What gets them in the room?

I was working with a client recently when things got awkward.

We were at loggerheads about the online course he was planning.

I was making the case for aiming his course at a narrow, well-defined audience.

He was trying to persuade me that his ideas were so universal that anyone could benefit from them.

And the thing is, I didn’t disagree with him. He was a communication expert and let’s face, who wouldn’t benefit from being a better communicator?

But also I do know that it’s really tough to sell a course whose target audience is “everyone”.

So we were stuck.

I was running out of ways to make essentially the same point. And he was getting frustrated that I was so hung up on this one issue.

“Look,” he said. “Whenever I teach this material live, whoever I’m talking to, I always start with these same principles. And people are blown away.”

And at that point a mini flashbulb went off in my head.

I said: “But what gets them in the room in the first place? What puts their backsides on a seat to hear you talk about communication?”

“Well for instance they might be salespeople,” he said. “And they want to learn how to sell more. And better communication will help them do that.”

And then the penny seemed to drop.

“Ah. I need to work out what will bring people ‘into the room’ of my course.” he said.

“Exactly!”

Because most of the time, people are only open to hearing new ideas when they’re wrestling with a problem they can’t solve on their own.

So design your course to help a particular type of person solve a particular problem. Like helping salespeople solve the problem of poor sales.

Even if lots of different people could benefit from your ideas and methods, just pick one type to start with.

Here are some questions to get you started:

• What type of people do you understand the best?
• What type of people can you most easily help?
• What type of people are you already connected to?

Because when your course has a very specific audience in mind, it’s easier to build, it’s easier to market and it’s a heck of a lot easier to sell.

So, who are your people, and what gets them in the room?

See you soon,

Glen