I once swore I’d never run a free challenge. And here I am, with two completed and done at the time this podcast goes live.
 
I blame my amazing client Sheryl Takayama, who is part of The Content Masterweb. As part of our coaching, I want my clients to explore any part of content marketing they need, and Sheryl wanted part of her activity to include a challenge.
 
Sheryl’s a weightloss coach, specialising in helping people thrive on a low carb lifestyle. Her challenge was based around sharing photos of food, trying recipes and winning food as prizes.
 
My challenge was on how to best use chatGPT - and was a fair bit more intense! (The challenge I’ve just run recently was on Tiktok and also intense. I’m sure it’s a marketing thing!)
 
Problem was, though I knew how to do it in theory, I had always avoided running one myself. As a coach who leads by example, something had to give.
 
So in February of this year, Sheryl and I both ran a challenge for our own businesses in the same week. This week happened to be a few days before a catastrophic Cyclone hit large areas of New Zealand. 
 
In this episode, we share what went well, and what didn’t. We talk about our decision to continue on in a time of stress, and what impact the challenge had on our business. 
 
We also share what we’d do differently next time.
 
If you’ve ever thought about running a challenge, or have and it didn’t go as expected, this is our honest take, or learning and advice for you as you make that call.
 
In this episode we cover:

Why challenges can work
What was happening the week of the challenge
What we loved about the experience
What we found tricky
The results and impact to our business
What we’d do differently the next time
How we’d compare a challenge to other types of activity. 

 
Important Links
Connect with Sheryl
Come to Rachel's free TIKTOK challenge May 2023
Come to Rachel’s Free content strategy workshops
Buy your copy of Be a Spider, Build a Web
Download the free workbook
Become a part of the MAP IT Marketing facebook group
Register interest for Rachel’s content coaching programme
Rachel’s YouTube Channel
Join the My MAP IT Marketing Strategy SchoolSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.