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.
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Transcript
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