577: Scaling an Online Business for Recurring Revenue: From Course to Membership
Aug 24, 2023
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Nicole shares her inspiring journey of starting an online tutoring business while in nursing school and raising 6 kids. She discusses strategies for scaling her business, transitioning to a membership model, and optimizing offers for maximum value. TikTok played a significant role in gaining followers and expanding her reach. The chapter explores the success of her TikTok channel and the importance of scaling and consistency in business.
Switching to a membership model and focusing on content, community, and leadership helped Nicole revive her tutoring business after a Google algorithm collapse.
Nicole effectively attracted new nursing student members through Facebook groups, webinars, and a podcast, utilizing helpful resources and building relationships.
The podcast highlights the value of TikTok as a platform for organic reach and building trust, emphasizing the importance of addressing audience pain points and fears.
Deep dives
Starting a Nursing Tutoring Business
Nicole Whitworth started her tutoring business, nursingtutor.com, after graduating from nursing school. She recorded her live group tutoring sessions and sold them as digital products. However, the business was negatively impacted by a Google algorithm update.
Transitioning to a Membership Model
To revive her business, Nicole decided to switch to a membership model. She focused on content, community, and leadership. She repurposed her existing course, added a weekly live tutoring session, and revamped her website. Nicole offered different membership levels and observed steady growth in the number of members.
Marketing Strategies and Challenges
Nicole used Facebook groups, webinars, and a podcast to attract new nursing student members. She joined relevant Facebook groups, shared helpful resources, and built relationships with group owners. She reached out to nursing influencers to feature their two-minute tips on her podcast. Nicole also tested different pricing strategies for her courses and memberships, managing churn rate, and exploring lifetime membership options to enhance retention.
Importance of Being Compensated for Valuable Work
In this podcast episode, the speaker emphasizes the importance of being compensated for valuable work. They reflect on the advice received from a nurse entrepreneur, highlighting the significance of valuing one's own worth. The speaker shares personal experiences of overcoming discomfort in pricing their offerings and gaining confidence in communicating the value of their services. The message conveys the idea that even though nursing is a valuable profession, being an entrepreneur requires acknowledging the worth of one's work and services.
Utilizing TikTok for Organic Reach and Building Trust
The podcast discusses the use of TikTok as a powerful platform for organic reach and building trust with the target audience. The speaker shares their experience of starting a TikTok account and quickly gaining followers by consistently posting content that addresses the pain points and fears of nursing students. They emphasize the importance of encouraging and reassuring their audience rather than adding to their fears. The speaker also highlights the value of video content in establishing a connection and trust with the audience. They mention the use of calls to action and different strategies for engaging with viewers, such as TikTok lives. Additionally, the speaker plans to diversify their marketing efforts by exploring Instagram and Pinterest.
Starting an online tutoring business while juggling nursing school and 6 kids sounds daunting.
As a nursing student struggling to keep up with her coursework, Nicole discovered a passion for helping fellow students learn difficult concepts and develop effective study skills.
This launched her on an incredible 10-year-long journey - from tutoring classmates to building a thriving online membership site, YourNursingTutor.
How'd she pull it off while raising6 kids?
In this episode, we'll hear Nicole's story of pivoting from an online course to a membership model and achieving recurring revenue.
Tune into episode 577 of The Side Hustle Show to learn:
How Nicole revived her business after a Google algorithm collapse
Pivoting from an online course to membership model
Creative tactics to attract audience and drive sales
How Nicole optimized her offers and funnel for maximum value
