Course Creators Weekly #18 🗓 October 26th, 2020 - Creating Content that Stands Out

The conversation on this podcast revolves around a twitter thread, and Barrett Brooks's response to a question from the Atomic Habits writer, James Clear:

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  What is one interesting idea or concept you can summarize in a single tweet?
  — James Clear
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  A person’s best thinking is rarely communicated through synchronous conversation.
  — Barrett Brooks

It's an interesting—ironically synchronous—conversation. Here are my key takeaways:

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  Find your style of standing out, e.g. teaching, inspiring, entertaining, engaging, etc
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  Refine and crystallise ideas before creating content around them
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  Share original thoughts in original ways—avoid responding to outside influence
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  Do the kinds of things that could become iconic, but don't expect them to
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  Make content habitually, over a long period of time, on some regular schedule
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  Start by resonating with just one person
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  Aim for originality over frequency (e.g. ConvertKit Creator Stories)
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  Check out the stories of Michelin and Guinness for some inspiration

This is part 2 of the video I shared in CCW #17, and it's all about how to run an effective launch campaign to sell your course.

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  Think about your launch campaign as a sequence, allowing people time to decide
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  A launch campaign is typically 3–7 days, though can be longer too
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  Expect to send 1 email per day, followed by 3 on the final day

Here's how to do a 5-day launch:

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  Remind people of the transformation you're offering—it's not about your course
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  Show proof by sharing stats, but more importantly, stories heavy on emotion
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  Tackle objections head-on, by sharing specific stories around those doubts
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  Give people a reason to act NOW, reiterating scarcity or amplifying the problem
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  Send 3 FINAL CALL emails: early in the day + mid-day + few hours before closing time

A few notes about those final emails:

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  Don't be afraid of too many emails, as long as you truly believe in your offering
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  Give people the option to opt out of the sequence without unsubscribing entirely
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  A lot of people wait until the last minute to decide—most sales happen on the last day

I don't personally agree with everything that's shared in this article. It seems to suggest "hacking" your way to exposure on social media, but I do have a few takeaways I'd like to share with you:

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  Understand the motivations of the network and the behaviours they reward
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  Ask people to comment, "like" and share your posts to create engagement
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  Reply to comments and ask followup questions to keep the discussion going
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  Ask friends and family for an initial push with "likes" and comments
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  Click "like" on every response