Episode Transcript
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(00:04):
On this episode, how to leverageyour expertise through Digital
products. Three reasons why you want to
create a digital offer is 1 to position yourself as an expert,
#2 to help you expand your reachand serve more people, and
three, to provide the ability for more passive income.
That was Chrissy Chen, author ofthe book Sell While You Sleep,
(00:26):
which is also the name of her podcast.
She's Co founder of Grow Workspace and K&C Creative.
I recently attended her book signing in Atlanta, where we're
both based. I was inspired by the action she
took to both create a million dollar business online and write
about it. As someone who is using this
(00:49):
podcast to hopefully help listeners and other people
explore and navigate the media ecosystem and find ways to pitch
themselves without pitching, I really am inspired when I
connect with people who write books.
So I was really glad to get to see her at her book signing.
(01:12):
And with so many people turning to digital marketing and sales,
I thought you would make really an excellent guest.
If you think about it, so many journalists are entering their
creative economy. You'll see people post all the
time about how they now have a sub stack or a blog or a
podcast. It's all digital media and it's
(01:32):
all an online business. Everyone wants to try and
monetize their content. So Chrissy is going to talk
about it. And if we don't get to
everything, remember to go into the description where I have
links to everything you need to know about Chrissy and her
business offerings. So before we dive in and have
(01:53):
our conversation with her, I just wanted to let you know that
I am in the process of creating a course to help you build your
presence online and pitch the press without pitching.
How does that work? It's all about networking.
So if you're interested in securing earned media and you
really don't want to send a traditional pitch, I'm going to
(02:17):
teach you how how to network andconnect with more reporters and
producers so that you don't needto pitch, so that they know who
you are, they know your expertise and you become top of
mind. Of course, pitching is always
going to have its place, and I don't, I don't say don't pitch.
But as a journalist who always was on a guest hunt, which is
(02:40):
what I like to refer to it as, Ididn't really read through
pitches and say, oh, let's book this person, they pitched me on
this topic. I really looked at what are the
topics we want to explore and how do we want to get at them,
and who's talking about them online.
So I am working on a course, andmaybe if you're listening to
(03:01):
this, in a few months that course will already be out.
So do check out on camready.com my website.
The course is really meant for experts, lawyers, you know,
business owners, real estate agents, doctors, professionals
who want to be in the media. And when I'm saying media, I
mean all forms, podcasts, television, radio.
(03:22):
If you are focused on your online presence, you're going to
start naturally attracting if you follow some of the tips and
tricks that I have to offer. You know, as a broadcast news
veteran, you know, I have received, you know, many pitches
as I said. But searching for the perfect
(03:42):
guest was always something fun and I would always try to look
at it as an opportunity to network.
So if you're going to take anything away from this quick
little mention, start networkingwith reporters and producers
online and see where it goes. And if you are focusing on
content creating so that you canstart attracting the media so
(04:05):
you don't really know where to start.
Ioffer a road map to podcasting and I also have a list of
equipment to help you get started with any in home studio
at a low price. I have an Amazon storefront
called On Cam Ready. You can check that out.
By the way, while we're talking about Amazon, I just wanted to
say thank you to Pretty Garden for this wonderful dress.
(04:28):
I've worn it on a few episodes and I just absolutely love it.
And I have it in my Amazon storefront.
You know, it's all about monetization, guys.
And we're all trying to create content and find ways to help,
but also find ways to make moneyout of the content we're
creating, right? And that's why, as I mentioned,
I'm interested in digital products.
(04:50):
So I had to book this guest. Let's get to the conversation.
She's author of the book Sell While You Sleep and Co founder
of Grow Workspace and KNC Creative.
We're with Chrissy Chin. Chrissy, welcome.
I'm so glad you could join us. Jamie, I'm so excited to be
here. You know everyone I mentioned
(05:11):
that Chrissy and I have met before I showed some video of
her book signing and it was really nice to be there.
But I think what you know, the audience is probably curious
about is what made you write thebook you have.
Tell us a little bit about your background and what led to that
decision, because it's a big decision to write a book.
Yeah, 100%, And my journey has been a long one, so I'll spare
(05:33):
all of the details. But really in just saying yes to
a lot of things and experimenting and realizing what
I didn't want to do and did wantto do, There are really two
moments in my career that reallyshipped like ships, shaped the
direction of where I was going and LED to this book.
And that was 1. Acquiring customers through
(05:53):
automation and then to being able to serve thousands of
people, 6000 customers actually with just 10 hours a week.
And it was those two milestones where I was like, this is huge
and if I can do this, anyone canliterally do this.
And so that's what I've been teaching on.
But the book just really allows me to get this information into
(06:17):
a lot more hands. So that was really kind of the
catalyst to writing the book and.
One of the things that she's doing, which I found very
unique, is she's hosting a book club.
So as I said, you know, I have the book, I'm reading it, I
attended the book club. I think it's such a smart, like,
genius way to promote but also engage with potential customers,
(06:38):
consumers, and then also show how much value you have to offer
that community, you know, tell us more about what brought that
on. Would had you been in a book of
a digital book club before? No, I've actually never
participated in a book club. So I literally was thinking, Oh
my gosh, I've never done this before.
I have no idea what I'm doing, but it sounds like a great idea,
(07:01):
so let's just do it. And that's a bit how I operate.
And I know some people aren't that way.
So if you can kind of channel that a little bit more to just
do the unfamiliar things. Scared and I was flying a bit by
the seat of my pants. Now I do know that practicing
something beforehand can definitely boost your
confidence, so I should could have hindsight, maybe at least
(07:22):
googled or watched a YouTube video.
I'm like, how should I run a book club and just gotten some
ideas. But really at the end of the
day, you know, we can do things different.
We can do it how it works for usand what feels good to us.
So I just sort of went with it and was like, let's use this as
an opportunity to bring people together that want to focus on
learning the content and then just open it up for discussion.
(07:44):
And it's been quite a magical experience for me and I'm
getting great feedback from the people that are participating
and we're just able to dive intotheir their business and their
questions and just let these topics unfold more organically.
And you know, I for some of the listeners I've mentioned this
before, you know, I think it wasthe episode with Nesta Lumpkin.
Make sure you check that one out, new author Nesta Lumpkin.
(08:07):
And we talked about, you know, how a book or a digital product
can really help experts legitimize their expertise.
What are your thoughts on that and do you?
Is that kind of also part of whyyou decided to write this book?
Yeah, definitely. I mean, there's there's three
reasons why creating a digital offer or a book could really,
(08:29):
you know, set you apart from other people.
One, it positions you as an expert.
Two, it helps you expand your reach.
And three, it provides the ability for more passive income.
So kind of to expand on that. First one, positioning you as
the expert, which is what you were kind of talking about, It
allows you to demonstrate your knowledge.
So whether you're doing this through an online course or by
writing a book or creating a workshop or resources and
(08:52):
materials, you have enough insight to create something on
that topic, which shows that youhave a lot of knowledge on that
topic. And so you're perceived by the
public in a light of being an expert right in that in that
area. Whether it's you know how to get
into the media or how to use breath work to decrease stress,
(09:13):
or you're talking about how to grow your business online.
If you have the knowledge and the experience and the expertise
enough to create some type of packaged offer, again course or
book, that's just going to be really valuable for for you as a
professional. And you know, for those that are
listening, that are in TV broadcasting or public
(09:34):
relations, I've been asking around and I do have sources to
support this comment. But you know, she is self
published. OK, now before when we would
receive pitches from someone who's self published, it would
be like put them over here because they're not Harper
Collins, they're not you know one of the big publishers.
(09:55):
But there's been this wave of change where so many experts are
self-publishing. And I just want to put that out
there that you don't need one ofthe big publishing houses to to
elevate your expertise with a book these days.
And self-publishing is a really great way.
I've done some research on KDP and it is very cool and great
(10:17):
way for you to put together youroffer without having to go
through all the hoops of a publisher.
But you know, you should definitely check out her
website. I'll put the link below so you
can learn more about Chrissy, her book and also the
connections that she has that have helped her create this
book. So she has some great resources
that are worth looking into. If you are interested in writing
(10:39):
a book and just want to make sure I put that out there.
You know marketing a book is hard, Chrissy and you know
you're you're experiencing that now as a new author.
What tips or tricks do you have to really put your name out
there or that that are working? Yeah, I mean, there's lots of
ways that you can market yourself.
(10:59):
It is just going to be like any other offer.
So you can use social media, youcan use e-mail marketing, you
can reach out to individuals like yourself and try and get on
podcasts or speak in Facebook groups.
So there's a lot of different avenues that you can use to try
and get your name out there. And it's going to be the same,
you know, whether you're promoting a book or a course or
(11:19):
a new workshop that it's going to be the same.
And sometimes you're using all of the avenues to to expand that
reach and sometimes you're usingone or two.
Maybe social media is not reallyyour GM.
And so you're like, OK, I want to get on podcasts.
I want to get in the media, I want to be featured and that's
the avenue that I'm going to take.
(11:40):
Whereas someone else might be really into social media.
And they're like I love creatinglittle short form content.
I love engaging with people on that platform.
And so that is, you know, I liketo call it their top of funnel,
the way that they're going to bereaching their audience first
and foremost. So there's lots of different
options, and I think that's the joy of having a business is that
you can do it your own way and with so many different outlets,
(12:03):
you can lean into what you do best.
Like, I love getting on podcastsand having conversations and
talking. I am following you, Jamie, on
the Instagram, and I like tryingto learn how to be better on
there because I think it's such a great resource to use.
And so why not? But this is definitely more in
my comfort zone. And you know, when it comes to
comfort zone, many people like to use Facebook, as you
(12:26):
mentioned, or LinkedIn. But there's also those that you
know you're just triggering somethoughts.
But there's also those that complain about the Facebook
groups and say, you know, I can't grow there, I don't know
how. And one thing that I suggest,
which I I've never really tested, but it you have tested,
it is where you host events within a Facebook group and you
(12:48):
know, I focus on media in general.
Media is social media, it's your, it's your podcasts, your
television, everything, right? Like that is our media today.
So if you're hosting an event, alive event in a Facebook group,
I believe it's essentially you showing the press or the media
that you can host something liveand you can bring in people and
(13:10):
rally a community. And I think it's a positive
thing to showcase. So how do people go about it and
actually attract individuals to join the group?
Because in your book you do talkabout like I think it was
thousands of people showed up for this one live event that you
were offering. Yeah, absolutely.
So I'm big on the power of collaboration.
And so I talk about this in the book.
(13:31):
I talk about it in our courses. And again, like if you're not
using social media, like you have to collaborate with people
to get in front of their audiences.
That's one strategy. And so with the particular
example that you're talking about, I hosted essentially a
summit. I had no idea what a virtual
summit was. I was just like, I want this
resource to exist. And So what would I need to do?
(13:53):
I would need to ask these peopleto come participate and help get
different speakers to speak on various topics to make this
resource really complete for me selfishly to use for my business
at the time that I was growing. And so I just reached out to
these people and I shared my vision for it and I asked them
(14:14):
to participate. And and the key there was, I
shared with them the value that it would have for them and their
community. And so, you know, they were just
willing to come in. They saw the value that this
resource could have not only forme, but more importantly for
them and their community as well.
And so they said yes. And so before I knew it, I had
(14:36):
you know, set this up and I think I had 15 ish speakers that
were coming in over a week's time to come speak on a topic
and they started inviting their community into this Facebook
group. And again, y'all, I had no idea
what I was doing. I didn't even know it was could
be considered a summit. Facebook was what I knew.
You know, I wasn't even really on Instagram at the time And so
(14:58):
it just made sense. OK.
There's a a closed group of people anyone can join and we
can host this here for free. And that was what I was just
really trying to do. And yes, in just four weeks we
had over 40,000 people joining. And that right there is the
power of collaboration. And to take that further, I
(15:20):
didn't Grow Workspace was not even a business in my mind at
that time. Again, I was using this for a
different business and when GrowWorkspace came about, I knew
that my ideal customer was in that group, at least some of the
people. And that is when I created a
free offering. It was called 90 Days of Ipas
and I put it in that group sinceit was mine and I owned it, I
(15:41):
could do whatever I want. I put that freebie in the group,
drew out thousands of ideal customers and we converted 1400
of those customers into paying customers in one month, 4000 in
four months. So that is the power not only of
collaboration using the resources that you have at your
(16:03):
fingertips and then the power oflead generation and automation,
which was what helped us just grow our business very quickly.
And you know it. It is hard to find your ideal
customer. A lot of people listening may
even be thinking, you know, I really wanna be an expert on
television and I'm even struggling to find the right
(16:26):
network. The networks are also your
customers. You have to think of them as
your consumers. How do you attract the press?
How do you attract the media? Well, you need to be finding a
match. You know, as previous
conversations, all of our experts say, you can't just be
pitching anyone, you really needto have a match, right.
And as someone who has been in television, it is hard to find,
(16:50):
you know, really strong guests. But my advice to people is
always this, you know, trying tohost summits like yourself,
building a community, showing engagement online, making sure
that you also when you have those events that you are
creating a press release so thatit comes up online.
(17:11):
Trying to get in with an organization that will at least
issue a press release helps because then it's like, oh,
she's a host. She hosted this live summit and
it'll come up in the news section on Google, right?
So that it's like, interesting. Or when a journalist is
searching you like, oh wow, thisis a cool event she had.
Wow, how many people, 40,000 people show up.
(17:32):
Like, she must have something good to offer.
You know, whenever you're putting together events like
that or, say, a live stream on LinkedIn, you need to be
thinking, who are the reporters and producers that would find my
content interesting, inviting them and even sending them a
link to what you have to go, what you have going on live or a
(17:56):
taped version. I mean, like, hey, I saw this
and I I thought you might like it.
Or here's another tip I always offer, and I'm saying it now
because if you're listening to this, you might be thinking, how
do I get the press interested inthis stuff?
You need to also be thinking of mentioning those reporters and
journalists and news agencies, weaving them in.
(18:16):
OK. I'm sitting here and I and
promoting say my book and I really want, let's just say the
local news to hear about it. I'm going to say I would, you
know, I really love watching WAGA and that program they offer
about, I don't know, new businesses in the area.
(18:39):
And I think that would be a great way for you to highlight
your job. Or your book.
Or your career. Now say you mentioned this in
your conversation. You're then going to tag waga in
your description and add a link and it's going to help promote
your live event, what you have to offer and start to create
(18:59):
some type of engagement, right? So guys, just start thinking
strategically about your what you mentioned in your podcasts,
what you mentioned in your conversations and who you
invite. You know this is a very long
winded part. I'm sorry about that guys.
But you know as you guys know I mentioned this in the intro and
a few other intros as well. You know I'm working on building
(19:20):
my own digital courses, right? So having Chrissy here is great
because I know if I'm thinking about building out my brand
online, some of you may be as well.
You know, I'm also working on workshops specifically for real
estate agents who really want tostart producing up their
content. Chrissy, you know what are the
digital products you would you would recommend people invest
(19:42):
their time in if they're lookingfor a consistent income from
those digital products. Yeah, I would say I'm a little
biased that I think the best types of digital products are
the ones that you literally can sell while you sleep.
So for example, a digital courseor an online community or
templates, right. And really you can sell anything
while you sleep as long as you have that automated funnel.
(20:05):
But the key to working less and earning more, which is really
why people. Come to me is that ability to
have a scalable offer. So I would say there's really
three different kind of types ofoffers when you're thinking
about what kind of offer you're going to create to to generate
that passive income or reoccurring income.
One is the offer of trading timefor money, not very scalable
(20:28):
like done for you services we offer, done for you services for
website copy and design. It's one-on-one work.
So unless I want to build a massive team and have this big
agency, we can only grow so much, right?
Unless we increase our prices. And again, there's going to be a
cap, we're going to price ourselves out of the market.
So that's one option that you could have, but not very
(20:48):
scalable. The other is kind of the semi
scalable offer where you have a threshold before your time
increases. So for our signature program,
build a blissful business. We've figured out that between
one and 50 people, we have the same time commitment to serve
that group of people. So if we're investing the same
amount of time and energy and resources for one person as we
(21:12):
are 50 people, we're going to want to scale that to 50 people
and then 50 to 100, we add two more hours, OK, not very much
time. That's more ideal.
And then the third is really the, the big kuna, the scaling
of your digital offer. And that's what we did with Grow
Workspace where we had 6000 members and I was working 5 to
(21:33):
10 hours a week and it didn't matter again if we had one
customer or 6000. It was a template shop
essentially a a training course with pre made content that we
provided again to one person or 6000 it didn't matter of still
putting in the same amount of energy and effort.
So getting clear on what your goal is, is the most important
(21:57):
thing to think about. Is your goal to stop trading
time for money and have a reallyscalable offer?
Then we need to think about whatis it that you're teaching, what
is the transformation you're trying to provide, and how can
we package this up in an offer that is scalable?
So much guys that you can learn from Chrissy.
(22:18):
Remember guys, Her links are in the description.
I'll mention it again at the end.
You know we're with Chrissy Chin.
She's author of the book Sell While You Sleep, you know, I'm
just wanting to mention her nameone more time because we are
going into the 20 minute mark here with the conversation and
I'm going to be airing it all. We're not editing guys.
(22:38):
So really quick before we wrap, you know, for a nice sound bite
for social or maybe the intro, could you provide us with your
top three tips on why an expert should create a digital offer?
It's you just kind of mentioned it, but it would be great if you
just tick through your top threetips as to why people should do
it. Yeah, again, you know, being a
(23:00):
professional. Three things.
Three reasons why you want to create a digital offer is 1 to
position yourself as an expert, #2 to help you expand your reach
and serve more people, and three, to provide the ability
for more passive income. And for those who have already
begun marketing their digital products, you know what, maybe
(23:21):
two to three quick tips do you have for them to help increase
maybe their sales or brand awareness?
Yeah, don't hide yourself. Get yourself on social media.
I know Jamie's so great about teaching you how to present
yourself there as a professional.
So and and I encourage you to let your audience see your
growth. Something really cool that has
(23:42):
happened during this book launchis I'm putting the book out
there, I'm on social media, I'm promoting it and people are
seeing that I have written a book and a lot of people are
very impressed by that. But these people, some of them
have been following me for five plus years.
They've been customers from the very beginning and I'm getting
message after message saying, wow, this is so incredible.
(24:04):
I've been with you since the beginning and I have enjoyed
seeing you grow and expand and the things that you have
accomplished. So don't be scared to show
yourself in these beginning stages of your business or
whatever it is that you're doing, because you are going to
inspire people that we all startsomewhere and that you're
showing them that you can get better and you can grow in the
(24:26):
process and do really incrediblethings.
You know, before we wrap, are there any last minute thoughts
or pieces of advice you wanted to share during this
conversation that you didn't getto?
I think just I want you to know that anything is possible and
that done is better than perfect.
And so if you have the tendency to want to have everything
(24:48):
appear perfect, whether it's on social media or the way that you
present on your website or how you present your offer or what
you have in your course, done isbetter than perfect.
And with action comes clarity. So just start taking action.
Listen to what Jamie says and and play around with your social
media, you know, play around with some different offers and
ideas that you have. Play around with your ideal
(25:11):
customer. If you're still stuck, I'm like,
who is that person I'm trying tofind?
Pick somebody, start speaking tothem, and you're going to find
out very quickly. Is that the right person for me
or is it not so? Remember, done is better than
perfect. With action comes clarity.
So take that baby step every single day to move forward
towards your dreams. Thank you, Chrissy.
(25:32):
And guys, just remember as I mentioned in the description,
you'll have links to Chrissy Chin's booksell while You sleep
and her coaching business that she mentioned.
You have Grow Workspace as well K&C Creative, and while you're
down there, make sure you're also looking through the links
and you sign up for my newsletter at oncamready.com.
You can also find me on Sub Stack.
(25:53):
I write occasionally, but I do send stuff out, so you wanna
sign up there and I'll see you online.