In May 2015 I revised The Fire Path book on Amazon.

I didn’t make small tweaks, or simply add in some updated numbers; I pretty much rewrote the book.

Why on earth would I publish a book in November 2014, and then essentially rewrite it six months later?

Great question.

Around January 2015, I decided to do a beta launch of a course – a course based on The Fire Path book, and by the same name.

During the beta launch, I realized that, while all the content was really helpful and valuable, some of the chapters didn’t quite align with the true pain points and struggles my perfect customer (avatar) for the course was currently experiencing.

I knew that in order to improve the value I was delivering through the book – in addition to actually creating a course people would want (and feel the need) to join – I had to rewrite it.

I’m writing this post to share the steps I took to not only rewrite the book, but also to plan my updates for everything else I had created that was tied to The Fire Path book.

The history of The Fire Path

You can check out all the details of The Fire Path’s history in this post, which I wrote to share exactly how I came up with the idea to write the book in the first place, and then go on to create an online course out of it.

Below is the bullet point version so we have a baseline for the case study I’m going to share.

• I got a bunch of emails asking me questions about how to create and grow a business online.
• I identified recurring themes and similarities, and turned those questions (and my answers) into blog posts.
• I decided to launch an audio blog Podcast in order to share my content with a wider audience, and I kicked off the launch of my podcast with The Fire Path posts as the first 16 episodes.
• I then turned the posts into a book, and self-published that on Amazon.
• What better way to further leverage all this content than to turn it into a course? The Fire Path Course was born.
• I did a beta round of the course with a select crew from our Fire Nation Elite mastermind; they helped me identify some missing pieces.
• I launched The Fire Path Course (imperfect action – I launched knowing I would have things I’d have to update later).
• I rewrote the book.
• I revised the posts.
• I updated the podcast.
• I’m updating The Fire Path Roadmap campaign (with the hopes of increasing conversions).
• I’m getting ready to revise The Fire Path Course.

Sounds like a lot of work, right?

Well, it is a lot of work, but I know it’s worth it because I continue to hear from The Fire Path Roadmap subscribers (that’s our free course that introduces The Fire Path book); from those who have read the book; and from our beta members things like:

The content and lessons have helped me go from feeling unorganized, helpless and lost, to having a clear direction – a step-by-step path to follow – in order to actually grow my business.

How to manage a project while simultaneously running your business

This is one of the most common struggles I hear when it comes to tackling major projects:

How am I supposed to tackle a major project – even if I know it can help move my business forward – when I have so many other things going on?

Essentially, we have trouble figuring out how to manage these projects IN ADDITION TO actually running our business.

It’s not easy, and as I often say, if it were, then everyone would be doing it.

But because you and I are on the same page – we know that productivity and efficiency are things we can implement with patience and practice – I know you can do this.

SCRUM

Leveraging the SCRUM method is how I managed to do every single step you see above – successfully – without dropping the ball on important day-to-day stuff or other projects that I’m responsible for in our business.

So starting with my decision to rewrite The Fire Path book, here’s what my SCRUM Projects, Sprint Prep periods and Sprints looked like.

Each numbered item you see below was another one of my “SCRUM Projects” – these were to be completed in separate, clearly defined Sprint periods.

You’ll see under each of these projects I have a list of my Sprint prep and the Sprint timeline, which are what led to me being able to hold myself accountable and successfully accomplish each of these projects.

1. Rewriting the book

Sprint Prep

• Identify new chapters
• Write new chapters
• Remove old chapters
• Update existing chapters based on new chapters
• Recreate PDF download
• Add links to PDF download
• Proof entire book
• Revise book cover art
• Decide on pricing
• Upload revised book to Amazon

Sprint Period: 1 week

I focused on everything that needed to be accomplished and gave myself 1 week to complete each of the tasks above.

I listed the tasks in order, and gave each of them a specific due date, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to move on to the next task unless I had completed the previous one.

During the week, I spent 2 hour time blocks, and over 1 weekend, I dedicated both days to finishing my Sprint.

2. Revising The Fire Path Posts

Sprint Prep

• Identify posts that need to be revised based on the updated book
• Make necessary edits
• Create new images based on changes
• Update redirect links (if applicable)
• Remove old social media posts (to old posts)
• Update with new social media posts

Sprint Period: 1 day

Having all the content at my fingertips with a fully revised The Fire Path book, I knew I could update all the posts that needed to be updated in 1 day, given that I gave it my full focus.

Mission accomplished! The power of FOCUS should never be underestimated.

3. Re-recording The Fire Path Episodes

Sprint Prep

• Identify episodes that need to be re-recorded
• Re-record episodes
• Update call to action
• Tag mp3
• Replace old mp3 files with the new mp3 files
• Update audio player on each post

Sprint Period: 3 days

Because The Fire Path is divided into 3 phases: Create, Grow and Monetize, I gave myself a 4 hour period each day over 3 days to complete 1 phase each day.

I’m currently on my 3rd day, and am working on updating the Monetize phase episodes now.

Because I have such strong calls to action in The Fire Path book to head over to Kate’s Take in order to listen to the audio version of each chapter, it was important to me that this be done as quickly as possible.

That said, no one is perfect. It’s taken me MONTHS to get around to FOCUSing on updating these episodes.

Sometimes things don’t happen just as we had planned, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t still happen.

4. Updating The Fire Path Roadmap Campaign

Sprint Prep

• Update opt in giveaway
• Plan out each email in the campaign
• Update calls to action in posts, on the website
• Update opt in page
• Update campaign
• Update ‘thank you’ page

Sprint Period: 1 day

Because I already have the content revised, and I’ve already been planning out how I want to change the campaign and calls to action since rewriting The Fire Path book, I know I can put all the pieces together in 1 day.

5. Revising The Fire Path Course

Sprint Prep

• Identify video tutorials that need to be updated
• Re-create keynote slides for each
• Re-record tutorials
• Edit tutorials
• Upload tutorials
• Update membership site with new modules
• Update welcome video with new calls to action
• Update sales page / copy

Sprint Period: 1 week

Re-recording tutorials, updating sales pages, editing – this is time consuming stuff. But I know that if I can focus on breaking up each task into smaller ones and doing them on multiple, consecutive days, that I can work through these updates in 1 week.

I plan on doing something similar with my time to when I re-wrote The Fire Path Book: chunks of 2-4 hours during the weekdays, then dedicating my weekend days to wrapping up the project.

SCRUM: The Fire Path case study

Leveraging the SCRUM method can help you make huge strides on projects you may have been putting off for months.

I know The Fire Path revisions have definitely been on my to-do list for way too long.

Fear of not being able to manage the other projects I’m working on – in addition to the day-to-day business tasks I’m responsible for – have caused me to make excuses and put this project off for way too long.

Thanks to SCRUM, I’m now nearly done with the entirety of The Fire Path revisions – a project that, had I not broken it down into smaller baby steps, would have never been accomplished.

What project are you going to SCRUM in order to accomplish it? Share with us in the comments section below!