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In this episode, Tara gives actionable tips for HOW to get people to buy your program. The secret is what happens BEFORE you create it.
About Me:
My name is Tara Bryan. I help business owners break into the next level of success by packaging their expertise into an online course experience. It's my passion to help to find the fastest path to results to create a greater impact and income for you and your tribe.
Check out my free Step-by-Step guide to building your online course. In it are the top steps and questions you need to ask before you get started. Check it out here: https://goto.taralbryan.com/step-by-step-guide
This group is 100% focused on support, knowledge and example sharing, and building a community of online course builders who are passionate about building awesome learning experiences.
In this community, we are passionate about building learning experiences that produce results for our learners. We do that by building engaging, motivating, gamified, and learner-centered courses. We come up with ideas and strategies to ensure that our learners can thrive and succeed in our product.
To learn more:
Find us at https://www.Taralbryan.com
Here are two ways we can help you grow and scale your online course business:
1. NEED TO CREATE YOUR ONLINE COURSE?
Join LEARN ACADEMY - Learn Academy is the best Done-with-you Step-by-step Implementation program that will help you create, sell, and launch your online course.
2. ALREADY HAVE A COURSE?
Join THE COURSE EDIT - The Course Edit is a program that will assess your current online course to take it to the next level. Maybe you have a course that isn't selling or one that people aren't completing (therefore not remaining customers) then it is time for THE COURSE EDIT.
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Okay, in this episode, I want to talk about what you need even
Speaker:before you start packaging your expertise. And, and this is an
Speaker:interesting topic, I was talking to one of my team members the
Speaker:other day, and we were discussing this. And this is a
Speaker:bit of an aha, for me, as we've been helping our customers, one
Speaker:of the biggest challenges that new course creators are, are
Speaker:people who are new to packaging, their expertise and putting it
Speaker:online, is this assumption that if you build it, they will come?
Speaker:Right, like, if you just build a course, you can put it online,
Speaker:and, you know, you just tell some people about it, or put
Speaker:some ads on it. And all of a sudden, you're gonna have a, you
Speaker:know, a million dollar business. And, and the, the, the
Speaker:opportunity is there, right? Like, there's no reason why you
Speaker:can't create an online business and an online course business
Speaker:that will actually, you know, get to that level and serve,
Speaker:serve your people. But it's not quite that black and white. And
Speaker:so I want to talk about that today in this episode, because I
Speaker:think it's a miss, sort of a misperception that's out there
Speaker:is that you can just build something, throw it in a tool,
Speaker:like Kajabi, or Thinkific, or, or whatever else, and then all
Speaker:of a sudden, you know, it's great, people just come to you,
Speaker:and they buy your thing, and it's gonna be awesome. And if
Speaker:that's you, like, that's, that's great, like, here's what I will
Speaker:say is, get started, right, get started, get your expertise out
Speaker:of your head, start to figure out what it is that you are an
Speaker:expert at what you're passionate about, and who you want to help,
Speaker:and what problem you're solving. Because at the end of the day,
Speaker:like in order to create a business, you actually have to
Speaker:solve a problem. It's not really just about packaging your
Speaker:information or your knowledge. If you want to do that, I would
Speaker:say, you know, become a professor perhaps, right? Like
Speaker:you just like if knowledge and information is your thing.
Speaker:Something something what you're teaching in a traditional
Speaker:environment is probably going to serve you because it gives you
Speaker:the ability to be the expert, and, and put together sort of a
Speaker:methodical approach to teaching somebody the information and how
Speaker:to potentially apply that. And I don't say that flippantly, I say
Speaker:that, in all reality, it's just a much better model, if that is
Speaker:the direction that you are passionate about. In go. So go
Speaker:to more of a traditional path. But if you're serious about
Speaker:starting an online business and online course, or online program
Speaker:business, even an online expertise business, I guess
Speaker:that's maybe more of what I would call, it doesn't really
Speaker:matter what the method is that you're using to, to help people
Speaker:is that it has to be grounded in a core problem that people want
Speaker:to, to have solved. Right? So immediately, it goes from you as
Speaker:the expert to you as the sort of problem solver or guide in in,
Speaker:which is a common term that we use. And so as you as you think
Speaker:about that, you need, you need to like find the core problem
Speaker:within your expertise that you can help people solve. And if
Speaker:you do nothing else, in this episode, just write that down.
Speaker:Because it unless you have a core problem that you can help
Speaker:people solve, you're not, you're not going to sell your program,
Speaker:that is just sort of the bottom line is because you won't be
Speaker:able to talk about it, you won't be able to get people to move to
Speaker:purchase. And and you won't be able to actually, you know, get
Speaker:the traction that you want. And so what's that core problem that
Speaker:that's the very first thing I'll say that that. The other thing
Speaker:is, is that you have to find people who want to have that
Speaker:problem solved. And so before you start selling your thing, so
Speaker:we spend a lot of time we do VIP sessions and then we do 90 Day
Speaker:implementation Sprint's where we help people literally get it out
Speaker:of their head, get it packaged, get it sold, and put it into the
Speaker:right platform that helps them you know, set the foundation so
Speaker:they can, you know, grow and scale what they're doing. And so
Speaker:that's what we do. But the challenge that we've been
Speaker:having, I'll be perfectly honest is we have some newbies who are
Speaker:coming in who want to create their course.
Speaker:And so when we do a lunch we have very few people who show up
Speaker:for their promotional activities. And so therefore
Speaker:very few people are purchasing and So while while that, in
Speaker:theory is what you would expect to have happen, because of, you
Speaker:know, sort of the false gurus out there, the people who have
Speaker:maybe gotten lucky, I say in air quotes is that everybody has
Speaker:this perception that they're going to launch. And it's going
Speaker:to be a million dollar launch, which is not going to happen on
Speaker:your first run out of the gate. Right? We are, we specialize in
Speaker:helping people create betas, which just means that you're,
Speaker:you're literally creating the program for real people, you're
Speaker:running them through the program to make sure that, that you're
Speaker:getting all the questions answered, the content that
Speaker:you're creating is valuable. And it's answering their questions
Speaker:and, and all the things and so that is awesome. But, but when
Speaker:you're doing that, you're probably going to have a small
Speaker:group. Unless you spend the time upfront, building, building a
Speaker:list of people who want to purchase what you have to offer.
Speaker:And so I would say, and this is the conversation we're having
Speaker:the other day is like, well, so what number do we want people to
Speaker:have on their email list? Meaning like, what number of
Speaker:people need to be in their world asking for what they're offering
Speaker:before they put something out? For people to buy? Right? So
Speaker:what's what's that magic number? And and how do we feel like we
Speaker:can help people in the best way possible. And it's, it's not
Speaker:going from a list of zero, meaning nobody in the world
Speaker:knows about you and knows that you can help solve their
Speaker:problem. And it doesn't have to be, you know, an extensive list
Speaker:of people who who know about you and know that you can solve the
Speaker:problem. But there's a sort of a fine line in there in terms of
Speaker:how many people do you need, in order to run your beta? I always
Speaker:say that, you can run a beta with five really strong people
Speaker:who are going to be active, who you can help, and who, you know,
Speaker:you can you can work with, right? So all you need is five
Speaker:people. When you look at that, from a statistic standpoint of
Speaker:how many people do you need to have on your list or be in your,
Speaker:in your world, in order to get five people to purchase? It's
Speaker:about 500 people. So that's it that's you know, about a list
Speaker:of, of 500 people with meaning people who know like and trust
Speaker:you, people who have raised their hand to say, Yes, I
Speaker:believe that you are the person who can solve my problem, and I
Speaker:am excited to be in your world. So anytime you opt in for
Speaker:anything, from an expert from somebody else, like you're
Speaker:basically that's what you're seeing, right? You're saying,
Speaker:oh, what you have to offer is interesting, I would like to
Speaker:trade my email address for it. And so please send me
Speaker:information about how you may help me moving forward. Right,
Speaker:so So having a list of about 500 people is is solid, having a
Speaker:list of 1000 people, but 800 of them are not viable options.
Speaker:That means that you know, you need to, you need to keep doing
Speaker:some work, having a list of zero is going to be a really hard
Speaker:place to start from unless you have you know, a lot of people
Speaker:who are in your world who you know, want to buy what you have
Speaker:to offer, which most of us do not. Okay, so that's why I'm
Speaker:saying that before you get started building your online
Speaker:program, one of the key things you need to do is to build a
Speaker:list. So then people say, well, great, how do I do that? Well,
Speaker:you need to establish yourself as an authority and you need to
Speaker:become visible out in the world. So people know, like and trust
Speaker:you and know that you're the person that can help them. So
Speaker:for you know, for years, I was doing this, it when I would go
Speaker:speak at conferences, or I would go to networking events, or I
Speaker:would go to
Speaker:you know, in person training sessions or conferences or get
Speaker:togethers or whatever, right all in person. And, and that would
Speaker:be the time where you you know, I would meet people and I would
Speaker:say, This is what I do. And here's my business card, and you
Speaker:can you know, go check out my website and, and daddy data dot
Speaker:right, that is a way to get in front of people to establish
Speaker:yourself as an authority. Then then essentially, those are the
Speaker:people who are in your world. And, and so, you know, you're
Speaker:you're trading business cards, which technically means you can
Speaker:put them in to your email automation platform or your CRM,
Speaker:right, your relationship management system. You can put
Speaker:those names and email I was in, and then you can contact them?
Speaker:Well, the other option to that, again, you know, for sure when
Speaker:you're first starting out, do that as much as possible. But
Speaker:the other option is how do you reach people online? From from
Speaker:your computer? Right? You know, how do you reach people from
Speaker:less of a G or geographical constraint perspective to
Speaker:reaching people out in the world? Who need your your
Speaker:product? Right? It used to be that we were really just working
Speaker:locally. Now we can work globally. You obviously, it's
Speaker:not, you know, time efficient or cost efficient to say, well, I
Speaker:want to target people globally, and then go to all of those
Speaker:countries, and and meet people. In some cases, you may still do
Speaker:that. But as a growth strategy, it's not the most efficient way
Speaker:to do it. And so and I mentioned this, because so many of my
Speaker:clients are people who already have businesses, maybe offline
Speaker:businesses, brick and mortar businesses, and this whole
Speaker:online game is, is new, right? It's a little bit confusing.
Speaker:When you think about like, how do I go about becoming an
Speaker:authority online? And, and so my point is, is not any different,
Speaker:right? You, you need to connect with people, you need to meet
Speaker:people, and you need to trade information. And the way to do
Speaker:that online is through groups. It's through, you know, online
Speaker:experiences, it's through other people's audiences, right? Like,
Speaker:I attend a podcast conference, because I'm a podcaster. And so
Speaker:when I attend this online conference, people say, Oh,
Speaker:well, who are you? And what do you do? And how can you help me,
Speaker:right? Same thing as going to driving to an event, and doing
Speaker:that. So get yourself into different events, connect with
Speaker:people who are, you know, doing complementary services and offer
Speaker:to get in front of their, their people, then, you know, you can,
Speaker:you can build your own group online, or you can visit other
Speaker:groups where you're, where you know, your people are hanging
Speaker:out, you can do ads, you can do all those different things, to
Speaker:get your message out there in a different way, but, but I really
Speaker:want to stress, it's not any different than doing it in
Speaker:person. And so if you are somebody who has done all those
Speaker:things in person, you've done a billboard, you've done, you
Speaker:know, Yellow Page ads you've done, you know, just going to
Speaker:events in person, think of it exactly the same way online,
Speaker:you're just doing it in a in a different modality, right. And
Speaker:so your strategy should be the same. So often I see was, Oh, I
Speaker:just, I put a lead magnet out there. And I was talking about
Speaker:lead magnet magnet, but like, I put a lead magnet out there.
Speaker:And, you know, I only have like a, you know, random opt in or
Speaker:whatever else, or, you know, I did one, you know, Facebook Live
Speaker:and nobody watched it, or I did a podcast interview and it was
Speaker:fine, you know, wasn't really a big deal. You know, to me,
Speaker:that's like, you're going to a networking event and you've
Speaker:talked to one person, and then you're like, well, networking
Speaker:doesn't work, right? Like,
Speaker:you got to think about it as a strategy. And you've got to
Speaker:think about like, what, what is the what are the seeds that
Speaker:you're planting? And how do you just extend your reach? That
Speaker:should start from day one, where you're starting to find your
Speaker:voice, you're starting to identify like, okay, here are my
Speaker:people, here's what they need, here are the problems that they
Speaker:have that I'm able to solve, you're going out and you're kind
Speaker:of finding those people the gift that we have with Facebook or
Speaker:with Instagram, or LinkedIn or wherever you are, the gift is,
Speaker:is it allows you to go out and listen. It allows you to go out,
Speaker:see what your people are doing, see where they're hanging out,
Speaker:see what questions they're asking where they're going, what
Speaker:they're involved in what they're interested in. It allows you to
Speaker:do all of that research in such such a great way that we could
Speaker:never do in the past. Use it as a research tool to really dial
Speaker:that in and find out where people are and what they need
Speaker:and what questions they're asking. And then start answering
Speaker:their questions, right become the authority in your space,
Speaker:until you're the authority until you start making some noise.
Speaker:People aren't going to know that you have this awesome thing for
Speaker:them. And so use all of the strategies use as many as you
Speaker:can to get people to come into your world. And so once they're
Speaker:in or in your world, once you kind of figure out where they
Speaker:are, then the question becomes how do you get them on your
Speaker:list? And and that's when having a freebie for them is helpful. A
Speaker:free gift, a lead magnet like a book, a report, a case study all
Speaker:those kinds of things, free training, you know, a demo
Speaker:something that they can you know, that they can look at to
Speaker:say I'm curious to know what this is, or Oh, wow, this is
Speaker:really cool that I can jump into this thing that this person has,
Speaker:and learn a little bit about them learn whether or not this
Speaker:is gonna solve my problem and, and just really kind of get
Speaker:immersed in, in their environment. And that is the
Speaker:first step. Because at that point, then somebody's like,
Speaker:Yes, this is amazing, you're helping me. And you're, you're
Speaker:providing me with the first step. Now I'm ready for the next
Speaker:step. So what's your program? What do you have for me, and
Speaker:then they're ready to buy, it's much easier than having trying
Speaker:to attract people completely cold, to your, your offer,
Speaker:right? Because they don't even know I mean, they may not even
Speaker:know that they have the problem, they may not even know that
Speaker:there's a step that they need to take, in order to get in to what
Speaker:you have to offer, they may not even know you're the person that
Speaker:can help them. They may not even know your style, or, or you know
Speaker:how you show up versus somebody else shows up, they may, you
Speaker:know, like that or not like that, right. And so all of that
Speaker:just gives them the research gives them the information to
Speaker:make a good buying decision, which is what we all really want
Speaker:at the end of the day is to feel like we've made the right
Speaker:decision. So help them make that decision by providing them with
Speaker:a way to join your list, just say, I'm raising my hand, I'm
Speaker:interested in what you have to say, all of that happens before
Speaker:you have something to offer people. Now, people usually say
Speaker:well, how can I do that I don't have a business yet, right? Like
Speaker:I have to have a business, I have to be selling a product in
Speaker:order to start going out and doing that. Yes, that may be
Speaker:your approach. And you may need that.
Speaker:But having a framework for your product, knowing you know what
Speaker:it is you're creating, how it's going to help people and sort of
Speaker:a general direction of what what's going to happen is the
Speaker:value like that's the piece that's going to be helpful for
Speaker:you to have clarity on what it is you offer and the problem
Speaker:that you're solving more than the product itself. And so
Speaker:that's really all you need in order to start having those
Speaker:conversations and getting out there. And then then in the
Speaker:background, you're you're you're becoming visible and then in the
Speaker:background, you're working on your product, you're working on
Speaker:your program, you're working on your service, whatever it is
Speaker:that you're doing. But but there's sort of parallel tracks
Speaker:that are happening is one of the biggest challenges that I see
Speaker:people in this space who are trying to get into the game make
Speaker:is they wait until everything is done before they start telling
Speaker:people about it. And what happens is, then there's a big
Speaker:gap. Because it takes time, all of that takes time. Like you
Speaker:think about going to a networking event. You don't just
Speaker:like meet all these people and then start dating them, right
Speaker:you don't start like oh, here, come to my live event come to
Speaker:this come to that come hang out with me. Right, like you don't
Speaker:meet somebody and then just immediately go into a
Speaker:relationship, you meet them, you, you know, get to know them
Speaker:a little bit better. And then maybe you start hanging out a
Speaker:little bit more. It's the same concept, right? Like, you can't
Speaker:just go out there in the world and be like, buy my thing, buy
Speaker:my thing, buy anything. People don't want that. Right? Even if
Speaker:they need your thing. They don't want to buy your thing, when you
Speaker:just bang them over the head with it. But so often, that's
Speaker:what we do. And you know, when we're out on social media, as we
Speaker:forget, like, there's like a person on the other side of
Speaker:that, right? And think about like your buying behavior, you
Speaker:don't want somebody just be banging you on the head telling
Speaker:you to buy or buy their thing, right? You want to start
Speaker:building a relationship with someone first, you want to have
Speaker:those little touch points first, where you feel like they're
Speaker:speaking to you there's there's a reason why they're, they're
Speaker:there, and how they're gonna help you right? Like, I am
Speaker:working with a high level mastermind right now. And I'm
Speaker:actually in their mastermind. And because of what they're
Speaker:teaching, it has literally taken me two years to just get to the
Speaker:place where I'm ready to take action on the skill part because
Speaker:I had such a big transition from a belief standpoint of how
Speaker:things how I thought things were before, to kind of a whole new
Speaker:opportunity, a whole new way of thinking of it. And it's taken
Speaker:me about two years to get to that place of being ready to
Speaker:take action. Does that mean it wasn't successful for me? No,
Speaker:absolutely not. I've gotten my needs met every step along the
Speaker:way. But if you were to look at their program, they would say
Speaker:well Why Why is taking so long? Why have you not taken action
Speaker:and like I've been taking action every day, that's been valuable
Speaker:for me in my experience. But that nurturing happened way
Speaker:before I decided to become part of that group. And I wouldn't
Speaker:have been part of that group if my if the trust level wasn't
Speaker:there. And the trust level came because of the relationship that
Speaker:was developed before I went into the program. And so don't
Speaker:discount that. And don't shortcut that process. Because
Speaker:it's not about you getting on Facebook, and you know, being a
Speaker:dancing monkey. That's not what it's about. It's about building
Speaker:relationship, getting people to know you, and like you and trust
Speaker:you or say, No, thank you. You're not for me, right?
Speaker:There's just as many people online who I like to follow as
Speaker:people that I'm like, No, thank you, I have no interest in
Speaker:following this person. Right? That's good. You want to have
Speaker:some people like you, and some people not like you, if you're
Speaker:too vanilla, then people won't move, right. Like they won't
Speaker:build a relationship with you. And so really think about that
Speaker:as as you're going. But But I did want to put this out there
Speaker:because I do think it's an important piece. We also help
Speaker:people figure out what that front end looks like, right? How
Speaker:do you publish? How do you start becoming visible? And what does
Speaker:that look like? And and the the learning for us in this process
Speaker:has really been about how much emphasis needs to happen on that
Speaker:before they even get in the game. And helping people really
Speaker:see that and learn kind of how that process will serve them
Speaker:when they do get into a course launch. And making sure that the
Speaker:timing is correct, because at the end of the day, we are all
Speaker:about helping people succeed and get the results that they're
Speaker:looking for. And it would be a disservice for us to go through
Speaker:the motions and do an implementation before somebody
Speaker:actually could be successful. So there you go. That is my course
