It has been 3 years since I’ve been to CaboPress. The last event I attended was in 2019, it was canceled in 2020, and we were less than 2 months away from my daughter’s due date in 2021.

Needless to say, I was excited to go back. Each time I attended, I came home energized and implemented something to help my business grow.

I really needed it this year. But before we get to all that, I want to do a quick recap of years past.

What I Learned from Previous Years

If we look at CaboPress in terms of college, 2017 was my freshman year, and my lasting takeaway was less big picture and more tangible.

I learned about ConvertKit, which has been a huge driver of revenue and growth. Today I think it’s one of the best tools for podcasters to start making money quickly.

In 2018, my sophomore year (so to speak), it was solving the right problem. Those conversations lead me to offer more results-based courses instead of “doing X with Y” courses. That is a lesson I have deeply internalized, and it guides me in each decision I make.

In your Junior year, you start to think about your future¹. Well, 2019 set me on the path I’m on today. During a conversation, I was encouraged to do more “done for you” podcasting.

When I got home, I landed my first client and created Ship Your Podcast, which was later folded under Podcast Liftoff.

In May, I decided to focus fully on Podcast Liftoff.

What Made This Year the Best CaboPress Ever?

So what did CaboPress 2022 hold, and what makes it the best one ever? It came down to 3 things:

1. I’m in the right place for my business. I have my focus and my niche. This gave me a concrete idea to work with during the pool sessions.
2. I’m not where I want to be. I know I’m only 5 months into a pivot, but going into the trip, I felt like something was missing.
3. The people were amazing. Yes…the people make CaboPress every year, but this year was different. There was an ineffable positivity that will stay with me for a long time².

Instead of recapping the talks, which I did in previous years, here’s what I’m doing as a result of CaboPress 2022.

The Easy Stuff

I basically got one easy action item from each talk I attended…some of which are already implemented.

Justin Wise talked about “by the way” marketing — a way to promote your paid services at the bottom of your free newsletter. It was so brilliant and easy to implement that I did it that same day.

During Brian Clark’s session, I realized I could better leverage my biggest audience in a way I not.

I’m going to launch a Facebook challenge thanks to Joy and Drew Bowen, and realized I was grossly misusing my time thanks to Carey Neiuwhof. I’m changing my daily routine because of him.

That includes working out in the morning instead of a long walk with a cigar³.

Finally, thanks to Kronda Adair, I’m going to make what I believe will be a significant improvement to my automated sales emails in ConvertKit.

That’s the stuff I’ve done or am going to do this week.

Then there’s the hard stuff.

The Hard Stuff

The talk that had the biggest impact on me was Mike Killen’s. He had a lot of great insight but he also challenged us to simplify our offerings to one thing.

One thing. That’s it.

Now, I think I made a lot of progress this year by choosing to focus only on Podcast Liftoff. But I definitely could do more.

So I have some hard decisions to make. There are a few projects I haven’t been willing to let go of. Mike made me realize they are ultimately holding me back.

He also said that you can’t sell people what they need until they realize they need it. The fact that I’m in the right place for my business, but not where I want to be helped make Mike’s message stick.

This realization alone was worth the price of admission for me.

The People

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the people. Earlier in this post, I used the word “ineffable.” That’s because I’m honestly struggling to find the words to describe how much connecting with the people at this event means to me. It was the perfect mix of old friends and new, and Chris did an absolutely fantastic job curating the attendees and hosts.

I met a lot of new people and we had some incredible conversations⁴. As soon as I left, I was excited to connect online with everyone I met, and based on the chatter on Twitter, it seems we all felt the same way.

Thankfully, unlike college, CaboPress is not 4 years and out. And hopefully next year, I’ll be invited back.

Because after 2+ years of going to pretty much no events, human connection is exactly what this extrovert needed, and I’m grateful I got to attend an event where that connection was so strong.

1. Stretching analogies is kinda my thing. ?
2. I’m so psyched I got to use ineffable in an actual sentence. ?
3. Thanks for that too, Joy and Drew! ?
4. …including one we were told needs to be a podcast. ?