When trying to come up with a legitimate and potentially successful business, it’s always important to try and differentiate yourself from the crowd — while also building a business model that you can enjoy working with on a daily basis. One of the most common and successful ways to accomplish this as of lately is to simply ‘sell your expertise’.
This sounds easy enough, but it’s actually a skill that most people don’t have, or at least know how to unleash. The truth is, we are all really good at something and if that something is of value to someone else, they will likely pay for it. About a decade ago, you’d probably get slapped in the face for trying to start a business around the idea of selling your expertise, but now thanks to the power of the internet, this is now easier and more accomplishable than ever before.
In addition to the providing you with some helpful tips on how to start selling your expertise, I’m also going to drop a few quotes and actionable tips from different entrepreneurs and experts who have already found success in this space. Be sure to follow each of them and see how you can replicate their results.
Know Your Audience and Create a Product for Them
Before even starting your online courses, websites or business idea, you need to make sure it has a business model and concept that works. This all starts with the customer and how you are going to provide them with a product or service they actually need. The more niche focus and direct you can be with this, the better.
During a recent interview, Sam Ovens was talking about how he was able to build a successful consulting company not by copying other business models, but instead looking at his potential audience of customers and selling a service that fills their need. Sam went on to say “The Foundation and Dane taught me a huge lesson, which was you don’t come up with cool ideas. You go out and you look for problems instead and then the solution to that problem is your idea. And that was a breakthrough moment for me. So I did that.”
This method of thinking already applies to anyone already out there with a special skill or expertise that they can package up and sell. Don’t try to reinvent the well, just create something of value to your audience and make sure it’s better than what’s already out there.
Build a Loyal Following, then Launch Your Product
For most people, the idea of starting a business is to quickly have a product or service, then market it to sell. In most cases this would be correct, however, when it comes to online marketing and selling your expertise, it’s the opposite.
Instead, the first thing that should be done is building a foundation for your personal brand while also showing off your expertise in the process. This is commonly done with a blog, using social media, creating YouTube videos and slowly (but surely) building an audience over time.
This is something Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income has accomplished in what seems like a short amount of time, but it’s actually been quite a journey. Through his blog and podcast, Pat shares monthly earnings reports, while also creating useful content for his audience and of course launching a few courses and products in the process. This might seem like a lot for the average person to comprehend, but as Pat stated in several interviews “All you have to know is a little bit more than someone else in order to become an expert in their eyes and to be able to help them and provide value to them.” — which is usually the case with anyone that has a passion or expertise for something. The problem is, most people don’t think they have something to offer or something that people would pay.
However, time and time again, this is proven to be wrong. First, build your platform and audience, then come out with your product or online course.
It’s All About the Launch
No matter where you currently are in your entrepreneur journey or online course launching business, you need to have a timeline and plan of action in place. It’s easy to say you are going to do this, this and this… but without a solid launch plan in place, you will likely find yourself quickly falling behind and spreading yourself too thin.
Build your platform, start collecting email addresses, ask what your audience wants, and then release your first online course. This working formula is currently generating millions of dollars for self-employed individuals and entrepreneurs around the world today.
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