Do you set a 'word' for the coming year to guide and inspire you?
Several years ago I started choosing a word for the year, and I've found it really useful.
In 2020 my word was TRANSFORM as I set the intention to move away from a business based around offering services, and to instead build a business around selling my online courses.
This proved to be a fortuitous move as the world plunged into a global pandemic and business owners pivoted faster than ever before into providing online alternatives to keep their businesses afloat during difficult times.
I created a course on how to use Zoom at a time when few people had even heard of it and it wasn't geared up for global use by novice users.
I also sold and created a successful pilot course aimed at helping textile artists and professional embroiderers to plan, build and launch an online course. I knew I was on the right path.
In 2021 my word was BUILD as I set the intention to build all the new infrastructure and messaging that I would need to make that vision a reality.
I set up my Teachable school 'properly': sales pages, shopping cart, payment processing, all the 'back-end stuff, course directory and so forth. https://virtualityworks.teachable.com
A new logo and colour scheme evolved, and I established a rhythm and format for my Instagram channel https://instagram.com/susan.l.weeks as well as regular Instagram Lives which I re-purposed for further content marketing.
Focused attention was aimed at my 'legals' as I shared in a previous blog post.
https://virtualityworks.com/tackling-my-business-legals/
And another major highlight under 'BUILD' was the total re-build of this website. There are still things to do (of course) but over 2021 I worked hard to ensure I have the essential foundations for my new business model in place.
So that brings me to 2022 and my word is GROW!
To be more specific it is my intention to grow my revenue and profit.
My emphasis will be on growing my audience and marketing my courses.
Plenty of specific content marketing to make selling my courses easier and I will be searching out opportunities to get in front of new, relevant audiences by doing guest podcast slots, and other styles of collaborations.
I am also adding affiliate marketing into the mix for complimentary tools and services that are highly relevant to my audience of course creators and of course, are things that I love to use myself and already recommend.
And I have several ideas for new ways in which to help course creators learn the skills they need faster and easier and to be able to work with me in different ways. Just learning stuff without actually applying it is is very common-place and I really want to get my course purchasers moving forward consistently and actually get their courses built and launched and selling.
Deciding upon my word for 2022 gave me an opportunity to make an Instagram Reel and have some fun on a grey December morning.