Annual Review for 2022 - The Year Of Simplifying
For my last 4 1/2 years in business, I've always written an annual review and published it as a blog. A lot happens in a year as an entrepreneur and to have the highs and lows documented is pretty special.
Last year I nearly fell off the wagon and only published by annual review in July. This year I gave myself the deadline of the end of January and have hit this (just).
If you haven't yet done an annual review for 2022, I highly recommend you put in the time. As well as being a useful exercise for you, it's a great marketing piece to share with your audience and it's always a popular email/blog in my business.
I keep it super simple and centre my review around 3 questions:
What went well and why?
What didn’t go so well and what did I learn?
What am I working towards in 2023 and how will I ensure I make it happen?
WHAT WENT WELL IN 2022?
Got my income back to 30K months with one offer (kind of). In 2021, I tore down my complicated business model (membership, multiple group offers, mastermind etc.) and rebuilt my business focussing on one offer, one ideal client and one core marketing channel. I shared the full details of this decision - and why 2021 felt like a bit of a failure when in fact it was my boldest year in business - in my 2021 Annual Review.
In 2021 I wound down all my programmes and closed my membership to go all in on Amplify - my group programme that helps fully-booked service-providers turn their 1-1 service into an evergreen group programme they can enrol into month on month without launching. It was a new niche for me and I knew in 2022 I had to focus on building my audience in this area and growing the group. Importantly, I needed to get my income back to 30K months after taking a financial hit from closing my membership.
Over the course of 2022, I enrolled 38 clients into Amplify and 75% of my total income came from this offer. In November 2022, I hit 30K which felt like a huge win (the key now is making this consistent). Most importantly, I now have a business structure I absolutely love with a core programme focus and under 5 hours client delivery a week for this offer. All my marketing points to this one programme, I have one clear ideal client to speak to and it all feels flowy and simple ('simple' was my word for 2022).
Learning: Making money doing one thing really well feels so much more spacious than making money from 5-6 different offers. I am more focussed and marketing feels simple as I have one core ideal client, one message and one clear sales funnel.
Created Flying V - a gut-feel group programme with a super simple structure. OK OK I know I said I was going to focus on just one offer for 2022, but... In April/May time, I had a new idea for a group programme for those not quite ready for Amplify. 95% of my audience weren't fully booked with 1-1 clients and in a position to transition to a group offer and I felt excited to create a coaching group which helped service-providers get fully booked and ‘group-ready’. I kept the structure super simple - a weekly 90 minute call where we focus on the most important actions to get more clients - offer/message, audience growth and sales. The group philosophy is taking action every single week and the weekly meet up and accountability structures in the group keeps everyone moving forward. If you want to find out more about Flying V, send us an email at support@gemmagilbert.com with the words ‘Flying V’ and I’ll send you the details.
I enrolled around 30 clients for Flying V between May and December and the vibe and ethos of the group is awesome. This offer accounted for around 17% of my annual income.
Learning: It’s important to stay laser focussed in business but there’s also space to follow your intuition and be playful and creative with offers.
Completed Amplify Pre-recorded Curriculum. This was such a huge under-taking it deserves it's own paragraph. It's not easy creating a course which delivers results. As a former secondary school teacher, I'm obsessive about the learner experience, attention spans and curriculum design. I knew this was an area I could really shine but the hard truth about creating a pre-recorded curriculum is it takes way longer than you think. This is the only time in my business I found myself working some weekends to meet my schedule. I completed the Amplify content by June 2022 and it's my proudest accomplishment in my business so far. Clients rave about the content, how clear it is, how it has you implement as you watch, hit milestones and feel motivated to continue. Clients get results from this pathway alone - and even better results when they come to the weekly live sessions.
Learning: clients can get amazing results with a well-designed pre-recorded curriculum. It’s worth putting time and energy into making this awesome as it will free up so much time to help clients implement and navigate challenges.
The Amplify Community Is Magical. Every service-provider wants to work with magical soul-mate clients. The kind who light you up and make it an absolute joy to turn up on a call. This is how I've felt about the Amplify community. In 2022, the community was all women (this has changed in 2023), and each and every single one of them have been absolute powerhouses. The clients I serve in Amplify make me excited to start work every day. Plus, as Amplify is so specific in what it helps people with, the conversation on every group call is relevant and useful for all.
Learning: Say no to bad fit clients. Have the courage to niche. Be so 'you' in your marketing, you attract people with a similar vibe to you.
Grew my email list by 1911. In 2021, I totally took my eye off audience growth and my email list didn't grow at all (in fact, it shrunk). In 2022, I knew this had to be a core focus if I wanted to build an audience in my new niche and enrol consistent clients into Amplify and my goal was to grow by 2000 (double what I’ve ever achieved in any previous year). I ramped up my Facebook Ads strategy, did a bunch of audience testing and created a new lead magnet. I also shifted from double opt-in to single opt-in (potentially controversial I know!). Since starting my email list in 2018, I have always used double opt-in. This basically means that new subscribers are sent a confirmation email after subscribing and they have to click on it to confirm their subscription. When I looked at my stats and realised 65% of people didn't click to confirm, I was pretty horrified. I switched to single opt-in and instead opt for cleaning my list regularly of those who have never engaged. I get great engagement on my email list (73% of my list have engaged with my emails in the last 30 days) and I haven't seen any negative consequences of this strategy so far. I'm now adding around 350-400 new subscribers to my email list every single month (this paints a rosier picture than the reality though, as each month I probably have around 150-200 unsubscribes).
Learning: Be willing to invest in ads and keep testing. Never take your eye off audience growth.
Ran Monthly Workshops & A 3-Day Training Series. I didn't want my lead generation to rely on big launches (aka challenges) in 2022, but I did want to consistently serve my audience as I know more touch points mean more clients. For most of the year (fell off the wagon in the last few months due to a bunch of personal stuff going on) I ran monthly workshops and in July I ran a 3 day training series and had over 360 business owners sign up for this.
Looking at my lead data for 2022, 35% of my clients attended a workshop at some point before joining Amplify. I love the energy of delivering training live, it's a great connection opportunity with my audience and I book a load of calls off the back of them.
Learning: Running workshops consistently is much easier than ad-hoc workshops. You get into a rhythm, can systematise and you're not reliant on it 'going well'. You can test different marketing angles in workshops and get awesome data on what messages your audience are interested in and will take action on.
Click the picture below to watch my training series on how to scale one group programme to 10K months without launching >>>
Trained 3-5 times a week and can do 5 unassisted chin ups. In 2021 I got super into strength training in the gym. This was HUGE for me as I have never consistently exercised in my entire life. By the end of 2021, I felt strong, healthy and fit and I was determined to keep this up in 2022. Apart from a couple of stints of injuries or illnesses, I went to the gym 3-5 times a week, and swam and played netball once a week. One of my goals was to be able to do an unassisted chin up and at the end of 2022, I smashed this. Being physically strong - along with the discipline of regular training - has massively boosted my confidence, energy levels and mindset. This is one habit I will continue for the rest of my life.
Learning: It is actually possible to sustain regular exercise. Every area of your life improves the more you exercise.
CHALLENGES AND LEARNINGS
Under 15K income months were hard AF. Closing my membership in December 2021 was a huge leap of faith. I'd already been through 6 months of lower-income months after deciding not to run my old group programme The 5K Experience again, so money had been tight in the latter half of 2021. Every month I earned less that 15K, I had to top up from my business profits or borrow from my tax money to pay for my team and business structure. 2022 started much the same. I knew I had to keep my focus on enrolling clients for Amplify and not make knee-jerk decisions to make quick money elsewhere. The real money scarcity caused a huge amount of stress and all the mindset gremlins came out to play. I was back in a better position by May and in November had my highest income month. I put this in the 'didn't go so well' section, but really this income dip was a conscious choice and I'm proud I had the courage to make it as I am now totally in love with my business structure.
Learning: Strategic dips in income are part of growing a business, but even knowing this, it's hard to keep perspective when money feels genuinely scarce. Constantly connecting to my why helped here, as well as coaches and peers that constantly reminded me I'd always pulled it out of the bag and to trust in myself.
Tried to do everything myself (with the help of 2 assistants) for too long and big projects didn't get moved forward. I've had a limited belief about growing a team and my business getting too big for a long time. In my head, too much growth meant I'd have to sacrifice my freedom. But in reality, the opposite happened. I tried to make more money without building a team to support this which resulted in me doing a lot more work. I struggled to move big projects forward for most of 2022 as I was constantly at 120% capacity. Towards the end of the year, I made some strategic hires. First, I hired a Copy Coach to support my clients in Amplify, giving feedback on everything they create. Next, I decided to outsource part of my sales process. This was challenging as I was already at capacity and then added another job - delegating - to the mix.
I’ve since brought in two more team members to help with programme development, client delivery and marketing, and on writing this in January 2023 am about to add am Ads Strategist and Mindset Coach to the mix. I feel excited to build a small and mighty team around me and know this is what I need to grow to half a million turnover in the next couple of years.
Learning: Make your first strategic hire when you are at 80% capacity, not 120% capacity. Don’t just look at the cost of hiring the person now - assess the growth and income you’d be able to achieve if you had their support. You might not feel that benefit immediately, but it will be worth it when you do.
Nearly reached burnout. Partly due to the above point, and partly due to a bunch of stuff I had going on in my personal life. From October - December, I struggled to stay on top of things and it’s all a bit of a blur. By Christmas, I walked away from my desk without scheduling any marketing and very much in need of a break. I feel lucky I’ve built such strong business foundations, as despite not performing at the top of my game, November was my highest income month to date. My monthly workshops didn’t happen, but my ads strategy and email marketing automations meant my diary was consistently full of sales calls and my income didn’t drop even though I largely stopped showing up.
Learning: if your business has a strong marketing backbone, you can navigate difficult times without seeing an income dip. Automations mean your business isn’t reliant on you ‘showing up’.
WHAT AM I EXCITED FOR IN 2023?
Running client events. These will be 2 day intensives 3-4 times a year to allow all my clients to step back, assess the big picture and get a shot of momentum and strategy for the months ahead.
Running and attending in person workshops. Despite being a serial introvert, I miss the energy of live events. I’m planning to run an person event in London in March, and have booked a 2 day business conference with one of my favourite entrepreneurs Denise Duffield-Thomas. I’m open to more great live experiences in 2023.
Building out my team. I’ve finally let go of my resistance to building a team and feel genuinely excited to delegate more and work with switched on, aligned souls to make my business and life even better.
Continuing to refine my evergreen marketing strategy, including the creation of an on-demand video series. It’s all about the automation baby.
THIS YEAR’S THEME
My word for 2022 was ‘Simple’. I wanted: One ideal client. One message. One core offer. One audience growth strategy. One sales system.
I feel super proud that I (mostly) stayed on track with this and it’s paid off. I feel completely aligned with my business structure and can clearly see the path to more growth in 2023.
I’ve been toying with my word for 2023. I’m not 100% there yet but the words ‘Less’ and ‘Leader’ are resonating with me right now. I want to do less by stepping into delegation and leadership.
That’s a wrap for 2022 folks.
Read my other annual reviews here:
