The Entrepreneur Log #4 - September 2021 Review

Hey there! Glad to see you drop by again. For those who are new to my blog series, here is where I share intimate details of my entrepreneurial journey. I use this space to share my experience with other fellow entrepreneurs or those aspiring to become an entrepreneur. Let me take the opportunity to review my previous month in this blog.

September has been a less stressful month than August, but that does not mean I have been less busy. Some leads I have been nurturing are ready to commit, and I have two new retainer opportunities on their way. Like many entrepreneurs and even small business owners, we fall prey to daily tasks. Before we know it, the day has ended, and we can't recall what we have done. So, instead of taking both public holidays off this month, I used one to rest up and the other to refine Joyce Tsang Content Marketing's strategies and funnels. It helped me clear my mind and focus on what my business needs.

September has also been a month of fostering valuable relationships. Apart from physically meeting Kelvin from Onion Creative for the first time (thanks for lunch again!), I connected with a lovely lead, Brian, offline. But instead of talking business during our first meeting, he has kindly invited me to be a guest speaker at his lecture at the UOW College Hong Kong.

1. Guest speaking opportunity

2. Measuring ROI from my ads

3. Monthly business goals

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1. Guest speaking opportunity

I had an amazing time speaking to his students particularly because they are so different from my own at HKU Space. These young fellows are studying under the associate program, and though most of them may not consider a career in marketing, it was lovely to see how engaged they are in class. We went through what building e-commerce truly entails, what most people overlook, and how a content funnel can assist e-commerce success.

It was such a nice break for me to take outside of catering to my clients. I had a wonderful time chatting with Brian after class about his ambitions to start his own business, Beloved Yoga Hong Kong, and how he kickstarted his teaching journey as well. Since I am the only lecturer in my circle of friends, it was a breath of fresh air for me to learn that he has also experienced the same struggles and joy as an educator here in Hong Kong.

I also went for a meeting at Ap Lei Chau this month - a place I have long visited since I last taught a drawing class there in my university student years. The biggest takeaway from that meeting was to learn that there are indeed people out there looking specifically for professional content marketing services. Even though many people only care about sales figures and conversions, clients who know the importance of branding and content are still here. Most importantly, they are attracted to what I provide! These are the leads that truly keep me motivated through the days when I simply want to shut down.

2. Measuring ROI from my ads

But of course, the entrepreneur road isn't all rainbows and butterflies. I also faced a struggle this month. I have a set of always-on Facebook and Google ads that drives to my free ebook. At the end of every month, I do a detailed review of the performances and update things accordingly. I managed to drive 2 downloads per day in August, but that did not sustain in September. After analysing the data, I realized that I achieved much larger reach and impression in September. On top of that, my CPC this month is much lower. However, those who end up downloading was much less. It resulted in a much lower ROI for myself.

I have yet figured out the exact reason behind apart from the sky-rocket jump in reach and impression, which does hurt my conversion rate. After tweaking several details though, my ads are back up and running. What I foresee is that these new reach and impression are even further up in my top funnel, hence, my CPC is low but my conversion rate is also low. Hopefully, my assumption is correct, and what should happen is my reach, impression, and CPC is kept at this month's level in October, but I should see better conversion rates.

3. Monthly business goals

Lastly, due to the growth of the business, I have listed a new hiring on both Linkedin and Facebook. While I continue to appoint my freelance writers to serve respective clients, I am looking for a Content Manager to help manage and gate keep their content quality. If you or your friends are interested in learning more, visit here to see the full JD now.

In the previous months, my main goal was to acquire new leads and grow. For October, I hope I can lock down my current leads, focus on client deliverables, and have some more head space to upkeep with the constantly changing content marketing industry.

Let's touch base again next month and see if I have done just that then, shall we?

- Joyce