Out of all the client results we have generated over the years, the results for our client, an Online Education institution in the sustainability niche, are among the most rewarding. This was interesting to work with as it was not only a micro niche but the client had a cultural resistance to all things consumer based, including the online world and being seen to be generating significant revenue from a program/system her community judged as being something that should be available for free. (Even though the client had spent years studying and made substantial financial investment to gain this knowledge and expertise)
But when we looked closely at her professional structure, it became clear she was already donating both time and money to projects aligned with her philosophy and this started to make the process of marketing her programs far more palatable to her as this would allow her to reach more high need communities and offer support in more tangible ways.
Being able to assist someone in seeing the long term benefits in developing the skills required to grow her business was both rewarding and exciting. It isnt for me to judge what someone does or does not do with profits or revenue, but simply to work with them and hopefully to educate them on the advantages of having the skills to generate funds as and when they are wanted or needed.
The real name is not disclosed here in order to protect the client’s privacy
Background
Client is an online eco company that was founded with the intention of helping people using proven, sustainable methods in a rapidly growing, but still tiny niche focusing on agricultural design with whole systems thinking.
When the founder started the company, her primary focus was teaching people how to apply her training to their own environment and that of their local community. At the time her program was less than $400AU and she spent much of her time travelling to present these concepts. Whilst this was very rewarding work, her ability to reach a greater audience was limited by time and distance.
After meeting with her and exploring her background, knowledge and desired outcomes, I immediately saw a gap in her market that could easily be filled using her extensive experience and knowledge.
Her drive to be the most comprehensive expert educator, combined with her desire to foster a global community for greater impact where it was needed most, made her a prime candidate for the system I had tested successfully for years in my own and my clients businesses.
To date this new client had only been selling approx. 2 courses per month and along with a small fee for running government funded programs, meant she was starting out with a very limited budget. Given that this client’s focus was to continue to support both through education and funding some of the most vulnerable communities on the planet, budget was vital and so we got to work.
Our Process
The first step was to look closely at the market and the current gaps and the possible demand for a program like this. Using our company’s experience in product development, it was pretty clear what was needed and after a brief but intensive period of research we designed the model we would take to market.
Up until this time, this style of program had only ever been delivered face to face so given this was a completely new delivery concept, we rolled out a prelaunch marketing campaign to warm up her audience and educate them on the value of an online program in this niche that they could do from the comfort of their own homes and in their own time.
We took the founding member offer to her mailing list in May of 2018. Although we fully intended to offer this program at $3000 eventually, we used a focused approach to the testing and started with an offer considerably lower for two reasons, 1. To test the message and early modules to ensure we were in fact heading in the right direction and 2. To provide the client with funds for product development.
Using our 10 day launch strategy to a small list of approximately 10,000 subscribers, we created a funnel which generated $66,430.00 in sales from a simple offer and campaign in that time, thus proving to our client this was in fact a winning combination.
We reviewed our offer and fine-tuned it, resulting in revenue of $156,000 in the first 12 months. The exciting part for our client, given this was her first real experience working with digital products was the fact that there were very few expenses so allowed her to immediately start funding some of the charitable projects she dreamed of supporting.
The following 12 months (2020) generated a further $199,000, followed by $294,000 in 2021 and closing out 2022 AU financial year at $308,000. 2022 growth was slower as we had redirected a lot of our focus to upgrading software, course delivery platforms, websites etc to keep up with the rapid growth. Expectations are 2023 will double again with the planned strategies.
Now the truly exciting part is this is a micro niche and these results surpassed our clients wildest expectations.
*With a more main stream concept, we know our results would have been far greater as we have proved in other later niches!
The Secret Formula
But as much as the revenue generated was the ultimate outcome of positioning this client as a global expert and leader in her field and forever raising her profile in her community.
Because of her goals for her business we have been able to introduce the concept of cause marketing to her and her audience, (the collaboration between a for-profit business and a non-profit organization.) Which allowed her to raise additional funds through charitable donations with her expanded profile and global reach.
But the real key to success with this business strategy was in aligning their outcomes, beliefs and expectations with their customers outcomes, beliefs and expectations. What a rewarding fun and successful journey!