3 steps to sell before you create your course!
Welcome into my new little office space. I love it. I hope you do too. If you're new here, welcome. If you're joining me again, I'm so happy that you're here. And hands down, this is one of the most confusing questions that comes up when creating any kind of business. How
do you sell something before you actually create it? But this is time tested and has been proven as a really important strategy in many different industries, selling many different things. It's something that I really, really believe in, mainly because I have painfully made some big mistakes in doing this the opposite way. So, today we're going to dive into the three steps and the strategy behind pre-selling your online course. Truthfully, this can apply to a lot of different kinds of businesses, but we're going to focus on an online course business, because that's what I do. This is a really good follow-up to last week's video, where I talked about actually selling and building your business from zero. So, you may want to check that out next, because we talk about building an audience of buyers from scratch, getting clients in the door, being client magnet, all that good stuff was in last week's video, which I will link to below. I wanted to say thank
you so much, because, as I mentioned before, comments are my love language. Actually words of affirmation are my love language. If you don't know what I'm talking about, there's a great book on love languages, and you should figure out what yours is. But I so appreciate all of the incredible comments that came in from last week's video. Just recently, I'm so grateful for the
feedback you've been sharing on my videos, really means a lot, and I love reading through them. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And keep them coming. I live for your light bulb moments. So, let me know what you take away from this video. So, we're going to dive into these three steps. I call these the three C's of building the strongest possible foundation for your business.
Number one, confidence in your offer. If you are not confident in what you're selling, you're never going to sell it. Super important that we really dig into that first. Then the second C is cash flow to actually fund your business and have a real business, because if your business isn't making money, it's just a hobby. So, I'm super important to dive into how do you actually generate cash flow and fund your business and operate from a place of abundance versus a place of stress and scarcity. Number three is client results. So, actual validation and proof
that what you have and your offer actually works and does what it says it will do. So, let's dig into this and go through what it takes to sell something, sell your online course, before creating it. If you want to bring this whole thing together, there's a link below and it's super easy. Just fill out an application. You can actually speak to a real human on my team. Our entire business is interview only. So, we do like to actually speak to people and make sure that we
are the best possible fit for each other to really support you in building a long-term, scalable and sustainable online course business that can create a real impact and the impact that you're here to make. So, like I said, link is below. Real quick, before we get started, hit that like button if you're excited about this and be sure to subscribe. Okay, let's get into it. So, number one is confidence in your offer. Confidence is everything. If you don't believe in what you're selling, it's not going to sell. So, how do you build confidence in something that you've never
actually sold before? Well, I have this proven method that I use and thousands of my clients have used as well. By the time you get around to actually selling your offer, it feels easy, natural and, quite frankly, it feels generous, because you know you've created something that really can support your ideal clients. So, we call this the POP approach. What that means is Profitable Offer Prototype. I like to say that this pops you to the top of the marketplace and positions you as a true authority. So, what the POP consists of is it is truly the first iteration of your offer. How you come to this is a really simple streamlined process. I have touched on
this recently in recent videos, but first and foremost, you want to dig into your own story and figure out, "What is my expertise? What's my experience? What's my skillset? How can I best support people based on my unique genius and the things that I have been through and overcome?" From there, you then dig into market research and you look on every possible place that your ideal client would be hanging out, because your ideal client is a mirror for you. So, things like Amazon, looking at book reviews, things like Facebook groups, things like influential media outlets, blogs, influencers, and digging into the comment section and digging into the content and seeing what's really resonating with the people who need you and what kind of content is making them want to engage and getting them excited. That informs what's already out there on the market in terms of workshops, conferences, courses, consultants, coaches, et cetera. So, you can get a lay of the land and understand what's actually working for your people, for your ideal clients. Then from there, we conduct interviews and this is a very different way of doing this, because most people stop at, "Okay. I have a niche idea, now I'm ready to sell." That doesn't work for a lot of people, because you don't even know if what
you're selling is needed by anyone else but you, and you have no confidence in actually speaking to real human beings to truly understand how you can best serve them. It's probably the former journalist in me, but this is how I have validated my offers in the past. I sit down and I find through all of those vehicles I just mentioned, and I dug deeper on this in last week's video, which I mentioned I'll link to below, I find people who are an ideal match for who I'm trying to serve, which really is a mirror for me when I was trying to find the right solution.
So, for example, when I was struggling to build my business and I was burnt out, because I was doing all these different things, I had an agency, I was doing one-on-one work, I was doing all this other stuff, I was a consultant, I had a social media marketing consultancy, all of this stuff. I couldn't scale my business, because everything relied on me and I had burnout and I realized that I was this expert and I had all these years of experience under my belt, but I really didn't have much visibility. So, that's who I now help. I help the true experts and people who have an impact and a message to share and a transformation to create, get their message onto a bigger platform by packaging it into an online course that can scale truly to the moon. So, I know who my people are,
therefore I know how to find them. Then I sit down and I simply conduct interviews with them. I want to know, what do they feel like they're missing? What would they need and want out of their perfect solution for where they're at? What are their deepest desires? What are their fears? What keeps them up at night? I want to truly understand my ideal clients better than anyone else, without any expectation and without anything to sell. This alone, this process builds your confidence so much, because you start to realize that what you have to offer is really, really needed. More than that, it's actually hand delivering you what you can include in a powerful online course. So, you don't have to second-guess or wonder if the program you're creating is good enough, or if it's wanted, because by doing this process, you're actually figuring out what is necessary to helping your clients get from their zero states and achieve the hero state and true transformation through your program. The simple steps from there is that once you have that information and you've done that proper research to really know and validate what you have to offer and the impact you're going to make, you then just simply create a curriculum outline based on your own experience, what you've done to create the solution for yourself or transformation for yourself and based on the research that you've done and the humans that you've spoken to.
You create this very efficient curriculum outline that's going to take your clients, like I said, from zero all the way to hero, so that they get these amazing results and they become your social proof and validate your offer. Now that you're equipped with that information, the next piece of this is to really come up with that transformation statement. That transformation statement really is your North Star and your guiding light of who you impact and how you impact them and the desired outcome that you're creating for them. So, it looks like this. You say, "I help blank." So, "I help ideal client go from blank," which is the zero state that they're in, which is the most challenged, frustrated state that they're in, "To blank," which is the hero desired outcome, "So that they can," and that explains what it is that they're truly wanting and needing from you. So, that they can, in my case, scale their income, impact and authority on autopilot.
That's the desire of my ideal clients. So, "I help blank go from blank to blank, so that they can blank." Once you have that transformation statement, you know the starting point of where your clients are coming in at their most challenged and frustrated state and you know the hero state of where they want to go to. So, your job is to take the research that you've done
and create a curriculum outline. That's it. You're not going to build your curriculum, because if you do that, you're going to waste so much time and you're going to do what so many people do, which is a huge mistake, and I've done it too, which is build this really robust course, because you think the more information you throw in it, the more valuable it is, which is the total opposite of the truth. The more efficient your curriculum is and the faster you can get your clients the results that they're seeking, that's what makes a really powerful online course.
So, you create a curriculum outline that's going to take your clients from zero to hero, that takes no more than a few hours to really construct that and figure out what it needs to look like. Then you have the basis of what you're selling, because the reality is, people are paying for the value of the outcome you're providing, the transformation you're providing. They're not paying for how much information you've jampacked into a program. That's not what people are investing into. They want to buy results. They want to pay for the transformation and they want that transformation as efficiently as possible. The analogy I always use is, imagine yourself climbing up a mountain, going from the bottom to the top. How long do you want that to take? Not
long, right? You want to get there as efficiently as possible, because it sucks being on a mountain and trying to track up the snow and feeling like your body is just going to give out on you. You want to get there as quickly as possible. So, you want to think about your program, your course, as the gondola that's taking people right up the mountain and getting them to that hero state. Because you've really listened and you've spoken to your ideal clients and done the research, you then know what it's actually costing them to not have the solution you provide. Often the cost is a lot higher than you think. That allows you to price your program adequately and not undercharge or undervalue yourself. Because by undercharging, you attract the wrong people.
You are very frustrated, because you're constantly in a place of trying to get a new client in the door and you have no money in the bank. So, therefore, how are you supposed to build an impact when you're constantly distracted by the financial piece of this? So, in order to build a sustainable business, you have to price adequately. Oftentimes, your price is most indicated by what it's costing your ideal clients to not have that solution.
So, a few quick little examples of this that I want to share with you. One is Bob The Boat Builder, can't make this up. He's one of my clients and he teaches people how to build wooden boats. So, he's charging around $2,000 for his program now. If you think about it,
it may, on the surface level, seem like a hobby, but for the right people and for his ideal clients who are investing in his program, this is something they take very seriously. Without his help, it's costing them years of time and frustration and time away from their family and time away from the people that they love. That is a really high cost when you could just simply invest in the solution that's going to fast track and give you the actual proven plan to create the outcome that you're seeking. So, when I say cost, it's not just monetary, it's also mental, physical, financial, emotional, spiritual, what is it costing your ideal clients to not have your solution? That helps you to feel very confident in how you price your program. Another great example of this is actually something that I mentioned in a recent video. One of our clients works with couples around intimacy. If you really pay attention to who her clients
are, the cost of them not having the solution she provides and her expertise is divorce, which costs a lot of money and also costs a lot emotionally. So, you really do want to identify, "Okay, if I don't provide this for people, what's it going to cost them? Time, money, energy, mentally, all of those things." That's really, really important. So, by this point, in building the confidence of your offer and requiring all of these steps and this whole strategy, you have validated the crap, for lack of a better word, out of your offer. Okay? So, you then have done the research. You've spoken to real humans. You know there's a need and a
want. You have done the work to prove to yourself this is valuable. And actually, by offering it, it's an act of generosity because people really need this. Not everybody, but the right people need this from you. Okay? So, moving on to step number two, cash flow. Let's talk about this. So, if you look at really any business in the world, there's always an element of needing to fund the business when you're getting started. Now, when you're working in the online space, it's a little bit different, especially in the online course space, because generally you're not seeking out investors. Well, you really shouldn't be seeking out investors, because it's a very low
cost business to start, but there's still cost associated. More than anything, you need to have cash in the bank to be able to float your business as you gain momentum, as you get social proof, as you get more clients in the door. That's why cash flow is such a huge part of this, because essentially you become your own investor when you do it this properly. That is a lot of
power to be able to hold so that you can truly build a long-term impact with your business and be set up to sustain yourself and to sustain growth and eventually hiring and all of those things. So, when it comes to cash flow and bringing cash into the business, you now have a very clear idea of the value of the outcome you're selling. You have your curriculum outline. So, you know what you're selling. It's not built, but you know what you're selling. So, ultimately you're going to go back to those people that you interviewed initially. When you first interview them and talk to them and really understand their pain points and what they're seeking, not every one of them is going to be an ideal fit, but the ones who are, you want to say to them, "Hey, I'm working on a project that I think will be really helpful for you. Would you be interested in hearing more about it when it's ready?" And you would be amazed at how many people will say, "Absolutely. Please, keep me posted." So, this is a really simple strategy. You've
essentially built a list of buyers from scratch. As I mentioned, I went into even more detail on that process in the last video I created. But when you have that list of buyers, all you're going to do is follow up with them and get back onto a Zoom conversation with them and say, "Hey, I've created this thing. It helps you go from where you are right now to where you want
to go. Is that of interest to you?" Most of the time, just those people you did interviews with, those become your first clients. Those become the people who are really excited and bought into what you're doing, because it's reciprocity, you took the time to listen to them and then you actually created exactly what they need. That's a true gift. They're so excited to work with you because it's very rare that people take
the time to listen and do their due diligence to create something that's truly of value. The beautiful part about this is that there's no tech, there's no funnels, there's nothing fancy, there's no webinar. Because creating a webinar without validating your messaging and your offering, your client and actually running the first round of your program doesn't make a ton of sense, because you're going to put all this effort into something and you don't have enough traffic and you don't have a clear message really at that point. It's just delaying the process of getting social proof in the door and getting clients in the door. So,
this is the most low friction, low tech way to do things, to just prove your offer. So, simply put, it's identifying the right human, getting on a conversation with them on Zoom, and then they become a client. If they're the right fit and if it's a perfect match, they become a client. It's as simple as that. The beautiful part about this is
that it really does set you up for success for the rest of time with your business. Because if all else fails, if a funnel breaks down the road, if a webinar doesn't convert, if your YouTube channel takes a while to get up and running, this process of just being curious, listening to people and knowing how to connect with people on an individual level, sets you up to have leads and know how to find leads for the rest of your life. So, let me show you just three examples, out of a lot of them, of how this works and how effective it is. So, prior to creating anything, these people have not built their course. They have simply followed what I've laid out prior to this. They have a curriculum outline, they know their transformation statement and they have set up conversations with 50 people, 50 human beings, to research, to listen to them. Then they've built exactly what those people are seeking and asking for. This is what happens. Maria followed this to a T and she is an off-ice
trainer for hockey goalies. She ended up generating $30,000 by launching her POP, which was her prototype of her program before it was even built. That happened in just 30 days. Michelle helps home bakers turn their hobby into a full-fledged business. She generated $20,000 before she even built her program. And Katie focuses on holistic medicine for pets, and she ended up generating 11 new clients in her program in just 30 days. She said, "I'm literally crying, because I see the way finally to financial and time freedom for myself and to get my husband out of his job to help me." This is not unique. This is a method that I've been developing for
a very long time. I've been in this industry for a very long time. I have made many mistakes along the way, and that's why I wanted to create something that I knew was the most effective and that would cut out a lot of the crap and the fluff and the things that you don't need and avoid a lot of the mistakes that I made. So, this is true for anyone who's in our program. We have people in the feng shui niche, piano teachers, DJs, dancers, accountants, lawyers, doctors, blah, blah, blah, list goes on, the method applies, and it works. Because it's really based on just human connection and listening. I know what that sounds really simple, but I really
do believe, and I've been an entrepreneur for over a decade now, that relationships and curiosity and intent leads to value for everybody. The final piece, client results. Now, the thing is, with the online space, is that you could have a massive audience and you could technically sell something kind of in a one-off if you have a massive audience, because truly if people know, like, and trust you, they will buy from you. Having said that, to build a long-term business that truly creates an impact and a legacy, what you sell actually has to be valuable and it has to really work. So, to get your program into the hands of real people, in this process, and generally the process for our clients that we work with to get their program off the ground is between six to eight weeks, from the moment they're in the door to actually getting it off the ground if they follow it to a T. Some people take longer, some people go faster. That's the rough timeline. Six to eight weeks is like we have our paying clients in the door and
we are delivering the program. So, in order to do that, you have not built the program. You are not going to create the program. You are going to deliver it in a live setting week over week and deliver it to your first round of clients. The reason that we do this and why it's so important, and this comes from my own mistakes is that if you build out an entire program and then just try and sell that, first of all, you're probably not going to have many leads to actually sell it to and then you're going to feel like a total failure, because you haven't built up an audience of buyers and you haven't done the proper research or work to truly listen to what people need. So, that's one issue. Then, the second issue is that you're just delaying what you truly need as an entrepreneur and a business owner, which is results. So, delivering in a live setting allows you to get
real world feedback in real time, in a very efficient way. That gives you so much to work with to make your program even better. So, once you finish the live delivery of your program, which generally takes about eight weeks, and I know that might sound short and you're like, "How can people get a transformation in eight weeks?" The truth is, they may not get the total transformation in eight weeks. Sometimes it takes longer, but that's why these clients
are going to stay with you, because you're giving them exactly what they need with the curriculum. Then, they're going to stick with you in the program and they're going to go at their own pace and they're going to be a part of it when you package your curriculum and take their feedback and put it into an actual evergreen course. They can continue to study, continue to grow, continue to share their success and their momentum and their wins along the way.
But over that live delivery, guaranteed, they're going to see results. It may not be the total transformation, but they're going to see results. And they're also going to tell you what works about your program, what doesn't work, how you should shift it around and give you that feedback that is so vital to making the program even better, so that you can continue to scale it, continue to grow it, continue to sell it for years and years, and years, and years, and years to come. This is how our clients are scaling their businesses to all the way up to millions, multiple millions, every single year without spending a dime on advertising. Just by focusing on serving the right people and creating massive value with their programs and huge transformations. So, social proof is the lifeblood, client results are the lifeblood of your business. Without them,
it's just not going to last very long. So, your focus when you deliver your program live is to listen to the feedback and focus on as many wins as possible for your clients in that setting. So, that by the end of it, you can say, "This is what I'm already seeing with my clients." And that builds more proof that what you have actually works and allows you to sell it to even more people. Then, that builds out what we call your flywheel, which runs the business. You have your program and you enroll people into the program. Once they're in, you create a client transformation. From there, those people become raving fans and ambassadors,
and they then tell everyone they know that you are the go-to person for that. That creates more enrollments and your little flywheel engine starts to move on its own. It's this engine that then becomes the vehicle for the business to continue to thrive and grow without you having to put as much effort in. So, upfront, yes, this is a real business. An
online course business is a real business. It's not about sitting back and just expecting things to happen for you. It's about truly creating an impact and the more that you create an impact, the more sustainable your business is going to be and the more it's going to grow and the more fulfilling it's going to be for you. Because you will know that
what you're doing is actually making a real difference on the people who need you most. Then the beautiful part about that is, once you're finished delivering the program live, you're going to take all that feedback, like I said, and you're going to actually package it into a prerecorded online course, and it's set up to sell for the rest of time. All you have to focus on then is just selling it and getting into the hands of even more of the right people. That's
truly the easy part when you know it works. I hope that this is really helpful for you. I hope that it really took away any of the mystery of what it actually takes to pre-sell an online course and why it's so important. I often use the reference of the iPhone, but how many iPhones have there been now? So many. When it first came out, it looked vastly different and operated vastly different than it does today. The reason being is that they knew,
Steve Jobs knew, you have to get it into the hands of real people, get them to test it, try it, give you feedback so you can constantly make it better. Guess what? We keep buying them year over here. So, it starts with the prototype. You test it out. You get it into the market. You get feedback. But the longer you wait and the longer you procrastinate, the longer you're just delaying what you're ultimately seeking, which is creating a business that works and creating a business that you can continue to scale and grow. So, you got to get it out there. I know it feels scary, but you follow this process and it'll feel less scary, because you know that you'll have a validated offer. So, like I said, I hope this was helpful and cleared some things up for you. This is what I do. This is what I love to do. So, like I mentioned, we have a program called the
Authority Accelerator, where we help you create, automate and scale your online course business and create true transformation for the people that you serve. If you want to learn more about it, it's an interview only process. So, if you want to apply for an interview and speak to a real human on my team, there's a link below to do just that. I've also created a whole playlist on how to grow your online course business. You can check that out right here. Give us a like, and subscribe if you enjoyed it, and be sure to hit that bell to be notified every single time I post a new video, so you don't miss them. Like I said, my love language is comments. So, let me know your light bulbs in the comments below. I
really do enjoy reading them. So, thank you so much. I will see you in the next one. Bye.
2022-07-14 22:08
