I originally started I Will Teach You to Get Rich as a free one-hour course I taught at Stanford University. It was never designed to make money. It was just a cool thing I wanted to do. When I would hear my friends complaining about money in the dining hall, I would say, “Hey, you should take this class I put together. It’s free, it takes about an hour, and I’m going to show you all the basics of money, banking, budgeting, saving, and investing.” And the response was very positive. He said People: “Wow, that looks great!”
And then they will never appear.
Over the course of 1.5 years, I repeatedly struggled for anyone to attend. I wondered to myself, “Why am I trying so hard to give people good, free information about things they really need to know?” I felt like a career counselor, which is one of the most underappreciated (and hopeless) jobs.
After trying all sorts of strategies to get people to attend, including emailing them and trying to coordinate times, I changed tactics. Instead of in-person events, I launched iwillteachyoutoberich.com so people can read it from their dorm rooms. Later, I learned why this works: People don’t like attending money-related events because (1) it makes them feel bad about themselves, (2) the events are usually boring and/or fraudulent, and (3) people have to publicly admit that they don’t know anything about money. the money.
It was a classic mistake of not understanding your users (replace “customers” in your business).
Lesson learned: You have to get into your customers’ heads.
- What are their concerns?
- What are their hopes?
- What do they care about most (hint: how much it costs is almost never the first priority).
Likewise, once you get into their heads, you’ll know that the way you serve your customers matters. (Is it an in-person event, a blog, or a weekly phone call?) How you engage with your customer matters. How you sell to potential customers is important.