‘ONE OF THE BIGGEST THINGS IT'S GIVEN ME is financial security.’

Our time with Mike was almost up, and glancing at the clock on the seminar room wall, I was slightly surprised to register it was nearly 11am.

Conveying a sense of calm satisfaction, he began to wrap up by reflecting on what his life looked like now, and some of the unexpected benefits that had arisen by moving to a product-based, Future Proof business.

‘I'm just in the process of buying my fourth possibly fifth house.

'So I've got a few houses now that I didn't have before and they're financial investments.

'I bought one for my parents. I'm buying one abroad.

‘So that's given me a financial backup that I didn't have before.

'That's a fabulous thing.

'Because that financial security has meant that I can first and foremost take care of my family.

'And secondly that I can take care of my time, and use it in the way I want to.'

Health and Lifestyle

‘My health is better. I've lost weight. I feel better. 

‘I'm right next to the beach in Cornwall.

'I deliver all of my webinars and my online stuff right next to the ocean. I can run multiple programs, anything I want, from my little office which is in my little house.

‘Since I have kept myself in Cornwall more and I don't go out, I've become really exclusive as a trainer.

'People have to pay a lot more to get me now.

'I was complaining about the fact that I was traveling too far to people too often… well, get them to come to you.

'Now if I do classroom training, the two courses I've done this year so far, I've brought them to Cornwall.

‘Having the product has also enabled me to work in places that I simply would not have been able to unless I was travelling, travelling, travelling.

‘I've now got clients in 40 countries through international contacts.

'There are at least 30 of those countries that I've never been to.

'I’ve never stepped foot in them.

‘So there are people all over the world now, probably looking at and using my training right now.

'Which is kind of cool isn't it? While I can be here talking to you.'

Marketing To A Global Audience

‘Another thing that having a product has enabled me to do is market my cohort-based programs worldwide.

‘Previously of course I was only offering classroom training.

'And I used to have to get people together one country at a time.

'So I had one program in Denmark, and then had to run a separate one in Lithuania, where I've got lots of clients, for instance.

'Which was of course limiting where I could market it for 14, 15 days over the period of a year and in one location.

‘Suddenly after I'd developed the product I realized I could start recruiting worldwide.

'So that's what I do now.

‘The first time last year I sold it out within less than a week.

'And it's an eight and a half grand (USD $11,000) program.

'I can do that because I've got an international market now, whereas before I was having to just market in that country or that country or that country.

‘I can sell it through partnerships too. I have partners in Dubai, Denmark, Lithuania, Spain, France.

'They're opening the door then it's generally coming back to me to have the conversation.

'And that’s very manageable because of the process I figured out to sell to corporates, the “Test Drive.”

‘What really excites me is that the results clients are now getting are much better than the classroom training.

‘I know how it is because I've been a trainer for 20 years myself.

‘You can have the best trainer in the world with the best ideas, but how many of the people from the classroom actually go away and apply it and actually make changes to their lives?

‘Maybe three percent?

'And that's being optimistic.

‘But as we’re developing the program, things we’ve done which have been a huge success are elements like setting up buddy pairs, or having the organization have an internal person managing that.

‘So they get a webinar with me and then they have to go watch three or four videos, then they have to do some activities and report back on them every month.

‘When you’re not spending all your time actually delivering the content live, you have the space to figure all these things out.

‘And I know there’s so much more we can do there. It’s exciting.’

Becoming Reproducible

Mike also feels a lot less vulnerable, compared to being a Future Threatened solo trainer with no product.

‘I've managed to expand my company through other consultants because of the product.

‘That's something I've struggled to do for years and it wasn't possible.

‘Now my consultants don't have to "be" me.

'Because every single bit of the content is available on video, in worksheets.

'All they have to do is have some basic coaching and facilitation skills, play my video, and then run an activity.

'Now, I've got 20, 24 consultants that can do that for me. 

‘Suddenly I am reproducible.

'The quality assurance is in the online program, because everybody gets that and gets the consistent content.

'That's another thing that came out of it and this was not part of the agenda when I developed the product.’

Mike’s even gaining a foothold in the 'individual' market now, too.

‘I'm still getting used to the "PayPal dopamine rush!"

'I know it's slightly false and artificial but now individuals can buy a program online because it's all set up with PayPal on my website.

'I was in a restaurant a couple of weeks ago, phone pings, there you go, $2000. Some guy in Sweden.

'Maybe I should change my order? “Waiter, hang on a minute! We can afford the lobster now!”

'I haven't had a massive amount of that yet but still I'm getting used to it.

'That was quite nice.

‘I don't want to give the wrong impression, by the way.

'I don't care about money. What this is all about is making a difference in the quality of people's lives.

‘That's why I get up in the morning and that's where my focus is.

'Money is just the by-product of that and now I've figured out a way to extend this product to a large scale.

‘It means I can do a lot more work in the charitable sector… That's kind of cool.

'That kind of works for me… That wasn't an option years ago because I simply couldn't afford to be giving that time to it. 

‘For example, we've now got 80 schools applying the program in Lithuania which is quite a lot for a small country and the government.

'I did a presentation in the Lithuanian parliament and I got an award for my contribution to the society. 

‘I thought when I developed a product it would open a new door or two.

'You imagine a massive, massive area, miles and miles and miles of doors, this is the picture in my head.

'Some of them I haven't even started to open yet. I don't even know what's behind them yet.

'But new ones have kept opening again and again and again over the last couple of years and I'm still trying to get my head around it all.

The Three Frogs

Mike pauses slightly as he prepares to wrap up.

‘Hey, you know the frogs story, right?’

I don’t.

‘There are three frogs sitting on a lily pad,’ he explains.

‘One of the frogs decides to jump off. How many frogs are sitting on the lily pad?’

‘Three’ a couple of people say.

‘Three,’ Mike continued.

‘Because deciding to jump is not the same as jumping.

‘Don't be the frog still sitting on the lily pad. Do something with it.

‘I already had the success. I already had the ideas.

'But this would not have happened without the time, energy and focus to create the product.

‘It’s changed my life.

'But more importantly than that, it's now changing the lives of thousands and thousands of other people in 40 countries so far that I would never have been able to access, help, support, many of whom I've never even met.

'Not even to mention those people that are learning from it and then going home and sharing it with their children and their families and their colleagues.

‘That's kind of cool. That gives me a shiver inside when I actually think about that.

‘Right on!’ he smiles. 

‘There are no guarantees in life. You've got to be prepared to take a risk.

'Sometimes you get it right and sometimes you screw up.

'All I can say is having a product is absolutely the right thing, certainly for me.

‘Any questions?’

***

WANT TO BECOME FUTURE PROOF with your own product?

Be under no illusions.

As I mentioned earlier, success is by no means a given.

Most who try underestimate the ‘critical mass’ of skills they need to pull it off.

Or they can’t stomach the inevitable ups and downs of what is a new and different business, and they retreat to the apparent comfort of their ‘previous life’ before they make the breakthrough. 

But those that do crack the new model – who join the ranks of the Future Proof, like Mike did - will enjoy a life on their terms.

They’ll reclaim their time and choose how they spend it.

They’ll enjoy a better business and lifestyle. They can travel as little – or as much – as they desire.

They can impact a larger number of people, potentially globally, and shatter the ‘income ceiling’ implicit in an old-style – and now Future Threatened - classroom training business.

They’re also less vulnerable to circumstances, and less likely to be derailed by their own or family illness, or over-exposure to a few key clients.

By codifying and recording their knowledge they create valuable intellectual property and digital assets that create value in their business that can be exploited well into the future in many ways.

If you're going to do this, there are a few things you'll need to know.

For instance:

• What are the biggest pitfalls to avoid?
• What tech will you need?
• What product should you create?
• How do you sell it?
• How would you take it global and scale up, if that's what you want?
• How can you extricate yourself from everything, to the extent that you want, yet still own the asset and get income from it?
• What are the Focused Few marketing activities to concentrate on, those things that will really make a difference?
• And what are the rest - the Meaningless Many, to be avoided?

The good news is, I've got great information on all this, and I want to make it available for free.

But there’s an important caveat:

I've created this information to serve a very particular type of person.

If you say ‘yes’ to any of the following nine ‘disqualifiers,’ I would respectfully suggest you don't go further, because the info is unlikely to be a fit for where you're at right now.

My 9 Disqualifiers – Please Go No Further If:

1. You’re not already in demand for what you do (you must have an existing business with annual sales equivalent to at least GBP £150,000 or USD $195,000, and want to create a product business in the same or a very closely related field)
2. You don’t wish to move to at least an 80% productized business within the next two to three years
3. You can’t accept you will need to do different things, be open to new ideas, or at times be led
4. You don’t have a bit of ambition and ‘fire in your belly’ for the next five years at least – for example, semi-retired, ‘winding down’ or just not that motivated to make impact for whatever reason
5. You’re generally a bit flaky or disorganized and don’t follow through on things
6. You’re not financially secure, so you’re unable to invest in yourself and/or the inevitable odd setback drives you insane
7. You aren’t totally committed to giving your clients real tangible results
8. You don’t have enthusiasm for your subject beyond the fact it brings you a pay cheque
9. You can’t or won’t devote significant time, energy and thought to the process; you’re ‘too busy’

Still with me? Great.

Then I would like to invite you to "The Crux..."

"The Crux" is my new, regular, free email containing content you cannot get anywhere else, including:

• Key Lessons From The Five Day £119,000 (USD $155,000) New Product Launch That Wasn't A Launch

• Insights From My Repeated Webinar Failures… Culminating In The 600 Attendee Webinar Washout… And What Changed To Bring Eventual Victory

• Converting 6% Of A Free Online Audience To Paid Monthly Membership

• Growing An Established Training Business 4x Through Regular, Small Tweaks

• Generating Over 3,000 New Email Subscribers In One Day Without Advertising

• The best technology platforms and tools I recommend to run this kind of business
• How much content your program should include
• What content to create – and to avoid
• The only 3 ways to sell your program – the 3 Ps – and when to use each one
• What to say to convert existing clients to the new model
• The handful of unusual market niches in which low-ticket membership websites can actually work
• What to say to convert existing clients to your new business model
• Should you build a personal brand? And if you do, what happens when you want other people to deliver the service, or sell your intellectual property/business?

You get it all in "The Crux."

At no charge.

We provide an email most days.

Just provide your name and email here, and I'll send you the first edition of "The Crux" right away:

Thanks, and I’ll see you 'on the other side' in just a moment. 

Rob