Learn why you would create a beta version of your program – plus how to run it, how to price it, and why it matters.
Plus watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mY9YLJuFsOw
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Transcript
Hey everybody, in today's episode, I want to get
Unknown:back to basics. So it's been a while since I've talked about
Unknown:your beta, and your beta is actually the very first
Unknown:iteration of your digital experience that you are creating
Unknown:for your customers. And think of it like a prototype or MVP. So
Unknown:when you think about like a physical product, right, so, so
Unknown:you have, you've invented some physical product, you don't just
Unknown:go out and, and create, like, you know, 10,000 units of this
Unknown:product.
Unknown:This widget, whatever it is that you've invented, and put it on
Unknown:Amazon and try and sell it, right, it's not how the process
Unknown:works, you first, do some market research, right, you make sure
Unknown:that it's a viable,
Unknown:you know, it's solving a viable problem out in the in the
Unknown:market, right, that's the very first thing that you do. The
Unknown:second thing that you do is you actually create a test version
Unknown:of it. So people can try it and practice it and play with it and
Unknown:break it and do all of the things so that you know, how
Unknown:other people are using it, how, what's working, what's not
Unknown:working, what needs to be tweaked
Unknown:all the different parts and pieces of what goes into
Unknown:actually creating a physical product. And your program, your
Unknown:digital experience is no different. And so just like you
Unknown:wouldn't go out and
Unknown:like put your shingle up and say, I'm available and get
Unknown:10,000 customers at one time, you would start by testing your
Unknown:material testing what you've created, doing, doing
Unknown:some prototyping and doing a beta. And so that's what we're
Unknown:doing. So you're pre selling your program before you've
Unknown:created it. And when you're doing your beta program, what
Unknown:you're trying to do is you're testing your signature
Unknown:framework, you're testing, the methodology that you've come up
Unknown:with,
Unknown:that will help people get results, right, because
Unknown:remember, you've chosen your avatar you've chosen who you
Unknown:want to work with, you found a viable problem in the market
Unknown:that you can solve. And so your job is to come up with a
Unknown:proprietary framework, that is the way the fastest path that
Unknown:you take somebody from where they are today, the problem that
Unknown:they have to getting that solution, that that process is
Unknown:your proprietary methodology, the way that you do it, you're
Unknown:gonna show up different than I'm going to show up in order to
Unknown:teach something, right. So the steps may be similar, they may
Unknown:be called something different, but they may be similar, but the
Unknown:way that you and I are going to do it is different because of
Unknown:our unique take on our expertise. So the whole goal for
Unknown:your beta is to test that methodology. Where do you need
Unknown:to add something? Where do you need to take something out?
Unknown:Where do you need to switch it around? You know, how do you add
Unknown:more interactivity? How do you get people engaged? When are
Unknown:they asking questions? What are they getting stuck? What's
Unknown:happening throughout the process, that is your beta. And
Unknown:that is the very first thing that you need to do is to test
Unknown:your program. So so often I have people come to me, they're like,
Unknown:Oh, I created a bunch of videos, I'm gonna, I've seen him in a
Unknown:platform, and then I'm going to throw ads at the program, and
Unknown:I'm going to sell it, it's going to be great. And I'm like, wait
Unknown:a minute, you're missing the testing phase. Because you don't
Unknown:know what's gonna work, you don't know what's gonna sell,
Unknown:you don't know what people what questions people are gonna have,
Unknown:or where they're gonna get stuck, or where all of the
Unknown:issues that are going to come up as you go through the process.
Unknown:And so when we're working with our clients, this is a very,
Unknown:like, first thing that we do in order to test your framework.
Unknown:And, and so when you're doing your beta, the goal is to not
Unknown:like go out and sell to the masses and like have a bunch of
Unknown:random people in your beta the goal is to is to test it, right?
Unknown:So just like you would, if you had a prototype of a physical
Unknown:product, you would invite people in and kind of watch how they're
Unknown:going through it or what questions they're having, or you
Unknown:know, what's happening as they're, as they're doing it,
Unknown:you're observing and you're watching and you're seeing what
Unknown:they're doing that you don't want to have 100 people in the
Unknown:room at one time because you can't get that that experience,
Unknown:right, unless you had a huge team of people who you know,
Unknown:each had a little segment of people. You want the you know,
Unknown:representative group of your ideal clients to be a part of
Unknown:it. And so in our our whole process that we teach, we we
Unknown:have you get five superfans into your beta program and your five
Unknown:super fans are the ones who are like representative of your
Unknown:ideal clients, and they're going to be the ones who are going to
Unknown:test it and and you know, you're going to be able to observe
Unknown:what's happening as you're teaching it.
Unknown:And, and where they're getting stuck and, and where they're
Unknown:succeeding and how they're getting results. And then you
Unknown:guarantee and you can get them to a result. And sometimes it's
Unknown:a clean path. Other times, it's like, okay, this isn't working,
Unknown:I gotta shift, I've got a pivot. That's why when you're doing a
Unknown:beta, it's not like, you know, pre producing your videos pre
Unknown:producing your course assets, you're,
Unknown:you're working from your framework, and not producing
Unknown:everything yet, before you get started. Because you, you want
Unknown:to do that prototype or that test take. And then from there,
Unknown:you can take it and go, Okay, this worked really well, I'm
Unknown:going to lock and load it. And this is what I'm going to have
Unknown:for my signature program. This one I need to work on a little
Unknown:bit. So I'm going to go through and make some adjustments, maybe
Unknown:you test it again. Or maybe you have the information that you
Unknown:need to put it in and lock and load it right but, but you're
Unknown:constantly going through and doing that, you may do a one
Unknown:beta, you may do multiple betas, it just depends on where you're
Unknown:landing with your people. So we recommend that you do a beta, we
Unknown:recommend that you pre sell your betas, so you're not, you know,
Unknown:creating it first. And we recommend that you get five
Unknown:superfans, and you don't need a bunch of random people who
Unknown:aren't going to participate. You need the right people who are
Unknown:going to get in there and and give you the information that
Unknown:you need to be able to create and produce that more polished
Unknown:product. Alright, that was a quick one. But hopefully that
Unknown:helped serve you in terms of like, where do I start, right.
Unknown:So the first thing is you're creating your framework, then
Unknown:you're testing your framework, and then you're able to take
Unknown:that and make that into a digital experience that then
Unknown:serves
Unknown:and scales to more people, right. One thing that I always
Unknown:get around the beta, and I just want to quickly address it
Unknown:before I sign off today is a beta is not a lesser product,
Unknown:it's not a lesser program, you are showing up, you're running
Unknown:through your framework, and you are serving your people at a
Unknown:high level. Now you could do that one on one, you could do
Unknown:that in person in a workshop. Or you could do it in a digital
Unknown:experience. That's the first time that you've done the
Unknown:digital experience. But you don't need to discount it. So
Unknown:think about like if somebody sells you a workshop and in
Unknown:person workshop, right? Like, I'm you know, we're doing a
Unknown:three day workshop at this college or at this conference
Unknown:room or whatever. And it's, you know, a certain amount of money.
Unknown:You don't like pay for it after or they you don't say, oh,
Unknown:because I'm coming in person, and I haven't seen you teach it
Unknown:yet, then I'm not going to pay until after or I should have a
Unknown:discount? Because I haven't haven't seen you teach it yet.
Unknown:That doesn't happen. Right? So why do we have a tendency to
Unknown:think that when we do something for the first time in a virtual
Unknown:format, that it would be a discounted program. And so I
Unknown:just want to validate that for you that this isn't about the
Unknown:first time that you do something isn't like, Oh, I'm discounting
Unknown:it. So
Unknown:because I haven't done it before. If you choose to
Unknown:discount it, that should be from a strategic standpoint, it
Unknown:shouldn't just be like I'm gonna get people in and I have to tell
Unknown:them, It's my first time doing it. So therefore, I should
Unknown:discount it. That's not actually the case. Right? And so,
Unknown:consider, consider it if like you were going to do it in
Unknown:person and have people in the room they don't need to know or
Unknown:necessarily do they care that you are doing it for the first
Unknown:time or the 100th time.
Unknown:Because what's happening is you're teaching from your
Unknown:framework that you know, has gotten your results, or your
Unknown:customers results or other people results, right. And so
Unknown:be confident in your expertise, be confident in your ability to
Unknown:put together your proprietary framework based on how you know
Unknown:that that is the fastest path to success, and then just own it
Unknown:right, it's not going to be perfect, but that doesn't mean
Unknown:that it's a lesser program, right? Because the goal is to
Unknown:get them results. The goal is not for them to have, you know,
Unknown:all the videos produced perfectly. All the worksheets
Unknown:produce perfectly yet, they just need what they need to get to
Unknown:that result. So they're that's what they're paying for. They're
Unknown:not paying for the polish.
Unknown:And so you just have to own that you have to lead with that. And
Unknown:you put together a minimum viable product that allows
Unknown:people to be able to interact with you and get the results
Unknown:that they need. When you're first doing your beta you're
Unknown:you're doing it live you're doing it live virtual you're
Unknown:doing it live
Unknown:Have in person, however you decide you want to test your
Unknown:framework. And so they're actually getting the highest
Unknown:level because they're getting you live there at able to have a
Unknown:conversation with you don't just count that,
Unknown:when they're taking it in a digital experience, it's going
Unknown:to be tested, it's going to be something that you know is
Unknown:working, don't just count that either. Right, this is your body
Unknown:of work, this is your proprietary framework, own it,
Unknown:feel comfortable with it, if it's the first time or the
Unknown:500 100, at the time that you've done it, be confident in what
Unknown:you're producing. If you're not confident, you need to go back
Unknown:and you need to work on your signature framework until you're
Unknown:confident that you're getting getting results. And sometimes
Unknown:that means you need to help people just one on one, right?
Unknown:You need to test in a one on one environment before you can move
Unknown:it into something that you're teaching.
Unknown:or providing to a group. You could do that too, right?
Unknown:Sometimes it's like, okay, wait, let me just make sure that that
Unknown:this is the right formula. Can I go through this in your
Unknown:business? Can I help? Can I test this? Can I look at how this
Unknown:would work? Do that. Right? Do that until you feel confident
Unknown:that the framework is correct. But don't get hung up on the
Unknown:assets and all the things that need to be created and all the
Unknown:things need to be perfect. In your beta. You have plenty of
Unknown:time for that, once you've tested that step in the
Unknown:framework, and then you're able to lock and load it into a
Unknown:digital experience. So again, hopefully this serves you let me
Unknown:know if you have any questions about the beta and and why and
Unknown:how and all the parts and pieces of it happy to answer those for
Unknown:you as you go in and start testing your proprietary
Unknown:framework. All right, there you go. Have a great day.