We all want something in business and life.
“I want a million dollar business.”
“I want to travel the world.”
“I want to be the best in my industry.”
Wanting something is easy, something that every one of us accomplishes each day.
The hard part? Commitment.
Earlier this year, I posted growth goals for jeffalytics.com, aiming to 2x my traffic in 2018. It was a big, hairy, audacious goal and reaching it would significantly impact my business.
But how could I actually achieve this BHAG? While there were many ideas running through my head, my team chose to participate in a 90-day video and blog post challenge.
Why 90 days?
Last week, while giving a speech at MnSearch about the results from the 90-day challenge, the number one question I kept getting was, “Jeff, how did you decide on 90 days as your number for your 90-day content marketing challenge?”
The answer: I was inspired by two people. My friend Miles Beckler, who did a content marketing challenge for 90 days (that he extended to 120 days) back in 2016, and Geraldine DeRuiter, Rand Fishkin’s wife, who appeared on the Jumpstart podcast where she talked about how she wrote every single day for TWO years on her popular blog Everywhereist. Now that’s commitment.
So the team at Jeffalytics committed to publishing valuable content every SINGLE day from January 21st to April 20th, 2018.
The results?
As I mentioned in my last Sage post, May has been the highest trafficked month in the history of Jeffalytics.com, and every month moving forward should surpass the 2x traffic goal.
This didn’t happen by accident.
It took 90 days of grueling, committed, and disciplined content creation, production, and publishing to get there. And I’m glad we did it.
90 Days is the Sweet Spot
To accomplish something that will make an impact in your business or life, you can’t think in terms of 30 days or even 60 days.
You can fake anything for 30 days and maybe even 60 days. But to do something for 90 days or more? That’s a sign you’re committed.
To do something for 90 days, you need to be serious. You need a process that is repeatable, predictable, and scalable. You need to put in the work.
Studies have shown that to build a habit, it takes 66 days on average – more on that in a future post.
We all have the capability to choose ONE key activity that will drive revenue growth for our businesses. What’s yours?
Is it filling your pipeline by sending 10 cold emails every single day to targeted prospects for the next 90 days?
Is it publishing one blog post on your website every single day for the next 90 days to increase website traffic and draw inbound leads?
Is it creating standard operating procedures in the next 90 days to scale your business by having a process in place?
Say you want to double or triple your revenue in your agency business while increasing your profit margins and serving clients you love. What can you do in the next 90, 120, or 365 days to get you there?
Maybe you should consider committing to an audacious goal that will drive growth in your business for years to come?
Only those that commit succeed.