By Rohi Shetty
“Of all the virtues we can learn, no trait is more useful, more essential for survival, and more likely to improve the quality of life than the ability to transform adversity into an enjoyable challenge.” ~Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
There is no better way to get out of your comfort zone than a challenge. As you learn to take on bigger and bolder challenges, you will improve your chances of success and satisfaction.
Five Steps to Create Your First Challenge
A challenge is like a course in which you help the participants to achieve a specific result by the end of the challenge. Creating a challenge is a highly effective way to attract readers, subscribers, and clients.
- Topic and title
It should help your readers to overcome the struggles and challenges that they face. Think of some small and quick but significant wins that they can get from your challenge.
What are the main benefits of your challenge?
- Plan and logistics
Once you’ve defined the topic and title of your challenge, you need to plan the technical details. For example, how will people sign up for the challenge? You need an opt-in box so that you can add them to your list of email subscribers.
Also, decide on the duration of your challenge. It is best to keep your first challenge short and sweet. The ideal duration is five days or a week. Finally, consider the format of the course. Again, you can opt for a series of five emails or blog posts but you can use audio or video or more than one format to deliver the challenge.
- Outline and content
The next step is to create a rough outline the challenge. You can use free writing or mind maps to dump all your thoughts and ideas. Then organize them into a logical sequence that takes your audience to the desired result. Cut out any unnecessary steps. When you’ve created the outline, write the content for your challenge by filling in the blanks.
This is the most challenging part of the process. One way to make it easier is to set a timer for 20 minutes and focus on one step of the challenge at a time.
- Promotion
How will you spread the word of the challenge to your target audience? You need a detailed plan because this is crucial for the success of your challenge.
You can promote your challenge by blogging about it and sharing on social media, especially Facebook groups. You can also send participants of your challenge to your Facebook page or Facebook group for additional interaction.
People love to join challenges especially if it is well-planned and executed. If you do the groundwork, your challenge is bound to be highly successful.
- Monetization
Once you have completed the content of your challenge content, add details of your products or services at each step wherever appropriate. The simplest way is to add a “P.S.” after the challenge step, or you could post a link to your landing page at the end of the challenge.
Another way to monetize your challenge is by selling the challenge itself. For example, Nathalie Lussier gives the option to either wait each day for the challenge steps or pay a small fee to access all the steps right away. If your challenge is in video format, you could charge a fee for lifetime access as well as transcript and worksheets.
If you don’t want the hassle of providing a multi-day challenge to your readers, you can start by adding a mini-challenge in your blog posts. For example, Nick Polizzi, founder of The Sacred Science, has this challenge at the end of his post, Healing In Your Sleep: “A sleep challenge for you: This one is so easy you could do it in your sleep. Actually, you kinda have to. For the next three days, put away your favorite nighttime distraction—sitcom, page-turner, or wine glass—and wrap the night up early. The goal is to be horizontal with eyes closed by 9 pm at the latest. That’s it! Try that for three days and please report back to us on how it affects your life. We’d love to hear about your experience.”
For more inspiration check out these ten free challenges for writers:
- 5-Day Challenge to get your business ready for 2019 by Meera Kothand
- 5-Day Build Your Own Brand Challenge by Pat Flynn
- 6-Figure Author 5-Day Challenge with VIP Book Launch by Kary Oberbrunner
- 7-Day Writing Challenge by Sarah Barbour
- The Epic A Sale A Day Challenge by Creative Hive Co
- 31 Days of Ninja Writing Challenges by Shaunta Grimes
- The 30-Day List Building Challenge by Nathalie Lussier
- The 30-Day Creative Business Cleanse by ByRegina
- The 30-Day Writing Challenge: An Alternative to NaNoWriMo for Writers Who Fear Commitment
Video Tutorial
Bonus Challenge
The Better Life Challenge by Dean Graziosi
This free challenge consists of 30 days of mini-challenges and is specifically designed to allow people to live “The Better Life” through small, incremental changes that have a big impact in the long run.
It consists of the following five modules:
- Week 1: Foundation For Change
- Week 2: Mastering Your Mindset
- Week 3: Pushing Forward
- Week 4: Transforming Your Story
- Week 5: Your Better Life
In addition to changing your life for the better, you can win monthly prizes such as an Apple Watch, DJI Phantom 3 Quadcopter, $500 QuikTrip Gas Card, Fitbit Blaze, $300 Amazon Gift Card, HP Pavilion 13.3 Inch Touchscreen Laptop, and more.
Take action!
Join one or more of the above challenges to understand how they work. Then create your first challenge and post a line in the comments below.
(15 November 2018)
Rohi Shetty is a doctor, health writer, and digital publisher. Check out his Kindle books on Amazon and connect with him on LinkedIn. You can contact him here if you want his help to publish and promote your books on Amazon or Smashwords.
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