Business: How John Saunders Made $100k from One Course [Blog]
John Saunders is one of my favorite follows on Twitter as he documents and shares content around building his brand & design agency, 5Four Digital.
This profile interview with Podia highlights his story of leaving an agency to start his own and growing as an entrepreneur. A takeaway from the post:
The first step in creating a quality online course begins with not assuming what your students want.
If you’re wondering how he gets to a place of guaranteed pre-sales, John first gathers a small community of ideal customers and then asks them directly about how to fill their needs. “And it doesn't have to be a huge community,” coaches John. “It could be 15 to 30 people, but it has to be your target audience.”
He asks them questions like:
• What are you looking for?
• What do you need?
• How can I help you facilitate these specific things in your business?
From there, he creates a Google doc that outlines his course curriculum and involves his small community in the course creation process by continuing to get their feedback during the entire process.
Money: 7 Ways to Practice Financial Self Care [Blog]
Mental health has gotten a lot of attention in recent years and there's been a priority placed on self care. But what about financial self care?
Money has an impact on most parts of our lives, and financial self care means building a healthy relationship with money, developing good habits, and creating clarity in your financial life so you can feel good about your money.
Some ways to practice it:
Strategy: How to Make Money Online - Writing vs. YouTube [Video]
David Perrell flew halfway across the world to record this video with Ali Abdaal that released yesterday.
If you want to learn more about the strategy behind their business decisions and how they approach thinking about making money as a creator, you need to watch it.
These are some reasons why David believes people should get started as online writers, regardless of whether they want to eventually start a blog or a YouTube channel - quoted from David's comment on the video:
Attract friends and business partners: It's hard to meet people as passionate about learning as you are. But when you publish your ideas, you attract people who think like you. The more niche the topic, the easier it is to attract people on your intellectual wavelength.
Writing helps you understand yourself: All of us have unprocessed feelings and emotions. Writing is the best way to identify what's making you uncomfortable. By writing, you gain clarity in your life. The increased clarity you receive reduces stress and anxiety in your life.
Writing attracts opportunities: Every article you publish is like a serendipity vehicle. High-level people who resonate with your ideas will reach out to you with career opportunities you couldn't have imagined. Thus, writing maximizes your surface area of exposure to luck.
Writing accelerates your learning: If you want to understand a topic better, start teaching it. The act of putting ideas into your own words tattoos them into your mind. As James Clear once said: "If you think you can learn a lot by reading a book, try writing one."
If you follow any fitness content, you've probably heard the name Christian Guzman before.
Christian began creating YouTube videos in 2012 and like many fitness creators, he started out with workout content and earned money through personal training, digital products, and affiliate marketing.
He was passionate about fitness and was dedicated to building his brand, Alphalete.
Over time, he created fitness apparel and opened his first, small warehouse gym. At the time this was a big business move and allowed him to begin turning the attention he was getting from content into a functioning, sustainable business.
He continued to vlog, expanded his business through partnerships and bigger gyms, and eventually launched the Summer Shredding Challenge, a hit amongst his following.
It's an annual bodybuilding/fitness show, now hosted at his own Alphalete Gym, and because he's a creator, he kicks off the challenge on his channel and vlogs his daily training and nutrition as he prepares for competition, creating a closer bond with his subscribers.
He then launched an energy drink line, 3D Energy, to further diversify his income streams and if you know business, you know how lucrative a beverage company can be.
Also read: Why Is The Soft Drink Industry So Profitable?
And to add to all of that, right before COVID hit, he announced the plans for Alphaland, a gym and retail experience - combining his passion for fitness and his popular Alphalete clothing brand.
COVID presented many challenges of course and inevitably delayed the launch. When pouring money into construction and projecting cash flow, delays can be devastating.
But after 2 years, Alphaland is now officially open for business in Stafford, TX.
It aims to be a premier destination for gym-goers and a hot travel spot as the campus features a hotel amongst many other fitness & lifestyle focused amenities.
Watch the launch video: The Biggest Moment Of My Life... Opening Alphaland
Because of the attention he's created around himself and the community he's built, he's had no problem with support behind product launches and new business ventures - which reinforces the impact creators have and shows how content can be used as a tool to build businesses (aside from traditional content marketing).
His success also shows how important it is to match your business to your audience if you plan to leverage them to grow.
He'd put out fitness content and built his brand for years, and received support along the way, which allowed him to confidently make business decisions that would provide the highest chances of success.
👀 This YouTuber scammed his followers out of $500,000
👶 An 8-year-old shows why you should share your creative work (via StoryThings)
🔥 Mr. Beast is hiring for 14 positions
🎥 Airrack raises $3 million to build a modern filmmaking school
💰 This meme-creating brand raised $21.5 million
✍🏼 17 tips for great copywriting (via Hypefury)
📈 YouTube generated $28.8 billion in ad revenue in 2021
🧠 What creators need to know about mental health
Tool of the Week: Capital Gains Simulator (free) - Created by Reconcile Money, this free tool lets you see how much you'd owe in taxes before you decide to sell an investment
Freelance Finds: A complete guide to understanding health insurance as a freelancer (or self-employed person) via Ventursom
Keep creating,
Treyton DeVore
