What If People Can Learn Everything I Teach For Free Online?

Hey, what’s up? It’s Marie Forleo and you are watching Marie TV, the place to be to create a business and a life that you love and today’s Q and A Tuesday. And today’s question comes from Sonia and she writes, “Hi Marie. Thanks for all the great advice you put out there. I love watching your show every week.” Thank you so much. “I’m a naturopath and promote a healthy lifestyle through raw food and juicing. I’m working on the outline of an online course about how to get started, but as I browse the internet, I see plenty of folks sharing videos on the subject for free. I know I have valuable information to share, but I have a hard time moving forward thinking no one will buy if they can watch free videos on the subject on YouTube. But on the other hand, there are a ton of free YouTube videos about every business niche, that doesn’t seem to stop them from selling. Should I rethink my strategy or is this just some fear based brain chatter that I need to ignore? Thanks, Sonia.”

Sonia, this is a super common question and I got to tell you it is mostly fear based brain chatter, but it is a question that’s worth asking. I mean after all, why would anyone pay for something when in theory they could find it online for free? Since you’re in the nutrition industry, I think you’ll really understand this. I love food. I love cooking and I love searching for recipes. So yes, I go online and I find free recipes all the time. However, when I find a chef that I really relate to, I love their approach, their philosophy, I love all of the meals they put together, I am happy to go out and buy their cookbook. Why? Because I want to learn everything I possibly can from them and I want to support their work in the world.

Same thing is true in dance. You can go on YouTube and there’s a ton of free dance tutorials, amazing teachers and choreographers. And oftentimes when I check out a cool one, I poke around and I find out, wow, they have a paid dance tutorial download and I’m happy to pay for it. Once again, why? Because I think they’re awesome. I want to learn everything I can from them. It usually goes more in depth and I want to support their artistry. So the same thing can be true for you. So when that mind chatter just starts going off, here are six things that you can offer that free videos on YouTube, just don’t.

Number one is results versus random information. So you have to understand that when people are paying for a course, what they’re paying for is a result that you’re helping them get rather than just a hodgepodge of information. So for example, in B-School, we don’t just have this total mess, like a mental throw up of information about online business. We have everything neatly structured to give people the best possible chance to actually create a result. And when you’re finding stuff online, no matter how awesome and free it is, oftentimes it is pretty random and it doesn’t really equal up to a specific outcome.

Number two is sequence. So remember in any learning experience, the raw information is not enough. You have to put it in the right order. I mean, think about phone numbers for an example. If I gave you all the digits to my phone number but I didn’t tell you the order to dial it in, you would have a really hard time reaching me. And the same thing is true for your information. What your students are actually paying you for is to take them on a journey from start to finish in a very specific order.

Number three is convenience. All right, so show of hands, who wants to scour the internet for a bunch of random information from different people with conflicting opinions and somewhat questionable credibility? You guys, anyone? Anyone? No? It’s free. It’s totally free. No? Enough said.

Number four is the missing pieces. So you’re not just giving your customers things they could look up on YouTube, you’re telling them about all the things they don’t even know to look up on YouTube. So for example, your customer knows she doesn’t know everything about healthy eating. She wouldn’t even know the first thing potentially to look up. Should she look up cooking with seeds? Is kale better than spinach? So what you’re doing is actually educating your customers on all the things she doesn’t know, which is why she’s happy to pay you.

Number five is accountability and motivation. Like it or not, most of us are so much more likely to use something and get value out of the thing that we actually pay for versus something we get for free. Plus, it feels awesome when you genuinely connect with someone and you have someone there to support and motivate you through your journey.

Number six, you. The free stuff online is lacking your perspective, your teaching ability, your personality, your heart and soul. It’s missing that special gift that only you have and all of the love and encouragement that you’re going to give to your customers and students. So remember, as great as free is, it can’t compete with you.

Now, if you want to know how to add more heart and personality and soul into everything that you offer, you best get your butt in B-School. I have a particular knack for helping people do this amazingly well and I got to tell you, I am way better than free. In fact, I got so fired up about this topic that we’re going to have our first ever tweet off. So we got two to choose from. You can pick one, you can pick the other, or you can pick both if it floats your boat.

“People don’t buy information, they buy results.” Or, “The best things in life may be free, but some of the best things online are not.”

That was my 80RQ Sonia. I really hope it helps. And now I would love to hear from you. Have you ever bought anything online that in theory you could have learned for free? What made you buy? And what advice do you have for Sonia or for anyone who shares these same fears?

As always, the best discussions happen after the episode over at marieforleo.com so come on over and leave a comment now. Did you like this video? If so, subscribe to our channel and share it with all of your friends. And if you want even more awesome resources to create a business and life that you love plus some personal insights from me that I only get to talk about in email, come on over to Marieforleo.com and sign up for email updates.

Stay on your game and keep going for your dreams because the world needs that special gift that only you have. Thank you so much for watching and I’ll catch you next time on Marie TV. B-School is coming up. Want in? For more info and free training, go to joinbschool.com.

Do we need to gish. My her need some jursh. I’m rail good. Move along, nothing to see here. Nothing to see.