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    Episode 197: Will Your Service, Course, or Program Sell? – with April Beach

    SweetLife Entrepreneur Podcast April Beach

    This episode is for those in Phase 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 of the Lifestyle Entrepreneur Roadmap™ Not sure what Phase your business is in?

     

    Episode Bonuses:

    Grab the cheatsheets and a 6-minute video to get started building your Signature Offer.

    Who This Episode is Great For:

    This show is for experts, entrepreneurs and businesses who:
    A) Want to know more about creating your Signature Offer
    B) Want to launch an online course, program or service
    C) Want to make sure what you build is a needed commodity 

    Summary:

    This show is part of a series called: How To Create Your Signature Offer™, Program, Course, Service or Process. In this episode we’re talking about how to know if your new service, program or course will sell? 
     
     Is it really needed and will people actually buy it? 
     
    So if you’ve been working on building your first online course, corporate program, service or offer, today’s show will help you determine the need and make smart decisions to scale your business faster. 

    Highlights:

    1. Know how to assess market demand
    2. Get clarity on how to make your offer stand out
    3. Determine if you should move forward or scratch the plan

    Resources Mentioned:

    Download the CheatSheetMust-Have Components of Every Leading Signature Offer or Program plus get a quick 6-minute video overview when you Join the Waitlist to create Your Signature Offer™, Program or Process.
     
     
     
     


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    Full Show Transcript:

    You’re listening to the Sweetlife entrepreneur podcast, simplified strategies to grow your service business and launch a life you love faster with business mental and entrepreneur activator, a probate. Hey there. And welcome back to I’m April beach. Thank you for tuning in with me this week. This is the fourth episode in the series that we’ve been doing called how to create your signature offer program,
    service or process. And so for the last three episodes we’ve been talking about what is a signature offer or a signature program, a signature course, how to differentiate yours, how to create it using the assets you already have and how to make sure that your business can really stand out as the undisputed leader in your space by creating a signature service in today’s episode is the wrap up of those four.
    This is episode number 197. So when you’re referencing looking for the show notes and things I’m going to talk about here today, you can always cruise over to Sweetlife co.com, click on the podcast and simply find episode number one 97. Today, we’re talking about how to know if your service program or course will sell. And we’re going to dive into some questions and some strategies that you can go through.
    I’m going to guide you through that so that you can get clarity to know whether or not what you’re creating is actually worth it. And for you who are listening. And you’re like, yes, I want to lead in my space. I’m ready to scale my offline business online. I’m ready to launch my program or course, make sure you go grab the cheat sheets that I have for you.
    And a six minute video on how to get started building your signature program over@signatureoffer.com. You can also join the wait list for my next master class called how to create your signature program and offer on that page as well. So I wanted to make sure that you knew that those tools were available to you, and you can go grab those right away. So who is this particular episode for this episode is for experts,
    entrepreneurs, and small businesses who a, you either want to know more about creating a signature program or offer B, you want to launch an online course or an online coaching service or an online program, or C you just want to make sure that what you’re about to build, isn’t going to be bunk. Isn’t going to be a total waste of your time.
    And you might be asking yourself, is this really needed? Are people actually going to buy this? So if you’ve been working on building, maybe your first online course developing a corporate program or a service or an offer today’s show is going to help you determine the need and make sure that you’re making smart decisions to scale your business faster. And of course,
    time is money. And so today’s show is going to save you both of those. And at the end of this episode, you’re going to know how to assess your market for demand. You’re going to get clarity on how to make your offer stand out. And you’re going to determine if you should move forward or fully scratched the plan and save yourself time and not do that.
    So I’m excited to dive into this conversation with you. Let’s do it.<inaudible> Okay, guys, we’re continuing our conversation in this four part series on how to create your signature program offer process course or service. And for the last month we’ve been talking about what is a signature program. You know, we hear all the time businesses saying, Oh, this is going to be my signature offer.
    And we’ve covered in these episodes. Really? What is a signature offer? And just a little short recap. I do want you to need into those episodes. If you’re landing here the first time, those are episodes number one 94, one 95 and one 96, but just a short little recap, not every offer is a signature offer, just because you say it’s a signature offer,
    there are specific things which is taking your thoughts, your intellectual property, and turning that into your methodology that becomes a foundation for your signature offer. So if you haven’t listened to those episodes, definitely go back. Cause it’s going to be a really powerful springboard for what we’re talking about today, which of course is how to determine if the signature program or offer you are about to create,
    will actually sell. So this show, again, wraps up this whole entire series. And I wanted to make sure that you knew that all of it is available there for you. It’s a perfect way to wrap up this series because obviously we want to work smarter and not harder. We also want to make sure that you’re leading your space. So let me go ahead and start out with a story so that you know,
    that if you’ve created something that hasn’t sold before you are not alone, I had this genius idea. I’m sure it was a genius idea. It was 2009. And I decided that we needed to have a website, which was a resource where all these parent coaches could come together. And I spent thousands of dollars building this website and recruiting different businesses to be found on this website,
    paid my designer and it totally flopped on its face because I just wanted to create it because I felt like the industry needed it. There was no plan behind it. It was just April being creative and also April losing like $10,000 and a whole bunch of time. So the problem that we have as thought leaders and as creators is that the joy is in the building.
    Most entrepreneurs have a bunch of ideas and oftentimes we’re so damn excited about what we’re about to do. We don’t even take time to research whether or not it will actually take off. Now, once you get a little bit more wrinkles and a lot gray hair in years, go by, you know, maturity combines with creativity. You get smarter and exponentially more profitable,
    but you know, if you’d rather not wait for the gray hair and saggy boobs, that is why we are talking about this on today’s show. You are welcome in today’s episode, I’m going to give you questions to research, to know whether or not your product will sell. It’s like Pat Flynn calls it in his book, will it fly? And these questions,
    there are six of them. So if you’re driving your car, you might want to get a little scratch piece of paper out. Or of course you can always replay this on all of your podcasts, listening devices and visit our show notes for this episode. But these questions are going to give you super insight into whether or not what you’re creating is really worth your time.
    So let’s go ahead and dive in. So I’m going to go through these six questions and jam a little bit on each one to give you a little bit more background and insight about them. And then we’re going to talk about how to combine these six questions with what we have discussed and the business trainings that I’ve delivered on the last couple of podcasts to truly give you the gold and the answer that you need for moving the creation or the launch of your program or service forward.
    Okay. So let’s dive right in question number one, what is your ideal client’s biggest problem as it relates to your specialty? And let me jam on this question a little bit, and then I’ll repeat it for you. Especially if you’re taking notes, we oftentimes talk about the solution. We create your product, your offer. That is the focus of our discussion and today’s podcast episode is the solution.
    What you need to ask yourself is what is the problem I am solving and is the solution that I’m creating, solving a specific problem for my ideal client, certainly as it relates to your specialty. So you need to be able to answer the question very clearly. What is my ideal client’s biggest problem. As of course, it relates to your area of expertise.
    So question number one is really hammering that out. And again, the clarity this is going to give you is, is what I am about to propose as my signature program solving this biggest problem. You might be able to stop right there and just say, Hey, you know what? I don’t think it’s hitting their biggest problem. And this is enough.
    There you go. Edit it and fix it. So that’s question number one, question number two. What solutions are currently in the market? Now? This is a competitive analysis question, but I, when you’re talking about competitors, most businesses automatically think, Oh, I have to find everybody in my space that is just like me, every other program or a or service or in my geographic area.
    One of the things I want you to think about is there are times when other business models provide the same solution that you do. So for example, if somebody’s biggest problem is they don’t know how to create a backyard garden. They can either, or a company to help them come in and do it that, or they can read a magazine. If you’re the company that’s great in a signature program about how to create the most amazing backyard vegetable gardens.
    You need to know that one of your competitors or another place that they might be looking could be a local magazine. So just realize that when we’re talking about competitive analysis, it isn’t always what looks exactly like or close to what you’re about to create. It’s other places your clients are going for the same answers to their problem. So question number two is what solutions are currently in the market.
    Question number three, what is actually selling now? Obviously you’re not going to be able to get into the back of the numbers of local competitors or similar businesses, but do your best at trying to determine, is this something that people are actually buying right now side note, just because somebody has thousands of Instagram followers doesn’t mean they make a lot of money.
    I think that hopefully this, this year, everybody has realized that the number of Instagram followers you have has no correlation at all to how profitable your company is. Just a little side note. So what is currently selling right now? And don’t go to Instagram to see how many great looking posts they have that just figure it out. You can ask people in your market,
    you can ask potential clients. Maybe I have purchased a service that could be a competitor of yours. Why they chose to do that question number four, what is missing? You see what is the need that has not been met? I still don’t know. I remember my favorite class in high school and no, I did not go to school very often in high school.
    I was pretty much dishing school, but I never missed missing Holloway’s entrepreneurship class. I was there every day, single week, this guy was amazing. And he always said whole bunch of things like small businesses. Beautiful. But yeah, he always was saying, find that need, look for what people are craving. And sometimes it’s hard, but not for you creatives.
    You can see right through that. If you really look hard, you can see what’s missing and it might not be the solution. That’s right. Seeing that maybe what’s missing is how it’s being delivered. Maybe what you’re proposing to launch as a signature service or program is very similar to what somebody else already has. But what might be missing is a way in which it’s administered or delivered the business model.
    Okay. Question number five is, will your offer fill an unmet or under met need? This is a basic thing. You know, business one Oh one guys, we have to make sure that there’s a market for it. And people are going to buy it. That means you either need to be solving a problem or fulfilling a desire that people are willing to pay you for.
    Okay. I can move on after that one. Number six, why are you uniquely qualified to create and to deliver this offer, you need to be able to answer that and you should be able to answer it for yourself. The answer to this question is also the solution to what a lot of, especially female entrepreneurs struggle with with imposter syndrome, like feeling like you aren’t enough or feeling like you’re never good enough.
    And I just know, cause I’m a woman. I know a lot of women struggle with that. And I have certainly struggled with that as well. This answer to this question, why are you uniquely qualified to create, deliver this offer is like the hammer that shatters that totally not true last wall, right? You need to be able to look at yourself and say,
    what have I been through? What is my story? What is, what have I walked through? What education have I received? What you know, on the job training and certification hours and hours performing this type of act, whatever it is, service consulting, what is that? And you need to hold that true. And you need to hold that close,
    especially as you are creating a signature program, because nobody sees things like you do. Nobody provides solutions the way you do, especially when you have a history with that. So ask yourself and please make sure that you give yourself grace in this because you might fumble through it a little bit and you might not actually know the answer to this question and that’s okay,
    but for sure, ask yourself, why are you uniquely qualified to create and deliver this offer? And when you answer these questions, it’s going to give you clarity on whether or not you should move forward and build and create your signature program or service. So let me summarize these questions. One more time. Number one, what is your ideal client’s biggest problem as it relates to your specialty?
    Number two, what solutions are currently in the market? Number three, what is selling number four? What is missing? Number five, will your offer fill an unmet or under met need? And number six, why are you uniquely qualified to create and deliver this offer? Now know the answers to these questions alone are not enough to give you a total full insight into whether or not you should move forward in building this offer.
    But these questions combined with what we did on last week show, which is sweet life entrepreneur podcast. Number one 96 are literally worth their weight in gold and will give you complete clarity on whether or not you should move forward or run the other direction. And don’t keep going. So today’s questions combined with one 96 are going to give you that foundation and that confidence to know whether or not you should move forward and building and creating,
    launching, developing your signature program or offer. So let’s do a big rate cap over the last four weeks. We’ve been talking about creating your signature offer program course or service. And most companies start with the actual business model. Like literally I hear people say, I want to launch an online course, or I want to launch a membership site, or I want to develop a corporate benefits program,
    or I want to create a certification program that is the business model of your signature method. You first need to start with outlining your intellectual property in creating a predictable transformational result that becomes the content and it becomes your methodology that gives people Results literally, I talked to businesses all the time. Then I just got off the phone with another really fabulous woman out of New York.
    And I spoke to her last week and she’s like, gosh, I have been creating this course forever. And she’s so qualified to do it, but there was something in the way of actually just building the course. And it’s because she hadn’t gone through the process of actually extracting her ideas out of her brain and dropping them into organized buckets. If you will,
    into a timeline or an outline that really can then become the business model, which is the course. And so I just want to share theirs first, going through this process, as we’re wrapping up this four part series, first, you create your intellectual property, your content, and then choose the business model. So you first want to start with that part and then choose a business model and how it will be delivered.
    Again, a live course, a recorded course, a one on one coaching service, a group coaching service. You could be planning a retreat, a series of classes, corporate programs, sky’s the limit when it comes to the business model. And as a side note, if you have not yet, if you’re wondering about what business model, make sure that you download the ultimate guide to online business models that can be found right there on our website@sweetlifeco.com,
    it’s a 14 page guide and it tells you every single online business model. So that’ll give you a lot of really good information there. And to summarize the last four podcasts, one 94, one 95, one 96 and one 97 are really powerful to get you started in the right direction, building your signature program or offer. So I know we discussed a lot of things.
    I absolutely love you too need into this show. And I appreciate you guys so much. We’re almost at episode 200 and coming up on four years of the Sweetlife entrepreneurial business podcast and totally could not have done it without you liking this show and subscribing to this show and sharing the show with your fans. Our mission really is to deliver you proven, trusted business consulting and strategy that other business coaches charge thousands for.
    This is our outreach and it’s our impact. And it’s the way we pour into the entrepreneur and the small business community first. And so I really appreciate you listening to the show and sharing it with your friends. And if you’re ready to totally knock it out of the park and become the undisputed leader in your space, you want help taking your thoughts, turning them into reality,
    taking your intellectual property, outlining your methodology and turning it into your signature program or offer. Make sure you cruise over to signature offer.com and you can get information. You can add your name to the interest list to join my next masterclass. And of course, that’s also where I have the cheat sheet for you and the short little six minute video to get you started in the meantime that signature offer.com.
    All right, you guys, thanks for tuning into the show. Next week, we have an awesome guest take Carney’s on the show and she’s helping you transition the mindset behind being the founder and doing it all. Just starting to delegate the processes so your businesses can scale. All right. Talk to you guys soon. Thanks so much. Bye bye. For now.