Kick Monday’s Ass: strategic peer pressure (April 11, 2022)

It’s time to Kick Monday’s Ass…

I have a confession to make: I break promises to myself.

I’m not looking for reassurance or a pat on the back and a “congrats for being human, Angie!” It’s simply a fact. 90% of the time, if I tell myself I’m going to do something or make a big change, I just don’t.

I’ve figured out the problem though: keeping the idea between my ears.

Nearly every time that conversation happens between me, myself, and I… those good intentions get laid down in an interesting herringbone pattern leading all the way down to Hades.

As a result, I’ve developed a hack for when I really want to make a big change: peer pressure.

When there’s something I know I REALLY need to do, one of the first things I do is spread the word. I know the way to keep an idea alive, for me at least, is to expose it to the light of day. And more importantly… to people that will ask me how XYZ project is going.

It’s how I walked away from the toxic day job in 2016… I told my copywriter colleagues that December 16 was my last day and asked them to hold me to it.

If I hadn’t done that, I might have succumbed to the temptation of “staying safe” only to later blow a gasket when the entire team got axed.

I used this same tactic to launch my podcast. Early in 2021, my friend Chris Orzechowski (hi Chris!) messaged me to ask, “so when is the podcast launching?” I’d been talking about doing one for about 7 months at that point but the breakup and moves had derailed my plans a bit. After much hand-wringing, I decided to launch the first week of March 2021, cut a trailer, and started telling people it was coming.

Why am I telling you all this?

This weekend I was journaling (highly recommend this practice for decoding your own brain) and discovered something interesting: I am somehow STILL uncomfortable making offers for my own products.

I think it’s a partly due to being a “behind the scenes” person for so long. I can sell the shit out of anyone or anything that I believe in. But when it’s my own product, I struggle mightily to be my own hype girl.

And I think the other part is being an “idea” person – granted I prefer having too many ideas to none at all, idea overwhelm is totally a thing. I get so flooded with options and rapidly descend into an over-analysis spiral leading to me launching nothing.

The worst part? Friends and followers alike constantly reach out and ask “so when are you creating your own offers?” and I STILL haven’t done much, even knowing people want that from me.

This weekend something snapped. It’s motherfucking offer time, my peeps.

But because I’m me, I’m doing it in the weirdest way possible, as an experiment.

I’m going to make one offer a week for an entire year.

I use the word “offer” here with intention, vs “sale” or “pitch”. I’m not the hardcore “always be closing” type… never have been and never will be. Everything is an offer to join me if, and only if, this feels like something for you.

Odds are it’ll be a mix of my own product ideas and promoting someone else’s cool shit. I think I’m mostly excited about breaking the overthinking cycle and getting stuff out of my head and into the world.

The idea here is to get over the discomfort of talking myself up, and also to develop good habits in thinking like a business owner with a product stack vs a consultant and coach who only trades in services.

Why is this relevant to you?

Well for one, you can totally yell at me if you don’t see me making offers.

But perhaps most importantly… if this is an area you’ve been struggling with, you might consider an offer challenge of your own.

Stay tuned and stay awesome.

Moving along…

Last week on the podcast…

My conversation with Caitlin Durning was so spectacular, we had to do it twice. For real. After a tech snafu sent the original recording to the cyber ether, we didn’t stress (ok, maybe a little). We simply focused on our next step. And learning how to handle challenges is all part of the entrepreneurial journey. If you’ve been struggling to keep your cool when things go sideways in your biz, this episode is for you.

Bonus ep: last week I was on the Wise Dome podcast talking about building a business that lets you LIVE, vs running your entire life. The energy was high on this one and I think you’re really going to dig it. Click here to listen.

Section 42: Life, The Universe, and Everything…

There was a time when I felt supremely awkward writing about my personal life, travels, and adventures. Now I’m glad I added this section, because after writing about my #TeamEvil experience at Tournament of Kings here in Vegas, a subscriber reached out and mentioned she’d be in town.

That’s how I wound up meeting up with Sena of https://www.senasea.com (check her out for wild caught fish from her own family fishing boat – she’s badass!) We talked for a couple hours before going our separate ways, and of course NOT ONCE did I think to ask for a selfie.

It’s lucky that we decided to meet up early in the morning, because I had no idea a K-pop group named BTS was coming to town, and I certainly didn’t know that they’re apparently such a huge deal that event parking starts at 8am on concert day. The line of teen girls in that coffee shop was RIDONKULOUS.

Speaking of weird facts I learned: I got in trouble at the spa on Friday. My crime? Daring to bring a Kindle in order to read a book and unwind. I ain’t mad – I remember being the uppity rule enforcer once upon a time. This young woman truly believed she was being helpful when she approached my naked ass, reading in the hot tub, and told me all electronics were forbidden in the spa.

“It’s just a book?” I told her. “I brought it to help me relax. I can understand not having a phone and other wifi connected devices here, but this is literally just a book that happens to be in pixel format. No camera, no internet access.”

“I know,” she told me. “But we don’t allow any electronics in the spa.”

I asked to speak to a manager about it, because I’d seen others reading Kindles in the spa the last time I was there, which is what inspired me to bring mine this time around.

Thankfully before I could get out and get my robe on, another spa attendant came up and said, “That’s not necessary Miss. Does it make noise? Does it have a camera? No and no, correct? I spoke to my supervisor and it’s OK to read your book. You just relax.”

There’s the letter of the law, kids… and there’s context. Knowing the difference is important.

Marketing Minute…

Recently, I’ve seen a lot of chatter about influencers in the digital marketing space.

There’s a real frustration on the part of brand owners, because they don’t know what ROI they’re going to get for their product placement with any given influencer.

I’m not surprised… unless you’re giving the influencer a special code or link or other way to track the folks they refer to you, you’re just running a branding ad.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not a hard ass on branding/awareness vs direct response. I think both have their place in the overall marketing mix.

But the key to any kind of ROI determination is the offer and tracking that offer. We were able to track these things long before we could stalk people all over the internet, so I’m not buying it if you’re citing privacy changes and iOS as the reason you can’t measure marketing spend with influencers.

If you take the time to find and vet a potential good fit, the potential upside is enormous. After all, influencers are simply social proof + authority and trusted expertise. That’s pretty powerful stuff when it comes to sales.

I know there are certain humans out there whose recommendations I will ALWAYS follow. If Kevin Rogers recommends a live music show, tickets are as good as bought. If Rachel Mazza or Allison Carpio recommend a restaurant or cocktail place, I am THERE.

So don’t throw money at influencers and then get pissed if you don’t see an immediate viral sales spiral. Pick your partners wisely, and don’t forget to find a way to track who they refer.

On repeat this week…

I’m feeling feisty. DON’T TRY TO TAKE MY KINDLE AWAY SPA LADY.

Today I shall be scream-singing Uprising by Muse…

Rock on,
Angie

___________

Interchanging mind control
Come, let the revolution take its toll
If you could flick the switch and open your third eye
You’d see that we should never be afraid to die
(So come on)
Rise up and take the power back
It’s time the fat cats had a heart attack
You know that their time’s coming to an end
We have to unify and watch our flag ascend
(So come on)

They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious
(So come on)