“Mindset” by Carol Dweck
30×500 in nov 2013
making a lot of ebombs
when is the right time to make a product
fixingyourvideo.com
nr of ebombs – 15
made them way too big
need to focus on one thing to say per episode
seems to have been more successful
that seems to be the thing that helps people the most
amy: ebombs are the most effective when they are extremely crispy => such detail that it can’t be confused with anything else
amy: there is a difference between audience numbers (?) who want to know everything and people who just want to solve a problem
trying to figure out what it is that makes the ones that do well, do … well
is it too much me, what I think people should be learning or what they find useful
amy: many kill a pain, but you don’t make it explicit that it kills the pain before you get into the video. For example “how to make your own voice over box” is a fix. You already need to want that or be generally curious to watch it.
amy: lead with the pain, make the title about the pain, make it clear the ebomb is a painkiller
organise and re-promote the stuff you already made that is evergreen by what you see is most asked for.
organise around “here is the pain”, “here is how to fix it”, make sure it is easily findable.
you can attach the same video to a different pain title / introduction
how to’s and tips and tricks that solve more than one discrete problem => multiple titles/post pointing to the same solution “by the way, my post/video on Chinese lanterns is one way to solve it”
===> make a new blog post that leads to / introduces something you already made in a new way.
could even take a core part of one video and record different introductions to it.
cta to join maillist should be everywhere. include it everywhere. be consistent with it.
Wordpress: post snippets plugin. allows for shortcodes to include specific “lead in”‘s to the same subscribe cta.
plugin that pops up a slide up box when you scroll past a certain point (reader past that point -> must be interested -> catch ’em at that point).
Promoting your ebombs
use worldview and a set of values to narrow your audience (wistia in Nick’s case): these are the people you can help the most
seems hard to find other good ones.
lurking to learn, brought worldview into the room by asking question (starting the conversation) -> may bring other lurkers to respond
if a particular worldview is not evident, it doesn’t mean it is not present, it just means it is not happening on the surface and you may help bring it to the surface.
for example hackers news lurking audience is much more valuable than its posting audience (with the exception of a few).
if you show up with a spirit of generosity and helpfulness, people may respond, just see what bubbles up => it is a way to find if there are other lurkers with the same worldview where you can help each other out and potentially follow them to other watering holes
finding watering holes
by looking into adjacent subjects. ie: videographers -> marketers; podcasters -> forums on their subject matter; Venn diagrams all over? on the edge of your main audience?
Nick for example searched a lot of unrelated forums for the word video.
Extend that: video + help, video + suggestions, video + tips, video + problem, video + stuck. That is going to catch people in that moment where they are posting their struggle.
Marjan:
People don’t search for solutions!
They don’t know the solution!
They may not even know there is a solution!
They search around the problem or – perhaps – the result they are after
Then again, they may not know they have a problem.
Critique in a friendly way (friendly teardowns) -> opportunity to teach about problems and how to fix them. “this is what bad looks like” but you don’t want to be mean about it. “you made your first xxx. lot of work. here is how you can make it even better”.
Shift into Product(s)
Too many possibilities, not sure which to pick, which is the most painful.
==> Review safari data. Find the patterns, or rather let the patterns find you.
People don’t always know they have a problem, but are doing things to manage those problems anyway. Coping strategies.
“why is nobody writing a book on javascript performance” => is a hint
but you don’t necessarily need to find and fill a gap.
Each product creates its own pain, plus there are always umpteen variations and aspects of something to address.
Patterns will only jump out at you after having seen it umpteen times and even then possibly only when you return to your notes after having let it stew for a while.
Why does Nick not have a blog post about ” my boss says we need to do video, but we can’t hire a video guy. now what ” that then takes them through the steps of “now what”
Bring together steps (individual fixes) that can be found individually and put them on a path with as little opportunity for veering off as possible (like Amanda) ==> create a process around the decisions that need to be made, talk them through these decisions, make them as confident as possible. It’s stuff you have been through a thousand times and it is very easy to take for granted and assume everybody knows.
Go through safari research you already have. Review it!
Lurking with intent is a large part of what safari is.
Intentional note taking is as well.
The thing we forget to do is go back and look at our notes.
Organise them. Serial killer wall. Rewrite by hand. There is a ton of value in transcribing. (Brain treats it differently)
dig through data you have already gathered
doesn’t need to be a lot of time. could be 20 or 30 minutes
will allow you to see clustering of stuff that didn’t seem related when you spotted them
That kind of clustering is difficult to see when on safari. You need another way of viewing your notes to “get it”.
on one hand it is volume: you need enough data
on another hand is taking a step back, looking at it with fresh eyes.
different from ebomb approach.
ebomb approach is very tactical about helping as many people as possible through a problem
ebombs don’t address patterns by virtue of what they do: provide a tiny fix for a very specific problem
products generally address pain as patterns.
step 1: give yourself time to dig into what you have already gathered
what you find may not be complete, you may not find the answer you are looking for but you are very likely to find some clues about where you can go look. start using some of the keywords that are emergent in your existing safari data. and other variations on it. basically treat them as clues to go searching even deeper. that will help you potentially find some blind spots. because you’re used to searching for it in your language, in your terms. sort of you’re looking for what you expect to find versus sort of letting the information come to you. that is probably the hardest part in describing safari: the difference between looking for something and looking in a way that lets information come to you
safari never ends. it is an infinite loop. putting stuff you find back into the safari loop is the best way to find things you didn’t know you were looking for.
ebombs are the fixes for specific steps
products are the end-to-end tutorials, they provide a guided process, all the steps in order, for the “whole” thing instead of leaving you wondering “now what” after having applied an ebomb.
what do I do automatically,
what did I figure out the hard way,
what do I know needs to happen that most people don’t
layers of detail
sounds like you know more than you give yourself credit for
sounds like you have more evidence than you realize you do
look for some of the stand-out patterns in what you already see
invest some time in doing more safari – recursive safari – on a specific thing (green screen) => find the territory around it.
product is a framework for getting someone results
people may well like to dig in and figure stuff out for one domain and just want results in another – because it is their hobby, or because they have been tasked with it but are not “into it”.
Nicks own summary in the Forge
- Do a “recursive” Safari, where you spot themes and then see if your individual pains are related to that theme
- Look for situations where all the recommendations in forum threads are completely ridiculous and convoluted, and turn that into a product that solves the problem for real [1]
- Take note of the things that ebombs (yours, and others) leave out, and make a product that provides mastery where the ebomb provided a quick fix
- Build a serial killer board, by hand, where you can make connections visually. (Luckily, I have a giant chalkboard for this purpose – it’s the one you see in the video!)
- Actually, y’know, take time to review your notes with the objective of making a product.
[1] that seems to pertain to the “what is not being said”, “why is nobody writing a javascript performance book”
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