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You Need To Sell From Day One
This post is Part 12 of my 12 Days of Consistent Content Content Challenge for 2019. Click here to check out Part 11: 4 Essentials Of Market Research For Online Business Owners. Or click here to start from the beginning of the series.
You know how I love blog posts with trick questions?
This is another one.
I was recently speaking with one of my childhood friends, and we were talking about her business. When we were talking about monetizing her business, one thing that really stood out to me was that she said, “I was thinking about writing an ebook, but I’m waiting until I get a bigger following.”
Now, leaving aside the fact that she already does have a following—and is working on nurturing it—I told her that there is no reason why should wait to start monetizing her business.
Sell From Day One: There Is No Reason NOT To
There is NO reason not to start selling from day one.
Remember, no matter what, this is a business, and in order to function, a business needs to make money.
This isn’t a charity that you’re running.
As I mentioned in Part 11, 4 Essentials of Market Research For Online Business Owners, market research is critical to successful sales, but even if you are just starting out and don’t have a large audience yet, that doesn’t mean you can’t create products and offerings to sell.
If you have a product that you want to create and sell, you need to take the action and do that thing. Even if you don’t know how to do all the things that you want to do, just by starting and making the effort, making the progress will get you so much further than just sitting around, wanting to sell something.
Sell From Day One: Ways To Monetize
Sell From Day One: Think About Your Ideal Client’s Needs
Even if you’re starting from scratch at day one, think about your ideal client.
When you know exactly who they are, what they need, and what keeps them up at night, then you know what you can solve for them.
And what you can solve for them, you turn into a product.
Remember, the first product you create isn’t going to be the be-all, end-all to your career and your business. It’s a starting point. It’s a way to create income as you grow your business, as you get to know your audience, and as you get even more clarity on what you want to teach, and what your audience is looking for.
Just come up with something and start.
Sell From Day One: Create A Low-Price Offer
Want to get your feet wet and aren’t sure where to start?
Then start with something low-price.
Something that would make it easy for your ideal client to say, “Hell yes!” to.
And as I mention in Part 11, if you’re concerned about validating your product—which you should be—then go to spaces where your ideal client is and ask them what they’re looking for.
Something small could be something like an ebook, some digital templates, a pack of email copy, or even a 30-minute consultation based around a specific outcome that you can help your client to.
Think of the high level things that you teach, your most valuable content, and take a piece of it and turn it into something low-price, that your ideal client can tackle on their own, in a day or two.
Sell From Day One: Create A Tripwire
One of my favorite ways to bring income into my business is through a tripwire.
What a tripwire is, is a low-price offer that is put out to your ideal client right after they sign up for your email list.
Say they sign up for a checklist of healthy-eating essentials. Instead of taking them to a generic “Thanks for signing up!” page, take them to a heavily discounted offer that is related to that checklist, like a short ebook of recipes or a step-by-step guide on how to meal-prep at the beginning of each week.
And the key to the sales for a product like this is to make the deeply discounted offer is to make sure that this offer is only for a limited time—anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes.
Not only does this create that easy-to-say-yes to offer, but it also warms up the brand new members of your audience right away.
For more on how a tripwire can help you both grow your email list and bring in money to your business, check out this post.
Sell From Day One: Offer Coaching
Coaching is one of the best—and most lucrative—ways to start selling from day one.
The process of creating a higher-ticket coaching offer is easy.
First, think about your ideal client’s pain points. What is one, very specific, thing that they struggle with most.
Next, think of the transformation you can offer your client. Can you get them from that thing that they struggle with, to a point where they are no longer struggling, or having completely overcome that struggle.
Once you’ve gotten that down, think about how long it would take to guide a client through that transformation. Is it a month? Six weeks? Eight weeks? Twelve weeks?
And once you know that, then think about how much contact your client is going to have with you. Are you going to have weekly calls? Every other week? How does your client get in touch with you between calls?
Once you have all that information together, you determine your price, and then you start finding those clients, nurturing them, and signing them on to work with you.
Sell From Day One: Create A Mini-Course
Want to go a little less high-level than 1-1 coaching?
Create a mini-course.
A mini-course is just like a regular e-course, except it—like a tripwire—is something that offers a quick win. It’s an easy, low-cost investment that your ideal client can accomplish in a couple hours, or even just a couple days.
With a mini-course, you can walk your client through one specific problem and transformation, but unlike with coaching, it’s something that they’re going to work on, on their own.
A do-it-yourself type of education, which is the ultimate in passive income.
Of course, you can always check in via email with those clients, ask them about their progress, if they need further assistance, and that can allow you to up-sell your students to something more high level, like 1-1 coaching.
For more on easy ways to make money in your business, check out this post.
What are the ways you make money in your business? Join my free Facebook community, Consistent Content Creators, and share your answer!
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