Podcast Summary
Online Community Building: Creating a successful online community can generate significant income, but it requires delivering value and solving problems for members, understanding the difference between an audience and a community, and providing unique resources.
Building a thriving online community can be a viable way to make $10,000 a month or more, but it requires more than just creating a community - it's about delivering value to members and solving existing problems. Community is not a magic bullet, but rather a vehicle for creators to offer their expertise and experiences. For those starting from scratch, community is one of several options for an online business, and it involves creating a private, dedicated online space for member-to-member interaction and resource delivery. To build a successful community business, it's essential to understand the difference between an audience and a community, and to provide value that members can't find elsewhere. It won't be easy, and there will be challenging moments, but with persistence and a genuine desire to help others, creators can build a thriving online community that provides value and generates income.
Online Communities: Online communities provide valuable connections, mentorship, and support for individuals seeking to achieve specific goals or share common interests, offering a shortcut to their goals through access to knowledge and expertise.
Online communities offer valuable connections and support for individuals seeking to achieve specific goals or share common interests. These communities can serve as a source of mentorship, guidance, and understanding, especially when people feel misunderstood or isolated in their day-to-day lives. Online communities come in various forms, such as peer communities and curriculum-driven communities, and can offer different levels of investment, from low-ticket monthly subscriptions to high-ticket yearly memberships. The primary value proposition of these communities lies in providing members with a shortcut to their goals by saving them time and offering access to a wealth of knowledge and expertise. By joining an online community, individuals can not only connect with like-minded individuals but also deepen their understanding and passion for their interests, making the experience invaluable.
Online Communities: Lower-end peer communities offer learning opportunities for a low monthly fee, while high-end proximity communities provide direct feedback and coaching from a mentor for a significant monthly fee, with value coming from both the leader and members.
Building and engaging in different types of online communities can be an effective strategy for personal and professional growth, but the level of investment required and the expected value vary greatly. At the lower end, there are peer communities where individuals with a large audience come together to discuss and learn from each other for a low monthly fee. At the higher end, there are proximity communities, also known as masterminds, where individuals pay a significant monthly fee to be part of a smaller, vetted group and receive direct feedback and coaching from a mentor or expert. The value in these communities comes not only from the leader but also from the collective experience and interaction between members. However, selling high-ticket proximity communities can be challenging as it requires a significant amount of trust and a proven track record of results. Building trust can be established by offering a lower-cost program or community first, providing value, and showing results before upselling to a higher-ticket offering. Ultimately, the choice of community type depends on one's current situation, goals, and level of investment.
Online course completion rate: Transformational communities can increase online course completion rates by providing a supportive and engaging environment, leading to better learning outcomes and higher satisfaction.
Online courses have a low completion rate due to lack of implementation and accountability. To address this issue, delivering a community-powered course that focuses on implementation and accountability can significantly increase the chances of students achieving desired results. These communities can come in various forms, including peer communities, proximity communities, community-powered courses, and transformational communities. Transformational communities, in particular, are effective due to the high investment from students, which increases their motivation and commitment to the learning process. By providing a supportive and engaging environment, course creators can help students overcome obstacles and stay accountable, leading to better learning outcomes and higher satisfaction.
Community building for online educators: Communities offer leverage for online educators to serve more people and create significant revenue, but require careful planning, clear expectations, and ongoing participation
Building a community as a business model can be highly effective for online thought leaders, educators, or teachers, but it requires effort and careful planning. Communities offer more leverage and a way to serve a larger number of people at once, as opposed to one-on-one consulting. However, it's important to set clear expectations and create a structured environment to prevent the community from consuming too much time and energy. Success stories like Justin Welsh's Creator MBA demonstrate the potential for significant revenue through a community, but it's not a passive income stream and requires ongoing participation and value creation. Community building is an essential addition to the online educator's toolkit, providing a valuable monetization vehicle and a unique space for members to learn, grow, and connect.
Productivity membership pricing: Creating a high-value productivity membership involves designing for accountability and structure, considering smaller accountability groups, and balancing affordability and high-ticket experience.
Providing a live, interactive experience with access to specific advice and feedback can add significant value for members, even if the primary motivation is not for community building. During the development of Productivity Lab, the team spent a considerable amount of time in the design phase to determine the offer and pricing. The idea was to create a productivity membership similar to Peloton or CrossFit, where people would pay for accountability and structure rather than content. Despite initially planning for a larger community, members have expressed a desire for smaller accountability groups, which the team is considering implementing. The team aims to balance delivering a high-ticket experience with an affordable price point.
Value-based pricing: Focus on the value provided to customers instead of costs incurred when setting prices for products or services to justify pricing and ensure a profitable business.
When setting prices for products or services, it's essential to focus on the value being provided rather than the costs involved. By understanding the transformation and outcomes that customers can achieve, entrepreneurs can justify pricing based on the value delivered, rather than the costs incurred. This value-based pricing approach can lead to a significant return on investment for customers and a profitable business for entrepreneurs. However, the emotional aspect of pricing, especially for newer entrepreneurs, can make it challenging to overcome the fear of charging high prices. It's important to remember that the value perceived by one customer may be worthless to another, and targeting the right audience is crucial for the success of the business. Ultimately, pricing should reflect the unique value proposition and the transformation that the product or service offers to customers.
Psychology of pricing: Price acts as a filter for customer selection and impacts overall value. Consider length of commitment for optimal pricing and reflect on annual vs monthly pricing.
Pricing is a psychological game that can significantly impact customer selection and the overall value delivered in a business. The speaker shared an experience of encountering a tutor charging a seemingly high hourly rate, which made him reflect on his own pricing for a productivity lab community. He noted that price acts as a filter for customer selection, attracting different audiences based on the price point. The speaker also discussed the importance of considering the length of commitment required for achieving the desired outcome when determining pricing. Monthly pricing, for instance, may not be the best option for long-term transformations, as it may give customers the opportunity to cancel and potentially never return. The speaker also touched on the moral question of annual versus monthly pricing and suggested that, similar to universities, businesses commit to delivering the full service or product to their customers when they sign up. Ultimately, the key takeaway is that entrepreneurs should carefully consider their pricing strategy to best serve their audience, create value, and achieve their business goals.
Long-term commitment and support: Long-term commitments are crucial for both creators and clients, as they require stability and consistent effort to achieve big transformations. Coaches and creators play a vital role in pushing through hard moments and providing support.
When people sign up for a program or commit to a goal, they're signing up for the entire journey, not just the easy parts. Coaches and creators have a role to help push through the hard moments and provide support, as achieving big transformations often requires more time and effort than anticipated. Long-term commitments and stability are essential for both the creator and the client, as constant cancellations can be demoralizing and unstable for the business. Instead of focusing solely on churn rate, it's important to consider a combination of quantitative and qualitative measures to assess the success of a program. Regular check-ins and assessments can help gauge progress and engagement, while the ultimate goal is to help clients develop the skills and habits to continue their growth independently.
Transforming YouTube economy: To provide ongoing value to customers and ensure sustainability, creators should consider transitioning from one-time payment to recurring revenue models, offering ongoing community access, frequent events, and additional benefits for subscribers.
Providing ongoing value to customers requires ongoing revenue. The discussion revolves around the idea of transforming a YouTube economy from a one-time payment self-paced course to a recurring revenue model, where the community aspect is taken more seriously. This could mean charging for ongoing access to the community, providing more frequent events, and offering additional benefits for those who pay more. The misalignment of incentives in the current model, where customers have paid once but continue to receive value indefinitely, was identified as a problem. By charging for ongoing access to the community and additional benefits, creators can ensure they continue to provide value and have the resources to do so. This can lead to better engagement, more invested customers, and ultimately, a more successful business model.
Recurring revenue model for educational content: Transitioning to a subscription model for educational content allows for ongoing updates, student success, and a healthier business, but it's essential to provide free and lower-priced options for those who can't afford it.
Creating a recurring revenue model for educational content can benefit both the business and the students. The speaker shared his experience of feeling comfortable with selling one-time self-paced courses but recognizing their limitations in serving students effectively. By transitioning to a subscription model, he can continually update the content and provide ongoing value to students, leading to their success and positive testimonials. The business incentive to improve the program and help students succeed also results in a healthier, more stable business. However, it's essential to recognize that not everyone can afford the higher subscription price. Providing free content and other lower-priced options can still serve a large audience effectively. Creating various offers and being clear on incentives is crucial to serving everyone well. The speaker, Jordan Godby, encourages those interested in community building to check out the free resource at growthcommunity.co/Ali. Jordan can also be found on Twitter and LinkedIn under the handle @JordanGodby.
