Connecting Through Vulnerability - KDS 132

The Kim Doyal Show

Hey, guys. What's going on before we get into today's episode? This is a special series that I'm doing this week. It's a 5 part series based on Everything is Content. Now you might remember, I don't know, a month and a half ago, 6 episodes or so ago, I did an episode on Everything is Content 2.0. And I'll link to that in the show notes for this. But I'm actually hosting an Everything is Content workshop, and so this is kind of a preview for that. This was a 5 part email series that I have since turned into videos, and now I'm doing this as a podcast. So you'll get a taste of the 5 part framework.

I know this sounds a little meta, and we're getting a little into the matrix here, but I watch how I do this, but this is a taste of the framework itself. And again, you can go to kimdoyal.com/eicworkshop if you wanna join me in the live workshop I'm doing. It is on Wednesday, March 6th. So, depending on when you're listening to this, if if that date has come and gone, then I'm gonna be continuing to either do this live or you'll be able to just get the workshop itself. Again, go to kimdoyal.com/eicworkshop. Alright, now here is part 1 of Everything is Content. Hey there. It's Kim Doyal, and welcome to my show where digital marketing meets real stories, experiences, and strategies.

You'll get a behind-the-scenes look at what's working and not working in my business, as well as other experts who show up and share their stories. As much as I love talking about tangible marketing principles and tactics, we'll dig a little deeper with the mindset and explore what's required to create a business you love on your terms that also supports your life. I wanna help you understand the why behind the how. Whether you're a seasoned marketer or just dipping your toes in, remember that marketing is a journey, and the goal is to enjoy it. My desire is to guide you on your journey and remind you that no matter what life throws at you, you've got this. Hey, guys. What's up? Kim Doyal here, and I'm doing a 5 part series called Everything is Content. Now, I came up with the hashtag Everything is Content back in 2016.

I'm not going to repeat that whole story here. Still, if you want a little more behind-the-scenes of how that came about, I did a whole podcast episode recently, and it was Everything is Content 2.0, which is an easy guide to getting started, you know, got to use those, what you call it, good headlines, right? But this is all based on a 5 part email series where I'm giving actual examples of everything as content to show you how you can apply this to your own business and how it can translate into conversions, whether that's leads or sales. Now, we're going to go a little bit deeper with this. I'm also working on an ebook that I hope should be done within a month or so. I might do an audio version because I clearly love doing this, but these are what I do with this, so let me back up a little bit. So, Everything is Content is based on the idea that I'm one who I hate keyword research. I know there's value in SEO. I'm not negating that at all, but with AI, I feel like that's kind of a race to the bottom, and who knows where it's going to be a year from now? But my whole goal with Everything is Content is to get people just to start creating, right? And seeing that there are content ideas all around us that fit under this umbrella in our business.

You don't need to only talk about email marketing or for me, email marketing or content marketing. Right? Or I love using AI for content, but not necessarily to write for me. There's a whole other marketing element that I use it for. But sometimes I want to talk about, hey, guess what? I'm moving back to Costa Rica. I am. Or, you know what? This is what I do when I feel out of alignment. Or, this is how I ground myself each day. So, all of those are under the umbrella of who I am in my business.

That's where everything is content comes into play. All of our experiences are what contribute to who we are and how we move through the world. Right? So let's get into it. Alright. So, the first example I will give you is connecting through vulnerability. And this is when you're frustrated and you need clarity to get moving. Okay? And there's a lot of advice. Gary Vee made the phrase document, don't create, very famous, or you've heard the term building in public.

And I have a good friend, Kevon Cheung, who created a cohort, and he's great at that and about building in public. And but sometimes when you're in the thick of things in your business and what you're doing isn't pretty or something you want to share, you don't necessarily want to document that, nor I'm not saying, like, the build-in public, I prefer practice in public because sometimes you're not necessarily building something that has a start and end date. Right? Building in public, to me, implies I'm making this thing. Therefore, there's a clear process and a start and a finish. Right? It really implies a completion. But what if what you're doing or what you're working on doesn't really fit into either of those buckets? So here's an example. This was, excuse me, a couple of weeks ago, and I was planning my week, and I was thinking about everything that needed attention in my business. And so I remember this clearly: it was a Sunday.

I kind of like to plan my week ahead on a Sunday. And my initial thought was do this, like, master to-do list, kind of like a brain dump, right? But that started feeling overwhelming and not so fun. Does everything really need to be addressed and dealt with right now? No. So I started streamlining things last year based on the work of Doctor. Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan, but somehow, it can still feel like too much. And I have stuck with for nine months, I'm not kidding you guys, I have a daily journal practice where I write down a mantra daily. I have the three things I'm focusing on at night, three things I'm grateful for, three wins, and then I plan out the next day's 3 things. And so I write them at night, and I rewrite them in the morning. Right? But the problem when you start doing these master to-do lists is that everything feels like a priority, which is silly, right? Of course, there's no way everything can be a priority.

Or I should say, my friend Les says this great saying and it's, That's not a today problem. Because most things are not today problems. Now, keep in mind, none of these are necessarily problems. But the only way to move forward is to prioritize what needs to be done. So this is where I choose 3 priorities at the time. And Jim Collins, who wrote Good to Great, has a great, saying. And where is that? Oh, I thought I had that. Anyways, but if you have more than 3 priorities, you have none kind of thing, right? And, the simple steps that I needed when I was kind of in this frustrated, like funky state, right, was, to do the brain dump or to do list and then eliminate all but 3 priorities, okay? And you guys have probably heard the whole thing, you know, develop or build your second brain.

Kim:

I'm writing a Medium post about not wanting a second brain because there's enough in my first brain. I don't need more stuff to do, right? Or I don't know about you guys, but sometimes the productivity systems and tools and project management, that becomes a part time job. I'm not interested in doing that either, right? Okay. So the goal with this, this is again circling way back, this is about sharing a vulnerability as a piece of content. So doing the brain dump or the to do list and then eliminating all but 3 priorities. And what I'm sharing with you, this whole story is how I'm turning this into content and why anybody would care, right? Because remember, the premise of this video, this is part one, everything is content. And so what I decided was that the process of getting clear and getting this muck out of my head was that it was going to be a podcast episode for the week, And I needed to get it done as soon as possible, so deciding to use it for the podcast ensured that it had to happen, especially because I announced it in an email, right? And I am a huge proponent of being transparent and not just sharing the highlight reel. Because honestly, I don't know, my day to day is probably a little bit boring.

Kim:

And I don't know, the highlight reel might be what I'm having for lunch. But I have done this for as long as I can remember. And I have plenty of validation that sharing the struggles is what resonates with people. It also makes you incredibly relatable. Your subscribers and customers need to feel that what they want to achieve and accomplish is possible. And if you're only sharing the wins and not the losses, then people, we doubt things, right? And so we have to remember, you guys, creating and growing an online business is not easy. It doesn't matter what market or what niche you're in. It takes a lot of work.

And so sharing the less-than-pretty side of things shows that we all struggle. But choosing to keep going is the differentiator, right? How many people, God, you guys, when I was doing websites or even done for you podcasts, I cannot begin to tell you how many people we would build a website for, and then I would go back 6 months later, and they hadn't put one piece of content on it. The logos and what I call the peripherals, the logos, the colors, the packages, and all that stuff are fun. But the day to day pushing and marketing, pushing is not the right word, but you know what I'm saying? Publishing and creating is the work. Anyways, so when I decided to take this funky feeling and turn it into a podcast episode, this is what I decided it was going to look like, that I would go deeper with the frustration in the story than I did in this original email or in this video. And I prefaced it with wanting my desired outcome, which was the clarity I needed and what are my 3 priorities. And because I'm such a visual person, I'll create something that allows me to see everything. And I should have grabbed it here.

So what I did was I just did a brain dump on a piece of paper with colored pens and I just wrote down everything as it came to mind and then I went back and I circled, I circled 3 priorities. Like, the reason I did it with pen and paper too is because it's very easy to become like distracto ball. And next thing you know, I'm in mind map software and I'm doing this or I'm trying to create something with AI or something and all I need to do is get it out of my brain. Okay. Keep it simple. Oops. I need a different mic. This arm is so in my face.

Anyways, and then all I did was take a quick photo with my phone of this brain dump, and now I have another image for the post. So, again, you guys, I ranted in this email about, you know, when you find yourself spending so much time in the tools that are supposed to streamline your business, question whether or not you need them. Now, I don't have client work. Like, I'll have coaching clients. I have one person that I do some marketing with on a monthly retainer, but I don't need a project management system for it. I use Asana for some of my own stuff once in a while, but you have to decide. And I'm going to preach this till the cows come home, but if it's not something you enjoy using or want to work with or your brain doesn't naturally work that way, don't force a square peg in a round hole. Anyways, okay, enough of that rant.

Okay. So, sorry. You guys, this is really trippy. I don't know if I said this at the beginning, but I am testing using a teleprompter with Riverside FM. And so it's great to have the notes here, but it's a little interesting. And so the whole point of this was that I would also then have the after picture for the post, right, meaning once I circled and selected those 3 items. And then all I did is list the 3 priorities I've chosen, and then, this is again for the podcast episode, I went into the why behind why those three things were the priorities and the action that I was taking. And then if I'm lucky, I might come up with some name for this process, right? And I didn't.

It wasn't necessary to do this. Now remember, this is an email that I sent out and there's 5 parts of this to start teaching people that everything really is content. Right? It doesn't not everything has to become a proprietary system or course or workshop or what. It can just be useful to you, right? It's kind of like it reminds me of I was talking to my daughter one time. It was so funny. And she said something about, you know, she really wanted more side hustles that she didn't have to monetize. And I go, You want me in a hobby? Right? So it's just the world we live in. It's okay to have things that you do simply because you enjoy them.

Anyways, the whole point of this, right, is that this was work that needed to be done and I was frustrated and I caught myself thinking that I needed to create this big to do and make this project. And I was, I was like, This is making me crazy, like trying to figure out how to pull this clarity out of myself. And I will tell you that what I did also was I just got off the computer. Like I said, it was a Sunday. And so I got off the computer and then I just went, I don't know, I played a game on my iPad. I watched a little TV. It was a rainy day. And then I had this this inspiration.

I'm like, do this, this everything is content email series to start talking about this. And that is what inspired the podcast episodes. You see all these pieces, everything does really become content. So you might be asking, why is anybody gonna care? Because the other thing that we hear often in marketing is that it's not about you. It's about your reader. It's about your subscriber, your listener, whatever. But here's the thing. I I can't I I can speak to their problems and offer solutions if I'm the one to solve those problems, but all I have is my experience.

And stories are what connect us to people. So get put that whole thing to the side. Your your audience, subscriber, customer needs to feel to to feel and see themselves in those stories, but it's more about being relatable and creating that connection. And so the reason why, again, would anybody care is because we've all been there, right? We've all felt that frustration. And then sometimes we hear or read someone else's process and that's all we need to get moving, even if how we do it is completely different. And so what I'm hoping with this is I want people to start simplifying, right? And the post will serve as an example of everything is content that podcast episode did because I know this is getting very meta, right, where creating content that shows that everything is content, it's getting a little meta, but you get the point, right? And for the story part of the episode, I was completely honest about how I got distracted. And then I realized what the problem was, right? Which, Q Taylor Swift, it's me. Hi.

I'm the problem. And so I also wanted to share the desired outcome, right? I wrapped up the episode with 2 things I mentioned at the beginning, the clarity and the 3 priorities. And then finally, I now have this brain dump of priorities. And so when the the top 3 that I listed, which one of them is about ready to get done, it was a new website. I've been working on it for a little bit, bit, and I'm literally going to pull the trigger in a day or 2. And so, but I've got this document to go back to and get in line with, right? And so I know that that this might seem obvious, this example, because it's relative to my business, but in some ways, it definitely still falls under the documenting bucket. And you know what? I don't know. Maybe we need to create a 3rd bucket of the shit that needs to get done bucket.

Right? Because the entire purpose of everything is content is to help people who are sick of the same niche down advice. I, I, I as soon as I felt like I needed to niche down, I did this when I was a WordPress chick for 10 years. I got to a point where I was so tired of talking about WordPress. And I had already pivoted to talking more about content marketing. But then when I decided that I was gonna focus on email marketing, then I felt stuck too. Like, all of a sudden, now I have to, you know, go do keyword research, and what can I rank for, and what are long tail keywords? Just stop. Like, we are it's a very different world today. We don't know where SEO is gonna be in a year from now.

Again, it's totally still relevant. I'm not an SEO expert, but I know where I get stuck. And so my challenging call to you is to start listening to that inner voice and trusting yourself and saying, What do I want to create content with? Who do I want to serve and how can I help them? And then move forward, right? So people get stuck when it comes to creating content, to get run out of ideas because they feel like it has to fall under a certain umbrella. And it doesn't. I'm just, you know, don't be afraid to step outside of the box when it comes to content. And, lastly, here's a great example. So I wrote a post on Medium. If you're not following me there, just Kim Doyle.

And the post was titled, What Gen X Women Really Want. And what we want is ease. Now, I'm not saying other people don't want ease. I don't get into generational wars and I'm not about to try and speak for men, okay? But I know as a woman who is Gen X at this stage, all of my friends, people that I know, they're were freaking tired, right? And so you've raised your kids, it's like, I want things to be easier. That doesn't mean you don't do the work, but start asking yourself, what would my life look like if it were easy? Right? That's a better question to pose. Anyways, so this is part 1, like I said, of a 5 part series for Everything is Content. This originated as an email series. Now, last bit, because I know we're getting a little chatty here.

But the last piece is this is part of a bigger sort of, content flywheel that I'm creating, meaning all 5 of those emails are now becoming a blog post. Each of these videos will go on YouTube and into the blog post. I have not transcribed them, they are emails. So I've got a PDF for them, excuse me, and I'm going to start running paid traffic to that post because I'm on a mission. I want people to ease up about content creation and start having more fun. And so those 5 emails, though, totaled about 4,500 words. So I'm editing the content now to make sure that it makes sense in a post versus an email series. Right? So anyways, that is part 1 of Everything is Content.

And I can't wait to watch this recording to see how using a teleprompter looked or worked. Yeah. So, have fun, guys. Be easy about it. Everything is content. And if you want the PDF of this email series, just comment PDF in the comments below and I will DM you with a link to grab that. So, anyways, thanks guys. Stay tuned for part 2.

And I'm gonna give you another example. So I've kind of got different categories, but anyways, here we go. Let's do this. Alright guys, that is it for part 1. Thanks so much for listening. Again, I would love to have you join me on the workshop on Wednesday, March 6th at 11 AM Pacific time, and of course, it will be recorded, if you register. So go to kimdoyle.comforward/eicworkshop, all one word, and you can register to join me live, get the replay, or depending upon when you have listened to this, you can probably just do the on demand workshop. But I'm probably gonna run it live for a little bit.

Anyways, stay tuned for the rest of the week for the other four parts. Alright. That's it. As always, thank you so much for listening.