Yvonne wanted to find a way to monetize her podcast, Late Bloomer Living. She interviews midlife men and women on the topic of career transition. In her words:
[The podcast] brings together people circling their 50’s who are committed to busting through their Midlife Funk to inspire, cheer each other on, share our stories and take bold action, so that we can define and rock the next chapter of life and achieve new life goals whether it’s pursuing a passion project, pivoting careers or finally running that marathon.
Each person has a story to tell and every story is different. Even so, Yvonne has found common themes among the stories. Fear. Testing the waters. Taking the risk.
Yvonne has learned a lot from her podcast and she’s getting rave reviews. People tell her how good they feel after they finish their interviews.
Now, she faces a challenge. How can she monetize her podcast? Yvonne isn’t an expert on psychology or life transition. She started the podcast because she experienced change herself and wanted to talk to others making similar life transitions.
As Yvonne says, she’s not an expert. She’s a skilled photographer who specializes in helping her clients develop a personal brand. Her expertise shines, whether she’s taking headshots or “slice of life” action photos.
Can she — a non-expert — create a course that will help others transform their lives?
Some people would tell Yvonne, “You’ve got impostor syndrome. You have your own experience. Of course, you can do this!”
She doesn’t have impostor syndrome. She’s got an accurate perception of her own expertise. Even more important, she understands that potential buyers want to validate her expertise and credentials.
The Long Game: Becoming an Expert In A New Field
If Yvonne wants to become known as an expert on life transitions, she can begin by creating content that shows her expertise. She can create her own blog, write guest posts for other blogs, and begin to publish on outlets like Medium. Eventually, she’ll even have a book.
If you choose this strategy, it’s important to develop a unique message that will resonate with your audience…something that makes readers say, “I’ve never heard that before. But it makes a lot of sense.”
Having a body of content will establish your expertise with potential buyers of your course. You might even attract attention from the major media.
That’s what I did. When I was focused on my career site, Midlife Career Strategy, I didn’t pitch to the media. But I got found by writers for top journals like the Denver Post, Money Magazine, and the WSJ Online. They came to my blog, liked what they saw and called me. I was invited to join broadcasts, too.
All of them said the same thing: “You’ve got an unusual take on this subject.”
The Shorter Game: Borrow The Expertise
Yvonne might decide she has no interest in getting established as an expert in a new field. She’s doing just fine with her photography business.
In this case, she can borrow the expertise. For example:
Find someone who’s unmistakeably an authority: a psychologist, a marriage and family counselor or a life coach with experience in this area.
The expert can co-create the course as a joint venture. Yvonne would lay out the curriculum and co-present the courses. Most likely the expert already has a following and a place to promote the course. They could split the revenue 50-50.
Alternatively, Yvonne can find a series of experts. Each would be interviewed for a specific session (or group of sessions) of the course. She can set the course up as a summit, which normally would be free to listen for a limited time with a charge for recordings. She can offer affiliate commissions to everyone who sells the recordings.
If she’s built a large audience from the podcast – and she can document a substantial number – she could attract guest experts to participate in a course because they’ll get solid exposure.
First Step To Monetizing: Find your message.
When you pivot to a new direction in your business, you need to explain with your story. Yvonne can show how being a personal brand photographer has given her insights that she can apply to helping people in transition.
Secondly, she has to figure out what problem she’s going to solve in her course….and. the next problem and the next.
Based on her podcast interviews, what do people say they need during a transition? What aren’t they able to get elsewhere?
If she taps into a truly urgent need, with a solution that resonates with the transitioners, she’ll easily find ways to monetize her podcast.
FREE: Listen to my podcast, Create Your Course With Storytelling.
On Apple.
On Spotify.
On Your Favorite Platform – Episode #58.
BTW you’re looking for ways to monetize your expertise, I can help! We can make significant progress in just one Strategic Intensive. It’s not just a consulting session – it’s a whole program. Click here to learn more and sign up.
I also offer a course on course creation – http://mycopy.info/createyourcourse