A Simple Model for Creating a One Person Online Business From Scratch (Part Two)
Creating and validating your offer as well as creating your VIP list of subscribers
Personal note:
This week, I’m continuing the series I began last week on creating a one person business from scratch.
The creator economy continues to pick up steam. So if you have been contemplating an entry into digital entrepreneurship, there’s no better time to take the plunge.
The water is perfect.
P.S. Be sure to download the Substack app for a more pleasant reading experience.
Here is the outline for creating a one person online business from scratch.
Preliminary Ideas to Internalize as You Begin
A Solution-Centric Approach to Niche Selection
Part Two (This Week)
Getting Your Offer Validated
Your VIP List of Subscribers
Part Three (Next Week)
Your Strategic Content
Your E-Mail Follow-Up Strategy
Getting Your Offer Validated
You can do this!
I’m going to save you a lot of time, tears, and tender by suggesting that you create an offer right out of the gate.
I know this sounds intimidating, but that’s because you may lack the technical knowledge. However, you are not lacking in expertise. And that’s the key. You’ve got the knowledge to deliver for your peeps.
You can absolutely do this.
Here’s a game to play.
Pretend that your friends came to you and said, “Would you show us how to do that [insert thing] that you do so well?”
That is an offer in a nutshell.
The only difference is that your friends would get your advice for free while others with the same request would be willing to pay.
Reasons to pull the trigger on your offer
There are many reasons to create an offer first:
You can validate whether there is a market without creating funnels, courses or marketing materials. This will save you months of time on a project that might ultimately fail.
There is a small percentage of your audience that is searching for your workshop solution. These folks do not need a lot of education or convincing. If they see the right offer, they will jump on it immediately.
Creating an offer will give you real world experience in sales, marketing, technology, and training. You cannot buy this kind of education from a book, video or course.
You will receive invaluable feedback on your offer and your business.
Your audience will perceive you as an authority. They will begin to trust you with solving bigger problems.
Once you make your first sale, it will light a fire inside you. You will become a believer in the digital economy.
Your First Offer - Micro Workshop
The first offer you should create is a micro workshop. A micro workshop is the most low-tech way to test an offer.
Please read the two editions of our newsletter where I cover the “why” and “how” of micro-workshops.
In addition, you should complete the exercise in our previous newsletter, the solution-centric approach to selecting your niche.
Choosing a topic for your micro workshop
Choose the most compelling entries from your exercise. It’s likely they will be centered around a skillset, expertise, vocation or craft. However, you might be surprised by something else within your life.
Then narrow down to a single topic.
What you seek is a topic for which you have mastery, and specifically, a topic you can frame as a micro solution to problem for your audiences.
This is one of the keys mentioned in the previous articles. Don’t try to tackle a huge topic. Look for something you can cover in one hour that will give your audience a quick win.
Steps for creating and testing a micro workshop
At this stage, you must follow the steps in our mechanics of a workshop newsletter to create and test your micro workshop. Remember, this is all done within seven days.
Pick the hottest topic for your audience(s)
Validate your idea with your audience(s)
Decide on the date / price / title for your micro workshop
Configure your simple tech
Your simple promotion strategy
Preparing your micro workshop presentation
Going live with your micro workshop
Your simple follow-up strategy
For your audiences, think of all your networks (online or off-line) and run your idea by them. You should reach out personally if needed via an email or DM.
If you have chosen a good topic, you should have no problem signing up several spots.
And if you follow through with this exercise, I want to congratulate you. Many entrepreneurs struggle with making a sale. Also, as we mentioned, by creating and delivering the workshop, you will be getting an invaluable education in all things marketing.
Your VIP List of Subscribers
If you could internalize only one idea from my newsletters, it would be this one:
Your list of VIP subscribers is the most important digital asset of your one person business.
For this reason, you must prioritize building it.
In addition, having a group of subscribers is what defines you as a sovereign creator. Building a business on social media is the opposite of that.
Having a list means that no algorithm stands between you and your audience. It means your audiences belongs to you, and not the platform.
Finally, it means you can speak freely to your audience without the fear of getting banned. (Of course, as an entrepreneur of impact, you should have no fear of that. Nevertheless, good accounts also get shut down.)
The basics of building an e-mail list are as follows:
Create an incentive for your audience to join your VIP group of subscribers.
Establish a simple system to capture someone’s email and deliver the incentive.
Creating an incentive to join your VIP group
There are many ways to incentivize people to join your VIP group:
Create a “lead magnet”
A lead magnet is a valuable piece of content (in PDF, audio or video form) that solves a small problem for your audience. There is an entire industry, and even courses, for creating compelling lead magnets.
I have used PDFs, videos, checklists and frameworks in the past.
One of the easiest types of lead magnets to create is a checklist. You can see an example of this in digital form in my blog post entitled Checklist for Creating a High ROI workshop.
Here is an example of a PDF lead magnet called the VIP Strategy that I used to attract influencers. As you can see in the document, I identified a problem (building on social media), then offered my solution which is a lead generation chatbot.
Use the VIP strategy
If you are musician, artist, or specialty creator, your biggest incentive for people to join your VIP group is YOU. If this is your case, I would recommend my newsletter on the VIP Strategy or the above mentioned lead magnet.
As an example, I once worked with music group here in Colombia who had never established an e-mail list.
I showed them the VIP strategy, and within three months they had reached 2,000 subscribers. In addition, their audience was so thrilled to be receiving a behind the scenes newsletter that they enjoyed a 50% open rate on their emails.
So they were reaching 1,000 people with every e-mail.
Social media’s reach pales in comparison.
Newsletter (or valuable content) first
The approach we are taking at the Impact Generation is to give away our newsletter WITHOUT asking our audience members for anything in return. They can read, enjoy, and use all of the information.
This means that when folks become subscribers, they are ready, and they have joined with complete freedom. With a traditional lead magnet, there is still friction and hesitation.
But it’s just an e-mail you say.
No, it’s not. It’s someone’s time and attention and we value that highly.
Besides, people have been burned before in the exchange, starting with a crappy lead magnet or getting pitched by a stream of e-mails.
We are not saying you need to go this route, since the traditional route still works great. This is our preference, and forms part of our marketing philosophy.
Establish a simple system to capture the e-mail
There are two primary ways to capture someone’s email:
Traditional Way - Lead Magnet with a Landing Page
The traditional way to capture an e-mail is to create a landing page displaying the incentive. The landing page contains an opt-in form, which then connects to a commercial e-mail program like Mailchimp.
This is an example of a landing page. It is simple, has one message (incentive) and a place to put your e-mail, and that’s it.
You have two options: subscribe or click away.
The average opt-in rate for a landing page is 15-20%. This means that for every one hundred visitors to the page, fifteen to twenty will deposit their e-mail.
The Impact Generation Way - A Conversation Magnet
Within the Impact Generation, we want to connect with our audience via a chatbot.
A chatbot (via Messenger or DM) guides your prospect through a dynamic conversation. The request for an email happens naturally (at Step #4 in the graphic below).
The average opt-in rate for chatbots is 60-80%. That’s not a misprint. For every one hundred people that enter your chatbot, sixty to eighty will give you their e-mail address.
Beyond that however, we are making a real connection with the people we most want to reach. Sure, it’s an automated conversation, but it allows your prospect to engage on their terms, which is key.
Summarizing the Big Ideas
There are many technical details we have left out. However, you can quickly find that information on the Internet.
Instead, you want to focus on the big ideas that we have covered so far.
The right frame of mind which is the starting point for any project.
The solution-centric approach to choosing a niche.
Validating and testing your offer via a micro workshop.
Establishing a system to create a VIP list of subscribers.
From here, you must break down these ideas into different parts that you can master. All of that is experimentation. Even so, I think it is remarkable that 5-6 big ideas have the potential to make such a dramatic impact on your life and craft.
This was not available to the average person, even fifteen years ago. You are fortunate to have been born with access to the digital economy.
Don’t pass up the opportunity.
Reach out if you need my help.
Here’s to your success!
Gustavo
