M01.08 Sleazy or Noble? Decide for Your Self…

Sleazy. That's the word my biz consultant Paul Lemberg offered up this morning when I explained the membership system of this website. He commented: "I know it works, but it doesn't build loyalty." Then I explained to him why I designed it that way. "That makes perfect sense to me" Paul concluded. "So tell them. Explain it – it will be much better if they know why you are doing it this way." Why I Am Doing It This Way First understand that you are a niche, just like any other niche. You are Alexander Technique teachers and trainees (and a few others) who want to find a way to gather students and make a living from teaching Alexander Technique. As niches go, it is a very focused and tight niche. Some would say "Too tiny to make a living from" and that would be correct. I am not focusing on you all to make my living. That part is already handled by BodyChance itself. My intention with you is the same as my intention with my own graduates – I want to see you engaged in bringing this wonderful work to lots of people. What I have discovered is that most people do not understand rudimentary concepts of business, marketing and sales that could have them doing that with ease. You need help. If not my help, help from someone. The next thing I know is that you (and please don't hear it as you personally if it doesn't apply) are reluctant to pay for coaching advice when it comes to business. You don't have the habit: I am guessing that most of you have never joined any online paid-for information website. The other thing I know – and many of you have discovered the same thing in your Alexander Technique practises – is that paying money for something is how you get the value out of it. When something is at stake for you, your brain will pay attention differently: you value it more, you want to figure out how you can get the value back that you put in. It's biologically programmed to be that way. So getting you to pay me money is, ironically, the way I am supporting you to kick-start your careers! Weird huh? However, please recognise the same principle in your own business. It works. In yesterday's blog I showed you the remarkable difference in conversion between the people who paid to come and listen to a BodyChance Alexander Technique Intro (50% went on to join) and those who did not pay (only 12.5% went on to join). It's just the way it is – so you accept the reality of people's biology, or you try to make the world a place that it isn't. Which is likely to be the most successful strategy? However, there is also the phenomenon of "buyer resistance" to deal with. In Alexander terms, this can be translated to "the power of habit." Asking for new behaviour from your students reliably triggers a defensive response: it's just part of how we look after our Self. So I know, when I launched this website, that asking you all to pay from the beginning would most likely be met with more resistance than acceptance. How can you be sure that there is value for you here? It's easier when you can experience it – another of Alexander's discoveries. So I decided that I really wanted to make it easy for you to join. That's why I offered 3 months of free membership, at any of the levels. I was impressed by the integrity of how my offer was received: people who understood they would not want to continue with me at a Pro level did not even join. Some were curious and did. Both ways are OK. So then, why make you pay $0.01 at the start? Why not wait till the 3 months are up and get you to pay then? That's the part Paul thought was "sleazy" My thinking went like this: "OK, I am going to make it free for three months, but I still think it is important that people feel they are paying. Having to hand over your credit card details makes the reality of it clear. It creates a "decision time". You get to ask your Self one more time: is this the right thing for me to do? I wanted to make that experience available, because I know that it creates more value for what you can learn here. And I know that once you get this feeling, that is a key factor in being able to get you that value! It has only a little to do with "how good" I am, it has mostly to do with how motivated you are. This is a principle in the teaching room too isn't it? Here I am explaining how you apply it to building your business. I have used these ideas to build this site, create this community and realise my objectives: to really, truly help you build your business. To make sure, by all the hoops and difficulties I have created for you to arrive at this site, that you are motivated to act. Once Paul heard that explanation he didn't think it was sleazy. "Except, I wouldn't charge $0.01" he sighed, "Make it a dollar." So I have.