#167: Why You Only Need One Program to Generate Real Revenue

Welcome back to another edition of the Course Creation Incubator podcast. I’m your host, Gina Onativia, here to help you build up the course-based business of your dreams. And some of you are creating a different program right now. You may or may not be building an online course. Maybe you’re saying, Hey, Gina, I listen to you, but I’m not really into building an online course right now. I’m building a group coaching program or doing one-to-ones. I’m doing a little bit of consulting with the idea that I might build out a course in the future. Wherever you are, I want you to build something that your potential students or clients really want. It’s got to light them up. It’s something special. It makes you super wantable that you can’t wait to buy from you. And some of you might be in a transition or evolution right now. And by the way, I’ve been going through this as I’ve been creating my new website, thinking to myself, okay, this is who I was five years ago, but who am I today? How am I marketing my business? How am I approaching clients and students? 

My friend Selena, an e-commerce expert, and just incredible online marketer, was saying to me the other day, just imagine an Ozzy accent. This website does not represent who you are today. And she was telling me, this is an outdated representation of who I was as a business owner, and she’s right, and that’s why I’m working on it. I want you to think through what you currently have. Is it outdated? Does it still represent you? It could be a landing page or a website. It could be your social media profiles. Maybe your profile doesn’t convey who you are, because the cool thing about us as business owners and entrepreneurs is that we evolve. I mean people too. We evolve, hopefully, the best of us evolve, and who we were five or even 10 years ago, we’re not that person anymore. We’re not that marketer. We’re not that course creator. So I encourage you, every once in a while, at least once a year, put it on your calendar to do a gut check and assess, is this who I am today? And do my marketing materials reflect that? Is this what I represent? By the way, I want to give a shout-out to Becky, my online business manager, because she’s really good at this and asking these questions. I feel like she’s always evaluating, who am I today. Who do I want to serve? What am I projecting in terms of my landing pages and my profiles? Does this represent what I really want? I feel as though she’s constantly looking at her business and then evolving based on that. She’s not just sitting oddly by just accepting what’s coming to her.

She’s always asking herself, is this what I really want? So I encourage you to really think through that. And while you’re going through this process, I want you to think through what is that one program that is really valuable to you. Because what we’re going to talk about today is how one program can make you the revenue that you really want. And this is really intended for all the folks out there listening who can produce multiple pieces of content or multiple courses at a time.

I’m this person too, I’ve talked about this before and I would just churn out content because this is what I do. This is one of my gifts, right? Content comes easily to me. Content development. So I would churn out freebies left, right? But that wasn’t what was best for my business. Just because it was an area of strength doesn’t mean I should do it, it doesn’t mean it’s what’s best. So sometimes when we’re being too prolific, you’re not making the money because maybe you’re chasing something because maybe your course failed or your program didn’t do as well as you thought. You’re trying to do something different instead of sticking with what you got and seeing how you can make it work.

Because let’s be honest, you did something. You created it in the beginning because you thought people would want it. There was some kind of demand. Every course creator I talked to, I don’t care if you sold two courses or 2000 courses, there was a demand. Somebody was knocking on your door saying, can you put this out for me? Or can I get a taste of that solution because I need that? We all started there. There was demand behind this. So I do want to talk. In this episode, I want to workshop a four-step process of how you can maximize that one thing, whatever it is, it doesn’t have to be an online course, could be a program group coaching. You could have a mastermind, it could be a consulting or a corporate package. Doesn’t matter. Put your thinking cap on, and let’s talk through how to maximize that. And by the way, this episode is brought to you by my business intensive. You’ve been hearing me talk about this for the last few episodes because I’m going to work through it during this workshop what I workshop.

By the way, this podcast episode is brought to you by my business intensives, which I’m offering now for a limited time. We work together. This episode was actually inspired by an intensive that I just did the other day and worked through opportunities. We worked through what’s the outcome that she really wanted out of her business. How do we get there? We mapped it all out, and some of the questions that I’m going to be covering in this podcast episode are what we would do. So just give you an idea. So it’s coursecreationboutique.com/intensives. I’ll link to the link in the show notes. Love to work with you. I’m taking a few more people. It’s a lot of fun. It’s a lot of fun, and I can guarantee breakthroughs for you and for your business. Okay, so let’s workshop how to maximize that one thing. So step one is to just stop, stop creating anything you can’t create for a year, alright? Maybe not a year, maybe a couple of months, whatever that works for you. So some of you, I say stop, and that’s painful because your mind’s going, I want to create and listen. I know you’re out there. I was that person too, right? Like I said, at the top of the podcast, you’re churning out podcast, you’re churning out courses.

Maybe you’re just churning out mini-courses left and right. Maybe you’re creating freebies like I was. You’re building your list, and that’s fine. If you are putting out freebies and you’re getting a stream of quality leads based on those, you can ignore me on this part. But for most of you who are over-creating and overproducing, I want you to pause, okay? I want you to press pause because a lot of times we do a lot of different things and they don’t necessarily make us money. Okay? Maybe you make a sign that says Stop, or you have a friend that you need to ask, okay, every time I want to create something new, I’ve got to run it by Mary, right?

Now, here’s why I want you to stop doing it. As entrepreneurs, we tend to be creative. We have a lot of ideas. The challenge, we have limited time. A lot of you, your course creation, and your program creation right now is a side hustle, right? You’re trying to fit it in. If you’re bouncing from one idea to another and you’re constantly creating, you’re limiting the success of one offer because you have limited time to develop and promote it. Now, if you stop creating go all in one offer, it allows you to improve it. So if you stop creating and go all in one offer, it allows you to improve it. So it can be even more incredible and makes marketing easier, always promoting that one offer. And I know this can be a radical challenge, taking you out of hustle mode and really committing to delivering one thing to the best of your ability. I know, but doesn’t that sound kind of nice? Just doubling down on that one thing. Alright, so that’s step one. Stop. Just stop creating for a hot minute. Step two, I want you to identify where you have seen success in the past. I want you to capture it. Some of you are not big journaling people. That’s fine. I’m not a huge journal person either. However, I can whiteboard with the best of them. I have three whiteboards in my office and I use all of them. So I want you to write it down. Whatever your process is, notebook, whiteboard, journal, where you. So I want you to write it down. Whatever your process is, whiteboard notebook, or journal. Where have you seen success in the last year, two years, three years, maybe beyond that if you’ve been in business for a while. So think through that and where you saw success. So for example, I used to do retreats for my business. I would do these two-day retreats, and I loved doing retreats. They’re so fun. I’m in my element. I love being in person. I love little surprises that we would give over the two days, and I’d love seeing the impact that those kinds of retreats had. Then the pandemic hit, and I backtracked on the retreats, but maybe someday I’ll go back to those because I was seeing success. So maybe that’s something I’ll bring back. The business Intensivess, by the way, is something that I brought back. I had some nice success with them years ago, and I thought, Hey, this might be fun to work with. I talked about this in a podcast a couple of episodes ago where I was inspired because some women came to me and said, I want to work with you one-on-one. So the intensivess, by the way, was something I brought back. So the intensive was something that I would capture and say, okay, that’s something that I saw success with. Maybe I can bring that back. Then the second part of part two, and then the second part of number two, of step two is how can you build on that success? So for example, with my intensives, I thought, how can I build on the success that I experienced a few years ago? For example, I’m offering a different format. I love doing in person, especially if you’re in the San Diego area. By the way, I just had somebody come down from LA. There’s nothing like doing it in person and whiteboarding and getting it done and just executing in the moment. We talk about strategy, but we also talk about how you’re going to execute and how you’re going to build the systems to get it done. So I changed the structure of how I did it years ago. So I gave it a critical eye and said, what did I love about it? What didn’t I love about it?

I also offered multiple intensives this time. I just offered one the last time I did this because my business has grown and I have people coming to me who have different needs. So I changed it up and offer different options based on if people wanted to finish their course, they wanted to launch their course, or if they had an existing business and they wanted to know, how do I generate that revenue? How do I make the profit that I’m really after? Or some people just want to know how do I generate leads and build up that lead gen machine? So that was different too from when I first did it.

So for you, you might’ve had a coaching program that you discontinued. Maybe you got burnout in coaching. Maybe you didn’t do so for you. Maybe you had, for example, a coaching program that you discontinued. Maybe you got burnt out. Maybe you didn’t want to do the one-on-one thing, but you’re ready to bring it back. But differently. I get this a lot where people say, well, I didn’t want to offer it because I got burnt out, or I wasn’t attracting the kind of quality lead or client that I wanted. Well, what if you did it in a different way? What if you approached it differently? I think time gives us perspective and allows us to step away and say, okay, how can I change that up? I loved this part of it, but not so much that part of it. Okay, so now you have the opportunity to define what you want. You’re a little older, a little wiser, just like me with the intensives. How can you structure that program or that offer in a way that really supports your students, but also supports you as well?

Maybe you have an old course that you haven’t sold or promoted in a while because you just weren’t getting the students that you wanted. Maybe it needs a different price point or a different bonus. Maybe you dust the cobwebs off and you build on the initial success that you saw. Maybe if it was years ago. Alright, I think you get it. That’s step two, capturing the success you’ve had in the past and then learning how to build on that success and making it the program that you really want. 

Step three is thinking through the audiences that you can then reach out to because you figured out your offer. You figured out how you’re going to mold that program as part of step two. With step three, what are the existing and new audiences you can approach this offer with? So existing audiences could be your list, your network, social media with new audience. I want you to think, who can I partner with who might be interested in this kind of offer? Brainstorm that.

Come up with at least three different audiences that you can bring this offer to. So let’s use the intensivess that I’ve been talking about as an example. So I have my email list. So I’ve mentioned it to them, to my community. I’ve also mentioned it on this podcast. I’ve been a little remiss on social media. I’ve mentioned it a little bit, but I’m probably missing an opportunity there to share it as well. My next talks are my workshops. I can share the intensive opportunity. That’s how I am bringing it out to existing audiences, and I know I’ve got those new audiences, especially when I’m doing my workshop and I’m doing my speaking.

So if we think about my intensivess as an example, so I’ve got my list that I’ve been talking up the intensives with. Then I’ve also been mentioning on this podcast, I’ve been a little remiss about social media. I’ve mentioned it a little bit, the intensives. I probably have an opportunity there, and then I’ve got another opportunity for new audiences when I speak, when I do my workshops to mention the intensives. So those are just a few ways. Those are four ways that I can get my intensives out there to help promote it. Alright, finally, step four, you’re going to up brainstorm your 90 day plan. You’re thinking through your offer, what’s the total package that it looks like? How many weeks? What are you going to offer with it? If it’s a coaching program, do I get something else with it? Is there a quick start? Is there objections that I might need a bonus to fulfill? What’s the package overall that you’re offering? That’s what I want you to think through as your 90 day plan. And then also, what assets do you need to promote it? A landing page, not even a website, right? Just a simple landing page. What do you need to sell it? If you have Kajabi, if you have lead pages, it doesn’t have to be a WordPress page guys, it could be something easy. Set something up that’s quick. Talk through the pain points, the solution, why you are the unique solution. Give some social proof, some quotes, show some logos in there, show some quotes, some logos in there. And then finally, the third part of your 90 day plan is what does the campaign look like? Are you going to send out emails, texts, dms? Are you going to text your grassroot network? What does the specific campaign look like in order to activate those audiences and to get them to buy your one thing? Once you’re clear on everything that needs to get done, add each task your calendar and decides who is responsible for each piece.

Maybe it’s you for now, or maybe you can hire a contractor to cover some pieces. I think that calendar piece is really essential to keep moving forward and to hold yourself accountable. That’s how you create and maximize your one thing. So then, by the way, you’re going to repeat the cycle. You’re going to debrief. You’re going to see where did you have success that you can build on? Where’d you fall short? How can you do it differently next time? Could you do this again in another quarter or another six months? If you build up another audience? I want you to maximize what you’ve already created instead of recreating the wheel each time because you’ve done a lot of work and I want you to reap the rewards of it. Alright? Hopefully, this has been helpful. So I’ve got some great workshop and guest episodes coming up, so make sure to check that out. Check out the intensives. By the way, I’m still taking a few spots. There’s so much fun. coursecreationboutique.com/intensives. It’s all about you. It’s the time to really work on you and your business. By the way, we unblock what’s holding you back. Also, if you say something that’s like, oh, I’ll get stuck for hours on that, we’re going to unlock that. We’re going to figure out how to get around that and get you leverage so you can move forward and stay in your zone of genius. Until next week, go create, be you and be brilliant and get it done.