The most powerful way to present yourself online
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Unblock yourselfSubscribe to my weekly newsletter, Unstuck, for tips, tools, and my top tips for building a thriving online business.
2008 was the definition of a roller coaster year for me.
In March, I received a huge promotion and a raise at the architecture firm I worked for. Shortly after, I proposed to my girlfriend and got engaged.
In June, I was told I was going to be made redundant and moved back in with my parents to save as much money as possible. I also had a little depression.
In October, after hastily building my first website to help architects and designers pass an exam (the LEED exam), I sold my first product online - a guide to study - and I made $7,908.55 in just one month.
In November, the turnover was closer to $9,000, and in December 2008, I reached five figures in a single month.
Things were going well until May 2009, when my world was turned upside down…again.
The organization that administers the LEED exam, the United States Green Building Council, has decided to create its own study guide. They literally write the exam questions, so why would anyone buy a guide from a regular person like me?
I remember being too scared to check my email or log into my shopping cart that month to check on sales, but eventually I had to. And what I found surprised me :
I had the most sales I've ever had in a single month. Over $30,000 in revenue.
It went totally in the opposite direction from what I thought, and I didn't understand why, but I needed to find out.
So I sent out a survey to my new customers asking them two simple questions:
How did you hear about GreenExamAcademy? What made you decide to choose GreenExamAcademy over other study guides available to you?Soon I realized EXACTLY what was going on.
USGBC's explosion of emails about its new study guide had tens of thousands of people excited about taking the exam, and when I searched for what there was more to offer to help, my name and face came up. That's how they found me.
Why did they decide to buy my product? I had to dig deep in my files to find them, but here are some exact answers copied and pasted from question 2 of the survey:
"I decided to buy the LEED AP walkthrough because of you, Pat. You took the exam yourself and I almost feel like you were giving me tutoring."
"You have first-hand experience of achieving your LEED designation, Pat. I think that's why I trusted you over others."
"I don't know Pat. I think that's how you talk to me on your blog. You did it first and then you were going to show me how to do it. It was encouraging ."
Nearly all of the answers pointed to the same thing: a connection to me taking the exam first. It made the material, me as an instructor, and the product more reliable. And in 2008, that audience didn't trust random sites selling stuff on the internet.
That's when I discovered the power and value of leading by example. Do the thing first, then show people how to do it.
If I teach something but don't have an example or experience to share, how can it be trusted?
When I started SmartPassiveIncome.com in late 2008 to teach online business, it was with a real case study from the Green Exam Academy.
When I first started teaching search engine optimization, I used real examples from a website I created in the security guard training niche. Because people saw me doing it first, not only did it encourage others to do the same, but clicks on my affiliate links for the products I used skyrocketed!
I only taught podcasting after I had a successful podcast. On YouTube, my podcast how-to videos over the years have over 3 million views, and our podcast course is our #1 bestseller!
In today's creator economy, where information is freely available and publishing content is easy, you MUST create your own unique experience...
This article is from the archives of the Unstuck newsletter: a weekly 5-minute read on what works in the world of entrepreneurship for creators like you. I hope you like it! If so, join the 127,000 readers who unlock (100% free!) every week.
Unblock yourselfSubscribe to my weekly newsletter, Unstuck, for tips, tools, and my top tips for building a thriving online business.
2008 was the definition of a roller coaster year for me.
In March, I received a huge promotion and a raise at the architecture firm I worked for. Shortly after, I proposed to my girlfriend and got engaged.
In June, I was told I was going to be made redundant and moved back in with my parents to save as much money as possible. I also had a little depression.
In October, after hastily building my first website to help architects and designers pass an exam (the LEED exam), I sold my first product online - a guide to study - and I made $7,908.55 in just one month.
In November, the turnover was closer to $9,000, and in December 2008, I reached five figures in a single month.
Things were going well until May 2009, when my world was turned upside down…again.
The organization that administers the LEED exam, the United States Green Building Council, has decided to create its own study guide. They literally write the exam questions, so why would anyone buy a guide from a regular person like me?
I remember being too scared to check my email or log into my shopping cart that month to check on sales, but eventually I had to. And what I found surprised me :
I had the most sales I've ever had in a single month. Over $30,000 in revenue.
It went totally in the opposite direction from what I thought, and I didn't understand why, but I needed to find out.
So I sent out a survey to my new customers asking them two simple questions:
How did you hear about GreenExamAcademy? What made you decide to choose GreenExamAcademy over other study guides available to you?Soon I realized EXACTLY what was going on.
USGBC's explosion of emails about its new study guide had tens of thousands of people excited about taking the exam, and when I searched for what there was more to offer to help, my name and face came up. That's how they found me.
Why did they decide to buy my product? I had to dig deep in my files to find them, but here are some exact answers copied and pasted from question 2 of the survey:
"I decided to buy the LEED AP walkthrough because of you, Pat. You took the exam yourself and I almost feel like you were giving me tutoring."
"You have first-hand experience of achieving your LEED designation, Pat. I think that's why I trusted you over others."
"I don't know Pat. I think that's how you talk to me on your blog. You did it first and then you were going to show me how to do it. It was encouraging ."
Nearly all of the answers pointed to the same thing: a connection to me taking the exam first. It made the material, me as an instructor, and the product more reliable. And in 2008, that audience didn't trust random sites selling stuff on the internet.
That's when I discovered the power and value of leading by example. Do the thing first, then show people how to do it.
If I teach something but don't have an example or experience to share, how can it be trusted?
When I started SmartPassiveIncome.com in late 2008 to teach online business, it was with a real case study from the Green Exam Academy.
When I first started teaching search engine optimization, I used real examples from a website I created in the security guard training niche. Because people saw me doing it first, not only did it encourage others to do the same, but clicks on my affiliate links for the products I used skyrocketed!
I only taught podcasting after I had a successful podcast. On YouTube, my podcast how-to videos over the years have over 3 million views, and our podcast course is our #1 bestseller!
In today's creator economy, where information is freely available and publishing content is easy, you MUST create your own unique experience...
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