How to Run Experiments in Your Business and Gather Results
Life is a lot easier (and we are easier on ourselves) when we view everything as an experiment. This is especially true as business owners and marketers.
We don’t have all the answers, but we can test things outs
I don’t have all the answers—none of us do—but I can run experiments that give me answers. Here are a few of the examples:
Do cold emails actually help me earn new business? I recently sent out 50 cold emails and received 1 reply to inquire about working with me. Based on this small sample, I can estimate that 2% of people will reply to me.
Will my audience be interested in this new program I want to offer? In this case, I test it out by creating a waitlist or pre-order page, send it to my audience, and see how they respond. I would determine a number for what “success” looks like. For example, I’ll move forward with building the program if 20 people join the waitlist or 5 people pre-order.
Will I be more productive if I time-block my calendar? I’ve run many productivity experiments. I like to sample a new system during a given week and see if my output is higher or more rewarding than a normal week. By trying something for just one week, I don’t force myself to stick to something if it isn’t working for me.
What can I add to my landing page to increase the conversion rate? I recently emailed one of my fellow entrepreneur friends, Kevon Cheung, and asked him if he'd give me advice on my newsletter landing page. I then implemented his advice. He recommended I add testimonials, be clear about how often the newsletter comes out, provide sample newsletters, and add another opt-in form at the end of the page. The page now converts 15% of the people who visit, up from 12%. Not a huge difference, but still worth it!
Whether an experiment has a “positive” outcome doesn’t matter
There is no failure in an experiment because you’re trying something and learning.
The business owner who experiments 1,000 times and fails 999 times has a lot more information than the business owner who has tried just a few things. It’s okay to fail. The goal is to learn more about your business, yourself, your audience, and the market.
The learnings will pay dividends over time.
Experiments are containers for rapid learning
Experiments let us quickly learn about a bunch of different tactics without getting carried away and wasting too much time. In an ideal experiment, you’re setting parameters with numbers, i.e. I’ll send out 50 cold emails and measure the response rate. As an experimenter, you’re going to try a lot of things. You’ll probably be outside of your comfort zone along the way. But that’s where the best learnings come from — experience!
Are you learning what you want to learn?
Lately, I’ve been thinking of success in terms of what I’m learning. I’ll often say to myself, “I’m learning exactly what I want to learn.” And that is what makes me feel successful! As an entrepreneur, I can’t say I’ve reached the success that I want to reach yet; however, I’m really grateful to be on this path learning what I’m learning. If I were at a regular job, I’d be learning a lot there, but it wouldn’t be in the skillset that I actually want to gain (entrepreneurship). For me, success is heading in the right direction, running the right experiments, and learning what I want to learn.
The mindset of a scientist, not a perfectionist
I don’t know about you, but I’m often hard on myself if I try something and it doesn’t work out. By shifting my mindset to someone who is running “experiments” I’m more okay with simply learning from my efforts. Scientists are removed from the idea of personal success and failure. They simply gather info and learn. They use their experiments to come to conclusions, and we can do the same.
Experiments aren’t just for business, they’re also good in your regular life! I’ve run experiments with exercise and meditation, for example. I try new habits and find out what the results look like.
Everything in marketing is an experiment
My career background is in marketing where we talk a lot about A/B tests, marketing campaigns, tracking results, etc. Even if a marketing campaign didn’t generate the leads we wanted, it was still a learning lesson. If you're a business owner looking to grow, I highly recommend viewing your marketing efforts as campaigns! That one simple mindset shift allows you to run a “campaign,” track results, and move forward accordingly. You’ll start to see what type of marketing fuels your business and what you can skip.
What would you like to test out in your life and business?
I hope this idea brings value to your life and business. If you’re curious, I’m publishing the results of my experiments in my newsletter. I’d love to see you on the list.
