Three-minute read. Or less.
Welcome to week twenty-six of Three Wins, where I walk you through my
process of launching an online course in 2024.
(Is that half a year?)
Even if you are not launching an online course, this will help you
think about whatever you may launch.
The Three Wins are:
- Time.
- Money.
- Mojo.
Just thought I would remind everyone of that - including me.
Shall we?
- Time. 🕰️
Less than 15% of people finish a course. Even less get past the first chapter of a book.
- People are busy.
- Attention moves fast.
- Their intentions are solid and well-meaning.
Why does this matter?
If my whole business model relies on my customers telling their friends about the course, I need them to finish it. And action it. Then, see for themselves if it works. Only when they get results for themselves will they want to break the door down to tell their good friends – You Gotta Do This.
So, one thing I can do is make the course so good that it is simply the best out there. That strategy is mandatory. But only sufficient. That will allow me to win with 15% of people. Not the best odds.
What if the answer was to make it better but also the most FUN?
In short, gamify the learning.
Not a course, but a challenge.
Now, if I stop thinking of the course as a course and start thinking of it as a challenge, there will likely be a different result.
A conversation this week with Fran got me thinking about it. But I had already learned the power of this from introducing a Gold Cup into our weekly content meeting – Creative Breakfast. A £15 fake gold cup massively increased the desire to find the best content, who knew? A small thing led to a huge swell of excitement and interest in the results.
What does this mean in practice?
I have already decided to release only 10 places each day.
- They will be a small team.
- They must help each other.
- They will share the results of the weekly challenges.
They will give each other feedback. The group will learn from the group. Automated emails will go out at meaningful milestones.
They will comment on each other’s posts. Plus, there will be a prize at the end for the most improved.
Success for them will be finishing the challenge. And, of course, seeing the results. But also, they will have made a bunch of friends.
A win.
- Money. đź’°
Let’s think of money through the framework of patience and impatience.
If I think back to when I made the most money, I went without for a long period of time.
We started howies back in 1995; we took our first salary in 2001.
We started The Do Lectures in 2008; we took our first salary around 2022.
My point here is, how long can you be patient?
The conviction comes from belief. That is what you will need to fight off impatience. Belief is your defence against the lack of progress.
- Be impatient on action to push the project forward.
- Be patient with results.
- Love pays well, in the end.
This course/challenge I am making may take years to return my investment. But I am enjoying the ride. It has been fun.
It is already paying me each day, just not with money.
A win.
"The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient." Warren Buffett.
3. Mojo.🙏
Who doesn’t yearn to be happier?
At Mike Coulter’s Manifesto Workshop in London, I listened to him explain what a Manifesto was and how to write one. All great stuff.
Then he landed his conclusion from his yearlong deep dive into learning about manifestos. It wasn’t what I was expecting—not even close.
According to Mike, the purpose of writing a manifesto was to be happier.
- The room went quiet.
- People looked at the floor.
- They looked at the ceiling.
But they didn’t dare look at each other.
This was the real gold people came for.
It was the equivalent of Mike squeezing a whale into a goldfish bowl. It was a big thought to fit in our little heads. It wouldn’t go in without a push.
I thought I was here to learn how to write a manifesto, to help me grow my business, and to gain newly uncovered clarity. And, of course, it will do all those things.
But those were side effects of being happier.
To play a long game in business, you must know why you are playing the game.
- But people get lost in the game.
- They want to grow their business.
- They want to get ahead.
But they forget why.
What the game is really all about is being happy. You don’t need to have the biggest business to be happy. You don’t need the most toys to be happy.
The whole game is not scoring points to have more things.
It is about being happy.
That is how you win. It made me think about what will be the real learning for people on this course. Thank you, Mike.
A win.
As always, I hope this was useful in some way.
Talk next weekend.
Have a good week.
David.
Soon. Mike’s Manifesto Masterclass. Starts May 9th.
