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288
[00:00:45] Hi everybody, and welcome back to another episode here on the Sweetlife Entrepreneur and Business podcast. I’m April Beach, your host. Thank you so much for spending some time with me today. This is episode number 288 and it is jam packed with [00:01:00] insights for you to make strategic decisions for your business and your future.
[00:01:05] Today we are talking about licensing made simple, and we’re diving into how you as an expert, can actually scale your business exponentially by taking the courses and the trainings that you have already created and licensing them to corporations, organizations, and other entrepreneurs. But we’ve been talking about this for a couple weeks here on the show.
[00:01:27] As you know, if you’ve listened to other episodes, I started licensing my own training 14 years ago. I’ve been teaching entrepreneurs how to license their trainings for the last 10 years, but even before that, I started teaching coaches, consultants, and experts how to create their online courses way back in 2006, 7 and 8.
[00:01:48] And so this topic that we’re talking about is not new, even though it seems to becoming new because it’s so oversaturated. Meaning course creation. Course creation coaches, [00:02:00] because it is a profitable way to build your business. Courses in trainings, in extracting your expertise from your brain and scaling your business through these types of business models is a very powerful way.
[00:02:14] We all know that you have done the work, you have created the outlines. You’ve created your method. You have created your courses. You have taught people in your framework. And now what? What is that next step for you? That next step is content licensing. That is allowing other businesses to distribute your trainings and utilize your programs, but is that really the right fit for you?
[00:02:40] And as I mentioned, we’ve been talking about this a lot here on the show. We’ve talked about the steps to licensure program, strategies for licensing, strategies for pricing, and as a side note, All of the resources we have for you are available wherever you are in this licensing process cruise over to sweet life [00:03:00] co.com and you can tap into all of our licensing resources and use them for yourself.
[00:03:06] But in this show, I wanted to have a little bit of a fireside chat with you about who this is really for, who is in a position for licensing, because this is a big choice. I was just meeting with a new client yesterday. And talking to her about the process that we take businesses through to, to have them licensed in, in seller training courses to corporations.
[00:03:31] And she said to me, she said, what if I changed my mind? And that is a really, really great question because unlike when you may have launched a course and you realize you might not wanna do it anymore, you can just stop selling that course. When we talk about licensing, We are delivering your intellectual property, your content, your trainings to other corporations to use, and you can’t take it back.
[00:03:56] And besides licensing a course [00:04:00] creation, if you and I have hung out any virtual time together, you know, I am a second generation lifestyle entrepreneur, which means that I design companies around lifestyle, not lifestyle around companies. And so it’s important just as if we’re talking about any other business model.
[00:04:17] That we have this conversation about what licensing will actually look like for you and your lifestyle and for your business moving forward. So in this episode, we’re making licensing very simple, and we’re coming back to the first and foremost important questions that you should be answering for yourself is, is licensing the right choice for your business?
[00:04:42] And so if you’re ready for that, That’s what we’re gonna go ahead and dive into. I’m gonna share with you the pros and cons of licensing. I’m gonna tell you what your life looks like in having a productive, profitable licensing business model, and I wanna help you unpack whether or not you are ready to move forward into this.[00:05:00]
[00:05:00] Licensing is not new. It’s been around forever, lot longer than the whole online course creation boom. But if you are. A keynote speaker, if you are a corporate consultant, if you are a subject matter expert and you have processes that you have taught people, and especially for those of you that already have relationships with established businesses, Licensing is a very powerful way to utilize the content and the trainings that you have already created and not have to sell them to one person, but sell them to one company, and that company distributes them a hundred times or a thousand times.
[00:05:42] Imagine the profit piece in that for you. One sale for a thousand seats. Instead of having to sell your training a thousand times for that same amount of money, that’s what we’re diving into today. So if you’re ready for that, let’s go ahead and do it. You can find all of the show notes by visiting sweet life [00:06:00] co.com.
[00:06:00] Again, this is more of a casual fireside chat, and you can always message us your questions by connecting with me on LinkedIn at April Beach. Okay, let’s talk about. What does it look like when you are licensing your courses and trainings? What does that, operational, agenda look like for you on a weekly basis?
[00:06:20] So the first consideration I want you to think about is selling direct versus licensing. So the difference is currently if you are a course creator, if you are a consultant or a strategist, you are probably selling your programs one-to-one. Now I’m not talking about delivering your programs one-to-one.
[00:06:39] You know, I teach and we talk about how to create programs at scale here all the time on the show and in the Sweet Life company we’re talking about, it’s still an individual sale. You may be delivering it group, but you’re still selling it to one person at a time. Even if it’s on a webinar and there’s a hundred people there, even if you are [00:07:00] speaking from a stage and there’s a thousand people there, even if you are running ads and you’re hitting 10,000 people, you’re still only selling to one person at a time.
[00:07:09] One person has to go through the process to put in their credit card information and pay you. And so that is the current state of a scaling company that’s serving individuals. You, again, may be serving them in a group atmosphere, but you’re still selling to them one-on-one. And so the question that we bring up and why licensing is so powerful is because.
[00:07:34] We can change that. We can take you out of that launch mode if you had been in there with that enrollment, those sales closers, and we can move you into a place where we’re actually selling the same program, but more people are accessing it within each transaction. A few episodes ago, I made a statement and I’ve received actually so many comments [00:08:00] about this statement, and I wanna, so I wanna say it again because I think that this simplifies the licensing process, and that’s what we’re talking about here.
[00:08:08] Licensing made simple. So when we talk about licensing and releasing your training, we are taught, we are not changing the product, okay? So we don’t change the product. We change the buyer. Let me say that again. The product or the training of the course doesn’t change. The buyer does. That’s the pivot in licensing.
[00:08:29] It’s a very, very simple pivot. So the first consideration I want you to think about for yourself is how do you love your current business operations? Do you love the way you sell? Do you still want to work with people in your group consulting program, in your mastermind, in your courses? You can still totally do this.
[00:08:48] And still license your trainings, but that’s the difference of the sales process. So the selling process of licensing versus selling to individuals is a [00:09:00] big differentiating factor in what I want you to consider. The next consideration that I wanna review with you is your work life. I hate the word balance, so I’m not gonna use that.
[00:09:11] We’ll call it work life flow. Work life cadence. What does that look like to you? So currently, as you are working with your clients, What does a typical week look like to you? Are you still consulting people? Do you love consulting people? I was just meeting with a client who is joining one of our accelerators here soon, and she was very honest and I loved this, and she said, you know, I just really don’t love coaching.
[00:09:41] I’m very good at what I do. I’m very good at my area of expertise. I love teaching. I love implementing systems into other businesses, but I just really don’t love coaching. And you know what? I think there are a lot of course graders and coaches out there that actually just really don’t love coaching.
[00:09:58] Some of them do, [00:10:00] some of them don’t. So I wanted to bring that up because it was pretty fresh when somebody said that to me, and I think there may be some of you who could relate to that, or I wanted to at least pose that question. Do you love the way that you are working with your clients, whether it’s one-on-one or whether it’s in a group setting?
[00:10:18] And if you have on-demand programs, do you love that cadence of selling one-to-one? Especially with Evergreen programs, we can sell them to companies and just change your weekly cadence. So the first question is, is are you utilizing your strengths as an individual? Some of you love to teach, some of you love to speak, some of you love to be more hands-on in the trenches with clients.
[00:10:47] What does your strength align with best? Because when we’re working in the scale side of working with clients, offering group programs, those [00:11:00] strengths are utilized. But when we’re working in the licensing side, it can actually make it totally hands off. So I wanted to give you some case studies here about how this can apply to your business.
[00:11:12] I’m gonna share with you my very own case study. So with, I have a few different programs that I license with my easiest, most simple licensing package. This is how I do it. I have a series of eight online courses that are available. And companies line up. I only release them one month out of the year. I have a wait list.
[00:11:34] They get the programs, they get the trainings. I package them up, deliver them the trainings. They pay me my money, they sign their contract, and I don’t see them again until it’s time to renew. It is really hands off for me. I only work at that one month a year, and even within that month, it’s the month of November and I usually take off the third and fourth week for the holidays here.
[00:11:55] So it’s very, very little work for me, and I’ve designed it that way [00:12:00] strategically. So what does that look like for you? How do you want your work life to flow? What do you want that cadence to be for the next five or 10 years of your life? What does that look like to you? Consideration. Number three I want you to think about is your pricing and revenue model.
[00:12:17] Okay? So although we all love what we do, I know we all love it. We’re not in business as a hobby. We need to be profitable. How profitable is based on your own personal and professional and business goals. But when we are moving from a course individual sales model to a licensing bottle, you need to ask yourself your level of readiness for that.
[00:12:40] Have you created the structures in place to deliver programs in bulk? That is really, really important. Some very specific case studies. The average first sale contract for my clients, we’re talking first. Licensing contract sale is anywhere from 30 to $80,000, so it [00:13:00] comes out to like $56,000 is the average.
[00:13:03] And when you were getting a check from somebody for $56,000 for the same modules in the same course that you were selling to individuals for maybe 500 bucks, there is a, there’s a greater level of responsibility, let’s just be honest, right? So there’s more money on the table, there’s more responsibility.
[00:13:21] And is that something that you’re okay with? Listen, I have the bestest friends. That’s improper English I know that have the most simple lives. And they make like 80,000 bucks a year, and they’re as happy as claims because they live a very simple life. Money doesn’t buy happiness. I know I might get some comments from you guys about that.
[00:13:45] That’s not what buys happiness, right? What buys happiness is you taking a second. To ask yourself, what feeds your soul? Where do you wanna be? Who do you wanna be there with? What do you wanna be doing? What do you want that cadence to flow like [00:14:00] if selling a half a million dollar program in having sales conversations and closing deals, Makes you uncomfortable.
[00:14:10] You will never sell your license program. The thing about licensing is you have to have a level of confidence in humble ego. You have to know that you are really good at what you do, and you have to know that the results that you deliver are gonna be awesome for the licensee and their end user. If you’re not sure of that, you could go down the road and work really hard to try to license your programs.
[00:14:38] But if your mindset isn’t right, if you don’t know and believe that your program can change something within their organization or help their customers or help their students, or help their clients, You are never going to sell it. And I, you know, I’m not here to sell you on the, the business model of licensing.
[00:14:56] I mean, the, the numbers are enticing [00:15:00] enough. The case studies of my clients who’ve had successful licensing programs, they’re the, they speak for themselves. It’s no sweat off my back if you don’t license your things or not. My job, my conviction as a business mentor and leader. Is to open up the possibilities for you so that you can make the best choices for yourself.
[00:15:22] So I wanna be really honest when we’re talking about a revenue model, are you ready to walk into closing million dollar deals? I have a client right now who has an A $1.5 million deal that she has been negotiating, and that is for an eight module course. Okay, so you need to decide if that’s something that totally lights you up and you’re like, yes, let’s go for it.
[00:15:47] This is gonna be amazing. That is you and only you that can decide that. So that’s consideration number three. And then consideration number four is who do you wanna work with? So it’s, it’s networking, it’s [00:16:00] collaborating. What type of people do you want in your sphere? Because when we move into licensing, we’re moving into much more of a networking and a partnership type of a business model We are having.
[00:16:12] You go to incredible events. And shake hands and meet just amazing people who are part of these organizations that you can create great change for. Do you wanna connect with those people? Do you wanna hang out with those people? Are they people that would light you up, that can bring you up to the next level?
[00:16:31] Are they the type of people that you wanna spend your business time with? Because. The significance of these strong partnerships is very important when we’re talking about licensing. Your network plays a very powerful role in selling your programs, and so we want to make sure that you have, the confidence in the joy to spend time with those people.
[00:16:57] Tell me if you’ve ever had this happen to [00:17:00] you, where a client really, really wants to work with you and they’re willing to pay you whatever it is that you ask, but your personalities just don’t jive. And you know that if you take this client’s 10, 20, $50,000, that you’re pretty much gonna be stuck with them and they’re a big pain in the ass.
[00:17:22] Okay? Just be honest. I keep it real here on the show. If working with companies and organizations and corporations are not the people that you wanna work with, I’m not saying they’re a pain in the ass. I was just using that as an example. Don’t send me a message about that. But if they aren’t the people that really light you up, Then this might not be the right fit for you.
[00:17:43] So I wanted to share that example with you so that you can really think about this. So let’s kind of do a little bit of a recap. This is just a shorter fireside chat conversation between you and me. And again, we have a million resources for you. You can get started and just dive in with [00:18:00] no commitment at all to our licensing launchpad.
[00:18:03] Where I’ll take you through the first steps of deciding how you wanna licensing and who you wanna sell it to. It’s a powerful new little training program that we have and, and you’re not gonna get stuck there. And if you’re thinking about it at all, I would highly recommend moving into licensing launch pattern that direction so that you can start filling out these waters.
[00:18:24] But between me and you, I wanna be really honest about what this. Lifestyle looks like. It’s very, very, very easy for me. I love the way I set up my licensing programs. My clients love the way they have set up their licensing programs, but the thing about licensing that I mentioned in the beginning is once you release it, You can’t take it back.
[00:18:47] And so I wanna make sure, like with any business model we talk about here on the show, whether it’s an MRR or a Mastermind or a hybrid program or a course or a membership, you know, especially in membership, cuz you get stuck in those [00:19:00] babies for a long time. I wanna make sure licensing is, is really gonna float your boat, right?
[00:19:04] And you might not know it until you dive into it, so feel free to take. The next couple of steps here and dive into licensing with us. We have all of the resources available for you sweetlifeco.com. You can click on licensing, and we have everything from a beginner licensing training called Licensing Launchpad to a free 45 minute in depth, like unpacking your licensing ideas and sharing with you the ways that you can package your program.
[00:19:35] All the way to working with me privately in applying to work in our accelerator where we even give you everything down to the templates and contract. Wherever you are in this process, I’m a big advocate for it because I love it, but I will never be one of those business coaches that tells you what you should do.
[00:19:51] Nobody should be telling you that. So this particular episode, I really wanted to record for us so that you and I can have this kind of behind the [00:20:00] scenes chat. Because we have done so many episodes on how to license, who to sell to, how to price it, all these things, right? And I never wanted to come across here on the show where I’m saying, you have to do this because that is not the case.
[00:20:12] You don’t have to do anything. You can create any business model. You can create any offer. You can work with anybody you want. You can create whatever change of whatever life you want. This is just another option that is the most profitable. I will say that it’s the most profitable and it scales experts faster than any other way I’ve ever seen, but it doesn’t mean it’s right for you.
[00:20:34] So I wanted to sit here and create this little fireside chat message with you and introduce you to the concept of licensing, but also have a real come to Jesus together on whether or not this is the right fit for you and who thrives in a licensing environment and, and who, who might actually struggle.
[00:20:51] If you don’t know that, you know that the program that you have created is absolutely amazing, then maybe we need to take a couple of steps [00:21:00] back. We need to maybe apply. The process of transformational program design that we teach to create your courses. Maybe we need to take a few steps back, and if that’s where you are, that’s awesome.
[00:21:12] But if you know you have amazing programs or if you’re already consulting corporations, or if you’re already a speaker, licensing is a beautiful next step. For exponential profitability that is just sitting there on the table for the taking. And so that is our little fireside chat today. Feel free to message me on LinkedIn with any questions you have about this.
[00:21:34] I have a live show over there as well, and we talk about licensing all the time. I’m at April Beach on LinkedIn. And you can also check us out on our new YouTube podcast and see behind the scenes. I do a lot of talking with my hands here in all my podcast notes, which is so funny on my, on my chicken scratch paper here next to me.
[00:21:57] But, I’m so glad you’re here and I really appreciate you, [00:22:00] and I hope you felt like, although it wasn’t a step-by-step training that I usually do, I hope you felt like this was informative. My goal was to help you determine whether or not this is a good avenue for you to dive into and to share with you the resources when you’re ready.
[00:22:15] Again, those can be sweetlifeco.com or you can dive right into licensinglaunchpad.com and I will be waiting in there for you with worksheets and a step-by-step guide to get you started. Thank you so much for tuning into today’s show, and I will talk to you next week where I will be unpacking the five ways.
[00:22:36] To package your license program. We’ll be talking about licenses and certifications and train the trainer programs. We’re kind of getting into some really cool dorky licensing scaling stuff next week. So if you’re interested in that, listen to that episode too. All right, I’ll talk to you soon. Bye-bye.[00:23:00]