242: 6 Things I Did Wrong When I Launched The Solopreneur Hour

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As a follow up to Episode 239, I wanted to share a few mistakes I’ve made along the way.  The good news is…none of them are mission critical.  I can fix them, and continue to improve the brand and the business.

I’d also like you to reach out to me via the contact form and submit some questions for the Friday Q&A show, if you’d be so kind.  Ask me anything you’d like.

I talk a bit about “upleveling your game” at the beginning of the show; I’m the MC at a dental conference hosted by our friend Dr. Mark Costes in Scottsdale and then I come back to San Diego to interview some titans of online media (2 million Twitter followers among them)!

I’ll be chatting with Guy Kawaski, Joel Comm, Chris Brogan, and a few notable others. I’m doing a version of this show at Social Media Marketing World – live on stage with these guys in front of a substantial audience. It’s a big step outside of my comfort zone but I said yes and figured out how AFTER.

But before I do any of that I’m talking to you about the 6 mistakes I made while developing The Solopreneur Hour. Let’s get to those!

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Here are the places I could have improved upon:

1. I didn’t focus on building my mailing list.
I could’ve done better with this from an email marketing standpoint; I didn’t spend much time or effort building this list, but it is something I will be focusing on going forward.

2. I didn’t systematize the social media production of the show soon enough.
Eventually I did but it could’ve been done sooner. I think we need to get our hands dirty in the beginning and know how to do everything – then we can outsource it.

Do it for a short period of time, record yourself doing the task and then outsource it.

3. I didn’t create mailing list content soon enough, and reach out to my core audience more often.
Of the list that I have created I haven’t reached out very much. I’m leaving some engagement on the table so I need to focus on regularly connecting with all of you.

I’m going to focus on diving in and getting this nailed down, then perhaps I’ll bring on a community manager to handle it. But first and foremost I have to do a better job of connecting with. If you have suggestions for this or any of these six reach out to me! I’d love to hear from you.

4. I could do a better job of reaching out to past guests to send them links to share the show.
This is SO important for show growth! The best time to get someone to share your content is when you hit “stop” on the recording. So you interview them – do a great job – and hit stop.

Then ask them if they could do you a favor by sharing your show with their audience when it goes live. Be gracious no matter what they say. When they say yes, thank them and make a note and follow up.

You have to do it on the spot, they may not remember if you follow up a month later via email.

5. The Solopreneur Hour website redesign is long overdue.
It’s been too long! I have friends who have redesigned their site twice in the time I’ve had the same design up for TSH. I have a lot of info to share with everyone and I need to update that here for all of you.

I’ve got some ideas cookin’ and it’s in the works. This site has to reflect the movement of being a solopreneur. It can’t just be about me but it needs to be about the bigger story.

6. I’ve had Superhero Syndrome.
I’ve wanted to do it all myself. It’s easier for me to do the things in my wheelhouse then it is to walk someone else through doing it, make the video and go through that learning curve.

But that’s not the long play and I know that. I am hiring VAs now and am working on handing off more tasks.

And those are the six things I could’ve done better when building and expanding the show. Like I said none of them are mission critical and I’ve committed to making progress on each and every one of them. Be on the lookout, you’ll see some changes soon! In the mean time, thank you for being here and for being a supporter of The Solopreneur Hour.

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY: What have you learned from launches you’ve done? What have you done right and what could you have done better?