Growth Newsletter #240

A common mistake service-based founders make:

“I currently charge people $$$$ for my expertise, and it’s a ton of work. I'll make a $49 course and sell it to a LOT of people. It’s scalable, and they’re getting a big discount.”

Sadly, in most cases, that does not work.

Here’s why: the Sales to Fulfillment Continuum (from $100 Offers by Alex Hormozi):

Let’s use an example to illustrate this.

You’re a busy founder. You know the importance of growing a personal audience. You see two people online that can help you with it:

1. For $10k/mo, Person A will 100% do it all for you: come up with ideas, write the content, engage, DM people, and set up meetings. All you have to do is answer questions upfront, meet new people, and sell them. They’ll start posting next week, guaranteeing you at least 10k followers and 10 leads/month in 6 months.
2. For $100, Person B has a 50-hour video course that teaches you everything you need to do it yourself. However, it will take you 10+ hours per week at minimum, and there are no guarantees it will work.

Unfortunately, option 1 would sell much more revenue than option 2 (and be a nightmare to fulfill as it scales). Sure, fewer founders could afford it, but it’s a way easier because:

• They’re experts, and they guarantee results (high perceived likelihood of success)
• More followers + leads (tangible dream outcome)
• You don’t have to do anything (no effort or sacrifice)
• Starts next week, and results guaranteed before summer ends (short time delay)

Whereas option 2 will take you hours to get through the content, there’s a low chance you’ll succeed (in fact, you haven’t finished most courses), and it’ll require a ton of effort and time away from your business and family.

According to the Value Equation, that makes Option 1 a lot higher value in your eyes:

It might be tempting to create a DIY product or course so you can stop doing service work, but it’ll be a hard sell.

Only those with large audiences or a ton of existing demand can pull it off. Here’s a way to do it instead:

1. Start with a “Done For You” option. Try to systematize and simplify things as much as possible and document how to do it.
2. Switch to “Done With You” 1:1 coaching. Give them your systems and help THEM do it. Iron the bugs out.
3. Then, offer DWY small group coaching.
4. Then, create a cohort course that many people can take at once, with less individual help from you.
5. Then, create a self-serve version (with accompanying tools/templates).

At each step, only move forward if you have proven demand and customers are seeing results. If not, keep tweaking it.