Who would you call if you were locked up in a Panamanian prison? 

You *probably* don't know anyone that is an experienced prison break expert. But I bet you have a friend who has a knack for figuring anything out. 

Our #1 core value as a company is We Figure It Out. Meaning we constantly look for opportunities to solve problems more efficiently and creatively. And when we encounter a problem we find a path around it. Full permission and empowerment to do whatever necessary. 

We talk about this and share FIO's every day. And from time to time I'll share those FIOs here. 

Here is an example of one I wrote today….

Sidebar: I feel a little fear in sharing one that's about me and not someone on the team. But I was proud of this one. And thought it might help you. 

Enjoy!

...

Problem: March was an amazing month of sales. But April got off to a slow start. First full week of April was the low mark of new clients (5) from the last 12 months. No way to know exactly what caused this. 

Solution: Many things were tried last week. I'll be writing a few more FIOs in the days to come about them. Drew did amazing things Thursday and Friday of last week. 

As I reflected on the slow week and thought back to the busy weeks of March something came to mind. During those busy weeks I had been writing and publishing every day. Fresh content for Drew to use. COVID related. And it was resonating with people. 

So, last week I made it one of my goals to write and publish 5 pieces of content. I had the thought that this could become a new thing I do. Write and publish daily. Most will be crap. But 1 out of 5 would be usable. Return to my VF roots of writing and publishing regularly. it's the thing that put us on the map years ago. 

However, my own bar for writing had gotten so high that I mostly stopped. Felt too big. So, I made my goal for last week so small I couldn't fail: Write and publish in 1 hour or less. No matter what.

I decided to split up the writing into 2 sessions. One at the end of the day and one at the beginning of the day. I took the last 15 minutes of my day to vomit out on paper the concept. Ugly, unedited, just get it out. Then come back the next morning and shape it up.

And it worked!

These are the emails I wrote last week: 

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It felt *right*. It felt like something I should continue doing. And I will. It's another goal for this week. In fact, this FIO is my writing for the day. I'll come back to this in the morning and pretty it up for public consumption.

Results: 

I want to reiterate, me writing wasn't the only factor in us having a good week last week. In fact, it probably wasn't a factor at all. But last week was a top 10 week for us. 12 new clients and a really high close rate of 55% (32% is average). That combined with the March turnaround happening around the same time I started writing regularly reinforces my gut instinct that I need to keep writing.

Fun Anecdote: The client that hired us today directly referenced an email I wrote last week...

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If you want my team and I to help you creatively strategize and problem solve your marketing, we run a 1:1 coaching program that does exactly that. We'd love to talk and work with you. 

Book a strategy call with us here 

 

-Bryan