There’s a lot of hype about digital programs and “information products” in the online world. For the most part, the talk is about how you can create information products that will generate a passive income and then you can work a four-hour work week (from your hammock on the beach, of course), and travel the world. There are a lot of hopefuls running after this dream, but few who ever earn enough from their “passive income information products” to realize this dream.
Personally, I think the mindset of building a business on digital programs alone is a limited one – coaching, consulting and speaking gigs open up the opportunity to earn significantly more. Sure, digital programs can become a source of passive income, but there are a lot more ways that you can leverage your consulting expertise through free and premium digital programs and build a sustainable business that draws a significant income through multiple streams.
Stop for a moment and ask yourself, “What do I want my business model to look like in two years time and how do digital programs fit into my leadership and business model?”
Other than adding new income streams, there are a bunch of good strategic reasons to create digital programs:
1. To create more ways of sharing your expertise with more people.
If you’re only working face-to-face, you’re going to be limited to sharing your expertise with the people who are within commuting distance from you. Digital programs mean that you can make your expertise and your solutions accessible to people all over the world, so that you can build a bigger list and a more diverse, sustainable customer base.
2. To consolidate your ideas and clarify your approach in your own mind.
If you’re new to your industry, by taking the time to create a digital program, you’ll be affirming and reinforcing what you’ve learned and you’ll build confidence in your ability to share your skills and expertise off-the-cuff.
And if you’ve been offering your consulting expertise face-to-face for some time now, you’ll probably have developed some of your own signature moves and approaches. By taking the time to consolidate that into a digital program, you can highlight your experience and unique selling proposition and set yourself apart from the average newbie consultant.
3. To build your credibility and authority as a thought leader.
Whether you sell or give away your programs, digital programs can be a very powerful tool for building your credibility as a thought leader. For example, you could release a free manifesto or training report as a tool to build your authority in your industry.
4. To establish and grow your list.
Having a newsletter list means that people have given you permission to have more conversations with them about your offerings. You could share your digital program as an incentive to encourage people to sign up to your list.
5. To have something to sell at the back of the room when you give talks.
Most people who are on the paid speaking circuit will agree that they make most of their money from “back of the room” sales. Whether you’re getting paid to speak or speaking for free, having something relevant to sell at the back of the room can earn you big paydays. Your digital program can easily be printed as a CD and workbook set, ready to sell at the back of the room.
6. To make your consulting services easier to sell.
Intangible services like business consulting, team development consulting, leadership development training or personal coaching, can be hard to sell because it can be difficult for people to understand what you do, how you think and work, and ultimately what the return on investment will be. Digital programs are more tangible, with a clear, visible curriculum. They can be easier to sell (especially if you’re new in your industry) because then people feel like they know what they’re getting for their money.
7. To establish a clear brand for yourself.
If you have a digital program, you can easily and cheaply share it with people and it’s quick and easy for them to discover what you’re all about, what your areas of expertise are and how you think and work. This makes them more likely to know what to call you in for if they’re looking for expert opinion or someone to speak at their event.
8. To help people to solve a specific problem.
Digital programs are great for helping people to solve specific, discreet problems. If you know what the specific problem is, and you’re an expert in that problem territory, you can consolidate the advice that you commonly dish out in consulting into a digital program and help more people than you’d be able to help if you were selling your consulting time.
9. To give people a taste of how you think and what it’s like to work with you.
If you can give people a taster of what it’s like to work with you, then they’ll feel that there’s less risk in handing over their cash, because they know what kind of quality of work they’ll be getting from you. Giving away some of your work can increase your sales.
10. To build up a library of training programs and resources and grow your company culture.
As you create and add more digital programs on different relevant topics to your library, you’ll be building up a goldmine of resources for you and your staff to draw on. If you’re looking to grow your staffing, franchise your business or open up offices in another city, having digital programs makes it easier to standardize and replicate your consulting and training offerings. Having a library of digital programs can also help you to train your consultants more quickly in your specific approach and make it easier to deal with the high staff turnover that many consulting businesses suffer from.
11. To make it easier for other people to share about you.
A digital program is as simple to share as an email or tweet. There may be people who’d love to support your business by telling other people about it, but consulting and coaching services can be really difficult to explain. Make it easy for people by doing the explaining work for them and then all they have to do to share about your work is send a few emails or tweets.
12. To have something to sell.
Obviously, if you want to make money, you need to have something to sell! And even if you’re not selling a lot of it, having something to sell lets people know that you’re a business and not just a free blogging community, which reduces the resistance you’ll get to you sending out marketing messages or calls to action.
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Want Help With Creating Your Own Digital Program?
My next Dreaming to Delivering Digital program Creation Mastermind opens on 6 October.
Over 6 weeks we’ll work together in a small group. You’ll get all the information, inspiration, support and accountability you need to create your first digital program, ready to share.
Click here to join us
The early-bird pricing ends soon, I’m only taking 12 people and spots are filling up, so if you’ve been wanting to create a digital program and stalling because you don’t know how, or have been lacking inspiration or focus, then sign up soon to ensure a place in this next group because the next public group will probably only be next year April/ May.
Fantastic compilation Cath. You really bring out the merits of creating a digital program to showcase ones expertise and really hit the nail on all the benefits.
My question lies in the beginning of the process, where does one take what he knows in a certain area of expertise and actually turn that into a coaching/consulting business, before actually moving forward with a digital program?
Mike, consulting is often hard to sell because it can be hard to explain exactly what you do – partly because consulting is usually part procedure/ science and part art/ customizing a solution for your client.
To get people on board, using your consulting services, you obviously need to be making some sort of offer/ reaching out and saying what you do and how you can help. That “what I do and how I can help” needs to be very tangible. And as you say in your recent blog post – people buy benefits, not features, so you need to make the results/ benefits of your consulting very clear.
Beginner consultants need to get clear on their “what I do, how do I help people, what’s my approach and what are the benefits?” Once you’re clear on this, you’ll feel confident to hang up your shingle and start offering consulting services – and you’ll have the bare minimum necessary information for your marketing messages.
Creating a “digital program” to articulate this stuff can be a good idea when you’re first starting consulting because it serves 2 purposes:
1.) The process of creating your program forces you to get clear on your answers to these questions and
2.) It’s an easy, tangible way to share these answers with other people as you market your consulting.
For folks who are already clear on these answer and have already hung out the shingle, then it’s more of a marketing problem. It’s about “how do I build credibility and authority?” and “How do I connect with more of my ideal clients so that I can have the conversation where we explore whether there’s a good fit between their problems and my solutions and consulting approach?” Again, in my view, having a digital program of some form is a useful part of an effective authority-building and marketing strategy – alongside speaking, running webinars (which are a form of digital program), using social media, networking and connecting with potential JV partners and so on.
Think of digital programs as you educating people. You’re just using online tools to do it, rather than speaking with them face-to-face. And marketing is just educating people – about your paradigm on their problems, your approach and your solutions.
Another great “digital program” that can help to market your consulting services is if you have some sort of assessment that people can complete. The assessment can help them to identify their problem areas and share a bit more about your paradigm on those problems, which can be useful in and of itself for your client, and you can use it to further the conversation about how you can help them.
Great question! Thanks for asking, Mike!
Thanks again Cath. Sometimes asking yourself the blunt/tough questions and writing them down really forces you to think about what you have to offer. It really makes sense that that would also apply when creating a digital program. Great advice!
Pleasure, Mike!
I use my digital product as a lead generation tool for my main consulting work. It is sometimes hard to walk up to someone and justify your price, but if you ask intriguing questions in a free ebook or report you give away, quite often the leads come to you. That is how I got started in freelance consulting.
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