(this is a hidden post for members of The BASIC only. Please don’t share.)
January 3, 2014
There’s so so so much to cover that I don’t know where to start.
Well, let’s start here. All of these updates will also be available as a hidden posts at bryanallain.com. If you’d rather read (and comment) there, the following link will take you to a password protected page that will serve as the hub of the Special Insiders Club.
The password will periodically change, but for now it’s “2014”.
The Bryan Allain Special Insiders Club Hub
Okay, so I promised you insight into my plans and processes. We’ll save the processes for another day, today I want to briefly bring you up to speed on my plans that starts with a look into what happened in 2013.
(and at the end I need your help picking podcast artwork, but we’ll get to that.)
January 2013 – The grand plans
A year ago I thought I knew where things were headed. I would start a podcast, do a 2nd conference, make a lot of money selling the audio, and do a 3rd conference in the fall.
So what happened?
1. I recorded two episodes of the KT podcast and was bored out of my gourd listening to them. So I canned that idea in January.
2. The conference was great, but I lost money. About $1000. I figured I’d be able to make it up in Audio Sales later, but it was still a bummer.
3. I put the audio on sale in April and sales were flatter than the Mojave Desert (which I am assuming is flat for the purposes of that unfunny joke). I basically got back to even on the conference. This was not a good thing for the old bank account.
4. I decided not to do another conference. I poured so much time into the last one – time that I really didn’t enjoy – that it was not worth it to keep doing it.
May 2013 – The Valley of Caca
Where did this leave me? FREAKING OUT. My business was failing, I had no great plans in place, and the money was running out. Not good times in the Allain household.
The ONLY saving grace were discussions I was having with a startup called CrowdScribed since January about being a part-time team member. Talks were heating up because of my situation and also because I liked the president they had just hired.
We agreed on a 6-month contract (July-December) where I would work about 30 hours a week for them from home. This meant spending MOST of my time NOT working on Killer Tribes, and I was okay with that.
In fact, I decided that the extra margin I had would all go towards humor stuff and NOT towards Killer Tribes. It was a big decision for me, but I really didn’t have any energy for KT anymore.
LIFE LESSON 1: Plans and goals are very important, but you have no idea how the next 12 months will play out, and that’s okay.
LIFE LESSON 2: I personally have never been burned by putting my faith in God in situations like these. We prayed and trusted him through this and he has been so faithful.
Present Day – And The Year Ahead
Working part time for CrowdScribed has been great. We are deciding now if I will continue at 30 hrs/wk or take on a bigger role. More on this in the coming weeks.
As for the rest of my time, Killer Tribes remains on the back burner. I’ve decided 2014 will be The Year of Yumor for me, and here’s what I have cooking:
1. The Weekly Schnoz Season 2. I finished Season 1 a couple of weeks ago with a tease about what would be changing. If you missed it, it’s here.
2. More Stand-Up Comedy. I did my first open mic back in October (I wrote about it here) and I want to do a few more in 2014. This will mean writing more material and getting out there and doing it. (I’ll share my full open mic set in the coming weeks.)
3. Launching The Schnozcast. My new podcast will launch soon. It might take a few episodes to figure out what works best, but it will essentially be me and some friends ranting and raving about the most trivial things in life and also making fun of Amish people.
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Sorry that this post was so heavy on the past, but I thought it was important to give you some context for where I’m at now before I talk about where I’m headed. My next update will go into greater detail about the Year of Yumor and these projects.
One thing you could help me with now, though, is to advise me on which of these podcast artwork drafts you like best.
Vote on The Schnozcast artwork.
If you have a question or thought or whatever, email me or comment at bryanallain.com. I’d be honored to respond.
Thanks so much for reading and being a part of this journey. More coming soon…
Bryan