Last week, together with Lee Stranahan, I co-created and launched a course called Question the Rules. This was fortunate, because the information in that course was exactly what I needed in order to successfully co-create and launch my newest course, Question the Rules.
The timing was perfect (being able to learn from Question the Rules in order to create Question the Rules), so I figured I’d share with you some of the biggest things that Lee and I somehow taught ourselves about how to create a course while creating a course about how, among other things, to build a business capable of creating a course that could teach us something like how to create a course.
I’m confused too.
Think of that illustration of the snake eating its own tail and you’ll get an idea of what I’m talking about here. And if it doesn’t help, at least the thought of that misguided snake will hopefully amuse you. Stupid snake.
Here are our top four takeaways:
1. You only need to see five feet in front of you
From the beginning, Lee and I worked under the guidance of a metaphor given by Stephen King. King said that he doesn’t believe that stories are created by the writer. He said that they already exist, buried, and that the writer’s job is to excavate them.
When Lee and I first talked, we wanted to create a networking course. Or maybe something about how to find and go after your real goals, because it seems like so many people are chasing things that are really far away and that they don’t actually want if they stop to think about it.
So we started making recordings for what we imagined our course could be. We didn’t create a big-picture, as-a-whole plan at the outset. We couldn’t, because our course was still buried, and we were still excavating.
We could only ever see what was immediately in front of us. We could only ever see the very next piece of the puzzle. We just kept moving forward and trusted that whatever the hell we were “excavating” would turn out to be as cool as we suspected it was.
2. Trust your gut, even if it tells you something weird
I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that ours may be the only business course in existence with a punk rock and faith module. And why is ours the only one like that? Because the notion of adding either of those modules to a business course is fucking retarded.
So why did we include them, then? And the answer is: Because it occurred to us. Because we had asked ourselves, “What are the components of our success so far?” For both of us, a punk rock attitude mattered. And for both of us, unflinching faith was nothing short of essential. It didn’t matter that neither of those modules made sense. What mattered was that it felt right, so we included them.
And what do you know? It all made sense in the finished product, despite the fact that it felt like a very strange choice until the very end.
3. Shoot first and ask questions later
Very shortly after Lee and I started recording sessions for the course, I started promoting it. In fact, it’s even possible I started promoting it before we recorded any sessions whatsoever.
If you’re thinking, “Well, you have to start buzz early, so that makes sense,” consider for a second the reality of the situation:
• We didn’t know what the course would be called.
• We didn’t know what the course would be about, other than vagaries.
• We didn’t know any of its features, modules, prime benefits, or really even its target audience.
• We had never worked together, had no reasonable expectation that we’d have good chemistry or that the other could deliver, and had no real timetable for completion.
• We didn’t know in any real way what would make this course different from all the other courses out there, how we’d price it, or what kind of a response we could expect.
Starting to promote a course that’s only the vaguest kind of an idea is a strange, strange thing. And trying to get people excited about a course that we couldn’t explain to them was far stranger.
(You should have heard me attempting to explain it to Naomi at the South by Southwest conference in mid-March. At the time, we were planning to launch on March 23rd, and Naomi’s response was, “Are you high?”)
But we wanted to commit ourselves to a course of action and to completing and delivering the thing, so we started telling people about it.
Yes, we launched a month later than we’d planned, but we did launch. If we hadn’t gone out on the limb and committed ourselves to generate momentum, we might not have ever gone anywhere with the idea. It might have remained “something we should do sometime.”
4. Uncertainty is part of the game
I’ve told this to death, but I’m going to tell it again anyway because it so perfectly makes my point.
There’s a Stephen Wright joke that goes, “You know that feeling where you’ve tipped back in a chair, and you’re just about to fall over backward? I feel like that all the time.” And that’s exactly what independent business is like.
If you enjoy the feeling of firm and unshakable ground under your feet (or more accurately, the illusion of firm and unshakable ground), then get a 9-5 job. Do not become an entrepreneur. Sorry, fledgling entrepreneurs, but there is no such thing as certainty here.
And that fact, by the way, is not a downer. It’s the path to freedom. If you don’t know what’s going to happen next, then you can have a hand in shaping it. (Philosophy majors: Don’t be assholes and lecture me about omnipotence vs. omniscience. I’m speaking generally here.)
We had no idea what was going on for the majority of the time we were creating Question the Rules. Not “sometimes” — the MAJORITY of the time.
We recorded the modules out of order. We didn’t know what material would be included in the end, so in the middle of any given recording, we could only refer to “other stuff we talked about” on a vague assumption that we’d cover it eventually. We couldn’t describe our venture to our big affiliates in advance. We couldn’t write sales copy. We just kept working and trusted that it would work out.
The cool thing is that the four above lessons had a surprising added benefit to us, as salespeople.
When people ask me if they should get it (yes, people have actually asked ME — one of the course creators — if they should pay us for our course) I can say yes without hesitation. Will it help you? Sure. It helped us, after all. We created this great course using the things we learned from this course.
The really neat part is that Question the Rules has been off-the-hook popular and successful (almost 300 people signed up last week), and has kind of opened up a whole new line of work for Lee and me. The course we launched last week isn’t the culmination of the Question the Rules “thing.” It’s the beginning.
So the question in front of me, then, is: What next?
And the response is: How the hell should I know?
Which is, of course, exactly the right answer.
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Did you miss Question the Rules during launch? Yeah, we’re hearing a lot of that. If you don’t want to miss out the next time, be sure to join my Advance Discount List.*
* I can’t imagine that Naomi Dunford originated the term “Advance Discount List,” so just so that everyone understands, she’s the specific person I’m stealing the phrase from.
I agree with every single word here, except may be the snake part. Snakes are clever!
I’ve been creating and conjuring up stuff of my own, and I’ve realized that embracing uncertainty is where the gold is at.
The stuff we do is weird and crazy. It doesn’t make sense most of the time, which is why you have to listen to your gut, but that takes guts.
Awesomeness, sir!
Number 2 is critical… (who does number 2 work for!)
I can’t tell you how many crazy ideas I’ve come up with for different businesses just by having that gut instinct and foloowing it. There have not always been a clear path. In fact there never seems to be a clear path until you hit the editing stage of product development.
This is a really solid summary of how a good little entrepreneur should behave.
-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire
You’re so rock ‘n’ roll…
QTR was (and still is) worth every penny. Y’all should be very proud.
Thanks folks! It’s just funny to me how useful *I* found it, so hopefully it’s the same for others.
That’s a cool as heck article, and it’s totally my style – just go in, Rambo-style. Don’t worry about the consequences – if you wait for too long it’s unlikely to happen.
Procrastination -
It’s such an ingrained disease – soooo hard to get rid of.
That’s why one of my most favorite lines still is
Run with what you got, fix it as you go !
Nice one Johnny !
I’m finding the exact same thing with this product I’m creating around website fear management. I’m uncovering all SORTS of exciting new fears and having to learn how to manage them!
I love that the course itself was created in a punk rock style. I just got through with session 2 and I am so pleased that:
A) I am not crazy
and
B) I am not alone in not being crazy.
Turns out I built my ketubah print business (http://www.ketubahworks.com) exactly the same way: I sold my very first print to several clients BEFORE I’d even made the artwork, written the text, translated the text, or had the prints made. I repeated the same formula for several of the designs in my line.
It was a hair-raising experience every time, but it got the job done. (Deadlines are magical things!)
Now it’s sort of gratifying to hear I’m not the only one crazy enough to work this way!
Next goal: do the same thing with a digital product… once I figure out a general direction.
I’m loving QTR, btw. Thanks for the great inspiration and validation.
Great post! I know you are all “punk rock” and shit but you’re really inspirational. This post hits really close to home because when we decided to do an internet cooking show, we just started doing it and planned to figure it out as we went. We are 25 shows in and a lot of people like it. So it’s a success on that level at least. Now we will figure out the next stage as well – by doing it. Love your site!
And now I get to learn about building excellent products from your excellent product (which taught you how to create and launch an excellent product).
Nifty. I’m gonna go tell someone.
So, are you high?
Act first, apologize later!
Sean d’Souza says the same thing, jump first and then figure out where you’re going to land. Thanks for the reinforcement on how it works. Coming up, instead of going to someone else’s webinaire, I’m going to host my own, in a month!
I’m a huge fan of the “you only need to see five feet in front of you” analogy and I’ve also heard you (or Lee) say “I’ll learn how to fly this plane once I get it up in the air.”
But I’ve always said, “I’m building the plane as I’m flying it.” And now I’m wondering which analogy is more apt. These are the thoughts that keep me awake at night.
Anyway, I’m enjoying QTR! Thank you, Johnny and Lee!
Oh, and I took your advice to make sure that all of my avatars (for Twitter and blog comments) match up so that people aren’t confused by multiple images. I thought that was a great bit of advice!
Love that you learned what you were teaching as you were teaching it. I’ve just returned to my blog after a hiatus because I need to be learning what it was I was ‘teaching’.
By the way, loving the audio.
I spend a lot of time with QTR on pause, squinting vaguely into the distance and flaring my nostrils.
(That’s good, in case you’re wondering.)
It’s great to hear that y’all are enjoying it. The cool thing about recording somewhat blind is that I’m re-experiencing it as I listen to it myself. I was listening to Lee’s story in the Faith and Belief module while mowing the grass yesterday and LOL’d several times.
Johnny,
Sounds to me like you’re a mixed up mental madman. Jaysus, I love you already… a total breath of fresh air. Just came across you today via Copyblogger. You’ve got style and I’m pretty sure you’ve got substance too (am trusting my gut here, like you suggest but will come back and read more… promise). Nonsensical sense… does that make sense? If it does, that’s how I’d describe your brand of wisdom… priceless.
I’m going to use that snake thing as a necklace. It looks great … thanks.
Aces! I think I have substance, but that’d be kind of fucked up if I didn’t think that.
I don’t know if there are any kind of information product/course awards but going into June, halfway through 2010, I’m not sure if there will be another course that tops QTR. And I was a bit on the iffy side before buying. The amount of content in question the rules is huge and it blows me away. The depth of the content is beyond me.
I believe the things you’ve learned are very evident throughout the audios as well. From talking things out, you can hear the gears kicking in as you went about your unconventional growth.
Rad.
Wow, thanks! Now to spearhead those info product awards…