I shouldn’t tell you any of this yet… But I’ve been working on it so intensely the past few months, and I’m so excited to share this with you, I can’t wait. (As you can probably tell, impatience is one of my character flaws. Quite frankly, I’m terrible at keeping secrets!)
As you know, I’ve taken over from Sara as the editor of Digital Upstart. However IID is about to undergo a radical transformation, for reasons I’ll explain next Tuesday in the ‘Big Reveal’, so please look out for that.
This is going to change everything… I’ve been holed up in my office, preparing what I hope will be a revolutionary approach to getting the results you want from your online (or offline) business – or finally getting you off the starting blocks.
This goes much further than plain old ‘advice’. It’s going to give you practical steps, specific tools, templates and blueprints you need to make it happen. I can’t say more just yet, but I can give you a hint at what will appear in the February issue and on the member’s website (BTW you need to be an active subscriber to access these)…
- How to read your customer’s mind: we start off with the big one! I‘ll show you how to master THE single most important element in successful online (or offline) marketing. It’s easy to grasp, simple to follow and yet you’d be amazed how many businesses – big and small – completely ignore it and wonder why they never achieve the results they hoped for.
Get this right and you’ll see the results almost immediately:
- Increased sales, sign ups and conversions
- Higher open rates and clickthroughs
- Attract highly qualified prospects
- Greater return on your advertising spend
- More social media followers and connections
- Greater customer loyalty, trust and repeat business!
- New revelations about how to avoid the new EU VAT rules – I mentioned this in last week’s email, but I’ve had some fantastic new information that will really help you.
- I’ll introduce you to an amazing FREE online tool that makes it easy to find, sort and share research, ideas and content in just 15 minutes a day – this has been an absolute revelation for me – it has made me more organised and able to work more efficiently
- The 5 best outsourcing sites for your marketing, design and tech jobs– if there’s any aspect of online business you struggle with, you’re going to breathe a sigh of relief. We’ve analysed the 5 best sites and show you how to use them to get the best possible results.
This is just a taster, and I’d love to say more, but I need to keep my mouth shut until Tuesday! If you’re not already a subscriber, then just click on the ‘guru‘ below. In the meantime, here’s something I thought important to pass on.
How to beat distractions and enjoy peak brain productivity
As I’ve mentioned it’s been quite an intense time, working on the new issue. I’ve barely stopped writing to look out at the snow, or listen to the endlessly depressing news stories that kicked off 2015. But of course, what’s happening offline is only a minor distraction, when you compare it to the flood of emails, messages, social media updates, averts promotions and other online messages I get every day.
One of the ways I got through this digital information overload was to totally flip my working day. According to Professor of Behavioural Economics Dan Ariely, the two first hours after you wake up are your most productive. That’s when your brain is at its highest performing peak and able to deal with the most complicated problems.
So if you need to come up with a marketing idea, develop your product or write a blog post, the best time to do it is in the first few hours of the day. However most people spend those first few hours of ‘peak brain’ each morning trawling through emails or catching up on Tweets, Facebook updates, LinkedIn notifications and news sites.
This is a waste. What’s more it clutters your mind with a barrage of thoughts, problems, worries and stresses. This makes any work than comes after much harder.
So here’s a solution…
Change the order of your day
Where you might usually start with an hour going through emails, then a couple of hours work before lunch, turn it round the other way. Instead start with a couple of hours work first, then go through your emails in the hour before lunch. You will still get replies to people that morning, just a few hours later than usual.
The result will be laser sharp focus, more productivity and better performance in that crucial early phase of the day. If that’s not possible because work demands you answer emails immediately, then consider getting up earlier and starting an hour or two before normal hours begin at 9am.
Use your peak brain time doing your hardest work, then start on your emails at 9am. You can always reward yourself by finishing earlier or taking a long lunch.
It works for me anyway, although you can judge for yourself when you see what I’ve prepared for you in the next issue. I can’t wait for you to see this and tell me what you think. And look out for my next email when I do the ‘Big Reveal’ of the all new-look IID.