Podcasting Secrets

Meet Cydni Tetro

Cydni Tetro is a highly successful entrepreneur and digital monetizer. The art of storytelling and how to apply it for business growth and market leadership is woven through her career. She led technology commercialization at Disney and helped build a Facebook App with more than 100 million users. She founded a 3D printing personalization platform named 3DplusMe, founded a simulation platform named ForgeDX, and started a nonprofit, all while contributing to her community and raising children.  

Cyndi has been recognized as Woman of the Year, Contributor of the Year, and one of the Top 10 Coolest Entrepreneurs. She received Stevie Awards for Entrepreneur of the Year and Innovator of the Year and has been recognized as a Most Successful Businesswoman to Watch.

Building Skyscrapers

Cydni said in our interview: “If you can’t control your destiny, then it’s hard for you. You have momentary success, but you’re not in control of the outcome.”

In this interview, Cydni discussed four foundations she has implemented in her work to build skyscrapers. 

1. Being Consumer Driven: Creating Experiences and Connection

While working for Disney, Cydni became grounded in building relationships with the guests there. “It’s built into their DNA—that customer connection. Their organization is completely built around everything you do with guest satisfaction,” Cydni said. Everything was about the customer. Any time a project showed signs of guest dissatisfaction, it was out. 

When Cydni left Disney and started a new venture, 3DplusMe, her customer focus followed. This new company became successful by asking the question: “How can we, for a moment, help someone see themself and immerse themself in their favorite storylines, and then create this experience that truly transforms them?” Sure enough, her organization found a way to do just that. 

Cydni and her team created a 3D personalization platform which took 3D images and transformed individuals into their favorite character. What would it be like to be Tony Stark? With this platform, individuals could immerse themself into his character and truly discover what it’s like to be Iron Man! 

This product became so successful that it was taken to the Super Bowl, the World Series, Toys “R” Us, Walmart, Target, and more. This accomplishment came from focusing on creating an emotional connection with the customer.

Cydni then built a B2B enterprise called ForgeDX which focused on technology storytelling. This company built visualizations that showed the power of technology tied to business outcomes. “We were working with the Miami Dolphins and their CEO at the time used this term of: ‘You’re trying to create ubiquitous exclusivity in your experiences.’ What you want is to have an exclusive experience, but you want that for everyone,” Cydni said. 

It became all about creating “Aha!” moments so that consumers would stay engaged in every part of the journey or keep coming back. These experiences helped to drive customer behavior because the focus was again on the customer and building connections. 

2. Growing Ecosystems of Influence: References without Words

“When you build trusted relationships and deliver value, then it becomes a reference that you don’t even have to talk about”—Cydni Tetro

Launching their 3DplusMe program at Comic-Con was a tremendous success, all due to this “Ecosystem of Influence.” A partner of theirs, 3D Systems, let Cydni’s company set up space in the corner, which happened to only be 10’ x 10’. It was their first introduction for this particular product; however, Cydni’s company ended up with an enormous line of individuals waiting to have an immersive experience as a character! 

This is how they built and leveraged an ecosystem to have this success:

1. Their company was partnered up with 3D Systems who helped them get a space at Comic-Con.
2. Marvel, with who they also had a partnership, participated in the immersive experience.
3. Marvel then shared the 3D results on their YouTube channel.

“Marvel was endorsing us, I got a deal with Hasbro from it to create a custom toy line, and a deal with Walmart from it. This company was built on relationships and the influence of a bigger pie. This ecosystem of influence allowed us time and time again to monetize,” Cydni said. 

When Walmart caught the attention of this program, they reached out to Cydni to do a product launch for Superhero September. Cydni cold-called into Hasbro for help in launching it, and they were able to pull it off in only 60 days after the initial launch at Comic-Con! Marvel approved, Hasbro created the toy line, and then they launched into 20 Walmarts around the country.  

Their ecosystem of influence saw the value in what was being created, which became a domino effect with other retailers. Cydni said, “When you can build trusted relationships and someone does a transaction with you, then you get the credibility in building that relationship. So other companies say, ‘well, if you’re working with them, then it’s ok for us to work with you.’”

For example, another company of Cydni’s called ForgeDX built a strong relationship with Adobe. Because Microsoft saw Adobe using this demo platform, Microsoft signed up as well.

3. Conversions without Friction

“Anytime something is complicated or more of a hurdle than the value you’re going to give them, people say: ‘I’m out!’”—Cydni Tetro

Cydni discovered while building demos that consumers like to learn information, but they don’t like friction. Essentially, they don’t want to be tasked with solving a problem or thinking during the conversion process. 

In a funnel, customers are going to be looking for the information that they need to move to the next step. It’s important to keep in mind: What information does a customer need to make the next decision or complete the sale?

During the enterprise funnel, let’s say the customer becomes interested. Give them the information to take the next step, but then they need to see something in action that drives their engagement. It needs to be so simple that they could figure it out on their own. No friction. In doing so, they are more likely to make a conversion. 

Cydni was working on a demo for a particular company, which they wanted to be high-converting. She and her team helped this company create a product demo focused on the information that a customer needed to understand the unique value provided. They did just that by targeting four things that were unique about the program and the reasons why someone would purchase it. 

The demo became so successful that it performed 300% better than anything else the company had previously done. Form fills were even 28% better than anything else on their website. Another huge focus was the design strategy of the demo to make it interactive but not difficult. No friction. 

“The moment you have friction with no value, people just leave you or they bounce off of your site. Be really attuned that people understand the value in that next step because every time it gets harder, you lose people. That’s when you lose your conversion funnels.”—Cydni

4. The Success Based Pricing Model: Recurring Revenue

Cydni shared that there are many ways to generate recurring revenue. Here are three examples:

Through a Channel

Companies like Hasbro may have an action figure at Walmart but only sell a few per day. However, 60,000 other retailers are selling that exact action figure on the same day. This is a platform of mass distribution where a product can be accessed from all over or through many channels. 

Product Frequency / Subscriptions

When Cydni was a small retailer selling only one character, how could she get customers to return to her? She saw a similar company to hers called Lucrate become successful by creating subscriptions. For a certain price per month, customers would gain access to a comic collection.

Subscriptions create product frequency, but it has to have frequency for value. Cydni and her team could not accomplish this with their business model.

Per Simulation, Not Per User: A Success-Based Model

When building the next company, Cydni said, “While we’re building these product demos, we’re not going to think about them as one-time product demo builds. We’re going to build a platform underneath them that customers can subscribe to which will give everyone access to the demo. Every time we build another demo, it will be on the platform.” Everything was going to be about the platform: how customers access the platform or demo from it, how the demo is embedded from the platform, and how to give access to users internally or externally. 

They cracked the code and built a subscription model. This was a little bit different than other companies’ models because they wanted everyone to use the demos. So, they priced per simulation and not per user. Thousands of their employees used the demos so it became a mission-critical application! This is how they became successful. This had become a viral loop. When the employee uses the technology and goes to their next company, or works closely with another company, they share that technology with the next company.

Cydni’s company was able to get about 16 demos to play on the platform with thousands of users every month. This helped them forecast success for the following year. The subscription was built to be modified by creating a baseline price for year one. Then in the second year, the platform fee was based on how successful a given company had been the previous year. This allowed their recurring revenue to have a low-cost entry fee while also capturing value over time as usage and customer value increased.

Having a success-based pricing model instead of a per-user pricing model was a brilliant move. Not doing so would have discouraged the viral loop and the level of Cydni’s company’s success. 

“It becomes a natural limiter. In our case, we want everyone to use it. Don’t limit. Don’t make someone think about how they have to pay for a user. Let every person use it. Because if they use it and you did your job, they’ll keep using it.”—Cydni  

The success-based pricing model is a great example of thinking of the long-term, lifetime value of the customer, and not just the short-term per-user fee.

With the success-based pricing model, Cydni’s company cracked the code of their monetization success. 

Connect with Cydni

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Cydni or connect with her, you can find her on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cydnitetro/

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Cydni for sharing your stories and strategies about building your skyscrapers with us today. Here are some key takeaways from today’s episode:

1. Always be focused on the consumer. How can we give them the best experience possible and create a stronger connection? Work to give “ubiquitous exclusivity” in customer experiences. 
2. When we build trusted relationships and deliver value, it becomes a point of credibility because we can share the fact that another credible organization is using it. That in turn allows us to attain the credibility we need with the next partner.
3. Ecosystems of influence make it a lot easier for a company to monetize time and time again. 
4. Anytime something is complicated or more of a hurdle than the value you’re going to give to the customer, people say: “I’m out!” We need to make sure to keep things as simple as possible for the user. Eliminate all the friction we can.
5. Don’t give the customer all of the information at once. Instead, focus on what information a customer needs to make the next decision or take the next step.
6. Explore a success-based subscription model to start a viral loop and improve the long-term, lifetime value of the customer. 

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Share Your Story 

How have you seen companies position themselves to be masters of their own destinies? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/39-4-foundations-for-building-skyscrapers-and-controlling-destiny-with-cydni-tetro/

This is Entrepreneurs of Faith, a Sunday episode of Monetization Nation. I’m Nathan Gwilliam, your host. Today, we’ll talk about the 9 Laws of the Harvest for Entrepreneurs, the guaranteed way to have more love and success in our lives. 

I live in rural Idaho, surrounded by hundreds of square miles of farm fields, primarily of potatoes and wheat. The laws of the harvest are laws of nature, similar to the law of gravity. When we take an action related to these laws of nature we will almost always experience the natural results of that law. If we follow the laws of the harvest in farming or gardening, we will probably be successful in our efforts to grow and harvest our crops. If we don’t follow the laws of the harvest we will probably fail in those efforts. 

The laws of the harvest play a huge role in our local community and in the lives of people we love. For example, a few years back, cold, wet weather came much earlier than expected at the end of the potato season. Because the crops had not been harvested before the cold and moisture hit, much of the crops were lost, and it was devastating to local farmers financially. 

I’m not a farmer, but I love to grow fruits and vegetables, as wells as have a large garden and orchard. I’ve learned firsthand many laws of the harvest through a gardening mentor who has helped teach me, through books, and through mistakes I have made and learned the hard way. As I’ve learned these laws of the harvest personally, they have helped me to increase the quality and quantity of what I can grow and avoid mistakes.

These laws of the harvest also teach us some very important lessons about life and business. As we learn and apply the laws of the harvest, they can help us grow more successful lives and businesses. Or, as if we disregard these same natural laws, they do the opposite.

So here are the 9 Laws of the Harvest:

1st Law of the Harvest: Prepare the Soil Before Planting

We need to prepare great soil before we plant so we can have a great harvest.

One year, my wife asked me to plant wildflower seeds in a field by our orchard. So, I researched and purchased the right variety of wildflower seeds for our area, and I spread the seeds throughout the field. However, the wild grasses in that field have dense roots, grow tall, and prevent those wildflowers from growing. I didn’t think to till the ground or prepare the soil of the field before I planted those seeds. As a result, the wildflowers did not grow. 

Correctly preparing soil often involves adding organic matter and fertilizer to the soil. This adds nutrients to the soil and helps the soil hold more water. Preparing the soil often involves loosening the soil so that it is easier for the roots to grow deeply. Preparing the soil often involves raking the soil level and removing rocks, twigs, and weeds. 

Matthew 13:3-8 shares a parable from Jesus about planting in good soil:

And he spake many things unto them in parables saying, behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up; Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:  And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them; But others fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

“Observe that the prominent feature of the story is that of the prepared or unprepared condition of the soil. The seed was the same, whether it fell on good ground or bad, on mellow mold or among stones and thistles. The primitive method of sowing, still followed in many countries, consisted in the sower throwing the grain by handfuls against the wind, thus securing a widespread scattering. Running through the Galilean fields were pathways, hard trodden by feet of men and beasts. Though seed should fall on such tracts, it could not grow; birds would pick up the living kernels lying unrooted and uncovered and some of the grains would be crushed and trodden down…. The seed that falls in good deep soil, free from weeds and prepared for the sowing, strikes root and grows; the sun’s heat scorches it not, but gives it thrift; it matures and yields to the harvester according to the richness of the soil…” (source: James Talmage, Jesus the Christ)

Just like the seeds that are planted in good soil and thrive, the same is true in our business and lives. We can prepare our soil in many ways, such as getting a good education, continually learning our trade, planning, setting goals, developing strategies, gathering the right tools, getting the right people on board, building our following, etc. When we effectively prepare our soil, the seeds we plant in that soil, such as new business endeavors, are usually much more successful. 

2nd Law of the Harvest: Plant the Seeds 

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” - Chinese proverb

Talking about planting is not enough to ever get a harvest. Buying the seeds and the fertilizer is not enough to ever get a harvest. Watering the ground when it has no seeds in it is not enough to ever get a harvest. We must actually plant the seeds, or all of the other steps in the process will not yield any results. 

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” - Walt Disney

In our lives and businesses, we must also start with that first action step of “planting the seeds”. For example, when I decided to compete in my first triathlon, my mentor told me that the first step was to pay to register for a specific triathlon. That step committed me, and then I took the other necessary steps to prepare for that event. 

In each of our businesses, what is the first action step we should take to plant the seeds? For example, when I wanted to do the daily Monetization Nation show with a podcast, blog, and YouTube channel, I had to plant some seeds. I first researched how to create a podcast. Then, I reached out to some friends who I wanted to interview. Then, I created some initial episodes to post. Then, I created the accounts I would use to post on the different platforms. Then, I announced my daily show and made a public commitment that I would publish every day for a year, and make a $100 donation to the rival of my favorite college football program, for any day I missed publishing during that year. Then I created morning routines and other patterns in my life so the show would be consistently created, and I hired some people to help me. I planted those seeds, and I have published every day since then. 

God can’t multiply what we haven’t planted. 

Sometimes the big goal can feel a little overwhelming to us. Instead of trying to accomplish the big goal every day, we should instead focus on what we can do today to bring us one step closer to that goal. 

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant.” - Robert Louis Stevenson

3rd Law of the Harvest: Consistently Nourish Our Crops

“You gotta nourish to flourish.” - Unknown

One summer I had planted about 14 new fruit trees in my orchard. Then, my family and I left on a 25-day road trip in which we visited 27 states. It was so much fun. At some point, while we were gone, the automatic watering to much of my orchard shut off. And, this was during one of the hottest parts of the summer. When I returned from the trip, I discovered that nearly all of the newly planted trees had died. 

If we do a good job planting our crops, but then don’t nourish them consistently until the harvest time, the crops will probably die, or at a minimum, they will not thrive in their growth.

The same is true in life and business. We need to do the small but important things every day so we can nurture those seeds we have planted and eventually achieve the growth we want. Waking early, planning weekly, and scheduling our priorities can be great ways to make time to nourish our crops. 

4th Law of the Harvest: Protect Our Crops

We’ve prepared the soil, planted the seeds, and are continuously nurturing them. We also need to protect our crops from threats. 

My family and I live near a river, with acres of thick forest between our home and the river. We constantly have wildlife such as deer, elk, and raccoons on our property. As a result, I have a 7-foot fence around both my orchard and garden. If I didn’t have this fence to protect the plants, the animals would eat everything they wanted. Even with the fence, last year a family of raccoons climbed it and ate nearly every ear of corn. 

As an example of a time I didn’t protect my plants, a couple of years ago I planted a bunch of strawberries too early in the season. A cold spell hit, and I lost almost all of my strawberry plants in a couple of days. In that situation, I had not protected my crop from the elements. 

Weeding is another way we protect our crops. We remove the weeds so they don’t steal the water and sunlight our plants needs.

Just like farmers and gardeners strive to protect their crops, we should also strive to protect the good seeds we have planted in our lives and businesses. We should strive to weed out the distractions and time suckers, the negativity and contention, the addictions and unethical practices that can zap the life out of the great life and business we are trying to grow.

“We must all wage an intense, lifelong battle against the constant downward pull. If we relax, the bugs and weeds of negativity will move into the garden and take away everything of value.” - Jim Rohn

5th Law of the Harvest: We Reap What We Sow

"Life is an echo. What you send out, comes back. What you sow you reap. What you give, you get. What you see in others, exists in you. Remember, life is an echo. It always gets back to you. So give goodness.” - Zig Ziglar

It is very important for us to consciously choose the types of seeds we plant in our lives and businesses because those are the types of fruits and vegetables we will harvest. We cannot plant turnip seeds and harvest tomatoes from those plants. Likewise, we are going to harvest what we have sown in our lives and businesses, whether it be good or bad. Let’s be sure we are planting good seeds daily such as kindness, love, forgiveness, and grace because that’s what we will then harvest. 

As another way to say it, if we want more love, joy, and success in our lives, the best way to get it is to help other people have more love, joy, and success in their lives. We will reap what we sow. 

6th Law of the Harvest: We Harvest Much More than We Plant

When we follow the laws of the harvest, they have a multiplying effect and we will almost always harvest much more than what we planted. We can plant a handful of seeds and harvest wheelbarrows full of fruits and vegetables. Jesus’s parable of the sower that we quoted earlier talks about harvesting 30, 60, and 100 times more than what was planted. (Mark 4:20). 

The same is true of life and business. When we invest to metaphorically prepare the soil, plant the seeds, and nourish and protect the plants, it can produce enormous dividends in our lives and businesses. 

7th Law of the Harvest: Don’t Eat Your Seed Corn

My family loves to cook with garlic. So, each November we plant about 100 cloves of garlic in my garden. Then, by about July, we harvest about 100 heads of garlic and we preserve those and have enough garlic for the year. However, before we preserve the garlic, we pull out about 14 of the biggest heads of garlic and put them in a cool place. Those 14 heads have about 110-120 cloves, which we plant the following November. 

Sometimes people make the mistake of eating all of their harvests. Then, they don’t have anything to plant the following year. This is called “eating your seed corn”. 

It is very important in life and business that we don’t eat our seed corn. This means we don’t consume everything we earn. We should always be setting aside a portion of what we earn and reinvesting it in our future. 

8th Law of the Harvest: Plant and Harvest in Different Seasons

Gardeners and farmers must be patient and allow their plants time to mature. There is no seed we can plant one day and then harvest the next. For example, a watermelon takes about 80-90 days from when we plant the seed until it has grown to maturity and we can harvest it. It is important to remember that for most of the plants we love to eat, we plant them one season and then harvest in a different season. 

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” - Ecclesiastes 3:1  

Sometimes people want to “get rich quick…”, and make a lot of money very quickly with very little commitment.  They are not willing to sacrifice what it takes to grow a great venture. Those “get-rich-quick” ventures usually don’t turn out very well and usually don’t last. 

This law of the harvest is true for life and business. I’ve heard numerous people share a law of 3’s about starting a business. They’ve said something like: “Starting a business takes 3 times as long, costs 3 times as much, and makes about one-third the profit you expect.” So, we need to make a plan for the long game and not expect wild overnight success. 

We must invest in new ventures, and be patient as they grow and mature until they are ready to harvest. For almost every great venture, it will take time before we are able to harvest it. That’s part of the natural process.

9th Law of the Harvest: Plant Seeds that Will be Harvested by Others

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” - Greek proverb

I have been blessed over the years to have been mentored by some amazing entrepreneurs who had already had great success in their careers. They planted seeds in my life and my ventures that I am harvesting or am working to harvest in the future. These mentors didn’t plant those seeds in my life because they were hoping to harvest them. They had reached a spot in their career where they wanted to give back. Let’s consistently make time to plant seeds for others to harvest.

Key Takeaways

Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode that apply to businesses:

1. We can prepare our business soil before planting our seeds, such as getting a great education and building relationships.
2. We can plant our business seeds by taking action and taking the first step that commits us down the path to our desired goal. 
3. We can constantly nurture our business by prioritizing, and making time for the things that matter most. 
4. We can protect our business crops from threats, such as distraction, negativity, and unethical business practices. 
5. We will reap what we sow in business. So, if we want more love, joy, and success in our lives, the best way to get it is to help others have it.
6. When we follow the laws of the harvest, we will probably harvest far more than we planted.
7. Don’t eat your seed corn. Be sure to invest in your future.
8. Be patient when things don’t happen overnight. We will harvest in a different season than we planted.
9. Let’s give back and plant seeds that will be harvested by others. 

Our challenge for today is to plant a few more good seeds for the things we most want to harvest. Let’s all plant more kindness, love, grace, and success in our lives by helping other people to have those things in their lives. I promise that if we each do this, we will have a bountiful harvest of love, kindness, grace, and success in our lives. 

If this episode of Entrepreneurs of Faith resonated with you, please subscribe for FREE to Monetization Nation so you can receive Entrepreneurs of Faith each Sunday.

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Share Your Story 

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Read at:

https://monetizationnation.com/blog/38-9-laws-of-the-harvest-for-entrepreneurs-and-ceos/

In a previous episode of Monetization Nation, I shared an interview with Mark Morris, a Harvard MBA and highly successful business management consultant. This episode is part 2 of my interview with Mark. In this episode, Mark shares stories and secrets about how entrepreneurs and CEOs can leverage crowdfunding platforms and video to raise necessary capital without having to give up any equity.

Monetization through Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding companies like Kickstarter and GoFundMe help entrepreneurs to raise money and keep more control of their businesses.

Mark tells the story of a crowdfunding solution that had been developed to take advantage of social networks to enable fundraising for the Mitt Romney presidential campaign. After Mitt’s campaign ended, there were calls to use this crowdfunding technology to facilitate other types of fundraising. To make the solution more robust, it was integrated with other social media platforms, such as Facebook and YouTube to allow a more visual message to be told and to better facilitate social sharing. That was what started a company named Fundly, one of the first solutions to empower social media fundraising. Mark said that with Fundly, the response rate was 10x higher and the donations were substantially higher.

Mark believes that Fundly illustrated the power of connecting with people who share one of our passions. It also illustrated the power of video to tell a story. When there is a fundraising campaign for a new business product, a family in crisis, or another social cause we care about, video helps capture the emotions and build strong connections that make us want to participate. 

Mark feels that these crowdfunding platforms with videos are a tectonic shift in the ability of entrepreneurs to raise funds and test products as entrepreneurs. 

Fundly was purchased by GoFundMe. 

Crowdfunding Platforms Reduce Risk

Mark believes that crowdfunding platforms reduce the risk for investors and entrepreneurs. When investors look at a company that has gone through Kickstarter and has a lot of support, it is an entirely different value proposition because so much risk has been taken off the table in the deal. One of the biggest risks new ventures face is “Will people buy my product?” When entrepreneurs know there is a high demand for their product, this risk is already overcome. A successful crowdfunding campaign removes risk because it allows entrepreneurs and investors to know that customers are going to be interested in this product. 

The Girls Scouts is a great example of this. The Girl Scouts pre-sell their cookies. Then, they know exactly how many cookies to make, and aren’t stuck with unsold inventory. 

Crowdfunding Leverages Passionate People

Crowdfunding campaigns can build buzz and momentum for the product or cause, and create a bandwagon effect where people want to buy or donate because they see other people doing so. In some cases, it becomes a herd mentality.

One of the best parts of crowdfunding platforms is that they allow us to harness the power of people who are passionate about our cause, campaign or product, and help those passionate fans share that passion with their connections. This is important because most of our potential customers don’t trust us, and when we reach out to them directly, we are not credible. But, when our passionate fans reach out to their connections for us, it helps the credibility our passionate fans have with their friends and family to flow through to us. 

The Power of Video in Crowdfunding

Mark told the story of a student who raised about $100,000 by selling wooden watches. Mark said that the student's success was all about the video. The watches existed prior to this student. The student didn’t manufacture the watches. He bought and resold the watches, but he told a great story. It was the telling of the story, and the lifestyle portrayed by the video that made people interested in buying it. 

Mark explains that most things are not brand new. They have usually existed before, but they are new to us. Mark said there is a difference between a customer saying to themselves "I’m aware that exists," and "I need that in my life." That type of awareness is often best achieved through video and not text. 

The advantages of video vs. face-to-face sales pitches can include: 

(1) allowing the message to scale and reach a much larger audience, 

(2) the ability to re-film and get our message right, 

(3) editing our pitch to a much more concise and effective message, and 

(4) adding emotion-evoking music to our message.  

Because of these reasons, I think Mark made a strong point that video is arguably better than face-to-face sales.

Mark talked about videos that go viral because they are funny or strike a chord. He uses the “United Breaks Guitars” video as an example of a video that went viral because it connected with video viewers.  Mark believes stories that are funny, emotional, or connect to a common experience are easier to tell with video and song. 

Connect with Mark

To connect with Mark and learn more about his consulting services, visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-morris-1b711b161/.

Key Takeaways

Thank you Mark for sharing your stories and insights about crowdfunding and video. Here are some of my top takeaways from today’s episode.

1. Crowdfunding platforms can be used effectively to help social causes and political campaigns monetize through donations.
2. Crowdfunding platforms can also be used by entrepreneurs to pre-sell products so they don’t have to give away equity in their businesses. These businesses sell products to get the money they need instead of selling stock. 
3. Crowdfunding platforms can lower risks for investors and entrepreneurs.
4. Almost all of the successful crowdfunding campaigns have a video, which helps better capture emotion and build connections.
5. Crowdfunding can cause a bandwagon effect where people want to buy our products or support our cause because they see a lot of other people have already done so.
6. Crowdfunding platforms help bridge the credibility gap by helping our passionate fans share our products and campaigns with their trusted connections, which helps their credibility to flow through to us.

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Follow the Monetization Nation Blog.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization eMagazine.
4. Join our private Monetization Nation Facebook Group.
5. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
6. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
7. Connect with Nathan on Linkedin. 
8. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram. 
9. Follow Monetization Nation on Twitter.

Share Your Story 

When have you observed a company use crowdfunding and video effectively to raise money? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/37-how-to-leverage-crowdfunding-platforms-and-video-to-fundraise-without-giving-up-equity/

Ward Andrews is the founder and CEO of “Drawbackwards,” which is one of the leading design firms in the Phoenix, Arizona area. He and his team work to dissolve complexity and create simplicity for customer experience and software product teams around the globe. 

He is a member of the Honors Faculty at Arizona State University. There, he teaches Design Entrepreneurship and helps students form creative disciplines to develop real products and launch real companies. 

Ward is my former business partner. He and I were Co-Founders of Families.com. Together, we helped grow site members to 300k in just 18 months. This family-centric social community was then sold in 2007, only two years after launching the company. 

Ward has held many other roles such as a Design Director and Internet Strategist at Fisher, and a Creative Director for Rhino Internet. Some of the brands he’s worked with to improve their design, UI (user interface), and UX (user experience) include American Express, Choice Hotels, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Sony, Intel, General Dynamics, Insomniac Games, and GoDaddy. Projects he’s worked on have received Addy, Prisma, and Emmy awards. Through CX and software product work, he has created over $1 billion in value through cost savings and new revenue growth (Source: Drawbackwards).

Here are three strategies Ward shared in our interview for implementing and improving effective user experience design: 

1. Start with “Why” 

I asked Ward if logos are important for small businesses, and if so, what are some dos and don’ts of creating a logo. Ward said many people get hung up over logos. “You don’t even need a logo!” he said. “In a way, they do matter, but in another way, they don’t.” 

Ward shared the Simon Sinek teaching: “Start with the why.” “Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY” (Source: Simon Sinek). 

The “why” should be at the center of everything a business or individual does. Then, there are concentric circles around “why” for “how” and “what.” Ward explained that a logo design should come at the end when talking about the “what.” Not that the logo isn’t important, but he said, “all I’m saying is not start with the logo. Start with the why. And the logo will be a result of the why, but it is a what.” 

When individuals or businesses have a great why, people connect with it and give credibility or trust to the business or individual. Ward presented a great question, “If people don’t know why a business exists, why buy from them?” If there’s no why, then it can take away from the credibility, trust, or connection that individuals can build with a business. 

Now, after the “why” and “how” have been figured out, then it’s ok to start thinking about the “what” and logo, which are actually very important. Because the why has already been figured out, then the logo should tell the story of the why. “Do the why work first before doing the logo work,” Ward said. Once that’s done, the color, fonts, etc. will then be able to carry weight and meaning to people. 

This is how to create a powerful logo. Start with the why. 

2. Improve User Experience & Interface

Design Mistakes in User Interface

Ward’s daughter was old enough to drive and had to go through the process of getting her learner’s permit. In order to do so, she had to sign up on a particular web interface. She said to Ward, “Dad! You would think that something everyone in the public needs to use would be really well designed and simple.” Unfortunately, it was not, and this is how many interfaces are executed. 

“The Experience Success Ladder”

Ward created a framework called “The Experience Success Ladder” to improve experience and interfaces. This ladder includes 5 parts: Functional, Usable, Comfortable, Delightful, and Meaningful, which helps them to better measure a business’s success and credibility. It also allows them to see where products, services, and experiences fall on the ladder一on the higher end or lower end. “We find that people who are loyal to products and brands gravitate to experiences that are on the higher end of the ladder and not the lower end,” Ward said.  

Their team did a lot of work with Choice Hotels’ brands such as Sleep Inn, Comfort Inn, Rodeway Inn, and others. They would go in and redesign the booking workflow which was used by each brand. They redesigned the booking so that there was less friction in the buying process. 

One Objective

Many companies create funnels that try to do too many things and are too distracting. Instead, Ward helps his clients create simplified sales funnels where the visitor does one thing at a time with a clear objective.  

Apple has done so much work over the years to get to where they are today. They have built all the infrastructure to deliver what they have now. “They’re dumping Intel and creating their own chips because they can’t get the performance or the full hardware-software integration that they want with others. They’ve been doing this over many years and decades, but they’ve been taking out third-party stuff and building their own,” Ward said. 

Disney has been doing the same thing. For those who haven’t ridden Space Mountain, it’s a custom-built roller coaster inside of a dark space mountain. “It’s all custom tech! If you go to any ride at Disneyland, every console has a custom design with a simple interface that is designed only to do the things that that specific ride needs,” Ward said. 

Customer and Employee Experience

Ward likes to teach “Customer Experience” and “Employee Experience” with a 6-square layout. There are three categories relating to the customer’s and employee’s experience, and that is awareness, delivery, and loyalty. “If we can boil down customer [or employee] experience in these categories, we can see where we are credible and where we are not credible. Then, we can up-level each one of them.” 

Awareness

Delivery 

Loyalty

    Employee 

     Experience

8

7

2

    Customer 

     Experience

1

10

5

(part of Ward’s methods in the self-assessment process)

Looking at the “Employee’s Experience,” how can we acquire great employees? What is the culture like? Ward likes to take each category and scale it from 1 to 10, with 10 being high and 0 being low. 

Let’s say a business does a self-assessment for employee experience in each of these areas, giving themselves an “8” for awareness, a “7” for delivery, and a “2” for loyalty. Then Ward and his team ask a set of survey questions to the employees and customers to see where the gaps are at. Once that’s finished, it’s so much easier to know what to focus on when improving the employee or customer experience. 

“You don’t need to have a billion dollars to pinpoint this,” Ward said. “You just need to have the right framework and a good partner/consultant to work with you to get into it.” This way businesses can turn around, see the current result in each category, and then set a goal of where they’d like the “Customer Experience Loyalty” to be. This framework allows others to pin-point, focus, and prioritize the focus of improvement efforts. 

3. Build Credibility 

During the early days of Twitter, there was no need to have “verified” accounts. (You know the blue, little dot after someone’s account name? That means it’s verified to add credibility to the person). Well, those didn’t use to be there, but Ward is one of the reasons those were deemed necessary.

Shaquille O’Neal was playing for the Phoenix Suns but had no Twitter account at all. Ward and I are both big fans of the Suns. Ward thought it would be fun to go and create an account for Shaq. So, Ward made an account called @shaquilleoneal, and started tweeting as if he were Shaq! It was an amusing experience for Ward until people began asking Shaq, “Umm, why are you Tweeting from the bench?!” Of course, Shaq hadn’t been tweeting from the bench. That was Ward doing the tweeting. 

Sadly, Twitter ended up shutting down the account (you can still read the archive at @NotShaqONeal). Shaq got his own Twitter account, and now there is that blue dot next to specific individual’s names to verify or add credibility that the account belongs to the right person. Don’t worry, though. Ward got a great gift out of it. The Suns sent Ward a Shaquille O’Neal jersey signed by the man himself. 

Having this credibility that Ward talks about is so fundamental to attracting and retaining clients. “When you establish credibility, your clients, customers, and peers respect you, vouch for you, and continue to use your business because they feel connected to what you say, do, and stand for.” (Source: Aguilar Public Relations)

Connect with Ward

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Ward or connect with him, you can email him at [email protected] or visit his consulting site at https://drawbackwards.com/.

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Ward for sharing your stories and strategies with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from today’s episode:

1. Begin with the “why.” What’s your purpose? What’s your story? Once you’ve decided this, everything else should link back to it. The “why” should be at the center of everything. 
2. Not that the logo isn’t important, but don’t start with it. Start with the “why.”
3. If people are going to be using it, make sure it’s designed well and simple. 
4. When designing, keep Ward’s “Experience Success Ladder” in mind: Functional, Usable, Comfortable, Delightful, and Meaningful.
5. We want as little friction as possible in the buying process. To achieve this, create one clear objective, not many objectives. This helps build credibility and user experience. 
6. Assess your business’s “Customer Experience” and “Employee Experience” for an inexpensive way to find the gaps for improvement. 
7. Credibility is fundamental when bringing in and retaining clients. Effective design will add to the credibility and success of a business. 

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Follow the Monetization Nation Blog.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization eMagazine.
4. Join our private Monetization Nation Facebook Group.
5. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
6. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
7. Connect with Nathan on Linkedin. 
8. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram. 
9. Follow Monetization Nation on Twitter.

Challenge

If we desire monetization we have never before achieved, we must leverage strategies we have never before implemented. I challenge each of us to pick one thing that resonated with us from today’s episode and schedule a time this week to implement it to help achieve our monetization goals.

Share Your Story 

Can you think of examples of good or bad user experience design? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/36-3-strategies-to-implement-effective-user-experience-design/

Welcome back to another episode of Monetization Nation with Michelle Dale. Previously, we discussed how Michelle began an online business while working from home, traveling abroad, meeting her husband, and becoming a mother. We also discussed her business model with the different services and consulting she provides, tips on how to build connections, and suggestions for those starting YouTube videos. Today we will be focusing on the way that Michelle’s digital business has evolved since COVID and the 12 strategies that helped her business to grow from zero revenue to $20,000 in one day. So for those wanting to start an online business with the freedom to live anywhere you want, this episode is for you.  

From No Revenue to $20,000 in One Day

When Michelle created her very first online course, she was earning around $20,000 per month just from services. After she launched this brand new program, she made $20,000 in one day! “I was spending the whole month with my team, working, and servicing clients to make $20,000. Then suddenly, I do this one product launch, and I make $20,000 in one day. It was a moment where I knew I had to evolve.” 

Many of Michelle’s courses use different types of recurring revenue, beginning with payment plans. It’s more important to her that she has someone sign up for £200 a month recurring for two years than to call it good with one payment. This is a great way to set up courses because first of all, there is stability in knowing how much money will come in every month. Second, it’s convenient for students taking the course because they can spread their payments out. “I think it helps build trust because I know at any time if they feel like they’re not getting a good investment in my business, then they can cancel their payment. But, many people end up completing a full year or two of payments because they’re getting the value from it. So for me, recurring is better,” Michelle said. 

I agree with Michelle because this way we’re not locking people into long-term contracts. They can get out any time they want! This forces us to keep the customers’ best interest in mind and strive to keep them happy every month. It also forces us to elevate our services and not rely upon customers having to stay with us, but doing so because they choose to stay. 

Here are strategies Michelle has taken to monetize her business, and tips that helped her generate $20,000 in one product launch: 

1. Start with a “why.” She had a purpose to help, support, and walk others through starting or growing an online business. She did this by providing services to consult, mentor, and provide resources through the steps she took alone.
2. Choose a niche & build an audience. Michelle chose to focus on services for clients involved with digital operations. This allowed her to build an audience of 500 email subscribers in 3 months by doing daily YouTube videos and creating blogs. 
3. Offer a course for individuals to test. With a specific number of individuals, Michelle gave her course for free to accumulate feedback and testimonials. 
4. It’s all about value. If people feel they’re getting the value out of what we’re investing in, they will stay if it’s possible for them. 
5. Charge more for courses. Michelle took Yaro Starak’s advice. Instead of offering her course for free, she saw the value in her products, provided that value, and charged $1,000 for her course. 
6. Revise courses and create more. Michelle has since revised her courses and launched additional courses for others to choose from. 
7. Be impartial. Michelle is very impartial in terms of people who come to her. If individuals go to her, want to work with her, and feel happy with her services, then she of course wants her customers to stay. However, if they’re not happy, she would rather they invest somewhere else. 
8. Don’t build a business around fear. Many individuals can be afraid of losing clients or their competition. That is something we need to let go of. Michelle puts it like this: “If I believe in what I’m doing and I know it gets results for people, I don’t want to cling on to people who don’t feel they’re getting results or a good investment from me.” 
9. Make sure to coach and train the right kind of people. We need to make sure we are best for our clients regarding the niche, style, etc. Understand that we can’t please everybody. “You want to provide a lot of value for the people who are going to derive the most value from you,” Michelle said. 
10. Be our best every day. Show up and make sure that we’re there for our customers. They need to be able to have access to us. Be present, be available, and provide good support so if customers need us, they have a place they can go to with questions or needs. 
11. Be open. Michelle encourages opening our hearts to people so they can trust us and buy more from us. She gets a lot of repeat customers because of the care she provides to others, and this helps in building connections with them.
12. Go the extra mile. Sometimes Michelle likes to do “one-off workshops,” “one-off coaching sessions,” and more. She has a lot of faithful customers who join or buy her offers because they feel that she cares. “And it’s true, I do. I think a lot of that is missing from the digital world these days,” she said. 

COVID: A Virtual Awakening

The individuals Michelle is working with during COVID have had many different experiences working online. “Different people experiencing different situations have had very much to do with their mindset,” Michelle said. She has had virtual assistants who have seen this time as an opportunity, and they’ve been able to grow their business since. However, she’s had other virtual assistants who saw this as the end of days, and their businesses had to shut down. This shows how much attitude actually does shape a business. 

Michelle has found that this time has allowed her more opportunities and success. “I specifically had a vision for growing the consulting and program side of my business, and COVID has allowed me to do that,” she said. Many individuals are wanting to learn how to work remotely, so Michelle has begun focusing more on the marketing of her digital products. She has had to take a step back from servicing her clients, which has meant more opportunities for some of her virtual assistants. She said, “For me, it’s not so much how COVID has affected my business, it’s more about how COVID has allowed me to put changes in place which I wanted to do anyway.”

Because Michelle has focused on monetization and building a recurring revenue early on in her career, she can now focus on things that have more meaning in her life. Before she began this switch, many individuals were contacting her with questions such as: How can you do what you do from abroad? How is it working with kids? How are you able to move around? Michelle took so much time answering these questions when she had the realization: “I’ll create a digital program. I'll create a product where I can answer all these questions without having to answer everyone individually,” Michelle said, and she did just that. 

Connect with Michelle

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Michelle or connect with her, you can find her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/virtualmissfriday/, email her at any time to [email protected], or check out her website www.virtualmissfriday.com. 

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Michelle for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. Attitude can shape a business.
2. COVID can allow for more opportunities that were not possible before. Evolving and innovating are okay. 
3. Recurring revenue is beneficial for two reasons: First, there is stability in knowing how much money comes in every month. Second, it’s convenient for students taking the course because they can spread their payments out. They can also cancel anytime so they don’t feel locked in.
4. There are many different types of recurring revenue. Which ones will best work for your business and niche?
5. Have a certain number of individuals test your course. This will help you make adjustments where needed, and receive feedback and testimonials. 
6. Be impartial. If you can’t best help your clients, don’t cling for them to stay. But if you can, do everything to go the extra mile for them such as providing them with unexpected things. 
7. Don’t build a business around fear of losing clients or the competition. If we believe in what we’re doing and know it will provide a good investment for clients, don’t fear. 

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business, subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine, or follow the Monetization Blog at MonetizationNation.com.
2. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
4. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

What stories can you share of businesses that survived and thrived during COVID? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/35-how-michelle-dale-grew-a-business-from-no-revenue-to-20000-in-a-day-with-an-online-course/