WRAP #131: Early Creator Mistakes

Hey Reader, thanks for all the kind words and emails that came through after my fight announcement last weekend! I won my first match but lost in the finals. I made a couple mistakes and ultimately couldn't overcome them. But I'm really proud of how I competed and won a match at the blue belt level.

Today’s WRAP is a bit more creator focused. I’ve been talking a lot about courses and products in the HeyCreator membership community and wanted to share what I realized about this important part of the creator journey.

Last note: this email is an hour late because I've been battling my email editor to upload images. I can't get one uploaded - in fact half the internet feels like it's down for me. I had a few ready, but you'll just have to use your imagination.

Let's begin!

In this issue:

💡 The Big Idea

The #1 mistake I made as a new creator

✍️ Creator Corner

My workshop model for testing new ideas

👀 Video to Watch

More new creator mistakes (and how to avoid them)

💡 The Big Idea

The #1 mistake I made as a new creator

One of the biggest mistakes I see creators make early in their career is waiting to develop and sell a product.

It's important for new creators to overcome this hesitancy and start selling products as soon as possible. Selling a product not only generates revenue, but it also validates your business idea and establishes your credibility in the market.

Here’s the thing — you don’t need a big audience or a super in-depth course to create something worth selling that will bring value to people. You also don’t need expensive equipment or a great looking studio to film in.

The math is simple. You need 10 customers to pay $100 for your course (or live workshop). I promise that you can find 10 people in the next 4 weeks that need help with a problem that you can solve.

I get there are a lot of misconceptions about courses, but in my opinion they’re the best balance of prep and profit for all types of creators. In the training I’ll show you a workshop launch method you can use to quickly validate an idea and decide if it’s worth pursuing all the way to full course.

✍️ Creator Corner

My Workshop Model for Testing Product Ideas

So here’s the thing: I have a new teaching I put together that helps you build and launch your first (or next) course.

I made this for you because I kept seeing a lot of common misconceptions about courses from HeyCreator members and subscribers to this newsletter. Things like:

Courses take a lot of time to create
Courses take a lot of equipment, i.e. nice video and audio
Courses have to be a lot of lessons and cover a lot of content
I’m a coach/consultant/freelancer/agency and don’t need courses

So I want to show you that none of that is true and a course is actually a lot easier than you think.

Come hang out with me and Darrell April 24th (that’s this Wednesday) at 3:00pm ET, 2:00pm CT, 12:00pm PT, 7:00pm UTC and I’ll give you all the info you need to build and launch your first (or next) course.

Courses are a key piece of the creator business because it allows you to teach your best stuff to an unlimited number of people at their own pace*. Having a course shows people “I know what I’m talking about and I can help you.” It also gives you a helpful price anchor for other offers, like coaching. I’m excited to share these ideas with you, they’re steps that can become the foundation of your creative business!

👀 A Video to Watch

Avoidable Creator Mistakes

I made a video about this launch problem and why I think it’s a totally avoidable mistake for creators. Even if you’re not a “creator” - this is a process that can be replicated for a niche offer based on your expertise.

Imagine if you had a specific solution to someone’s pain point, that could be sold at will? I gotta say, it’s pretty awesome 👏

Watch on YouTube →

The WRAP is sponsored by

Mighty Networks: Your Ultimate Community Partner

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By telling Mighty what our community is about, it generates daily questions that help keep us connected without relying on me to come up with something clever. It's a game-changer!

If you're a person building community with others over a common vision or goal (like being a great dad) — then check out Mighty Networks and see what they can do to support your mission.

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