Bonus: Guest Teacher Danny Iny- How to Start Selling Courses as a New Revenue Stream, and Get Paid Immediately

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Hi there. I'm Danny Eney, founder of Miracy, creator of the Course Builders Laboratory Training and Coaching Program, and author of a book called Teach and Grow Rich, which is about to come out in second edition. Thank you for joining me today. I know that a lot of people these days are talking about building and selling courses. So today I'm going to teach you how you can sell courses as a new revenue stream or even a primary revenue stream in your business, and most importantly, how you can get started and get paid immediately. So let's get started. As I said, a lot of people these days are talking about building and selling courses, and there's good reasons for that. The online courses market is growing at record rates because of two important trends. One, our need as individuals and as a society to learn new skills, both personally and professionally, has never been higher if we want to stay competitive and be successful in the modern world. And two, our confidence in traditional educational institutions is dropping, again, for good reasons. So spending on education is going up, and not in the places where we've traditionally invested that money, like trade schools or universities. Instead, independent course creators, people like you and me, who have a very specific expertise that people might want to learn, are the ones cashing in by providing something that the market desperately needs. And this can literally be on just about any topic that you can imagine. Sure, there are lots of courses on very broad and mainstream topics like how to build your business, how to get in shape, how to have a better relationship, etc. But I've also seen successful courses on incredibly niche topics like how to massage your elderly dog, how to interpret your dreams, how to write a fiction book that people will want to buy, how to teach your children math, and a ton of other areas. Odds are that whatever your expertise is in your business, there's a do it yourself or do it with my help version that you can create that would both bring in new revenue and also strengthen your relationships with your customers and potential customers. So while this can be a great core revenue stream for a lot of business owners, building courses is most attractive as a supplementary revenue stream and revenue diversification. So how do you cash in? Well, the first thing that you need is a topic for your course, and the best courses tend to be really narrow and focused. Here's a thought exercise to help you come up with the right focus for your course. Imagine you just got on a plane in New York and you're flying to Chicago. The flight is a little more than two hours long, and just as you're taxiing down the Runway, you start a conversation with the person sitting next to you. And it turns out that they're your ideal customer and they really need your help and you're hitting it off. So you really want to help them. But there's a catch. You have a ton of other commitments and so do they. So you have until the plane lands in Chicago to help them. And that's it. So here's the what could you teach that would create a meaningful and transformative impact on their business or life in those two hours? Now, remember, you don't have to solve every problem that they've ever had, but you do have to create a meaningful transformation enough for them to say, wow, that was awesome. I can't believe how helpful that was, and I'd be a fool not to invest more with you if I had the opportunity. And that's how core sales will end up supplementing your core business. So anyway, that's how you'll find the right focus for your course. But even with that thought exercise, we still don't know for sure that it's the right focus. It's really just your best guess, and we won't know for sure until we put it out there and see if people actually want to pay for it. And this is where most course creators overthink their course to death. They think about marketing campaigns, building email lists, setting aside ad budgets. And while those are all good things to do eventually, right now you just want to confirm that you're on the right track with something that your market actually wants and is willing to pay for. So here's what you first, make a list of a couple dozen people who could be likely candidates to want to sign up for this course. It shouldn't be that hard because we're talking about the same sort of people that you help through your business already. So you probably have them in your circles. Reach out to them and say you're working on something new and would like to run it by them on a short call. Then when you get on the call, explain in a minute or two that you're thinking about building this course and ask about something that they might be interested in. Now, the beauty of this question is that at this stage, it's purely hypothetical. If it isn't at all appealing to them, they can say no, which is a gift to you because it means you'll have learned early that the market might not want this course quite as much as you thought it would. If that's what they say, ask them to explain why. And emphasize that you aren't trying to convince them, you just want to understand. After all, you'd hate to go ahead and build this course if there isn't demand for it. On the other hand, if they are at least a little bit interested, the best that they can say is maybe they might be interested because you know, you really haven't given them enough information to make any stronger of a commitment yet. So if they do say, maybe then you can share more information about the course you're going to create, including what you plan on teaching, what the outcomes will be, when you're going to start the course, what the price might eventually be, and whether you're doing a discount for your first group of students, etc. And once you've shared all that, you're now ready to ask that key question, which is, would you like a spot in the course? There are now three possible answers to this question. The best answer for you, of course, is a yes, in which case you can arrange payment logistics. You know, basically ask for the credit card and you're off to the races. But the next best answer is a no. You haven't enrolled a student if they say no, but you do have a clear decision, and again, you have feedback. So you want to ask them why not? And emphasize that you're not trying to convince them, you just want to understand. The worst answer that you can get is some variation of maybe, like I might, I'm not sure, I have to talk to my spouse, etc. In that case, just ask them to arrive at a decision one way or another by a certain date. So, for example, no problem, can you let me know by next Friday? That way you'll just know where you stand. And if they don't make a decision by that time, just treat it as a no. Now, if your course idea doesn't have legs, a couple dozen calls is all that you'll have to invest before you're going to learn that. And you're going to be able to then pivot to a new idea that people might want better. And if it does have legs, then a couple dozen phone calls should be all that it takes to fill your first class with paying students. And that's when you're going to know for sure that you're on the right track with a course that people want to buy, and you've got money in the bank to prove it and that's it. So to quickly recap, courses can be a great way of supplementing your existing revenue streams or even a new core revenue stream if that's what you want. You want to start with a super narrow focus for your course which you can find using the two hour plane ride thought exercise and then you want to actually try to sell it through a bunch of really simple, low pressure conversations. If your idea has legs, you'll be making money in no time and if not, you'll know right away so you can change direction. Alright guys, I hope this was helpful. I'm Danny Eney and if you want to learn more from me about building and selling courses, I'd love to invite you to pre order a copy of my book Teach and Grow Rich, which is coming out in second edition and as a special gift to $100 MBA listeners, head over to teachandgrowrichbook.com and use the coupon code 100 MBA. 100 MBA. The first 50 people who head over there and do that will get a paperback copy of the book for free. And even if you're not one of the first 50 people, you'll still be able to get on the notification list to get a digital copy for free when it comes out in the next few weeks. Again, that's teachandgrowrichbook.com the coupon code is 100100 MBA. Thanks again for joining me today. And now back to Omar introducing Fidelity Trader Plus.

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Awesome lesson by Danny and he. I love his course idea validation tips, making sure that you get the right feedback so you create the right course. Again guys, that link to be one of the first people to get your free copy of Danny Eney's book Teach and Grow Rich. It's teachandgrowrichbook.com 100 MBA Danny's been a supporter and fan of the show and our business, so we're so happy to have him on the show to spread his knowledge to help our listeners out. So thanks again, Danny, for being on today's $100 MBA show. Episod alright, guys, that's it for today. But don't forget, Monday is our next deep dive lesson where we examine are you a good enough leader? What it takes to be a great leader, and how to get there. Make sure you hit that subscribe button right now if you're on itunes, on Stitch or whatever, using Overcast to make sure you get your episodes automatically. All right, that's it for me today, guys. But before I go, I want to leave you with this Teaching is a skill just like everything else. I should know this myself because I've been teaching all my adult life. I taught the high school university level. I have a master's in education. I've been teaching pretty much all my adult life. So allow yourself to become a skillful teacher. To become a good teacher. It takes some time. And as you create course after course, you realize that you're getting better. And each course will get better. But you have to get your feet wet. You have to get started. You have to put it out there. Understand that teaching is a skill that you will build over time. You'll get better, you'll get more comfortable, and you'll get better results as time goes on. All right, I'll check you in Monday's episode. I'll see you then. Take care.

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