Issue #299: Make Simple Bets

Thank You! Our Challenge Results

Author

Bootstrapper Capital
June 15, 2024

In partnership with

Welcome back fellow investopreneurs!

Scalable newsletter advertising, with the beehiiv Ad Network.

Newsletter advertising at scale, finally.

The beehiiv Ad Network delivers over a billion  impressions a month across thousands of the world's top newsletters, all paid on performance. 

Our managed service enables you to unlock newsletters as a growth channel without the added time. 

Last week we asked over 50,000 of you…

This week we would like to know…

What area of your customer journey would you like to improve the most?

Where do you focus when optimizing your customer journeys?

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Challenge Accepted! ✅ 

This issue we wanted to dedicated as a special THANK YOU issue for all of the support over the past several months.

A few weeks ago we rolled out a YouTube challenge throwing down the gauntlet for our team to bootstrap our way to our first 1,000 subscribers.

As of writing this newsletter, we are proud to be at 999 —> ironically, on our 299th issue.

That being said, we plan on doing something BIG for our Issue #300 next week — stay tuned for that.

Taking an Experiment-Based Approach: Leveraging Simple Bets in Your Business

Adopting an experiment-based approach in business involves making small, manageable changes—simple bets—that minimize risk while maximizing potential returns. This method encourages testing hypotheses, learning from outcomes, and optimizing processes based on data-driven insights. Below is a framework inspired by the principles outlined in the "Make Simple Bets" presentation to guide your business in leveraging this approach effectively.

Why Make Simple Bets?

  1. Minimize Risk: By breaking down larger initiatives into smaller, testable actions, you reduce the financial and operational risks associated with new strategies.

  2. Maximize Upside: Small, successful experiments can be scaled up to drive significant growth and returns.

Key Elements of Simple Bets

  1. Firm Timelines: Define the duration of each experiment to ensure that evaluations and adjustments occur systematically.

  2. Clear Budgets: Set specific budget limits to control costs and prevent overinvestment in unproven strategies.

  3. Simple Objectives: Focus on straightforward, achievable goals that align with your overall business strategy.

  4. Simple Targets: Establish clear, measurable targets to track the success of your experiments.

  5. Simple Processes: Implement easy-to-follow processes to maintain consistency and ensure reliable results.

#BuildInPublic Example of our Simple Bet: Updating Content Cadence

Objective: Develop a YouTube-specific content cadence that consistently engages your ideal customer persona.

Targets:

  • Consistent weekly production cadence

  • Increased engagement

  • Increased views

Process:

  1. Engage Audience: Create content that resonates with your audience's interests and needs.

  2. Create Long-Form Video Content: Produce in-depth videos that provide substantial value.

  3. Create Short-Form Video Content: Develop shorter clips that capture key points from the long-form content.

  4. Create Social Posts: Share highlights and insights from your videos across social media platforms.

  5. Share Insights via Newsletters: Keep your audience informed and engaged through regular newsletters.

Timeline: Conduct a 1-month test, followed by a 3-month optimization phase.

Budget: Allocate time and resources in line with your established targets.

Measure What Matters

To evaluate the success of your experiments, it is crucial to measure the relevant metrics. For the content cadence bet, track the following weekly:

  • Processes Followed: Ensure all steps in your process are completed consistently.

  • Newsletter Engagement: Monitor the number of engaged readers.

  • YouTube Views: Track the number of views your videos receive.

  • YouTube Subscriber Count: Observe changes in your subscriber base.

  • YouTube Engagement Count: Track the likes and comments

Example Results (First Month)

  • Week 1: Processes Followed - Yes, Newsletter Engagement - 33, YouTube Views - 444, Subscriber Count - Up 5

  • Week 2: Processes Followed - Yes, Newsletter Engagement - 81, YouTube Views - 734, Subscriber Count - Up 6

  • Week 3: Processes Followed - Yes, Newsletter Engagement - 643, YouTube Views - 680, Subscriber Count - Up 39

  • Week 4: Processes Followed - Yes, Newsletter Engagement - 741, YouTube Views - 1,900, Subscriber Count - Up 72

Retrospective

After each experiment, conduct a retrospective to identify areas for improvement and optimization:

  • More: Continue the existing content cadence and increase the quantity of content.

  • Better: Focus on higher quality content by leveraging data on audience preferences. Introduce content featuring subject matter experts.

  • New: Hold off on new initiatives until you achieve specific view and subscriber targets. Optimize newsletter acquisition to enhance engagement and subscriber quality.

By taking an experiment-based approach and making simple bets, your business can systematically reduce risks and maximize upside returns, ensuring continuous improvement and sustainable growth.

In case you missed it earlier this week, here is a video where we buildinpublic and share the data behind this push to 1k YouTube subscribers.

Scalable newsletter advertising, with the beehiiv Ad Network.

Newsletter advertising at scale, finally.

The beehiiv Ad Network delivers over a billion  impressions a month across thousands of the world's top newsletters, all paid on performance. 

Our managed service enables you to unlock newsletters as a growth channel without the added time.