Episode 24: Online Memberships and Partnering with Organizations to Buy Your Course

I first heard of Genia Stephen when she had landed a 5-figure contract with an organization that wanted to not only purchase her digital course, but roll it out across their org. When I dug further to see what she was up to, I learned that her business 'Good Things in Life' was completely centered on supporting parents with kids that have disabilities. Some of you may be aware, but this tugged on my heartstrings as my parents (after having 8 of us biologically) adopted 12 children from varying backgrounds and hardships.

Genia is a prime example of someone that had knowledge in a certain area, saw a hole that needed to be filled, and figured out a way to build a service that filled that need. Growing up, Genia was surrounded with leaders in the disability world as her mom became a powerful advocate alongside her younger sister's diagnosis. Cut to 14 years ago, Genia's own son was born with disabilities and medical complexities. 

Conversation Highlights:

 Identifying a Business Need

Midwife background highlighted a gaping holeParents with kids of disabilities start their journey onlineCreated ongoing instruction and support for this communityLaunched Good Things in Life: podcast, free monthly webinars, digital courses and a membership

 The Power of Digital Courses

Started from scratch with no entrepreneurial experienceBegan with Marie Forleo's B-School online courseThen took Amy Porterfield's Digital Course Academy

 Leveraging Collaborations & Personal Knowledge

Co-created the course, 'Belonging in School: The What, Why, and How of Inclusive Education'Moved on to launch 'Inclusion Academy' as a membership for parents with ongoing support and communityAccelerates progress by making high quality information, resources, ideas, and support more available to parents across the board

 Top Tools & Processes for Success

Digital Course Academy - created by Amy Porterfield as a comprehensive program to create, launch, and sell digital coursesTribe - created by Stu McLaren as a course that teaches how to launch a successful and profitable membership siteFull Focus Planner - created by Michael Hyatt, this planner helps to cut down on overwhelm by helping you focus on what matters and ditching the never-ending-to-do-listDigital courses speed up your progress by delivering the info you need in an accelerated pace 

Selling Your Digital Course to Other Organizations

Building relationships, credibility, and authorityThe power of the 'ask'Getting over the money mindset of making money = burning yourself outRe-using one digital course for multiple income streams

Moving Forward - Goals and Visions

Improving her membership, growing that audienceContinuing to build her email listBuild and scale her podcastReassess late 2020/early 2021 - re-evaluate, tweak, set goals, move forward

Muscle Creative Wrap-Up

If you could listen to only one music artist for the rest of your life, who would it be? Bob Marley, The Dixie Chicks depending upon her mood

Where can people find you online?

Good Things in LifeThe What, Why, and How of Inclusive EducationFacebook GroupInstagram