If your business journey has been anything like mine, then you had some high highs and some low lows. This year, 2023 marks my ninth year of selling online courses and I learned (and re-learned) a lot.
I’m so very proud of everything that my team and I accomplished together. We had tough conversations, made difficult decisions, and came out the other side better for it.
Today, I’m sharing 5 of the most impactful things I learned (and in some cases RE-learned) this year. So, let’s get into it.
My name is Caitlin Bacher, CEO of Scale With Success®, and I’m on a mission to help course creators all over the world grow their business in a way that is profitable and scalable. I’m sharing revealing insights about what it really takes to scale an online course business to millions of dollars per year. Join me here to discover the tough decisions I’ve had to make, the biggest failures I’ve had to bounce back from, and the learnings that emerged every step of the way. I’m so grateful that I have the chance to tell you everything right here on Scale With Success®: The Podcast. Let’s get started.
Today, I’m sharing 5 of the most impactful things I learned (and in some cases RE-learned) this year. To make things exciting, I’ll be counting them down so the MOST important lesson will be revealed at the very end. I mean, who doesn’t love a good countdown?
Starting with #5…
5. Nobody knows your customer like you do.
Understanding exactly what our audience and customers want and what they don’t want has been a labor of love since I started this business and this year was no different. I’ve learned over and over again that knowing my customer on a deep, fundamental level is something that can’t be outsourced – and believe me I’ve tried.
Knowing and serving our customers has never felt like work – but, there have been times in the past where I’ve doubted my ability to know exactly what makes them tick. Call it imposter syndrome, but I always felt like someone fancier or more important than me would be able to unlock secrets about my customer that I didn’t already know. I felt that I wasn’t good enough to do it – and I was wrong.
This deep knowing of what my audience and customers want comes from data that my team delivers to me every week to show me what marketing messages are resonating with our audience and which are not, AND of course nothing can replace good old-fashioned conversations with my audience and my customers. Knowing the right questions to ask can unlock more than any consultant could ever tell me.
4. Never let a big mistake go to waste.
Mistakes are a requirement for success and as your business grows, you’re going to make loads of them. Some of the mistakes will be private and some will be public, which is uncomfortable for most people since many of us have grown up in a culture where mistakes are seen as a sign of weakness or a lack of intelligence.
Earlier this year we tested out a new offer and we stopped selling it a week later. It was something myself and three other team members worked hard on, but it just fell flat. Instead of beating myself up, I went to a couple team members who worked very closely with our audience and asked for feedback – why did it flop?
They were super candid about the missteps I made in the positioning and execution and I learned that I should have run my initial idea by these two team members BEFORE I opened it up.
A mistake I won’t ever make again. At the time it hurt, but now I know.
3. There’s always a way through.
I had to take some really big risks at the beginning of 2023 in terms of how the team was structured. Many difficult conversations were held and for the first time ever I cried at an All Hands meeting. It was during a week where I wasn’t able to talk to them openly about what was going on, which was confusing and even a little scary for them to experience. But, when I shared everything the following week they understood.
Everyday I talk to prospects who tell me this is their last chance to make their business work. But, what they don’t know is there is ALWAYS a way through and it’s not over until YOU decide it’s over. Just because you haven’t figured out the way through, yet, doesn’t mean it isn’t possible.
I get it, you had a vision in your head for HOW your path to success was going to look – and right now, it may not look anything like you envisioned. But, does anything EVER go exactly as planned? The journey of entrepreneurship is impossible to predict and while I love a good plan, it’s also important to let things unfold to reveal a different path if that’s needed.
2. Protect your energy.
You are the battery of your business and your energy is a precious resource. As a course creator, YOU develop the product, market it, sell it, and in many cases deliver it. The excitement you have for your brand and how you help people is the driving force of your company.
Even as you grow your team and you’ve got other people helping you execute the sales, marking, and delivery tasks – they will still rely on YOU to be the lighthouse, the beacon of hope, and the communicator of everything you hold to be true about what you want your company to do and who your team needs to become in order to make it happen.
2023 was very hard for me personally and professionally – it tested me in ways I never saw coming. So, protecting my energy became my #1 focus. Being clear on what I would and wouldn’t accept. Setting clear boundaries so I didn’t get into the “should I or shouldn’t I” conversations that end up wasting so much time. Practicing radical acceptance of what was happening around me so I could make a plan to move forward.
1. Stay grateful.
2023 unlocked a new level of gratitude in me and guess what – I’m grateful for that! When things are hard, gratitude takes discipline. I had to retrain my brain to focus on what I was grateful for even when at times it seemed like everything in my personal life was falling apart.
Truthfully, sometimes falling apart is needed to reorganize and rebuild something better, stronger, and more aligned with what you value most. In 2022 I was focused on the wrong things and as a result, 2023 was about figuring out what I REALLY wanted, communicating it to others, and making it happen.
I am so proud of everything my team and I have accomplished this year. But, above all I am grateful.
Grateful when my DMs get flooded with inquiries and I get to chat with people who are looking to sell their course on auto-pilot.
Grateful when I get to host Q+A calls with my clients and brainstorm their next big move.
Grateful when I get to host a team meeting and celebrate consistently meeting our goals in Q2, Q3, AND Q4.
Grateful for the mistakes and the learnings along the way.
Grateful for you, listening to this podcast where I get to share so much with you.
This is the last episode you’ll hear from me in 2023, so I wish you and your loved ones a very Happy New Year and I’ll see you in 2024 right here for another episode of Scale With Success® – The Podcast.
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