Notes from Seanwes conference 2017
I spoke at the Seanwes conference in Austin,TX this week about the Dance of the Possible. Here are my notes from the other talks I listened to (I was sick for a good part of the event so missed a few presentations. Too much BBQ? Quite possibly).
2. Kevin Rodgers, Copywriting
Three questions to ask:
What is your story?
Who do you serve?
Where is your why?
“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: The hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.” ― Joseph Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces
“Nobody wants to read your shit.” – Steven Pressfield
“TL;DR” – Everyone
Simple version of hero’s journey for writing: Identity, Struggle, Discovery, Result, Call to Action
Examples: Weight Watchers Jessica Simpson ad, Rudolph the red nose reindeer song
Knowledge content is dead – there is a surplus of information and facts for free online. People have to feel something to connect with what you do. If they don’t feel it they won’t feel you.
Rodgers showed a long segment of his stand up-comedy routine, highlight jokes that used the Identity, Struggle, Discovery, Result, Call to Action pattern.
3. Scott Oldford
Missed this one.
4. James Clear, Habits
Aggregation of marginal gains: 1% gains in nearly everything you do. The results of small improvements, over time, is surprisingly and powerfully high.
Good habits make time your ally, bad habits make time your enemy
Four stages of a habit
Noticing – happens because there is a trigger
Wanting – because there is a desire
Doing – happens because there is an ability to acknowledge the results
Liking – happens because there is a reward
Noticing is crucial for breaking bad habits and building new ones. Can’t change what you don’t notice.
Habit scorecard – helps noticing
Goal Write down each habit you perform each day
Then assign a score to each habit: positive, negative or neutral
Does this habit cast a vote for the desired identity I want to have?
Diderot effect: one purchase tends to lead to other purchases.
Habit Stacking: Hunan behavors are often tied to each oter. Habits come in bundles.
Meditation: after I brew morning coffee, I will meditate.
Exercise: after I get home from work I will change into workout clothes
Gratitude: after I sit down to dinner I will say one thing I’m grateful for
Decluttering: after I take my shoes off, I will put one thing left out away.
Financing: Before I make an online purchase, I will calculate how many hours of work it will cost me
Television. Before I turn on the TV I will say the name of the show I want to watch.
Dopamine is not just pleasure it’s also about desire and anticipation. Desire comes before behavior. Pleasure comes after it. It is your expectation that drives behavior. Every behavior that is highly habit forming – drugs, junk food games – is associated with higher levels of dopamine.
Motivation comes in waves. It rises and falls. Often motivation comes at the wrong time. When desire is high, we need to lock in the habit, or at least start it.
Commitment devices
Ask to have half a meal boxed up before you eat
Charge your phone in any room other than your bedroom
Automattic bank deposits
Delte social media applications on your phone (increase friction)
Put a post-it note contract on your door (can’t go to bed, or do pleasurahle thing, until you do X)
Habits do not form based on time, the form by frequency. They form based on rate of acting, or repeating.
Number of reputations required varies by difficulty of goal. Every outcome is somewhere on the spectrum of reputations.
“i begin each day of my life with a ritual: i wake up at 5:30 a.m., put on my workout clothes, my leg warmers, my sweatshirt, and my hat. i walk outside my manhattan home, hail a taxi and tell the driver to take me to the pumping iron gym at 91st street and first avenue, where i work out for two hours. the ritual is not the stretching or the weight training i put my body through each morning at the gym; the ritual is the cab. the moment i tell the driver where to go i have completed the ritual.
it’s a simple act, but doing it the same way each morning habitualizes it – makes it repeatable, easy to do. it reduces the chance that i would skip it or do it differently. it is one more item in my arsenal of routines, and one less thing to think about.” – Twyla Tharp
One tiny habit can be the spark that sets off the sequence of habits you really want.
The two minute rule (David Allen) – downscale your habit until you can get the first two minutes of it to be useful and mindless. Optimize for the starting line, not the finish line.
The best way to build long term habits is with short term feedback.
Your identity emerges out of your habits.
The goal is not read a book, but to become a reader. The goal is not to write a book, but to become a writer.
It’s often wiser to remove the kink in the hose, vs increase the pressure/force you put through the hose (More thoughtfulness, less brute force).
The meta habit of thinking about your habits/result: integrity report – every summer:
What are my core values
How have I been living by those values
Where have I failed to live by those values
Reflecting on this once a year pulls you back to integrity. Annual review every winter, focused .
Ivy Lee Method – 6 todo items per day, reorder in priority. When you come in tomorrow you only get to work top down until it’s finished. You can repeat each day.
5. Mojca Mars
Why aren’t you using Facebook ads? Common answers: complicated, time-consuming, and expensive.
Most ad campaigns fail because:
Selling to cold audience directly
Wanting to close the deal too quickly
Optimizing for the wrong metrics
Things to do:
Facebook ad pixel
Simple funnel: Attract visitors, generate leads, close sales
wwwh: why, what, who and how
Attract
Make first connection through value, build trust , Facebook pixel tag
what: valuable blog posts & video content
who: cold audiences – interest targeting (or target competitors), lookalike audiences
how: powerful headline (clear problem, questions and cta), branded design. Long format copy currently works well if you earn attention with first sentence.
Lead generation: first transaction with potential customer, qualifying audience
what: free ebook, cheat sheet, checklist, email court, free trial
who: retargeted audience, blog post readers, top web page visitors, contact page visitors
how: reiterate pain (remind them of the pain and offer sweet solution), specific outcome, clear & strong CTA (tell them the one next step they should take)
?? (she spoke really fast so I got lost on the structure of her talk several times)
why: profit, scale your business
what: tripwire product, productize service
who: retargeting (avoid cold audiences), existing leads, pricing page visitors, sales page visitors
how to promote paid product/service: Creative: focus on specific buyer persona, communicate specific value proposition, Social proof & Testimonials
Close sales
Facebook is trying to compete with youtube and vimeo, so they are promoting video content more than any other.
Stranger->value->Prospect->Lead Management->Lead->Sale->Customer
