Celebrating Milestones: The Small Wins that Propel Us Forward

Harnessing Early Achievements for Sustained Success

Author

Stephen Duetzmann
October 01, 2023

I sent my first newsletter last week, and I was super nervous from the moment I sent it. It felt like waiting for a super important call, always checking to see if anyone was reading or subscribing.

Then… boom… I got my first two subscribers! I checked, and it was my mom and sister! At first, I didn’t think much of it. It’s just my mom and sister. They were going to subscribe anyway. I don’t want to say that I was disappointed. Far from it! But, I didn’t think

But, after a few days, I realized I was looking at it all wrong!

Our family and friends are our first cheerleaders in this exciting journey. They offer support that shapes our strategies and builds a better understanding of our audiences. It’s crucial to value these initial wins and not just see them as friendly obligations. Every interaction and every piece of feedback is a building block in the vast world of digital marketing.

Recognizing our initial achievements (yes. ALL of them) isn’t about boosting our ego; it’s about appreciating every step and every supporter that contributes to our growth. It’s about learning and growing organically, turning the seeds planted by our supporters into a flourishing community.

(Thanks Mom!)

Something to Think About

Yes, you can. Yes, you will! I can’t wait to see it!

"I can" - You have to believe in your own abilities to overcome challenges

"I will" - You have to be committed to acting on that belief and the resolve to achieve your goals.

"Watch me" - Make a bold declaration to others. Invite everyone to watch you climb that mountain!

This Week’s Main Quest

If there is nothing else that you take away from this week’s Quest Log. You need to sign up for an account with ChatGPT and start using it.

Generative AI is an indispensable tool for saving time and helping conquer the voices in our heads that want to keep us from getting things done.

This is what ChatGPT’s output looks like!

Having trouble coming up with a headline for a sales newsletter? Ask ChatGPT for a list and use one of the below prompts:

  • "Can you help me come up with a catchy headline for my sales newsletter about [Product/Service]?"

  • "I need a list of compelling headlines for a sales newsletter focusing on [Specific Feature or Offer]. Can you generate some suggestions?"

Need to write a new blog post? GREAT! Use ChatGPT to brainstorm blog topics with the below prompts:

  • "I need to write a new blog post about [Industry/Subject]. Can you help me brainstorm some interesting topics?"

  • "I'm looking for fresh and engaging blog topics related to [Specific Area]. Can you suggest a few ideas?"

Did you already write an email, but you want some help making it sound more exciting? Throw the text into ChatGPT and ask it to make the text make it so!

  • "Here's the text of an email I've written: [Paste Email Text]. Can you help me make it more exciting and engaging?"

  • "I've drafted the following message: [Paste Message]. Can you enhance it to make it more compelling?"

Maybe you had a long Facebook conversation with a client and you want to extract action items from the conversation. Awesome! Copy and paste the conversation into ChatGPT and ask for them!

  • "I had a long Facebook conversation with a client. Here it is: [Paste Conversation]. Can you help me extract the action items from it?"

  • "I've had a detailed conversation with a customer. Here's the text: [Paste Conversation]. Can you identify the tasks and action items mentioned?"

These are just examples. ChatGPT is a very versatile tool. You can find suggested prompts and interesting uses for the service all over the internet.

This Week’s Side Quest!

The side quest this week is going to be for Instagram accounts!

Instagram allows you to pin posts to the top of your feed. You can’t miss out on this optimization opportunity! Having strong pinned posts can help with all sorts of things like:

Creating a strong first impression - Pinned posts are the first comments users see, allowing you to make a strong, positive first impression.

Highlighting your Brand Message - These posts are awesome at conveying the brand message more consistently. (They will be among the first pieces of content people will see when they go to your profile!)

Encourages Interaction - A Pinned post can serve as a call-to-action, encouraging users to interact with the post (so you can gather feedback) or take action offsite (like subscribing to a newsletter).

Provides Important Information: You can use pinned posts to share important information, updates, or announcements with your audience.

Promotes Products/Services: Pinned posts can be used to promote products, services, or upcoming events effectively.

You can pin three different posts to your profile. This week we’re going to start with two. This will leave room for a third later on after some research.

Post #1 to create and pin this week is an introduction post. The image should give a strong representation of your brand or business (without being your logo or profile picture). Your caption should be a little longer than you normally produce. Treat this like an “about you” post on your website. Don’t just make it a wall of test though. Break it up and add appropriate emojis!

Post #2 to create and pin this week is a call-to-action post. This should either be a sales pitch to a popular product or an off-site sign-up like a newsletter. You should make your caption pretty long here as well. This is a great opportunity to deliver more meaningful information. (Don’t forget to put the actual call-to-action towards the top though.)

Something to Remember

I touched on captions in this week's Side Quest and wanted to delve deeper!

Traditionally, the advice has been to pen concise, catchy captions for social media. However, recent trends indicate that platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok benefit from richer, more valuable content.

It’s not necessary to pen an essay for every post. A spontaneous photo on Instagram or a witty meme on Facebook might convey all you wish. However, occasionally opting for a more extended caption is beneficial.

This holds particularly true when your visual content only conveys part of the message. In such instances, complete the narrative for your audience in the caption.

Remember, most standard text formatting tools like bold/italics and headings are unavailable. So, you’ll want to incorporate emojis 🌟 to emphasize your message effectively.

Reply

or to participate.