213 – Free Form Friday, March 28, 2014

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Well, here we are. It’s the last Friday of March. Due to my sickness I missed the last Friday of February. But thankfully, March brings with it another opportunity. Another chance to riff on about whatever I’d like.

Here’s a few of the points of today’s Free Form Friday – they’re mostly questions I’m asking YOU. I’d love to have your feedback. Email me at SupportBulaNetwork [at] gmail [dot] com.

• Is there a market for online executive coaching in the form of a membership site? By executive coaching I mean coaching aimed at anybody who has direct reports. People who manage the work of other people, regardless of their title, are candidates for what most call “executive” coaching.
• What do you think the subject matter should be? Think big or broad, then narrow it down. For example, if I think about communication (a broad category), there are many more narrow areas like peer-to-peer, staff meetings, one-on-one with direct reports, written (including email and texting) and group presentations.
• If the platform included video, audio and text (PDF’s perhaps), how small should the content be broken down? In other words, should a single video/audio be no more than 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes…how long should each piece of content be? A topic that might require 2 hours of instruction could be broken up into as many smaller sessions as needed. Twenty-four (24) five minute sessions might be a little much, but a dozen ten-minute sessions might be okay. What do you think?
• Would it be more powerful if it had an interactive component with me? For example, what if it were a relatively inexpensive monthly subscription (say, something under $50), but then supplemented with a closed webinar with me each month for a slightly higher price (still under $100 though). Is that a dumb idea? What are your thoughts?
• I’m talking about comprehensive, action-oriented content designed to help people really move the needle in their ability to become more effective leaders and managers. I’m also talking about including areas that deal with selling, persuasion and marketing. I’d want this to be delivered in a logical sequence so people could make progress and not feel like they’ve got a fire hose aimed at them. I’m not talking about a once-then-I’m-done affair. I’d want to continue to add and update the material while addressing the concerns of the members. How much should something like this cost if I wanted to make it extremely high value, but I wanted to make sure the people who enrolled where serious about taking action?
• Should it be strictly monthly with no annual opportunity, or should I offer a reduced annual rate?
• My philosophy with all my work is to have customers think or say, “This is worth so much more than what I’m paying.” I’m a guy who has no problem leaving money on the table IF the result is a remarkable experience for the customer/client. I want to dazzle people. I don’t want to merely satisfy them. And that necessarily means I’m aware of managing the expectations with a price point. If you’re going to charge me lots of money each month, I’m going to ratchet up my expectation. If you’re going to ding my credit card a lower amount, I’m going to lower my expectation. My objective would be to err on the side of BLOWING AWAY a reasonable expectation. I’m also aware of retention rates of subscribers. It wouldn’t help me to have a high churn rate (the rate at which subscribers leave and I have to go find new replacements).
• How valuable would an affiliate program be…for members only? I wouldn’t want to entertain an affiliate program for the open public. I’d only want people who are subscribers themselves to have that opportunity. What would be a fair affiliate commission?
• Do you have any other ideas for me?

The door of opportunity often looks just like that picture. Closed. Chained. Locked. And intimidating.

Do you think this may be a door of opportunity for me?

Let me bribe you to share you thoughts with me. Email me your feedback using the subject line “MEMBERSHIP SITE” and include your Skype ID in the email. I’ll contact you and we’ll schedule a 15-minute Skype call so you can ask me anything you’d like. I’ll do my best to give you at least one great idea to help move forward.

Thanks for your help. Have a great weekend.