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Operation 11th Hour Q1 Results

Kirby Ferguson

Ladies and gentlemen, Q1 of Operation 11th Hour is complete! What happened?

The Results

Here’s how Operation 11th Hour works. In 2024, I need to establish a viable business. Every quarter I evaluate results and assign a pass or fail grade. A pass grade means I live to fight another quarter. A fail grade means game over, time to do something else.

TLDR: January worked; February and March were saved by freelance work

January was my best month of the quarter. The ChatGPT course had a good launch. I got 65% of what would have been a great month. All in all, a decent start.

Course sales dropped after January but have been a stable and substantial source of revenue since. When selling online, a common fate is sales dropping to literally zero after launch. It’s a small but significant win that I’m avoiding that. 

Freelance work saved me for the rest of the quarter. Without it, I could be sunk already. (The comparison is a bit tricky, though, because I also had much less time to work on the business.)

The Toughest Challenge

This quarter was like running a marathon with a sprained ankle.

Family illness was unbelievable. Some of this was my own illness, but the biggest challenge was extra caretaking from missed school days and sleepless nights with Little Kirby.

Before pre-school, for a year and a half, Little Kirby was sick twice. Since starting pre-school, he’s been sick perhaps 8 times. I’ve honestly lost track. Every other week it’s something new. After a recent cold, he went back to school for one day and immediately caught a long-lasting stomach virus. 

The stomach bugs are extra awful for us parents because of, let’s just say, messes. Thumbs down. Zero stars.

Nora and I catch most, but not all, of the bugs Kirby brings into the house. I was some version of sick for all but one of the shoots I did for the ChatGPT course. As I write this, I’m at home with Little K as he recovers from the latest stomach bug.

What worked, what didn’t

I tried a variety of experiments this quarter. Some worked, most didn’t.

These worked.

The major thing that didn’t work was writing. I tried cranking out lots of writing. All of this was outperformed by a single video I posted on YouTube, which didn’t even do that well views-wise. Video content will be a priority in Q2.

Q1 Grade: Pass

For Quarter 1 of Operation 11th Hour I scored a pass.

BUT!

I’m at the low end of where I need to be. I can’t stay here. I need to make more revenue next quarter.

An extra challenge: I need to achieve this while still doing freelance work because that work is still ongoing.

I live to fight another quarter! I couldn’t have done it without your support. Sincerely, thank you to every one of you.

What’s next? An exciting new thing! I’ll start telling you about it next week.

Love,
k

P.S. If you’d like to support this endeavor, go buy something! If you’re interested in consultation or coaching about AI or creative work, head to the contact page and drop me a line.