Let’s Talk About The Forums Today.

I like data.  There’s lots of actionable information in a good set of data.

One of the interesting things from the years of this site is the correlation between the type of person who uses this program, and their way of problem solving and communication.  I’m talking to you about this, since the odds are quite high that you fall into a bit of a problem category.

Here’s the thing:

There used to be a really cheap course on the site.

There was even an unadvertised free option for students.  At one point there was a series of PDF guides.  A lot of evolution happened before this program and session format. (and don’t worry, your money was money well spent – the free and cheap stuff was pretty awful)

One of the important lessons I got from it, likely applies to you.

The free participants, and those who got the really cheap course had a strong tendency to ask a lot of questions.  Just between us, a lot of them weren’t the most brilliant questions.  Those participants also had a tendency to be poor at troubleshooting, and quick to give up.

At the same time existed more expensive course options.

Those participants tended to ask much less questions (about 8x less on average, actually).  They would be much more persistent and post more long term success stories and detailed improvement accounts.

Needless to say, that’s the audience I wanted to focus on more.

The downside of the general type willing to spend more money on a higher quality product, is that this person tends to express less doubts, questions, uncertainties, and problems they may encounter.  That’s what several years of data tell me.

And if you are less likely to ask questions, you are more likely to be stuck, waste time, or compromise progress.

The dummies from back when taught us a lot about where people get stuck.  I fixed a lot of the common rough spots and made a whole lot of improvements that you get to work with here.

Still … I want you to feel comfortable to ask questions.

Not sure about that prescription?

Yes it’s perfectly fine to search in the forum, search the blog, wait for future sessions to clarify.  It’s what I would do, and I’m also the type who spends money on quality.  I too tend to ask few questions, preferring to do some research and come to my own conclusions.

You know what though?

For now, you’ve got me here, checking in on you every day (give or take).  I pop in on the forum to answer questions.

I have a decade of this eyeball stuff at your disposal.

So when you’re not sure about something, you might as well drop me a quick line in the forum.  It’s no bother.  It helps me identify where the program may need clarifying, and it makes me feel good to know where you’re at in the process.  And I shoot straight so you don’t have to worry about a thing.

And as an aside … when I first took over, no experience with the Internet, I paid a fancy consultant a fairly ginormous fee to assess what needed to happen here.

On his first and top priority hit list was, get rid of Jake-personal-support.

It doesn’t scale, he says.  “Jake, don’t tie up your time dealing with customer issues.  Focus on the big picture.  Focus on media, focus on marketing, focus on writing books and creating content.  Let somebody else deal with the customer.”

Surely he’s right.  The six figures he charges for his advice certainly left a lasting impression.

You know what though?

I want to help you.  I’d rather have less participants, I’d rather say, screw “it scales well”.  I’d rather have a small sign-up window, I’d rather charge enough to weed out the dummies, I’d rather just have you in the program and not 10,000 whoever-people.  And I’d rather make sure you have a great experience.   With me answering your questions, scaleability and big-picture-whatnot be damned.

Long story short … do use the forum if you’re not sure of something.

Or if you just want to say hi.

Or tell me that you expect higher production values in the videos, and that I finally need start wearing a turban, and grow a a majestically guru-esque beard.

Whatever it might be.  Mi casa, su casa.

I look forward to your progress reports, your challenging experiences, your ideas, comments, pictures of you in the best Elvis style glasses.  I’m not doing this for the money.  I’m doing to to share in the experience and hearing from you definitely makes my day!

Cheers,

– Jake

P.S:  Be ready to start digging in again, with new and possibly slightly challenging experiences in the next session.  See you there!

Session:  Audio Track

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Session:  Video Stream

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