Well, friends, I’ve come to a conclusion. The decision-making process was long and arduous, but so worth it in the end. Between books and classes and podcast ideas, I had my decision-making work cut out for me—so many options, how could I choose just one?

Well folks, I did it. I chose. And here we are today, beginning this exciting new project experience. So! Which of the five intriguing ideas did I end up going with? 

The answer is simple: none of them!

After some more thought and consideration, I decided that I could use this project to not only demonstrate my skills, but also generate real results and income for a local business (my family’s business) at the same time. None of my initial project ideas had anything to do with that, so I came up with a new one. And that’s exactly what you’re reading right now (or. . . will be in the next 15 seconds or so). 

So! Without further ado, my project idea!

The idea is simple: ramp up business during the killer off-season slump. This will be achieved through a variety of social media ads, email campaigns, and direct contact with prospective leads. Because essentially all of the marketing and promotion efforts have taken place during the regular season (spring, summer, fall), the sky is the limit for creative opportunity here. 

Furthermore, I will highlight the various software I utilize to achieve these results, and provide a brief overview of how any beginner could create similar results with zero previous knowledge (because that’s been me this whole learning process). 

Not only will this project provide direct impact on a stagnated, albeit potential-filled, small business, but it will also directly effect my progress towards my goals! 

This project will be directly related to my goal of self-discipline with an emphasis on punctuality due to the fact that it’s entirely self-directed, has goals that are fairly lofty, and it’s literally all on me to deliver. It will stretch my written and verbal communication skills through writing copy for video scripts as well as social media posts and emails, writing blog posts, and even verbal communication via the videos. It will help develop my skill set, provide documented proof of those skills, and increase my general knowledge and experience. 

In the name of accountability, here’s a rough breakdown on what I plan on accomplishing this month (with this planning week counting as week #1):

Week 2: Film, edit, and launch holiday-themed Facebook ad to gain subscribers for The Weekly Loaf, our artisan bread subscription. Highlight Facebook ads and Pixel.
Week 3: Design an email campaign and landing page for the pizza portion of the farm (which will come in handy during Week 3). Highlight MailChimp.
Week 4: Research, streamline, and compile a list of possible events and other booking opportunities for the pizza wagon in the summer, and direct people to the handy dandy landing page and ready-waiting email campaign. Highlight HubSpot.

[Spoiler alert edit: Life happened, issues came up, and things didn’t go totally according to plan. Never fear, however! If I’ve learned one thing in my life, it’s how to adapt and overcome like. a . pro. Therefore, don’t be confused if the titles don’t line up with this outline—everything should be explained within the posts themselves.]

Right now I anticipate my biggest struggle to be staying on top of the timeline and not letting perfectionism interfere with producing content on schedule, and not getting lost in the world of “things you should be doing better” for websites and marketing and life in general.

I think for this project my greatest strength will be my stick-to-it-ive-ness, aka perseverance and work ethic. I’ve got a basic understanding of the majority of these concepts and some varied experience, but this would be a way of displaying and documenting it in a way that I haven’t done before. I’m really excited to use this opportunity to not only display and hone my skills, but also create discernible, quantifiable results in a real-life business. 

Make sure to tune in next week, same place and same time, to get project update #1! Come along with me on this journey of discovery and creation and all kinds of other good stuff.