How to break perfectionism with the versioning mindset

And a change in direction for my build in public project

Photo by drmakete lab on Unsplash

Hello,

Welcome to this Thursday’s edition of Course Builder’s Corner.

I have 2 things to share with you this week.

I. Update on my current build in public project.

II. Article: How to break perfectionism with the versioning mindset

III. Two ways I can help you

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I. Build In Public Update

I’m now into my second week of building my free email course in public.

You can see all the updates on this link:

https://twitter.com/roddaut/status/1651373473158275073

The biggest lesson this week:

Even a free course needs to deliver a solid result.

I started to go through Kevon Cheung's Email Course Engine and he made this point loud and clear.

If you want your free course to be something others will rave about and recommend to others, it needs a clear result.

That's exactly what I teach for tiny courses - that we need to define a clear purpose (aka result).  It's amazing that I didn't apply this to a free email course.

So I threw away my original outline and decided to build a course called Create Winning Course Ideas. It will show you how to take a vague course idea and turn it into something your customers will love.

And it helps you avoid creating a course no one is interested in. That way your hard work pays off.

What do you think?

Does this feel like a problem you want solved? Let me know in the comments or reply to the email.

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II. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁

Creators spend too much time building something and not enough time shipping the goods.

As a result, we lose out on revenue. Each day we don't ship, is like money dripping through our fingers and into the sewer.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁?

To get it just right, of course.

𝗦𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺?

With the versioning mindset.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗹𝘆.

There's no definitive resting place. There's only version 1.0, 2.0, etc.  There's no perfect. Only good enough for now.

But we have to ship to have a 1.0 or 2.0. We must stop and deliver.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗺.

That way we can ship, get feedback, learn, and ship again.  We get things to a good-enough stage of completion to bring in revenue as well as feedback to improve the next version.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 (𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁) 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻?

Create a deadline and ship to that deadline. Let your mind create excuses and reasons not to move forward. Then continue shipping anyway.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘆?

Yes and no. Yes, your work will be imperfect but it would have been anyway. Look at anything you've produced 10 years ago and you'll see flaws now you didn't see then. I'm even embarrassed by articles I wrote just a few months ago.

Anyone who is honing their craft will find that they're a moving target.  And looking back on the past is as liable to make you proud as it is to make you cringe.

So you may as well ship, get feedback fast and improve more quickly.

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Thanks for reading and …

Before you go, you may want to check out any of the following:

The Atomic Course Blueprint- Want to create a course without the usual overwhelm? Try creating a tiny course. Find out more here.

iPARA: How to organize your digital life for action- Is digital disorganization keeping you from reaching your goals? What if just four folders could let you not just stay organized but actually get things done. See for yourself here.

That’s it for this week. I’ll see you next Thursday with another issue.