#24. Should online courses have community? w/ Jordan Godbey
August 29, 2023
This week on the Modern Consultant, I have the honor of hosting Jordan Godbey,
Jordan is the founder of GrowthCommunity, an entrepreneur, and certified Circle expert who's launched over 40 communities for his clients. He's also a course creator himself who generated over $1.5m dollars with a niche course and his passion is helping other experts build community-powered courses that deliver powerful transformations in their students' lives.
While that may sound a lot like what I do - through our podcast, we found the difference: while I focus on making sure that the curriculum within a course is exceptional and delivers the transformational value, Jordan focuses on making sure the community infrastructure that surrounds the course, is also exceptional to support the learning journey.
This week on the Modern Consultant, I have the honor of hosting Jordan Godbey,
Jordan is the founder of GrowthCommunity, an entrepreneur, and certified Circle expert who's launched over 40 communities for his clients. He's also a course creator himself who generated over $1.5m dollars with a niche course and his passion is helping other experts build community-powered courses that deliver powerful transformations in their students' lives.
While that may sound a lot like what I do - through our podcast, we found the difference: while I focus on making sure that the curriculum within a course is exceptional and delivers the transformational value, Jordan focuses on making sure the community infrastructure that surrounds the course, is also exceptional to support the learning journey.
Topics We Cover:
1. The importance of niche specialization: Jordan suggests becoming a productized service business focusing on a niche outcome or transformation. This helps differentiate your agency from others using a standardized playbook.
2. Moving away from the agency model: The speaker realized that the continuous cycle of getting more clients, hiring more people, and selling more hours was not aligned with their growth goals. They decided to transition into the online courses world for a change.
3. The power of community support: Traditional courses often lack the necessary support and guidance for learners to implement what they've learned. Jordan emphasizes the importance of community interaction and support in helping students sustain motivation and achieve meaningful transformations.
4. The value of high-ticket programs: While some may be shocked by the high price, Jordan highlights the shift from content-based courses to Masterminds where the value lies in the community and networking. Successful entrepreneurs have found value in these high-ticket programs to scale their businesses.
5. Strategic courses vs. tactical courses: Strategic courses offer larger transformations but may require longer timelines and the support of a community. Tactical courses, such as video editing tutorials, are effective for straightforward instructions and practical knowledge.
6. Transitioning from consultant to course creator: The speaker shares their journey from running a digital marketing agency to specializing in online courses. They realized that their long-term focus was not in the agency model and found an opportunity to lead the development of an online course in the medical field.
Timestamps:
[00:01:26] College computer guy discovers the power of SEO.
[00:03:52] Journey from SEO to full-service digital agency.
[00:07:25] Early college grad seeks diverse experiences, finds niche.
[00:11:23] Productized service business: niche, specific, less competition.
[00:16:31] Focus doctors on helping people, not technology. Appreciate diverse skill sets but specialize. Integration and impact are important. Pursue learning with purpose and values. Avoid golden handcuffs, seek growth. What happened after 18-month sprint?
[00:18:54] Realizing the limitations of consulting, pursuing entrepreneurship.
[00:27:36] Community support is crucial for success.
[00:32:43] Online courses for tactical skills vs strategic skills
[00:36:36] High ticket programs focus on identity mindset.
[00:40:16] Value, pricing, and scalability in high-ticket programs.
About The Guest:
Jordan is the founder of GrowthCommunity. He's an entrepreneur and certified Circle expert who's launched over 40 communities for his clients - Circle is a community platform that is expanding to also include online course hosting. He's also a course creator himself who generated over $1.5m dollars with a niche course.
Find out more at: https://growthcommunity.co/
About The Host:
Marc helps experts scale their impact in the form of high-ticket courses, programs, VIP days, and masterminds (without losing the deep impact of their 1-on-1 work).
After helping over 1,000 entrepreneurs, he created his Product Flywheel Framework to help the next 1,000 do it faster. Learn more at: https://8020solutions.co.
Jordan is the founder of GrowthCommunity, an entrepreneur, and certified Circle expert who's launched over 40 communities for his clients. He's also a course creator himself who generated over $1.5m dollars with a niche course and his passion is helping other experts build community-powered courses that deliver powerful transformations in their students' lives.
While that may sound a lot like what I do - through our podcast, we found the difference: while I focus on making sure that the curriculum within a course is exceptional and delivers the transformational value, Jordan focuses on making sure the community infrastructure that surrounds the course, is also exceptional to support the learning journey.
Topics We Cover:
1. The importance of niche specialization: Jordan suggests becoming a productized service business focusing on a niche outcome or transformation. This helps differentiate your agency from others using a standardized playbook.
2. Moving away from the agency model: The speaker realized that the continuous cycle of getting more clients, hiring more people, and selling more hours was not aligned with their growth goals. They decided to transition into the online courses world for a change.
3. The power of community support: Traditional courses often lack the necessary support and guidance for learners to implement what they've learned. Jordan emphasizes the importance of community interaction and support in helping students sustain motivation and achieve meaningful transformations.
4. The value of high-ticket programs: While some may be shocked by the high price, Jordan highlights the shift from content-based courses to Masterminds where the value lies in the community and networking. Successful entrepreneurs have found value in these high-ticket programs to scale their businesses.
5. Strategic courses vs. tactical courses: Strategic courses offer larger transformations but may require longer timelines and the support of a community. Tactical courses, such as video editing tutorials, are effective for straightforward instructions and practical knowledge.
6. Transitioning from consultant to course creator: The speaker shares their journey from running a digital marketing agency to specializing in online courses. They realized that their long-term focus was not in the agency model and found an opportunity to lead the development of an online course in the medical field.
Timestamps:
[00:01:26] College computer guy discovers the power of SEO.
[00:03:52] Journey from SEO to full-service digital agency.
[00:07:25] Early college grad seeks diverse experiences, finds niche.
[00:11:23] Productized service business: niche, specific, less competition.
[00:16:31] Focus doctors on helping people, not technology. Appreciate diverse skill sets but specialize. Integration and impact are important. Pursue learning with purpose and values. Avoid golden handcuffs, seek growth. What happened after 18-month sprint?
[00:18:54] Realizing the limitations of consulting, pursuing entrepreneurship.
[00:27:36] Community support is crucial for success.
[00:32:43] Online courses for tactical skills vs strategic skills
[00:36:36] High ticket programs focus on identity mindset.
[00:40:16] Value, pricing, and scalability in high-ticket programs.
About The Guest:
Jordan is the founder of GrowthCommunity. He's an entrepreneur and certified Circle expert who's launched over 40 communities for his clients - Circle is a community platform that is expanding to also include online course hosting. He's also a course creator himself who generated over $1.5m dollars with a niche course.
Find out more at: https://growthcommunity.co/
About The Host:
Marc helps experts scale their impact in the form of high-ticket courses, programs, VIP days, and masterminds (without losing the deep impact of their 1-on-1 work).
After helping over 1,000 entrepreneurs, he created his Product Flywheel Framework to help the next 1,000 do it faster. Learn more at: https://8020solutions.co.