Student Stories

How This Father of Three Created an Online Course with NO Technical Know-How

September 7, 2016 by Benjamin Pyle Leave a Comment

This case study focuses on one of our very good friends, Robbie Stephenson of Flea Market Flipper. Robbie and his wife Melissa were one of the very first students to go through our Monetize Your Genius™ (MYG) program. They’re hard workers and a joy to be around. Keep reading to learn about the results they’re getting. Tell us about yourself, … read more

FAQs

Do I need an idea?

You don’t necessarily need an idea, but you do need a skill (or “genius), or someone close to you needs a skill/genius that fits the bill.

What fits the bill? Something you are really, really good at, something that people often ask you to show them how to do.

If people ask you to teach them or help them with something you’re good at, it’s a very good sign you’ve got something people will pay for.

If you want to (briefly!) run your idea by us, send us an email.

How can I benefit from a mastermind community?

8 Things You’ll Get as Part of the Monetize Your Genius Mastermind Community:

Answers and ideas from brainstorming with the group
The ability to tap into others’ skills and expertise
Increased confidence you’re taking the right actions to achieve your goals
Strong accountability in both your business and personal life
An instant and high-value support network
The assurance you are not alone — there are others out there sharing in your journey!
The freedom to design things to be the way you want them to be, not as you’ve been taught they “should” be
An inspirational boost to your everyday outlook and attitude

How do I find a profitable idea?

Brainstorm at least 15 ideas — they could fall into one of three categories:

1) Things you’re good at (i.e. public speaking)

2) Knowledge you have (i.e. astrology or fitness)

3) Personal challenges you’ve overcome (i.e. getting rid of your kid’s head lice, clearing up acne, etc.)

Try to get at least five ideas in each category.

3 Steps to Test Your Idea(s)

1) Find one (one!) person interested in your idea. You can do this via FB message, email, phone, or in person. If you’re not sure, ask ANYONE remotely close to the idea, even your parents. We’re not aiming for perfection right now, just a start.

2) “Test” your idea using this script: “I’m thinking of starting some kind of website around [IDEA]. When you talk to your friends about it, what do they say? What’s the biggest pain or problem around [IDEA]?”

3) Write down exactly what that person says. Did they say, “I want a quick fix”? or did they say, “I am so tired of feeling tired all the time.” Chances are, they’re communicating some kind of pain to you, not a desire for a cure-all.

How much money do I need to start up?

In addition to your investment in the Monetize Your Genius eCoaching program, we suggest at least $500 if you’re building a web content-based product like an online course or eBook. That will give you quite likely more than enough to build both your website and product.

What you’ll need the most of in the process is time: at least two hours a day. Chances are you’re going to spend a lot more than that if you really want to see this happen — once you get the hang of things (having a vision/plan plus guidance and accountability makes it so much easier), you’ll find yourself looking for ways to create more time to finish your website and product, and new ideas for content on your site/product will start popping into your head on a regular basis. You may even find it fun as you see your vision, or your “puzzle” take shape.

Ben and I built ProofreadAnywhere.com from scratch with less than $500 — that was for three years of hosting, the theme, and all the programs and plugins we needed to build what you see now, PLUS build our product. We looked for coupons and discounts for everything we bought, and used free plugins whenever possible. There are a lot of free plugins on WordPress that are really robust and add amazing functionality to our site.

We did about $500 of paid advertising on Facebook in the very beginning, before we realized that wasn’t going to get us very far (lots of clicks and no buys). If we could go back, we would probably not have invested in any paid advertising and stuck with affiliates instead. We dabbled in Google ads with some free credit we received from our hosting provider, but did not pay for any out of pocket.

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How This Father of Three Created an Online Course with NO Technical Know-How

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