(last edited on January 9, 2021 at 9:05 pm)
This month’s Groundhog Day Resolutions Review Day report.
Let’s get down to it! Here’s last month’s goal:
- Add one more Money-Making Activity (MMA)
- Have marketing materials for all product-based MMAs for June 6.
I’m 0 for 2, though I am getting close on having the “websites for artists” MMA ready to go. The principle engineering is done, anyway, but again the holdup is marketing materials. As for the other MMAs, I haven’t worked on any marketing materials for them either.
Here’s what I do have:
- 47 screenshots
- 3500 words of script explaining how to set the product up
- The beginnings of a booklet laid out in InDesign.
Here’s some quick exports from InDesign of the first three pages (which is as far as I’ve gotten):
They’re not pretty yet, but this is one of those kinds of projects where a lot of tedious loading and packing has to happen first before I can really play with the design and make it sing. I tend to lose enthusiasm quickly without some kind of feedback on the work, which makes personal projects like this particularly difficult to push on.
The other potential MMA, which is really more of an experiment, is the Printed European ETP Pad Project to handle fulfillment outside of the United States. It’s an experiment in both collaborating with a new partner (Al Briggs, who I met through the blog several years ago and has proven to be a reliable co-conspirator) and learning about a new market (Europe).
Although the last month was kind of a let-down in terms of getting last month’s goal done, it’s been productive in other ways. The major insights I’ve written about in yesterday’s post, The Great Push; basically I’m learning to deal with the frustration of making things that take a long time by mapping my own resistances. The big one is to have a little more fun with it, an echo of the comment left by commenter Frenchris in last month’s review (thanks dude!).
The Numbers
Looking at the numbers from last month, I projected about US$515 from the current products that are out there. Actual income was US$592.87. Here’s how it breaks down:
| Product | Projected Revenue | Actual Revenue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| AdSense | $70 | $0 | haven’t received payment since April |
| ETP pads | $400 | $532.87 | orders are rising? [1] |
| PDF 12-pack Cals | $5 | $5 | these continue to sell poorly |
| PDF A5 7Task ETP | $20 | $30 | more popular |
| PDF A5 5Task ETP | $10 | $20 | less popular |
| Donation | $10 | $5 | first donation, as part of multi-order |
[1] UPDATE: I just remembered that while $532.87 looks great, this is gross revenue, not net revenue. Subtracting cost of goods and warehousing/fulfillment fees, the net revenue is actually around $95.00 (approximately a 20% profit margin).
Doing the reports with my money making activity spreadsheet is actually turning out to be fun. Since I do them at least once a month for these posts, I’m starting to gain a feeling for how the sales are working (or not). The data raises questions, and this is good for fomenting new experiments to try.
Process Improvements
Another improvement I’ll be making for the coming month is to put my GHDR goals into Wunderlist, so I’m more aware of it during the month. I tend to forget about my goals except on the day before Groundhog Day Resolution Review Day! Incidentally, the newest version of the desktop app is much faster and less crappy, so it’s worth revisiting it again if that turned you off before.
Goals for Next Month
Again, it’s a mix of marketing and MMA creation. I think the emphasis should be on marketing, as this is my biggest weakness. People may know the product exists, but there is no compelling argument to use them.
So that’s this month’s report. Hope you enjoyed it!
2011 Groundhog Day Resolution Posts
- GHDR 02/02 Kickoff
- Followup: Realigning The Compass 02/18
- GHDR 03/03 (posted 03/08)
- GHDR 04/04
- GHDR 05/05
- GHDR 06/06
- GHDR 07/07
- GHDR 08/08
- GHDR 09/09
5 Comments
David,
I found you recently through a search engine using the words, “planning pages” (I think.) Anyway, I’m thrilled with the various pages you have designed. I printed a few and will be ordering soon.
BTW, I went 3 or so pages deep to find you. But I’m more persistent than many.
Anyway, I thought since you seem to understand your need for marketing umph you might be interested in http://www.psychotactics.com I discovered that site about a month ago and have found these folks to be just what I was looking for when I knew I needed help with my own marketing. They are not cheap. BUT, they are good. I’m learning a great deal from them. I’m still in process.
You have a wonderful mind and many great skills. You simply need to let people know.
Did you used to write for Whitehatblackbox.com?? What happened to it?!? I loved that blog!!
Yvonne Root: (what a cool name, btw!) Thanks for the greeting and link to psychotactics.com! It looks interesting…will check them out! Let me know what you think of the forms; I’m always open to suggestions :)
Steve: Nope, you’re thinking of Daryl Furuyama, who has a similar design aesthetic to me. Not sure what happened to him…hope he’s okay!
Dave,
You are so good at what you do with those pages. There is really nothing I could add, change or whatever.
I did give your links to my daughter. She, like me, is a paper addict. We both like to write on real live paper. It not only feels good to actually write, but it also slows down the process so one is allowed to THINK.
Thanks for the sweet comment on my name. I’ve always liked it too.
Yes!!! :)