Help those on the left of you!

You love the idea of creating learning products for your ideal customer. You want to make a difference. You want to teach your wisdom.

You also love the idea of creating a passive income product funnel that has the potential to create a regular income and reach more people than you ever could one to one.

But…

I hear you hesitating.

Why?

Let’s look at some of the reasons and I’ll explain how you can relax and steam ahead.

I’m not really an authority on this topic. I love it, but I’m not an expert.

You don’t need to be an authority or an expert. You just need to be ahead of the person you are teaching. Seriously. Some of the most successful online entrepreneurs are very up front about this.

Knowledge and actions are on a continuum. Absolute novice through to world renowned expert.

I was an academic in a highly reputable university for 5 years. I was always amazed how many of my colleagues were only a couple of weeks ahead of their students. They would write their lectures and prepare tutorials just in time to teach it. Actually it was a pretty good idea for subjects that used a lot of current issue topics like marketing or strategic management where recent case studies and examples really help to engage and motivate students. I taught accounting…. Not such an issue J

Degrees and mastery are not necessary. Think about the people you really admire? Did you check their qualifications before you started following them?

Case study

I LOVE Pat Flynn and Smart Passive Income. He is quite upfront about learning as he goes. He blogs about learning his craft and shares his experiences. He has a huge following now, is held as an authority, and makes a very VERY tidy income. Check him out. He actually started by writing study notes for an upcoming exam on a web page so he could access it on the way to work. After he was laid off, he realised the web page full of study notes was getting loads of views. He created a course, loaded it for sale, and the rest is history. (Check out his monthly income statements. There’s gold there!)

Action –

• What more do you want to know? Learn it. Quickly. Learn by doing wherever possible.
• Don’t wait for perfection. It doesn’t exist. Start before you’re ready and work it out.
• Do you know more about your topic than some other people? If yes. Teach those people… you will learn as you teach. Promise.

There are so many other people out there who know this stuff too.

How many hairdressers are there in your town? How did you choose the one you go to? You chose your hairdresser for a range of reasons. You may have shopped around until you found the one who understands and works well with your hair and what you want. You probably like your hairdresser too. There is usually some kind of personal connection.

It is a good thing there are so many hairdressers. It means they are in demand (read $) and there is a fit for everyone. Similarly, it’s a good thing if your topic has successful players already established. It means people want it and are willing to pay for it.

I would like to make a personal observation that may or may not ring true for you. Women tend to expect too much from themselves or are too hard in judging themselves. In my corporate life I mentored many women and men. It always amazed me that I would have to push women to progress, apply for the promotion, secondment, project or whatever. The guys where happy to give the next thing a go long before they were competent and then spent the first 6 months in their new roles plotting their next promotion.

Women seem to feel a need to be far more capable to give something a go. Why? Get over it. Pull up your skirt and jump in!

Back yourself. There is nothing stopping you. There is just you and as much courage and balls as you can muster (there’s a reason that phrase is masculine!).

You are perfect for your ideal client. You use the words and the feelings that resinate and call to your people. Your style is just right for them.

Be real. Be honest. Be generous. And hustle. You have to go out and find your people.

Case study

How many coaches do you think there are online? I don’t know the answer but it’s bloody loads. I love that coaches are differentiating themselves through their own unique style. Check out Kylie Patchette’s site. She uses very familiar language that really welcomes and embraces the reader. Her style is warm and no BS. That suites me.

What is your style and who will it suite?

You want your people to find you because you suit them.

Action –

• Define your unique voice, style, model, intention.
• What makes you different?
• Make all of this really clear. Right up front. In your web page, in your course, in the examples you choose. Don’t fall into the trap of sounding just like everyone else. Professional tone is for boardrooms. Long may it rest.

I’ve only just learned to do this stuff myself

Here’s something I know for sure…

Newly competent people make great teachers because they remember what they struggled with.

I see you frowning….

Let me explain.

Who taught you to drive? Did you learn from a parent with 20 years’ experience in the car (I did. It was bloody horrible.) I also got in the car with my friends who had just got their licence. They were much better at explaining where to put my tyres on the road (I was terrified and drove too close to the gutter) and how to feel the balance on the clutch. They remembered the ‘key learning points’ that had simply become second nature to my expert driving parents.

Novices remember the key learning points that masters never remember struggling with. You have this advantage if you have recently struggled with the same issues and found ways to succeed.

Case study

Marya from Writinghappiness hasn’t been in business that long but is very successful and is a great writer and educator. Her ideal client is online entrepreneurs in their first year of business. She has been there recently herself, she has been successful and she remembers what she struggled with.  Genius.

Action –

• Clearly and very specifically identify your ideal client (someone on the left of you on the continuum of skills and knowledge).
• Show that you know exactly what they are about to go through and you have the tools for their success. Currency of experience is an advantage.

WHY YOU SHOULD TEACH – Teaching helps you to get even better at your stuff!

As you work through the process of creating your course, you will become more expert. You will identify gaps in your knowledge and practice. You will challenge your understanding of how to help other people do it too.

I recently had to teach my daughter how to multiply fractions. I looked at an equation and knew the answer. Actually stopping to work out how I did that was difficult. I had to go back and break it up into bite sized steps, explain each step and then create multiple additional problems for her to work out herself.  I didn’t use jargon or explain the logic. I just broke it down into steps. Showed her the process and let her practice. Once she had some success, I went back and explained the language of fractions and how it worked.

(This may seem a counter intuitive method of teaching, but actually it works really well for a lot of skills. She didn’t need to know the name of the top part of a fraction in order to solve the problem.)

Another example may be trying to show your parents or grandparents how to work a smart phone (give me strength!!) What is intuitive to you may actually be quite complex for others.

That’s why teaching is more about how you do something, in minute detail, than about telling people what they need to know.

Have you ever read content and thought – that’s all well and good – but what the hell do I do with it! That’s someone who knows their stuff but forgot to make it USEFUL.

Teaching your gifts requires that you get really clear about the how!

So – teaching helps you get better at your craft and you can easily find people who are a couple of steps behind and would love a short cut to where you are now.

Create that short cut, with your own unique style.

Teaching is just being really generous with what you’ve learned, putting your hand out to others and saying ‘I’m here to help. Let me share.’  That feels good and you don’t need to be an expert.

What is stopping you from creating a course right now? Write a comment below or email me on yvette@sassyowl.biz

Want a process to follow to create your course? Check out my free eBook and get on my list of hints and activities to work through the process.

8 Steps to create client focused eCourses that sell and change lives

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