#213 - 3 things you need to change in your business to survive in 2024

McDonald's came, it was innovative. People were lining up. It was amazing. It was new, it was shiny and it created an industry. And all of these other brands started jumping in as well and rising tide lifts all boats or whatever. Then all of a sudden it gets a point. It's like there's too many boats.

Hey, hey everybody. It is Kate here. And welcome back to the Doing It Online podcast. Today is a bit of a special episode because I have realized that we have and I just completely missed it. We have had five year business anniversary for this, my third business. And with that, you know, whenever you have one of those milestones, you can't help but get a little bit reflective. And I think one thing that I was really sitting back and thinking about the other day is just how similar, but also how different the sort of the lifecycle has been of this business compared to my very first business. And for those of you who don't know that story, my very first business was actually what they end up calling a blog. But I never called it a blog because it started out as an email newsletter. But anyway, it was like a publishing, sharing information, monetizing via advertising kind of model. And I started that back in 2007. And just like that industry, that industry of blogging, you know, it had this very real life cycle of super fast growth plateauing and then sort of declining. I feel like I can see a bit of a mirroring happening right now inside the online course industry. And there's a lot of similarities and a lot of differences. And I think there's also a lot of lessons we can take from that blogging sort of phase that happened before us. And we can use that right now inside our current businesses to make sure that they are stronger than, make sure that they are more reliable and to make sure they are going to be here even as this market moves through different stages of maturation. So that's what I want to talk about today. As always, it's going to have a lot of value bombs and a lot of stuff that you can take away and start implementing into your business. So I hope you got a pen, I've got a paper and let's dive right on in.

As I said today, we're going to be talking about market life cycles. And I hope this doesn't sound like an economics lecture because I really don't mean it to, but I think it is really important because there's a lot going on out there where people are going, oh my gosh, the sky is falling. And actually it's not, it's just that as an industry, we are moving into a different scale stage of the life cycle of this industry. And every single industry out there goes through this process. We look at blogging as sort of the example because blogging is kind of was, you know, really what came before online courses. It was a bit of a trailblazer for a lot of people to be able to work from home to share what they knew and to be able to do it in a very low cost, low barrier to entry way. Like it was free to set up a blog on WordPress. And then, you know, a lot of those people then moved to what they initially called microblogging, which was, you know, Instagram, Facebook, social media, and then became, you know, now is sort of known as being an influencer. How that market moved was, you know, at the start. You know, a lot of early adopters jumped in. A lot of nerds, myself included, who just thought it was cool and fun. And, you know, I probably weren't really looking at it necessarily as a way to make money, but as although I was, I definitely started mine as a business. But, you know, more of the like, oh, this is fun. I love that I get to be able to share what I know. And so it was a lot of, you know, hobbyists at the start trying things out as a technology sort of advance because it was real basic at the start. And then over time, people started to grow these followings just naturally because there wasn't that many people around and it was new and everyone was like, oh, have you seen such? And such has a blog? My God, that's amazing. Go check it out. And so a lot of people were able to grow quite quickly in these early phases just because it was new and it was novel and there wasn't a lot of competition. And so they grew quite quickly. And all of a sudden they had a bit of status, a bit of influence. People started coming to them saying, hey, well, could you talk about my product? Because you've got people who are reading and really, really valuing what you're saying, more so than, for example, a magazine that they know they're already really skeptical about. You've got a genuine authentic voice. And so that monetization started in that industry, which it wasn't from the start. Like, just one of the differences is that blogging started out, most people just doing it for free because it was fun. And then monetization. And of course, as soon as people are looking at this going, oh, wow, they're making real money, a lot More people started coming into the market, the technology started improving. So it got easier and easier and easier for people to join. And all of a sudden there was this big rush, this big boom, and everybody had a blog. Okay, and then what happens when all of a sudden there's a lot of competition out there? All of a sudden it's not as easy to start making money anymore. There's lots more people doing it. Like it was almost criminal how much you used to be able to earn with such a small following. But it was definitely, it was a quality over a quantity thing. Whereas now brands, they want the quantity. They're like, we want someone who's got millions of followers, not we want someone who's got a couple of thousand people on their email list. So it started moving, it started evolving. It started then become harder to make money because there was more competition, because the rates that you got paid just got lower and lower because of that competition, because the quality wasn't there anymore. So advertisers weren't as happy to pay as much as they had previously. And so with that, you know, all of a sudden it becomes less attractive, People drop out. The platforms were changing. You know, people started moving over to social media instead and away from traditional blogging. The classic sort of publishers like your magazines and things, they started realizing they were losing a lot of their market share and so they started injecting a lot of money into online. And obviously they had money for advertising and for bigger, fancier platforms and for professional photography. So all of a sudden you, you had to be much better, you had to be much more higher skilled and more likely or not you're going to earn less money. So it becomes less attractive. People drop out, they pivot, they go to other things. That's kind of what happened with blogging. I mean, that's what I did. I got him, got to this point, I went, this is way too hard for way little reward. What's something different than I can do? And that's when I started moving into online courses. And a lot of people did because they were in blogging, because they loved sharing what it is that they were passionate about, what it is that they loved. And they realized that, hey, here's a different way of monetization that I've got a bit more control over. That's not at the whims of the advertisers as they were previously. So then this new wave kind of happened and the same sort of thing sort of happened with the online course world. Few people started doing it. It was novel. It was easier because there wasn't much competition. You didn't have to be the best at the best. You didn't have to have super high production quality, and you still don't. Let's, let's not kid ourselves. You didn't have to, you know, have big ad budgets. Like, I remember I used to be able to get clicks on Facebook for, like, cents, and now it's dollars. So it. And it went through a very, very similar path. What does this mean? Because obviously blogging came, it boomed, it kind of went. However, there are still people around who are. They probably don't just don't call themselves bloggers anymore, but there are still people in that industry still doing very well, but they're now just called influencers. And they've now done a couple of things. And I think the learnings we can take from those things that have given them longevity, that have enabled them to grow and to thrive, are definitely things that we can. Everyone who has an online course and who's kind of watching this industry go through its life cycle should really be looking at and taking on board and, you know, integrating into your business. So we'll be talking about that in a second. But before we do, because I don't want anyone to panic, I wanted to share another example of a market going through a lifecycle. So you can see that this is actually normal and it's not actually a bad thing. This is just what markets do. Totally different, totally unrelated industry would be the fast food industry. And I'm going to completely butcher the timeline of this because I want to keep it short. And, you know, I don't have exact dates and details here, but think about it. In the US when McDonald's happened, right, fast food, it was bubbling away, but it definitely wasn't, like, on every single corner or like every second store in some places like it is right now. So McDonald's came. It was innovative. People are lining up. It was amazing. It was new, it was shiny, and it created an industry. And all of these other brands started jumping in as well. And so all of a sudden you've got McDonald's and Subway and KFC, and it grew really fast. And then they were everywhere, right? Market saturation starts to happen. This is what has happened as soon as people look and go, oh, here's an opportunity here. Here's a good way to make money. Lots of people jump in, and then it grows and all, you know, rising tide lifts all boats or whatever. But then all of a sudden it gets a point. It's like there's too many boats. And also there's other things happening in the world which kind of causes a bit of a plateau. And this plateau is called the maturation phase, which is where we are right now. And so in that maturation phase for the fast food industry, not only was there a lot of competition, requiring usually a lot of people to like try and be the cheapest, like all of a sudden you can get a burger for a dollar, which is insane, but also the world around them was changing. People were noticing, hey, all of a sudden we're eating all this fast food and a lot. There's a lot of changes happening in how our population is looking and feeling and the overall health. And there did become a bit of a backlash around things being fried. Like in Australia at least Kentucky Fried Chicken changed its name to KFC because they didn't want to have the word fried in their name because fried was a dirty word. Fat was bad for a very long time and there was actually a bit of a dip. And when I went to university, which is 20 years ago now, and I did a business degree, one of the case studies we looked at was what McDonald's was doing to try and save itself. Because McDonald's is, were closing, they weren't earning money, they weren't being profitable. When before that they had been like just an excuse to print money. Money if you had a license for a McDonald's store. And they were going backwards. So they started to pivot, they started to experiment and try and enter new markets in Australia. They opened, they call it McCafe, which is basically they do coffees and muffins and then you've got a kids play center next door as part of the McDonald's. So mum and dad come and have a nice coffee or people on their way to work get a coffee and maybe a bacon egg McMuffin, why not? They pivoted, they saw a niche. They started having salads, which I still don't believe anyone eats. And they were able to continue on and that there no more boom, there was no more like crazy fast growth. But they were able to maintain and they were able to get their profits back and they were able to keep making their shareholders and their franchisees happy. And that's kind of where we are now and what we want to happen ourselves in our own businesses. So with those two examples, with the blogging example and with the fast food example, what can we take away from that? And one more point, sorry before we do go on. And I am, I'm the queen of the side quest I know again, just go back to the fast food industry is that it is still continuing to evolve. Like there are still new businesses coming in to this space and thriving, but they are just positioning themselves differently. Like down our main street down here, there is about five different boutique burger shops where I can go in and pay $35 for a hamburger that's got wagyu beef and, you know, some crazy imported cheese from Switzer, your gold flecked milkshakes. Like, they found a new niche, they found a new offering, They've come in, they've crafted it for themselves and they're doing really well even in a mature and highly competitive market. All that being said, what does that mean for us as course creators? What can we do? What should we be focusing on now that we are in a mature market, that we are in a market that has market saturation? Well, first of all, I think it's just like, let's just name the elephant in the room. There are going to be some people who leave the market because it's too hard. It's no longer the way to print money. It's not easy money. It was never easy money. But the promise used to be there. And it was easy enough that a lot of people jumped on. And you didn't have to be that amazing. You didn't have to be like a total master of your skills to be able to do really well. Now you have to be a master. So this is what I want you to take away. This is what I want you to write down from this. This is the things that the people who survived the blogging cycle did. This is what the people who are surviving and thriving in the fast food market did and are still doing. First of all, you need to step back and get really clear on what your point of difference is. Like what are you really good at? And you need to go all in on that. You need to make sure that that is what your offers are about, that that is what your messaging is about, that it all comes back to that thing like, what are you great at? And if you are kind of sitting there going, well, I'm kind of a little bit good at this, a little bit of that, then find something and get great at it. Okay? Like really invest in yourself, invest in the team, invest in whatever needs to happen so that you have a point of difference. Now, I'm not saying that everyone's point of difference is going to be completely unique because that's impossible. There are literally hundreds of thousands. If not millions of people doing this, but within your micro market, which is where you exist. Within that little pool of the Internet who knows you and knows a handful of other people, you need to be able to stand out as the person who's good at this. It's the same as the burger shops. There's plenty of fancy boutique burger shops selling $35 Wagyu beef burgers. But in walking distance from my house, there's only two and one has terrible service. So which one am I going to go to? So that's what you need to do. You need to work. What is my point of difference? What am I the best at? What do I want to be known for? Know that. Go all in on that. The second thing, and a lot of you are going to shudder at this, is that you need to put yourself back into it. You need to stop hiding. You need to be showing up and engaging. This is what the bloggers that lasted did. The ones who had the strongest connection with their audience, the ones who people felt like they were friends with are the ones who are still there. They might not still be influencers. I know some who, you know, we kind of came through the ranks together and they now have clothing brands or they might have a content agency or something like that. Like they've done other things, but they have a really core, really engaged, really die hard fan base. And that's what you need. We need to go back to focusing on quality over quantity and creating real connection. And that means putting yourself back into it. People don't connect to brands. They connect to people. That's why Richard Branson still gets trotted out for Virgin, because they like Richard Branson right, more than they like Virgin. So you got to still put your face out there. And this is one of the things that we are doing and that I've committed to within this, within our business. Because, you know, I was still trying to go, no, we're a brand. I don't want to be a personal brand. I don't want to be the face of the business. I've done that before. I want to, you know, I don't want it to be the Kate Show. But guess what? 2024, 2025, whatever it is gonna, it's gonna be the Kate show and we are going to be. I'm committed to doing, showing up live more, to putting my face out there more. That's why we have these video versions of these podcasts now. It's not just audio, to making sure that we're doing more things to connect with our audience, and not just because we go, oh, if we do this, we're going to make this amount of. We want to be building a forever audience, an audience of people who knows me, knows my brand, knows my team, wants to be a part of our world. As that evolves, that's really important. And then the final thing that I think is really, really important, particularly in this market, in this environment, as things are changing, is that you need to make it, and we're doing this as well. But you need to make it as easy as possible for you to make offers more often. So the quarterly launch is dead. Hallelujah. It took up too much time. It was too stressful, it costs too much. It was far too risky. I'm glad that is gone. Okay? And I'm saying you can't still do big, great events. If you love it and it works for you, do it. But for most people, it's not working. So instead, what are we switching to? Evergreen launching. This is what we do inside Ecourse Empire. This will help our clients to switch to. So you're going to set up Evergreen launches, which is smaller, repeatable, you know, less pressure. Okay. If it doesn't do as well as the big launch, because you're going to be doing it more often, but you want to do it in a way that's not going to annoy your list. So you're going to have be able to be making offers, sometimes on your socials, you're going to be making offers sometimes to your whole list and sometimes just to a segment of your list. But you need to sit down, get strategic about it, figure out what that plan is, put that in your launch calendar, cross out all those bloody, tiresome quarterly launches and just get into that flow of telling people about your offers and knowing that people need to hear about them more. Now that people aren't going to get swept up in the hype and buy because they have FOMO anymore. They're going to buy because it's the right choice for them and it's the right time for them. And so we need to make sure that they know about our offers, that they have multiple chances to buy our offers, that they have all the information they need about their offers, and that when it's the right time that they have enough connection with us, that they jump in and take our office. So that's the three changes that we are really going all in on this year. Number one, stripping it back, getting really clear on what we're amazing at, which is funnels going all in on that, everything else falls to the wayside. Number two, you're gonna be seeing this face a whole bunch more. We're gonna be doing a lot more things which are just about giving value, connecting, showing up and making sure that we build the strongest bond possible with our amazing audience. And number three, more offers more often. Not always the same thing, please. You can't just sell the same thing over and over again. Like, but you've got your stripped back, super strong signature office suite and we don't have time to cover that right now. You want help with that? Come jump into Ecosysempire. That's exactly what we do. But those three things, they are what worked for blogging. They are what worked for pretty much every industry out there that's hit that maturation phase and maintained. And that is what we're going all in on this year. So I hope this has been helpful, guys. I hope you have written down at least one that you can go away and implement. If you have, make sure you let us know. Snap a picture, share it over on socials. You can tag us at. Hello, funnels. We would love, love, love to see what you loved about this episode and it would also mean the world to me if you could share it or give us a thumbs up or a like. It just helps us, helps to tell the algorithm we know what we're talking about and to get us in front of more eyeballs too. So thank you so much for joining me, guys. I will see you all next week for more nerdy tips. See you then.