMVEEPEED today!”
I’ve been wanting to do educational working sessions/webinars for months, and I just kept getting stuck in the weeds and in my thoughts and trying to make the whole signup process perfect and seamless and automated with bells and whistles.
Instead, this morning I made an MVP.
I set up “Email Marketing Power Hour Part 1.”
It is the first of four power hours I’ll run in April and May to help people sign up for a MailChimp account, set up a page to collect email, create a basic email template, and send their first campaign.
If you do the first two, you can send an email campaign before Mother’s Day.
“Katie are you INSANE? It is BUSY SEASON. NOBODY HAS TIME FOR POWER HOUR.”
Done is the engine of more.
In my GUT, I know that NOW is the time for gardening businesses to collect emails.
NOW is when customers are excited and paying attention to you.
NOW is the time for me to try everything I can to help my industry set themselves up for success and I know that if you haven’t set up email collection and sending on your own, you’re not going to.
And I knew that I could set up an MVP to help YOU BYOMVP. (Build Your Own MVP.)
I set up the MVP as much for me as for you. Consider it my birthday present to myself. My birthday is April 24, Power Hour 1 is April 25 at 3pm EDT.
My present to myself is kicking off something I’ve wanted to do for MONTHS. You just get to come to the party if you want.
What makes this an MVP?
The “M” (Minimum)
- No fancy website landing page
- Not a bunch of automated stuff
- The confirmation email is a little jerry-rigged
- I only have the first PowerHour up for registration, even though I know when the second one will be (May 3, save the date)
- You have to pay and THEN you have to click the link to fill out and submit the zoom registration.
The “V” (Viable)
- I am a MailChimp wizard
- Almost every week, I do what I’ll help you do, and I do it on zoom, and I do it in less than an hour
- I have MailChimp setup down to a SCIENCE
- I already have the supporting materials ready to give you after PowerHour so you can finish anything you need
- I know email marketing works
- I know that anyone in the garden industry that starts doing email marketing now will see results.
The “P” (Product)
MailChimp Power Hour, Monday, April 25 at 3pm EDT. Zoom
5 minute intro
– 10 minute account sign up demonstration
– 15 minutes of working with open Q&A for you as you set up your account and ask questions while doing it
– 10 minute landing page demonstration (to collect emails to send to!)
– 15 minutes of working with open Q&A for you as you set up your landing page and ask questions while doing it
– 5 minute form demonstration
– 10 minutes of working with open Q&A for you as you edit your forms and ask questions while doing it
Bonus:
All registrants will receive the following
– Katie’s MailChimp quick-start video
– Katie’s Canva quick-start video
– One-page email calendar planning worksheet
Save the date for MailChimp Power Hour 2: Welcome email setup & first campaign set up
Monday, May 2 at 3pm EDT
Ready to BYOM(ailchimp)VP?
Ready to BYO(ther)MVP?
What is the ONE thing you can do to move your business forward this week?
If it’s MailChimp, well you know where/how to get some help with that.
Here are some other things to try on and see if they fit:
- Write a list of things you can delegate to a virtual assistant and then email me for my VA job description.
- Sign up for an UpWork account so you can hire some help.
- Set up your Google My Business page.
- Check your business hours on your website, social media properties, and Google My Business page and make sure they’re correct.
- Sign up for a social media scheduling app like Later.com so you can bulk-schedule your social media.
- Take a nap!
- Do something fun that refills your cup.
- Schedule a day off.
- Quit something.
Whether your MVP is starting something or stopping something, there’s surely one step you can take to move needle on your goals, whether they include growth, stabilization, peace, or health.
Remember: Done is the engine of more!
Links
CILANTROSPEECHBYKATIE™
Cilantro is a long-day plant, meaning it flowers when there is more daylight. But you want leaves. So grow it in spring and fall.
MailChimp PowerHour Registration (Limit 20 ppl)
If you have issues registering, email me at ktplant@gmail.com. Remember, the info is the point. I tested the checkout page but I didn’t say signup would be the smoothest, ha!
App to easily make transparent background pngs (h/t to Carol Michel for the link)
What’s your MVP gonna be? Write back and tell me!
Lastly, if you need help identifying a MVP grab a call time. Maybe I can help.
PS: If we’re not connected in LinkedIn, click here to connect! We’re sharing a lot more quick tips on the Garden of Words LinkedIn page and on our agency Instagram @thegardenofwordsagency, too.
