3 Lessons Learned from Speaking at ConvertKit's Craft + Commerce Event A faster way to grow your newsletter and revenue

"Wait, what are you doing here?"

That wasn't quite the response I expected to receive when I sat down next to an attendee at a recent ConvertKit conference. After the awkward start, he then - politely - explained that he was shocked to see one of the keynote speakers attending a business-building workshop.

I delivered my keynote, Money Mindset: Think Bigger and Unlock Your Wealth Potential, as the opening speaker. And since I was done by 9:30 in the morning, I knew I had about seven hours of high-impact keynotes and workshops to look forward to.

So, I quickly went from teacher to student and was amazed at the innovative and inspirational content delivered by the other speakers.

Here are a few of my top takeaways from the conference.

You must confront the emotion that holds you back from what you should be doing

The day before the main event I was invited to attend an exclusive mastermind. I had no idea what to expect, but even if I did, it would have far exceeded my expectations.

The mastermind was facilitated by Darrell Vesterfelt, founder of Good People Digital, and featured a range of expert speakers who shared their personal experiences as well as tactic-level detail on the actions, tools and mindset needed to find fulfillment as an entrepreneur.

They were all amazing (and I'm not just saying to be polite), but one of the speakers said something that changed my whole perspective on pursuing business and personal growth.

"You must confront the emotion that holds you back from what you should be doing."

This line was delivered by Barret Brooks, an executive coach to founders and creators. His statement is both challenging and empowering at the same time.

Sure, you know there are several ways you can improve your personal and professional life, so what emotion is holding you back from taking action?

• Fear of getting started?
• Lack of self-confidence?
• Embarrassment over past failures?
• Being too proud to admit a mistake?

Confront that emotion and use it as an opportunity to leverage a growth mindset. Otherwise, it doesn't matter how many conferences you attend or books you read, you'll never be able to reach your full potential.

Fortunately, all you have to do is make a decision to confront it and move forward in a meaningul way. Or in other words, "First say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do."

Flywheels are essential to your business's growth

Want to make more money, faster? Build a flywheel for your business. As per HubSpot "With the flywheel, you use the momentum of your happy customers to drive referrals and repeat sales. Basically, your business keeps spinning."

Think of the flywheel impact like a snowball effect for your company. Tiny victories stack up over time, creating a powerful momentum. Before you know it, the business seems to grow effortlessly. It's like you've started a ball rolling that just keeps picking up speed on its own.

Here's an example of how I can use a flywheel to book more conference appearances.

• Speak at a conference
• Ask attendees for testimonials
• Send testimonials to other conference organizers
• Get booked to speak at more conferences

Of course, this only works if I deliver a good experience to attendees. Fortunately, this was the case at the Craft+Commerce event and you can see a few of the testimonials I earned here.

Bottome line: if you don't have flywheels set up you're using too much effort and not making enough money. So if you'd like to see other - more detailed - examples of flywheels I'm building, check out this video.

ConvertKit just made it incredibly easy to grow your email list

We're not done with flywheels just yet, and here's why. ConvertKit now makes it easier than ever to grow your email list with a combination of powerful yet easy to use tools. Take a look at the infographic below, I'll then explain all the components.

Creator Network - Recommend creators who are worth checking out to your subscribers and get recommended in turn, so that you can build your email audiences together.

Newsletter - As you may have guessed, this is what you'll share with your subscribers!

Newsletter sponsorships - Get paid to promote products, services and creators your audience should be aware of.

Paid recommendations - Buy targeted, engaged subscribers on a cost per subscriber basis

New subscribers - Adding new people to your list is both the beginning and the end of this cycle, and you'll grow even faster over time

So, that's the flywheel, and you'd normally have to combine several tools in order to build yours. However, ConvertKit provides you with a turnkey solution and has made it even easier due to their recent acquisition of SparkLoop, a tool that empowers creators and brands to grow their audience with referrals, giveaways, and paid recommendations.

Nathan Barry, Founder and CEO at ConvertKit provided more insight on the acquisition. "After seeing what SparkLoop was building, it was obvious that they were pioneering a new way to get creators paid. And with this acquisition, we see an enormous opportunity to build the #1 advertising marketplace used by newsletter creators to grow their audience."

What does this mean to you? You're now able to consistently grow your audience - and get paid for writing your newsletter - without being overly promotional to your readers or begging brands for paid sponsorships.

Next steps

I learned a lot at the conference, but I didn't want that knowledge to go to waste. So, I purposely blocked off the following week to digest what I learned and determine how to best implement the new tactics and strategies I discovered.

You should do the same thing every time you attend a conference, read a great book or buy an online course. Don't get inspired for a moment and then go right back to the grind. Instead, block off time to work on your business - based on the new information you've received - so that the work you do in your business will be more efficient and rewarding.