Case Study – 5 Ways to Sell Your Passion
Since the ball dropped and we hit 2010, I’ve spent a lot of time hyping you up and motivating you to raise your game. We’ve talked about thinking long-term, JV’s, innovating, and how it sucks to be the little guy.
Well, talk is cheap right? If you want to dominate this game, you need to develop a strategy for selling your passion.
You also need to find a way that makes you stand out, without sacrificing your brand. You need to find projects that not only pay the bills, but enhance your brand and place you one step closer to your goals.
To get you started, and help you come up with ideas, I’m going to present 5 awesome and unique ways to sell your passion. Use these case studies as guides for innovating within your own niche.
1. Charlie and Johnny Jam Sessions
Charlie Gilkey is a really cool guy that teaches people how to make the most of what they have to work with. Johnny is a blog consultant and likes to eat apples. You’ve probably seen him post at Ittybiz.com or on Copyblogger.
These guys got in the habit of recording some awesome conversations about blogging, business, and life in general. I remember listening to the first one and being like “yeah man, I can dig this.” It’s real, it’s honest, and it’s helpful.
Although I didn’t see it coming at the time (and I’m a marketer!), they found a way to turn that single recording into a really kick-ass business model.
Basically, they record conversations with each other, with peers, and with other people in the industry, and used them to create a membership site. But here’s the thing…it doesn’t really look or act like a membership site. The only real indication is the “subscribe” button at the bottom.
What I like about this model is that it isn’t something manfuctured just to make monthly income…it actually has value and stays relevant. The site has a very relaxed pitch and uses honesty to sell, rather than hype.
These guys have a passion, which is building strong online businesses, and they get to make money by talking on the phone about it. Pretty cool.
Which industry leaders in your niche could you reach out to for something like this? Is anyone else doing it? Would this format help your audience? I’m betting there’s an opportunity for you there.
2. The Bottom-Line Bookclub
I found this randomly while surfing the blogosphere, but the minute I found it I knew I was on to something pretty unique.
With this site, Cath has found a way to monetize other people’s content, while still getting to read…I love it!
Her club offers 2 membership models and an ala-carte option for individual reports. It’s not expensive (the cost of 1 book per month), and her pitch is very understated. She clearly identifies her audience in the bullet points, and even though she’s using a long sales letter, it doesn’t feel like one.
What knowledge or expertise can you sell for $20 per month?
3. Timothy Sykes
I watched Tim speak in Las Vegas last October, and his energy and enthusiasm for penny stocks blew me away. I’ve never met someone (except maybe the next guy) as passionate about their niche as him. He flat out loves trading penny stocks.
So, what’s a guy to do when he loves trading but doesn’t want to compete with Wall Street? How can he service a hungry crowd without feeding them lies and B.S.?
He undercuts the authorities in his niche and teaches people how to do the same. He trains his audience to become as successful as he has been, and they love him for it. He’s completely transparent too…posting his trades publicly at Covestor and on his own site. The reviews speak for themselves, and although he’s a little over the top…it works for him.
If you look through his product offerings, he offers everything from memberships to coaching packages. He has a variety of individual products and memberships, which help him earn a monthly income to the tune of 60k…yep, 60k per month.
What product, service, or expertise can you offer a hungry market that empowers them and cuts out the middle man? How can you undercut the gatekeepers in your niche?
4. Spiritual Book Study
JB Glossinger, also known as the Morning Coach, is one of the most personalbe and passionate guys I’ve ever met. He loves life, and you can’t help but to feel the same when you’re talking to him.
He also happens to be an extremely savvy entrepreneur, and is very good at finding ways to make money doing what he loves.
Take Spiritual Book Study, for instance…it’s a topic that he loves. He studied metaphysics in college, and has a strong grasp of the material presented in most of these books. Like the Bottom-Line Bookclub, JB offers a book study program, but whereas Cath’s program focuses on saving time, JB’s focuses on making difficult concepts easy to understand.
Once again, the sales page doesn’t look like a sales page, and provides just enough information to get clickthroughs to the shopping cart.
How many small membership sites could you start? Who could you hire to provide content for you? Who could you partner with? Which subject do you understand that most people don’t?
5. Jen Louden’s Virtual Retreat
I love this idea. I found Jen via an interview on Jonathan Fields’ Tribal Author blog, and was so intrigued that I clicked through to every web property she owns. She has quite a nice network!
In this instance, she’s offering a retreat for people that can’t afford or get the time to travel. It’s brilliant really, and from listening to her interview, I know it does very well.
The concept is simple…gather a few experts together for a weekend, create a course schedule, and then teach. It works in almost any niche, and can be done on a dime, which means you don’t have to invest much in order to have a product.
Once you have the recordings, you can re-sell them as packaged courses, create a library style membership, or just give them away to attract a larger audience. My marketing mind is going crazy at the thought!
What knowledge do you have that others desire? Who can you call this weekend to set one of these up? Do you have a mic, camera, and recording software yet? If not, get them and start planning content and making calls. This is easy, but extremely effective; a perfect example of how to break boundaries and get in front of an audience that can’t come to you.
Get Started Today
Which one of these did you like most? Can you use any of them in your industry? What is stopping you from taking action today?
Almost everyone in the world is an expert at something. You have marketable skills that other people would pay for, but you have to start showcasing them today. Build a blog to share your expertise, build an audience, and start teaching. I dare you to find an excuse not to.
Want to learn more? Go Beyond Blogging.
(P.S. There are zero affiliate links in this post)
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