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Dear Coach...
If you want your IP creation to be a commercial success, I
suggest that you find a current trend and create a product or
service about some aspect or next level of that, or find a
segue/bridge between your current idea and an already existing
trend, demographic or psychographics.
Here's a simple example
Feng shui has been pretty popular in the U.S. for the
past 10 years and I believe it has another 10 or 20 years to
go. So, if you're an expert in this topic, you could
create a TeleClass, ebook, printed book, course by email or some
other package to serve the e users with this interest.
Think in terms of Basic Feng Shui in 10 days with a our 10 day
ecourse.
Another approach would be to piggyback your 'unrelated idea'
onto the trend of Feng Shui. One shameless example would
be a course or book "How to Feng Shui Your Life, Work,
Marriage and Relationships." In other words, hitch
your wagon to a proven horse.
A real life example
Cheryl Richardson's book 'Life Makeovers" is
essentially an extension on the popularity of a wardrobe or
beauty makeover. Big leap, yes, but the book title used a
term that scores of millions were already familiar with and
believed in.
The coaching example
Personal and business coaching is another example of this
because it used a term familiar with several billion people, and
expanded its definition and use outside of sports and acting.
The personal evolution(R)
example
This example hasn't yet been proven true because it's too soon
to tell. My view about personal evolution (which is a
federal trademark that I purchased several years ago) is that
it's the next generation of personal development. So that
the millions who have been developing themselves through self
help course, books, groups, etc. are ripe and ready to take the
next step in their process, which is personal
evolution.
So, take a look at where a lot of people have invested their
time and money into and conjure the next 'level' for them.
There is always an next level/iteration or a more specific
subgroup of an existing group.
Here are 11 more trend piggybacking
examples as sent in by readers.
Example #1
Dear Thomas:
I have several books that want to get written, but here's the first one: Speak to Lead and Succeed: Communication and Leadership Skills for the 21st Century. This book is based on the half-day workshop I am currently presenting to business professionals, self-development groups and business teachers & students. I use thinking style assessment activities from material developed by the Herrmann Institute along with my own experience of twenty-five years in executive support and employee training and development. I'm a synthesizer, so I integrate material from everything I read, including FISH! by Ken Blanchard associate Harry Paul as well as concepts from A Course in Miracles and the Urantia book. Focusing on a single idea and coming up with the best title are my toughest challenges right now. Speak to Lead and Succeed actually is a single idea: understanding how you communicate based on your thinking style and how that thinking/communication style affects your leadership style. People really do want to communicate effectively right now and are motivated to improve how they do it. I provide them with very practical tools they can implement immediately. The great by-product is that the workshop encourages deeper self-understanding and exploration.
Comments from Thomas:
Very people want to communicate better, in my experience.
What they want is more love, money, sex, pleasures, success and
great conversations. But most are NOT willing to improve
their communication skills directly, in order to get those
things. My view is that it's better to sell what people
want; not what they should want. Not
sure what the trend to piggy back
here other than the basic strategy of marketing: Give
people what they really want or really need right now; don't
give them what they should want or should need.
Example #2
Dear Thomas:
I've begun writing a book/ebook on how I became physically and mentally healthier over the past year. People ask me all the time how I did it - I've lost a good amount of weight even though that wasn't necessarily my goal. Losing weight and feeling good are in the forefront for
a lot of people. How can I build momentum around this?
It's called Living Healthier: A Working Mother’s Approach
Comments from Thomas:
A couple of trends/thots here. First, the phenomenum you
describe is a great one; I call it the Success is a Byproduct
Theory. Meaning that it's often easier to get X when you
focus on Y as long as you really like Y and there's a way for X
to occur as a byproduct of Y. I rarely go for goals head
on. Rather, I work on something else that will cause the goal,
and more good stuff, to occur. That's
an example of a trend of how people are
approach success in today's chaotic world. Second thought
is that people want the health stuff to be integrated into their
daily lives; not just a trip to the guy. Integration
is a trend. Weave that in
somehow.
Example #3
Dear Thomas:
Person to Person: Building a Positive Outlook
This could be about building a brighter outlook on life. I tend to see things as "half full". I could coach others on how to see the bright side of things instead of focusing on the negative. People comment
a lot about how I always see the opportunity in situations. How can I offer this to others through coaching?
Comments from Thomas:
Don't bother teaching others to be as positive as you are or try
to help people to find great things in difficult
situations. I mean, you COULD, but what a waste of your
life! If you're truly this positive/bright, stop coaching
people and start creating your own thing. Be the sun to
yourself, not the moon to your clients. The
trend here is that people in
general are becoming suns, not moons or planets; meaning
selfishness is becoming
acceptable/valued/respected/admired. Which is a great
thing for our evolutionary process. Which takes come real
getting used to by those of us who have been culturally
conditioned against selfishness.
Example #4
Dear Thomas:
Technology Coaching
I'm in the technology industry with a focus on customer service. This is a saturated market so I've hesitated here. Do you see any gaps to be filled here with respect to the market?
Comments from Thomas:
Yes, the gap is that companies
don't have customer based R&D Teams. They have R&D
departments with 'experts' and they have focus groups that
connect with the marketing team. What they are missing is
an R&D Team set up like CoachVille has. Big missing; big
need; big opportunity. Possibly
a trend of connecting 1% of
users to the engineering department so there is no missing info.
Example #5
Dear Thomas:
Amazon.com sells almost 1,500 products on "time management", but most folks still have more "to dos" than time to do them in, still feel guilty about what they don't get done, and still don't stop to "smell the roses".
I'm a firm believer that there is no such thing as time management. All we can realistically manage are the choices we make about how we want to live our lives. That's
why I created "Doing Time: The Fun Way To Get It All Done!"
This is a 4-step process that will be easy to use and maintain, including:
- How to be self-directed, instead of self-disciplined.
- How to keep focused.
- How to identify and eliminate time "vampires".
- How to create a Daily Survival Kit for motivation.
- And much, much more!
Comments from Thomas:
The trend is that people
are moving from externally directed to internally directed; from
motivation to inspiration, from shoulds to wants, from
obligation to choice, from pain to pleasure, from coulds to
vision. Package and piggyback your program
accordingly. (FYI, your example of Daily Survival Kit for
Motivation is remedial. Lose it.)
Example
#6
Dear Thomas
I've been working on this idea for the past year and it's evolved itself into first an assessment and now an ebook and a teleclass, etc., etc., etc.
I've got an R&D team that's been helpful, but I can't help think I'm missing the boat somewhere.
The topic is around burnout. I've discovered that my expertise and my de facto coaching niche is helping people who are burnt out or burning out in their jobs/careers/businesses and coach them through that state into one where they can now begin to live a satisfying and fulfilling life.
And here's the rub. Burnout is a familiar term. People misuse/abuse/overuse it. So while it has great recognition value, for those who are truly in pain, I don't want to use a term that has become so trivialized. So I'm searching for a really great title for my book and my services. The working title for my ebook is "Beat Burnout and Thrive! Reclaim your life and make it better than ever in just 12 steps!", the free teleclass I'm offering is "Climb out of the burnout abyss--forever!". I won't publish a hard copy of the book until I've tested and found the best title. I'm going ahead and publishing the ebook so that I can start to get feedback on a broader scale. I've even considered seeing if you'd be interested in licensing this course for CoachVille so it could be taught as a coach training course/elective for CV members.
I'm testing different titles to see what draws. (I just posted the teleclass yesterday, 3 months in advance and I already have one person signed up. Amazing to me.)
Men like the Beat Burnout title, woman don't seem to dislike it, but they're not wowed by it.
How did I come up with all this? I was trying to figure out how to get more people interested in APL, when I discovered through my R&D team that the people who were most interested were my clients who had successfully transitioned out of burnout. Those that were still in burnout couldn't even begin to grasp the concept, they were too weighed down. For me, I now think of BB as the prequel to "A Perfect Life".
So I'm looking for a way to express this/describe this/name this THING I'm doing that is more compelling, highly relevant and less trite. What trend or segue would bridge the gap for audiences? I feel pretty strongly this could be very, very hot, especially here in
Silicon Valley and in the high tech / dot bombs / financial services arenas.
Comments from Thomas:
It's tricky because I've got a
pretty strong reaction to the whole thing... Why would an
intelligent coach want to get involved with helping people
recover from burnout? Isn't that a step backward if you've
already worked through it yourself? If it's truly your
niche and you have a full practice of energizing clients with
this focus, then totally ignore me. But I got burned out
just reading this. Sounds like a way to go back in time and
'save people' from what you went through.
Regressing? Move on to productive/creative foci.
My strong bias is that coaches can/should work with clients to create cool,
wonderful things in or about their lives. Leave the burn
out advising to those who love it. In my (continuing
strong) view, life is about creating stuff. Do you really
want your legacy be that you helped people get through
burnout? Sorry to be so negative. It sounds like
you're really into this, but part of what I do as a coach is
challenge my client's assumptions/priorities (and also properly
disclosing my own biases).
Go have a happy life with happy clients. Forget the
rest. Let someone else work with them.
Example
#7
Dear Thomas:
I do have a program I am about to announce for 2002 as a free beta test to my mailing list. Would love
your feedback on how to jazz it up. (I am playing with titles that tie-in to my company name,
"Realizing Potential" and to my newsletter, "Avenues", but have not landed on anything yet and am very open
to ideas.)
The overall benefit of the program is that people will more fully focus on living their lives more
consciously and responsibly. The program will offer them the
opportunity to tap in to their potential. The program will offer me a real situation where I can stretch and
learn big time. Basically, I am planning a 12-month program as a way to connect more fully to my
potential customers and potential COI's. In addition, I see this program branching into multiple passive revenue
streams, such as e-book and e-course and book. Each month in 2002 has a theme (Jan: Creating Space;
Feb: Goals/Planning; March: Boundaries; April: Health; May: You Are The Product - Part One (of Four),
etc.). I plan to offer a few ideas/worksheet-type things each month
and have my newsletter address the theme in an article and book review. I will also have a monthly
teleconference to connect and hear more from participants and will be able to speak
publicly on
the various themes.
Comments from Thomas:
I'd package it as the Best Year
Of Your Life, or something like that. The one thing that
you mention that relates to a
trend, however, is the notion
of people tapping into their potential. My personal view
is that humans are only tapping into 3% of their potential. I
know that I'm leaving a LOT on the table in my life. And
if you look at Michael Dell of Dell Computers, if he hadn't
stumbled onto/lucked out with his just in time build it
strategy/biz model, he would probably never have reached the
potential he has. Ideas and opportunities (often coming
from experimentation) are what turn human potential into
reality. Which is why I'm such a fan of environments that
stimulate us in surprising ways. I believe that more and
more folks are realizing just how little of their potential they
are using. And, we as coaches are perfectly positioned as
partners with our clients in this regard.
Example
#8
Dear Thomas:
Thomas, the thing I'm wanting to do, and it needs much clarification, is to help/teach people how to get in touch with their creative side and get over the fear of doing that. This would be especially for those left brain guys who think they only do logic and are not creative. I think that everyone has great creativity in them whether or not they know it. I also believe that is a very special thing to discover and that it is life changing in a most positive way. It happened to me. I want to help take that into their personal lives and the work place as well once they have discovered it. I want to start small and grow it fast so I can take it to many people. I love seeing the eyes light up... Any thoughts for me in that incredibly busy mind?
Comments from Thomas:
The whole creativity thing is
ripe for development. We're all a lot more creative than
we know we are. I mean look at me; former accountant and now I
do fun logos and create advanced personal development
programs? Come on; if I can do this, anyone can. The
only probably is that most people won't take a 'creativity
course.' But shows like Oprah have done shows on Profiting
from Your Passion, so if you can help people discover or create
a passion and then help them create a revenue stream from that,
I believe that you'll find quite a happy following. I
believe that the lure/excitement of commerce/money will 'pull'
the creativity out of most of us. That, and having a
personal R&D Team where we get the support we need to keep
experimenting until he hit creativity gold. The
trends is definitely toward
creativity/self expression. I believe there is a niche for
a coach who can help clients make money from their
creativity. But there's not much money in just helping
people 'be more creative.' Not enough of a pull for most
people, even though it 'should' be.
Example
#9
Dear Thomas"
In reply to your offer regarding a product or service.
I am a Naturopath/Herbalist as well as Life coach, I have been considering a combination of natural health and
life coaching in the form of a ebook or ecourse. I have access to both, have the software in place to run both. This is the idea so far for the book.
SEIZING THE DAY by K. Edwards
A book about getting the most out each and every day. Based on coaching
principles. Bringing together my natural health training, coaching training, and life experience.
Segments of the book as follows, Introduction, Vital health, Powerful mind, Integration
I would be very interested in your ideas for this
Comments from Thomas:
Couple of comments. The title
doesn't seem to fit with wellness. Seize? Doesn't
sound natural. And getting the most out of each day makes
me thinking of squeezing an orange for all it's juice.
Ugh. However, I do believe there is a trend toward
sustainability in one life, in the environment, solar power, the
Toyota Prius car, fuel cells, veganism, etc. The
Sustainably Rich Life or something like that would be more in
keeping with your background and with the emerging market place
for sustainability/green.
Example
#10
Dear Thomas:
I just read through this Passive Revenue Lesson and I am taking FULL advantage of your offer. I have a story to tell and need some assistance in packaging it and piggybacking with someone. I lost my sister 7 years ago. You may know her Nicole Brown Simpson. This truly changed my life...for the better. I am primarily focusing my empowerment coaching for men and women in transition, students who want accountability to achieve academic excellence as well as to discover what they want to major in and of course, people who just lost the "ooomf" in life. I have a complete enrollment packet for individuals to fill out to discover their values, purpose and motivation. I coach them with keeping these points in line. I do hope you will be able to assist.
Comments from Thomas:
Hmm, I'm looking for the
relevant trend here. It seems like you have 3 foci, and so
I guess I'll pick one and go with it. Hmmm, let me pick
the oompf thing. The trend
is that people are increasingly
losing their oompf for more periods of time. Why? Because
we cycle through periods in our life faster and have more
cycles, so more 'transition' times which are often evidenced by
periods of lower oompf. That, plus, as we move up the food
chain of success, more and more folks are reaching the place
where they realize it was all a maze for the mice and the
cheese. Quite a let down. At this point, folks find
a new maze/cheese to chase, or they stop and define success for
themselves. The latter is better because it virtually
eliminates the problem of running out of steam, because one has
stopped chasing.
Example
#11
Dear Thomas
If you would like to make more money at a job you enjoy...
If you want better relationships, at home and at the office...
If you need less stress, more time, and more fun in your life...
If your goal is to be the healthiest, happiest, best you possible...
...then you are ready for...
THE MILLION DOLLAR MIND-$ET
The Million Dollar Mind-$et is the simple yet powerful program thousands of people have used to get what they want out of life. Created by well-known business coach Cathy Kato, The Million Dollar Mind-$et teaches you how to:
* Determine goals & devise effective action plans
* Establish boundaries & eliminate toxic relationships
* Take control of & create a balance in every area of life
* Live the life you want, day in and day out
This program is no quick-fix, no too-good-to-be-true shortcut to acquiring health and wealth. Instead, The Million Dollar Mind-$et offers a clear path to acquiring those principles that inevitably bring you success, not just today, but every day.
The Million Dollar Mind-$et is your roadmap to professional excellence, financial independence, and personal fulfillment.
Comments from Thomas:
I think this is a brilliant
idea. Kind of like abundance or prosperity thinking, but
with a figure attached. The accountant in me likes
that. Plus, you're tapping into an already agreed up
measure of success: Having a million dollars, or at least
going in that direction. Plus, it provides a single goal,
and a goal that enough folks can relate to, so it's easier to
fill this course/ebook/program. The
trend it's piggybacking?
Financial Success as defined by $1mm.
END
Best,
Thomas
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with
thomas leonard
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