#267 - The Biggest Mistakes People Make When Creating a Group Programme

Creating a group program is easy. Creating one that actually works, that's where most people mess up. I see this all the time. Coaches who are ready to ditch the exhausting launches and the razor thin profit margins, who know they need to charge more and work smarter so they create a group program. Makes sense, right? But then it flops or it sells, okay, but the delivery is a freaking nightmare. Or people just don't get results and they don't renew. And the worst part, it's usually not because they had a bad idea, is because they made one of four really common mistakes that completely tank the success of the program before it even starts. Hey, welcome back to the Doing It Online podcast. I'm your host, Kate McKibben from HelloFunnels co. Over the last couple of episodes, we've been talking about the massive shift happening in the coaching industry right now. Why DIY courses are struggling, why AI has changed every everything and is going to continue to do so faster and faster, and why high touch group programs are the model that is going to crush it going forward. I even pulled back the curtain on how I accidentally built a $5 million group program when my son was born and why it's been the rock solid cornerstone of my business ever since. So if you've been listening and thinking, okay, I get it, I need to make this pivot. This. This episode is for you. Because I've been running group programs for over six years. I've served hundreds of clients, and I've made over $5 million from this single offer. And I have learned a lot of lessons through all of that, most of them the hard way. So today, I'm going to help you shortcut past all of those mistakes so you don't waste time, money, or energy on things that were never going to work. And just so we're clear, when I'm saying the word group programs, I'm not talking about just any old, boring group program. You know, the one that's, you know, it's expensive. You show up. It's basically a glorified Facebook group. No, no, no. What we're helping you to create is what I call a leveraged live experience. This is something that's going to sell with ease, get amazing results for your clients, be incredibly profitable, and and become a rock solid cornerstone of your business. So let's talk about the four biggest mistakes I see people make and how you can avoid. Okay. Mistake number one is creating what I call the kitchen sink offer, where basically you're just bundling everything together without a clear Outcome. So I think mistake number one comes from the belief that people have that if they're going to charge premium prices for any kind of offer, that they need to fill it with a lot of stuff. So they're like, here's all my courses, plus you get access to me and a community and all of this other stuff. Plus here are some calls and I think that that's enough. Right? But here's the problem. It doesn't have a clear, specific promise or outcome. Just here is a big bunch of stuff for a discount is just not that compelling anymore. And sure, back in 2020, you could get away with that. That's what I did the very first time I launched my program. I literally just bundled three courses together and added on a higher level of support. But that doesn't cut it anymore. No, you need to engineer this strategically. You need to be really clear about what the outcome is, what the transformation is, and what the pathway to success leads looks like. Because here's what happens when you just bundle everything together. First, it's going to be hard to sell. When you're trying to sell something that's just a, here's every random thing I've ever known about anything, it doesn't have cut through, it doesn't stand out, it doesn't create a clear, yes, this is exactly what I need moment for your ideal client. Second problem is it's going to make it harder for them to succeed. When someone joins and there's just a big load of unorganized stuff, no clear pathway, no clear starting point, they get distracted. They might be like, wow, this is so valuable, but they're not actually going to take action, which is where the real value lies. They're going to get overwhelmed. They're not going to know what to focus on first. And then they don't get wins. And when they don't get wins, then they're not having good experience, then they haven't got what that was promised to them and they don't become raving fans, you don't get testimonials, and then they don't sign up for your next offer. So it's just lose, lose, lose for everyone. So you need people to come in to get the outcome that you promised them and to do it as quickly and easily as possible and preferably far quicker and far easier if they tried to do it on their own. That's how you create an experience that actually works for them and for you. So instead of bundling everything together, you need to be really strategic about what goes in this program, what's the one clear outcome, what's the transformation, and what's the most direct path to get them there? Everything else is just clutter. All right, the next mistake I see, and this one's a big one, is that people promise way too much, way too soon, especially when it comes to the live elements of the delivery. They're like, okay, people are paying me more, so I need to add in way more. Are you picking up any kind of pattern here? And so they jam pack the offer with a really massive schedule of all of these different community events. Accountability calls, co working sessions, mastermind sessions, training calls, pop up events. There's just so much stuff. And look, some of these things might be good, some of them might be bad. I'm not having an opinion on any of them specifically. But the problem is this, when you're starting out and you've got smaller numbers of people, you know you've got your first five people in there, you don't know how many people are actually going to even show up to any of these things. So people turning up to a co working session and there's no one else to cowork with, that's a terrible experience. Or you've scheduled five different types of calls every week and maybe you're even paying guest mentors to host them for you. And you're the only one showing up to half of them because people are overwhelmed and they don't know which ones to attend. Or maybe they just don't even need that many calls. And then here's the other problem. It's really hard to wind these things back. Once you've promised all of this stuff, even if people aren't using it, you've now committed to providing it. You've set the expectation and if you try to remove things later, people feel like they're losing something, that you've taken something away from them. So here's what I recommend. Instead. Start with the really core stuff. Keep it simple but potent. Then as your program grows, as you see what people actually need and want, you can test out adding other things. You can do a one off pop up event and see how people respond. But don't jam packed all from the start. People don't necessarily actually need or want it. Plan out all these great ideas, sure, stick them in a Google Doc somewhere. But then plan the rollout strategically and in phases. As your group grows and as it makes sense, start simple, add as you go. That way you're building something sustainable that you can actually deliver on without burning Out. Okay. The next mistake, and this one's so important, is that when people sit down to plan out what's actually included in their programs, they don't actually stop and think about what the ideal experience is for their actual ideal client. And here's the thing. When you're creating a premium group program, you, you might need to shift who your ideal client is. It may no longer be, I'm just going to serve absolutely everybody who has this problem. The people who are the ideal clients for this type of offer, they're the ones who can take action, who are happy to invest both time and money, who value this particular problem or solution enough to actually put their hand up and take that next step. And yes, that might be a smaller portion of the market, but that's okay. You only need smaller numbers. And if that's truly who your ideal client is, they might also want different things than just the general public. So for example, they might be the type of people who really value their time or who really value their privacy. They may not want to be part of a big community airing their dirty laundry. They may not want a bunch of group calls where they have to show up, live all the time and take up space in their calendar. What they may value more is the ability to submit these things for private review and get get personalized feedback from you. And yes, this can all be done in a leveraged way. Or maybe they want to be able to send you a private DM rather than posting in the community. You really need to understand who your client is and what they want. Not just what they need, but what they actually want. Because the experience you design needs to match the client you're serving. And that's going to look different for everyone. So take the time to really think about it. That's how you create an experience that feels like a no brainer for them and one that they'll rave about for years to come. And the final mistake I see, and this one is huge, is that people design their leverage live experience without thinking about the bigger picture of their business. They don't think about how this actually sits in their office suite. So here's what I mean. You need to think about what happens before this program. What's the promise of this offer? What does someone need to have already done or already believe for them to be ready to invest in this at this level? Are they coming from a lower ticket course? Are they coming from working with you one on one? What's the pathway that gets them there? And then, and this is where the Real money is made, you need to think about what happens after it. You need to always have the next step in mind. You don't need to have it ready on day one, but you need know roughly what that is. Is there an option to renew? Is there an option to uplevel and solve the next problem or to work with you at high capacity? Because here's the truth. If you've done a good job of your leverage live experience, you should be able to upsell 20 to 30% or more of those people into staying on longer or doing something else with you with ease. Right? It you can set this up to actually be completely automated, which is one of the things I just love so much. And when you do the back of napkin maths, whatever that next step offer is, particularly if it's the same price or higher, you can almost double your revenue. But not if you don't sit down and strategically plan it out to start with. Because if you don't, here's what happens. You generally don't have a clear endpoint to your program program. You're not planting seeds for what's next. You're probably overstuffing your initial offer in the first place with things that should actually be in the second offer. They're not necessarily adding value in the first. They're probably just confusing people, but they're definitely taking away the perceived value and need for the next step. And that's going to make everything harder both for you and for them. So these are the four biggest mistakes I see people make when they're creating group programs. And look, I made most of these myself when I started, sometimes more than once. And that's how I know they matter. But you don't have to learn them the hard way. If you're ready to turn your existing online course or your one on one coaching framework into a true leverage live experience, and you want to do it right from the start, I've got something for you. Doors are open right now for the Pivot project. It's a four week live mini mind where we're going to work together to get your program designed, structured and ready to sell before the end of the year. We're going to help you skip all of these mistakes and more. And we're going to make sure you have something that's actually going to sell to get results and be profitable. Places are strictly limited because it's live and hands on. Plus we have access options from just $97. So there's literally nothing standing your way. So if you're ready. Grab the link below and let's get this done, and I'll see you inside.