Three Wins.

Three-minute read. Or less.

Welcome to week nine of Three Wins in this format, where I walk you through my process of launching an online course in 2024.

Even if you are not launching an online course, this will help you think about whatever you will launch.

I waited until New Year’s Day to send it as it’s my birthday today, and I thought I would share reflections on 2023.

What a bloody year, huh?

It was a tough one for many reasons.

I lost my mum. Clare had to go in for an operation. (All good now). And Hiut Denim had its toughest year ever.

We had to dig deep financially, and our beliefs got tested.

I remember before we started Hiut, I was pushing my bike up the hill while I spoke to Yvon Chouinard, co-founder of Patagonia.

I asked him how he had managed to keep hold of Patagonia.

His reply was: “40 years hard work, and two re-mortgages.”

I laughed, but, in that moment, I knew what lay ahead.

But with all that said, I am excited about 2024.

It will be where fun comes back to play ball.

Here’s to that.

1. Beta Excitement.

In 2023, I made a pact with myself to go to another level.

 -      If I was going to do something, I would do Beta tests first.

-      Improve it before launch.

-      It is much more work, but I love that feeling of growth.

Throughout the holidays, I have been sneaking time to write and build.

-      While everyone snoozed in, I was in the shed.

-      No one really noticed.

-      It has kept me on track.

This week, I will do the first live Micro Blog System lesson. Then, on Friday, I have an all-day Micro Blogs Workshop.

 -      I am nervous.

-      Excited.

-      But grounded in knowing I have done the work.

I will listen hard to the feedback.

I expect it to change a great deal from Beta 1 to Beta 2 to Beta 3.

To find the next level, you must be open to doing everything differently.

A win.

2.          Don’t tweak. Don’t polish. Don’t make do.

We spent over 100K on a website, but it was tricky to work with.

-      We tweaked it.

-      We pushed it.

-      We made do.

If we hadn’t sunk that money into it, we would have moved faster on building something that worked for online courses.

So, I decided last year to start again.

When Micro Blogs finally launches in late Feb, it will have its own website. Its own app. Its own place for the community.

A win.

3.          Expensive is cheap.

I have always loved this quote from the Real Madrid chairman.

The true cost of hiring someone who doesn’t have the skill, who doesn’t have hunger, who thinks the world owes them a favour is much greater than you realise.

I think about this whenever I hire anyone now.

You can’t win without the right team.

The Micro Blogs team is brill.

A win.

I hope this was useful in some way.

Talk next week.

Here's to 2024. 

Happy New Year.

David

If you are interested in joining the Beta Micro Blog System, find out more here.