Thank goodness there are so many helpful people in the world to tell us when we need to “be practical.” This keeps us grounded and sane, this “practicality.” It helps us know when to go to sleep, what to eat, and why we should continue to wear our underwear underneath our clothes instead of on top. Back in college, I actually saw a few crazy people wearing underwear on the outside of their clothes! If only someone had told them about the joys of practicality, this tragedy could have been avoided. In case you haven’t caught up with me, I’m being completely facetious. The truth is, being practical usually means the death of something good, and it smells like something that was once juicy and fresh but has now begun to rot. This is often the stench of practicality….
Don’t get me wrong. Being practical does have its uses, but there is a specific time and place for it.
What is the dream?
Unless the answer is clear in your mind, now is not the time to be realistic. So many people have dreams but push them aside with disgust, saying, “It’s not practical. I can’t make money doing that.”
First of all, you probably can make money doing that, but your dream just isn’t strong enough, and frankly, you don’t deserve it yet. If all it takes is a fleeting thought that your dream isn’t realistic and you can’t make money at it, then no, you’re just not deserving of that dream. You have to be willing to fight for it. Some people think the stars magically align and everything easily falls into place if the dream is meant to be. That’s not true. Dreams take work.
Secondly, you don’t have to make money at everything you enjoy. I enjoy a lot of things, like yoga, calligraphy, horseback riding, hiking, my cat Sugar, watching old movies, spicy food, fantasy novels, and travel. But only one of those things is an income stream for me. The rest I pursue strictly for the way they make me feel—for the joy of them.
Dream—go nuts dreaming
So, if you are in the dreaming stage, and you are playing with ideas in your head, please don’t be practical. Just enjoy it. Play. Imagine the possibilities. Let yourself develop a vision and take your time. The questions you should ask right now don’t include “Am I being practical? Can I make money with this?” Here are some better questions:
–Do I feel good when I think about this dream?
–Am I giddy with excitement?
–Is it easy for me to build on this idea?
–Am I getting tons of other juicy ideas that would make this dream even better?
–Do I find myself returning to this dream in my mind at the grocery store, or at work, or in the shower?
–Does this dream keep coming back, even after I’ve pushed it aside a hundred times?
Protect the dream
You may be tempted to share your dream with your close friends and family. Don’t do it. I repeat: don’t do it! You aren’t strong enough yet. You’re still in happy La La Land, where anything is possible. Protect the dream. Don’t share it with anyone, especially someone close to you! Why? Because they’re going to yank you out of La La Land onto Practicality Peninsula. Trust me, the sunsets aren’t as nice there, and just like
that, your dream will die. It’s not that they don’t want you to be happy. They do, but they also don’t want you to get hurt. They want to protect you from making a “bad decision,” by “being practical.” And, I hate to say it, but they want to stay in their own comfort zone, and if they’re close to you, this includes you staying exactly where you are, doing exactly what you’re doing. After all, if you go after a dream, these people might be forced to look at their own lives…their own dreams abandoned long ago for the pursuit of practicality. And that might not be fun for them…so do yourself a favor and keep the dream to yourself, just for now.
Build on the dream
Once you have nurtured your dream, you’ll begin to develop some trust in it. After all, this dream wouldn’t have come to you if you weren’t supposed to do it, right? This is the time to start asking just a few practical questions. Gently now—no sudden moves. We’re going to ease into this like a very hot bath. The conversation in your head over a week’s time could go something like this…
–Hmm. Maybe I could do this. I wonder what my first step would be? Hmmm, something to think about…
–I wonder if there is someone already doing this. Maybe I should Google it…
–Interesting. There are people doing this, but that probably just means there’s a market for it. Cool…
–Maybe I should call Uncle Bill. I think he had a friend who does something like this. I could maybe talk to him…
–Had a good conversation with Uncle Bill’s friend. Sounds like I could take a class at the community college and get this started pretty easily…
Do you see how you’re beginning to build a foundation for your dream? Once the dream is on solid ground, you can start taking practical steps. Baby steps, ok? If you took a baby step every day toward your dream, you would be there in no time at all. But instead, people procrastinate. They build up that dream in their heads and never move forward because it’s just sooooo big.
Share the dream with strangers
Once you’ve take some practical steps toward the dream, you can get some great support from strangers—a very specific type of stranger who quickly becomes part of your support network:
–People you meet in business or marketing and networking groups
–People you meet as part of a mastermind group who plug in for accountability
–People you meet at marketing events that you attend and stay in touch with
The wonderful thing about strangers is that they don’t know you. Duh, right? But it’s true! They don’t know that you’ve never followed through on anything. They don’t know that you lost money on that stupid network marketing deal—the third one. They don’t know that you’ve never done anything like this before and they aren’t worried that you’ll “get hurt,” like family and friends. In fact, these people are probably looking for the same kind of support you’re looking for. If you say you want to do something, they’ll probably say something like, “Great, how can I help you?”
The time for being practical
Being practical feels ok. In fact, it feels good. This is where the action happens. Action is good! You can do this. You’ve taken steps. You have support. You can move forward, one day at a time. You have avoided the “this is what I’m thinking of doing” conversation and graduated to “This is what I am doing.” Those close to you will see the foundation you’ve built for your dream. They’ll see you’ve been practical when you needed to be. And instead of saying, “You should be practical,” they’ll say, “Wow, you’re so lucky. Wish I could do something like that….”
By the way, like too much practicality, too much dreaming can be a problem too. If you continue to have problems with the practical aspects of your business, like taking action, check out Suzanne Evans or Carrie Wilkerson, two powerful “action” experts. See if anything they offer resonates for you.
And if your business is established—if you’ve been successfully practical for awhile now—and you’re in a “lull” or stuck on a plateau, it’s probably time to start dreaming again.
So…what’s the dream you put away for the pursuit of practicality? Time to dust it off…
“Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity.”
~Will Smith
Actor
In my last post, I talked about some ways to monetize a group. This is a continuation of that article, highlighting methods 4-7. There are probably dozens of other ways, but these are the top 7 that came to mind. Here is a quick snapshot of the story we started with in Part 1:
Kelli had formed the Naperville Moms Network, “a Community of Moms Empowering Moms.” Great idea, right? She had already:
–Had a few meetings
–Done a lot of work without any compensation
–Received a call for an interview from local media
In Part 1, we talked about (1) creating a Platinum level, (2) finding some quality affiliates, and (3) packaging up the “evergreen” content from the in-person member meetings for resale in the form of audios, videos, transcripts, reports, etc. In addition to these ideas, here are a few others that can help create income streams from a group:
4. Develop your list
Women in the Naperville Moms Network are local and meet in person, so Kelli will be seeing them on a regular basis. However, she will also be developing a relationship with her members online through her free member forum. As new members join, she should be capturing e-mail addresses–at the very least. You may be able to collect even more information. For example, if you promise a surprise for members on their birthday, you now have a reason to collect full names and addresses. In addition to that birthday surprise, you can send special content or offers throughout the year. Many marketers are seeing an increase in response to offers sent by “snail mail” since people are getting barraged with messages in their e-mail and may be likely to miss these messages. Whether it’s through snail mail or e-mail, you need to communicate with your members and provide real value. As a general guideline, about 70-85% of your message should be great content. The other 15-30% can be aimed at marketing.
We introduced the idea of affiliate marketing in Part 1 of this article. Affiliate marketing becomes a lot easier when you have a list of contacts to promote the offers to. Remember that building your list will take some time and energy. Obviously you are only going to refer members to products and services you believe in. Otherwise, you can quickly lose the trust and respect of your members if they get burned by products that you haven’t taken the time to check out.
One important note about affiliate marketing
The Federal Trade Commission requires you to disclose relationships with affiliate marketers to your members. For example, if you send an offer to your list with a link to a product that you are promoting, you have to let your members know that you’ll receive a “thank-you” or referral commission for sending them to that business. This is called being “transparent” and it’s only fair. I am not an attorney, so I don’t know the exact words to use. Just be clear that you get paid when members purchase through your link. Then explain that they can purchase the same product without using your link. There are ways to soften this message. Remind members how much you do for the group and that this is your way of being compensated for your time and energy. Most people will respect you even more for being honest.
5. Create products and services: who wants what you have?
This is one of my favorite ways to monetize an idea. “Who wants what you have?” is a question I learned from one of my mentors, Dr. Valerie Young, Dreamer in Residence at Changing Course. You have no idea how many people can use your valuable experience until you really answer this question. It will allow you to find people who are particularly hungry for your information, and here is how it works.
As you build your group and your methods for creating income from it, keep great notes on the steps you take. Once you get your group going, you can ask “Who wants what I have?” Then you can earn money through consulting and creating information products. Since we’re using Kelli’s group as an example, here are some groups who may be interested in what she has:
–Other people who want to start and monetize an in-person group
–Moms in other geographical areas who also want to form a local networking group: products you create for this group are going to be highly specialized and can sell for more money than more general niches, like “how to monetize a group”
–Busy moms who want to know how to start and run a successful business on and offline while still being a great mom
–People who want to learn how to create and moderate a “Ning Network” (this is the type of site that Kelli uses with her networking group)
–People who want to learn how to use technology to create info products (eg, videos, audios, transcripts, reports) from in-person meeting content
–People who want to find great products and services for moms
–Husbands who want to learn how to support or work with their wives as they grow an online business–ok, maybe this one is a stretch!
Did I also mention that your expertise allows you to take on clients and give them special one-on-one attention? Ever hear of “consulting?” There will be a small percentage of people on your list who want more of your time and attention, which naturally comes at a higher price. Are you starting to see all the possibilities? There are a million different directions you can go. Let your interest and your excitement lead you!
6. Advertising
Have you ever heard the saying, “Where the eyes go, the money follows?” Inc. Magazine featured a story on Marcus Frind, the guy who created Plenty of Fish, which is a free dating site. He started the business with “no money, no plan, and scant knowledge of how to build a web business.” Today his site gets so much traffic that advertisers pay him millions for the eyes of his audience. The bigger and more targeted your group, the more you’ll attract the notice of advertisers. How does this apply to you–or to Kelli’s networking group? Even if the advertisers don’t come pounding on her door, she can certainly use her member numbers and demographics to entice local Naperville businesses to advertise–on her site, in her e-zine or newsletter, or at her meetings in person. You don’t have to have a huge dating site to make money from advertising. All you need is a targeted “captive” audience who is large enough to entice advertisers.
7. When in doubt, Google!
When you don’t know the answer to a question and it’s holding you back, there is one thing you should try before you throw in the towel. In fact, in the process of writing this post, I did that very thing. Into the magic Google box I typed, “monetize a group.” Are you familiar with meetup.com? Did you know there are local meetup groups out there that focus on monetizing a meetup group? How cool is that? If you are in such a group, you’ll be exposed to and develop relationships with others who are trying to monetize their group. But what if you’re group isn’t a “meetup group?” So what? A lot of the ideas are going to be adaptable to any group, not just meetups. One thing I learned from Jay Abraham is that you have to open your eyes–be able to recognize something that works in one area–perhaps in a completely different industry–and adapt that idea to fit your business. This idea is just one result from Google. Imagine what you’d find if you spent some real time with it.
Bonus!
Seth Godin wrote a great book called Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us. If you are the leader of a group (or want to be), you may want to check it out! And no, I’m not an affiliate of Amazon at the time of this post, but I probably will be soon, so in the interest of being transparent, I might make a few cents if you buy the book from that link!
Recently a colleague asked me about some ways to monetize an “in-person” group. Here is Kelli’s situation, in a nutshell. She had already:
–Formed a mom’s networking group in her local area
–Had a few meetings
–Done a lot of work without any compensation
–Received a call for an interview from local media
Now before you say, “Oh, that’s not my situation,” sit tight and instead, ask, “How is my situation similar?” You’ll come away with a lot more value that way. So, any similarities between you and Kelli? Have you done a lot of work to get things going and now you’re wondering how to make it pay? Here are some ideas:
1. Bump free members up to Platinum Level.
People always get nervous about converting a free service to a paid one. And rightly so. If you were getting something for free and suddenly you had to pay, you might be annoyed as well. How do we get around this? Well, if you have truly been “moving the free line”–giving away your best stuff so that you leave people thinking, “Wow, if her free stuff is this good, I wonder what her paid stuff would be like!” this shouldn’t be a huge problem. One solution is to “bump it up” a level. It’s time to introduce your “Platinum Level,” where you provide an even higher level of premium content. What is that premium content? I don’t know. That depends on you. What are you offering now for free? How can you take that to a higher level? How can you offer members even more value?
For example, if Kelli brings in a local expert who does a free presentation for her members, Platinum level members could receive one of more of the following:
–The audio recording of the presentation, which she can post on a download page that only members can access
–The transcripts of the presentation (again, these can be posted on a download page for members only)
–A substantial discount for products or services the expert is offering
–Access to an online forum: since Kelli’s group is local and they usually meet in person, her Platinum level might include an online forum where paying members can connect online to continue the sense of community and connection; however, she may have already decided to provide the online community for free, and that’s fine too. It just means she’ll have to find another way to provide value to paying members.
Is this the definitive solution for converting free members to paid members? You may still get some pushback, but people who drop out at this point are usually only “free seekers” anyway. They were never going to buy anything from you.
2. Find some affiliates.
You bring in business owners who can offer value to your members. Those business owners pay you 50% (or whatever deal you make with them) on any sales they make to your group. Examples of products or services specifc to Kelli’s networking group might include:
–Products for kids (safe and educational toys for kids)
–Luxury services to help moms forget they are moms for a bit (spas, resorts, restaurants)
–Businesses that make mom’s life easier (errand-running businesses, cleaning services, grocery delivery, personal shopping).
Say you bring in a local expert on children and multimedia, such as TV, music, Internet, video games, social media, etc. The presenter offers a service that keeps parents “in the know” about things like “NC-17″ ratings, terms like “phishing,” and everything that their children are exposed to today. There are a few ways to keep track of sales you bring to the presenter:
–Online sales: ok, with the disclaimer that I’m not a “techie,” this is my understanding of how it works. If you brought someone into your group to do a free presentation, you would direct members to sign up for the presenter’s free newsletter. When they do, a “cookie” is placed on their computer which is coded to you. If that person sends your group an offer via e-mail after they have signed up for the newsletter, you will receive commissions for any sales made. Know that you have to arrange this with the presenter/business owner in advance. If possible, ask for a long-term cookie. Some business owners offer life-time cookies, meaning you’ll get commissions for any referrals for life. If the presenter’s eyes glaze over when you start talking about “cookies,” or if he asks for “chocolate chip,” it might be better to handle the sales in person at your meeting. An alternative is to put up a page on your member site and require members to go to this page to get any discounts or bonuses. Then you can more easily keep track of sales you refer.
–On-the-spot (in-person) sales: if your group is buying from the presenter on the spot, you can keep track of sales yourself.
Is this making sense? Think of yourself as a matchmaker. You’re simply putting two groups together for mutual benefit. Without you, they may never find each other. One way to avoid the technical confusion of getting credit for your sales is to ask whether the presenter has an affiliate program upfront and proceed only if they do. Another idea is to just trust the presenter to give you your commission. Some people still do business on a word or a handshake!
3. Package and “repurpose” content from your in-person meetings.
Are you recording the content from your meetings with audio or video? What about the people who can’t physically be there? Is the information/content you provide “evergreen,” meaning the information doesn’t expire and is always applicable? Is it specific to your geographical area? If the information is evergreen, it can be sold to anyone at any time. It doesn’t expire and it’s not specific to a geographical area. If it is specific to your area, you can still sell it–you are just limited to buyers in your area, which may still be a big enough audience for you to enjoy a significant pay day.
If you’re still with me, this has been a long post. Stay tuned for Part 2 of “7 Ways to Monetize a Group.” Check out www.NapervilleMomsNetwork.com and if you have other “monetize a group” ideas for Kelli, please post them here!
When you think of Achilles, you probably think of that God-like Greek, whose image was only enhanced by Brad Pitt in the film Troy, and whose one weakness turned out to be the death of him—his heel. For the purposes of this post, we’re going to pretend the film was historically accurate, even though a little research reveals multiple theories, among them that tin, then a precious metal, was the focus of the Trojan War, not a beautiful woman. Apparently, those were plentiful. But back to my set up…
In a little remembered scene of the film, Achilles seeks the advice of his mother before he ever sets eyes upon Troy. With the gift of foresight, she presents him with two paths: stay in Greece, fall in love, have a family, and be reasonably happy, although no one will remember your name after your grandchildren are gone OR pursue your passion, glory, adventure, and a legacy—earning a name for yourself in the history books. This path will likely result in an untimely death. We all know which path Achilles chose, and that decision is why we remember his name today.
Which path have you chosen?
Have you chosen as Achilles did? Are you living your life of passion, glory, adventure, and creating a legacy? Or are you living in “safety,” going through all the motions of life without really pursuing your passion or putting yourself “out there?” You are happy enough, but those descriptions of people waking up in the morning really excited to do what they love are completely unbelievable to you. You just don’t buy it, right?
“I don’t know what I want to do.”
Many people insist that they don’t know where their passion, dream, or glory lies. They do know, but the answers are sometimes buried under worries, obligations, and responsibilities. With some work, discovering the dream, passion, or desire is not usually the problem. The real roadblock is one of more of these beliefs:
–I don’t know how to do that.
–It’s too late for me to do that.
–Doing that will take too much time.
–I’ve never done that before.
–I tried that before. It didn’t work.
–I could never do that.
–I love that, but I can’t make money at it.
So you give up on your passion, your adventure, your glory, and you do so with nary a glance over your shoulder as you run away from your dreams, back to your comfort zone, where things are lovely and safe—or so you think. The reality is that the safe path can kill you too. Ever hear of death by mediocrity? It’s a slow and painful way to go.
So instead of more excuses, why not start asking some of the right questions:
–Where can I learn how to do that?
–Where in my schedule can I create some time to focus on that?
–How much time can I devote to that on a daily basis?
–Do I know anyone who has already done that? Who? What can I learn from them?
–What would happen if I tried that, just a little every day?
–What resources are available that could help me find ways to make money at that?
Ask a question—don’t make a statment.
The next time you find yourself daydreaming about your passion, dream, or adventure, ask some good questions like those mentioned above. This isn’t the time to make statements. When you make a statement, you’re in “judgment mode.” You’ll say things like “That won’t work” or “I’m too old to start that.” These statements are fruitful, but they bear a bitter fruit called “mediocrity.” Instead, ask yourself how your passion or dream might come about. What would have to happen?
Why not start asking questions today? The answers may lead you to passion, glory, and adventure!
- “Myrmidons! My brothers of the sword! I would rather fight beside you than any army of thousands! Let no man forget how menacing we are, we are lions! Do you know what’s waiting beyond that beach? Immortality! Take it! It’s yours!”
~Achilles
Troy
Warner Bros. Pictures