Magic doesn’t fill group programs (and what does).

Words aren't all you need to fill a program

From the “How It Works in Real Life” Dept. —

I pull back the curtain on what it really takes to go from one-on-one work to a more “leveraged” business model. (“Leverage” = you step out of “trading dollars for hours” and start offering your services to groups, so you make more per hour for the same amount of work… and you work with people who don’t live in the same town as you!).

For the purposes of this article, let’s imagine you want to move from working with clients one-on-one, to rolling out a 4- or 5-week group program that you teach by phone. There are some common myths that I want to dispel here. Because the picture that gets painted about “how you can easily fill your programs step-by-step using my G.E.T.R.I.C.H. W.I.T.H.O.U.T. W.O.R.K.I.N.G. System” isn’t as rosy as the Neighbors would lead you to believe.

Myth #1: Online marketing fills group programs.

Eventually, this is true. But if you are just starting out in your transition from working with people one-on-one to leading a group, do not fool yourself. Sending emails will not fill your program.

Then, what can you do to fill that program? You get on the phone. You set up a bunch of initial sessions each week to talk to people who are a good fit for your offer. You make a list of all the people you’ve met at conferences, networking, and other gatherings who would be interested. You contact them, and then you—wait for it—sell.

Myth #2: You are going to get 50 people in your first group program.

Let’s talk realistic expectations. It’s fine to shoot for the stars, but know that you may have to offer your program multiple times before it builds steam.

Let’s look at my own business. I’m crazy successful, right? Well, when I offered my first 4-week program last winter, I got 3 paying customers (for $200 each). I invited 2 of my friends to join for free, because I knew they would be good students and add to my enjoyment of teaching. Round 1 Net Revenue = $600. I wrote a sales page, but I had to have a lot of sales conversations to get even 3 people to invest with me. No one bought without talking to me.

Round 2 – last summer, I offered my Write Your Website program for the first time. I got 6 people in that one, for about $400 a pop. I wrote a sales page, but again, everyone who signed up had a conversation with me about their goals and to make sure we were a match. Round 2 – Net Revenue = $2,400.

Round 3 – This spring, I offered Write Your Website again. The price point varied, between $250 if you were on my list and paying attention, and $500 full price. Like the 2 times before, I wrote a sales page AND an “opt-in page” to promote my preview call (“opt-in page” is a page where you offer information or training to people who “opt-in” for it). But this time, instead of offering sessions from the training call, I pitched the 5-week program. My goal was to get 15 people…. And I got 32! Without a single sales conversation.

The third time is the charm. Now, what did I do differently?

Well, I kept writing my blog and sending my newsletter once a week.

And I did 2 list-building projects that doubled the size of my list.

But one of the biggest things I did was that I didn’t give up.

I never compared myself to the big dogs who have been doing this longer than me, and who have 15 people on staff, and who regularly get 200 people in their programs. I just said “I am building something great, and that takes time”… and kept on going.

Myth #3: You can hire a copywriter to write all your promos for your group programs.

When I got my start as a copywriter, I had the good fortune of writing for some very successful 6-figure and multi-6 figure business owners.

I still do that work now, and am pleased as punch to tell you that some of my clients are about to cross 7-figures. Yeeha! Go, you guys!

Now, if you want to be there, but aren’t there yet… listen up. All of these successful folks that I know write at least some of their own copy alongside me. Why? Because along with basic business skills, you need copywriting skills to “win” at the online marketing game.

You can have cruddy design. You can run everything on free email services. You can even squeak by without hiring an assistant (but that will catch up with you and keep you from growing further). But if you can’t write or sell, your attempts to leverage your business will stall every time.

The smarter plan is to invest in learning how to write so people want what you’re offering. And to accept that, when you are getting started with online marketing, you are going to have lots and lots of initial sessions behind the scenes to fill your programs. Because online marketing—when you do it right—will eventually pay off, but like everything worthwhile, it takes time.

Mighty thanks to alltagskunst flickr photostream for the curtain.