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FAILURE? "How to Be a Firefighter" Teachable Course

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

Chris FD

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Hey All,
My name is Chris and I'm a Firefighter Paramedic in Southern California.

matt-chesin-j6oWhh7l4Ig-unsplash.jpg

For the past 4 months I've been making a Teachable online course called "How To Be Chosen to Be a Firefighter: Real Talk, Truth Bombs, and a Secret Game Plan to Get You Hired at Your Dream Department". Becoming a firefighter is esoteric, competitive, and difficult so I wanted people to learn from my mistakes and get hired faster. Official release was 7/29 and after a 2 week pre-release there are ZERO SALES.

Here's what I spent:
  • Teachable platform $948
  • Loom $10
  • Yeti Mic $110
  • Facebook Ads (which got me about 100 leads) $250
  • Adobe $10
  • MailCheat(Chimp) $10
For a total of about $1350.

Here are the new skills I learned:
  • Recording myself (getting comfortable on camera) and video editing on iMovie
  • How to make Facebook ads (maybe not well, but now I know the process)
  • MailCheat(Chimp) audiences and email funnel marketing
  • Teachable's platform
  • Kind of a deeper appreciation for my journey to become a firefighter which was an odd byproduct.
So I just wanted to be transparent so you can see some of the fees and it can maybe help you with your idea. Guess I was kind of hoping for some support and encouragement after this 4 month journey. I have the money and knew it was a risk, but still kind of disappointed there wasn't at least ONE sale.

I'd appreciate some advice on marketing this thing (I have the Teachable subscription paid for a year) so want to continue to market it. Right now I was using Facebook ads to capture leads (i.e. email address) then putting those though an email sequence marketing funnel. That's all I got.

Any encouragement or advice would be appreciated. It's July 30th as I write this and I told myself I'd get at least one sale this month.

Thanks y'all,
Chris in Pasadena, CA
 
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Fox

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Had a quick look over everything.

I would say adjust your main sales pitch - there is only a very small % of people who would be looking for this job.

BUT... we would all love to have the skills of a fireman!

I would be changing this into something like:

"Learn the real skills, knowledge and tactical mindset of a top Fireman.
Be prepared for any explosive situation or high stake emergency with
30 proven professional Fireman training techniques."

Then I would make it look like a James Bond / Jason Bourne type bootcamp with all kinds of cool things.

And then slap on some badass certificate as well for extra points ha!

I think this would make your market 100 times bigger and your offer a lot more exciting and appealing to your average buyer. Your current set up is great but the market is so small.

Hope that helps.

-----

*Also this is the kinda thing that a really tight promo video could sell SO well...

"Did you know that in an average fire you have about 20-30 seconds to react in the right way.

This means within half a minute you will have to make the right choices and actions to save those around you, minimize property damage, and get yourself to safety!

Not an easy thing to do when a typical fire burns at 900 degrees and can rip through an entire apartment block within minutes - but on this course you will learn how!

Prepare to learn advanced and proven fireman techniques that show you:

- X

- Y

- Z

- and ABC and DEF...

Also as a bonus, we will show you:

- how to react in a serious car crash or rescue situation

- how to train your body and mind for high-stress situations

- how to handle modern high tech safety rescue tools and gear

If you are ready to be the guy that stepped up when everyone else was running away...

Sign up and let's get going!"


---

I think you could sell this so well - Id love to be making a course this exciting and fun ha!
 

Chris FD

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Dec 5, 2020
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Pasadena, California
Had a quick look over everything.

I would say adjust your main sales pitch - there is only a very small % of people who would be looking for this job.

BUT... we would all love to have the skills of a fireman!

I would be changing this into something like:

"Learn the real skills, knowledge and tactical mindset of a top Fireman.
Be prepared for any explosive situation or high stake emergency with
30 proven professional Fireman training techniques."

Then I would make it look like a James Bond / Jason Bourne type bootcamp with all kinds of cool things.

And then slap on some badass certificate as well for extra points ha!

I think this would make your market 100 times bigger and your offer a lot more exciting and appealing to your average buyer. Your current set up is great but the market is so small.

Hope that helps.

*Also this is the kinda thing that a really tight promo video could sell SO well.
Fox! Damn, this is a damn fine idea! I may make an offshoot course for this (cause most people don't care about paramedic school and the like). It's all under my school of "Be Your Own Hero" but I really really dig this, dude. Thank you thank you for taking the time to write back. And that course name is fire! Pun intended :p
 

Fox

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Fox! Damn, this is a damn fine idea! I may make an offshoot course for this (cause most people don't care about paramedic school and the like). It's all under my school of "Be Your Own Hero" but I really really dig this, dude. Thank you thank you for taking the time to write back. And that course name is fire! Pun intended :p

Yo I edited the post and added some more too - happy to help.

Its a great skill set so should be very sellable with the right angle.
 
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Bekit

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Hey All,
My name is Chris and I'm a Firefighter Paramedic in Southern California.

View attachment 39259

For the past 4 months I've been making a Teachable online course called "How To Be Chosen to Be a Firefighter: Real Talk, Truth Bombs, and a Secret Game Plan to Get You Hired at Your Dream Department". Becoming a firefighter is esoteric, competitive, and difficult so I wanted people to learn from my mistakes and get hired faster. Official release was 7/29 and after a 2 week pre-release there are ZERO SALES.

Here's what I spent:
  • Teachable platform $948
  • Loom $10
  • Yeti Mic $110
  • Facebook Ads (which got me about 100 leads) $250
  • Adobe $10
  • MailCheat(Chimp) $10
For a total of about $1350.

Here are the new skills I learned:
  • Recording myself (getting comfortable on camera) and video editing on iMovie
  • How to make Facebook ads (maybe not well, but now I know the process)
  • MailCheat(Chimp) audiences and email funnel marketing
  • Teachable's platform
  • Kind of a deeper appreciation for my journey to become a firefighter which was an odd byproduct.
So I just wanted to be transparent so you can see some of the fees and it can maybe help you with your idea. Guess I was kind of hoping for some support and encouragement after this 4 month journey. I have the money and knew it was a risk, but still kind of disappointed there wasn't at least ONE sale.

I'd appreciate some advice on marketing this thing (I have the Teachable subscription paid for a year) so want to continue to market it. Right now I was using Facebook ads to capture leads (i.e. email address) then putting those though an email sequence marketing funnel. That's all I got.

Any encouragement or advice would be appreciated. It's July 30th as I write this and I told myself I'd get at least one sale this month.

Thanks y'all,
Chris in Pasadena, CA
Congrats on taking action!

I am sorry you haven't gotten any sales.

How much traffic has the site had?

Who have you reached out to? Are they the right target audience?

How are you currently getting people to the site? Emails? Ads? Word of mouth?

Is "How to get chosen" a big pain point for the wannabe firefighter? Is it the BIGGEST pain point?

Couple of pointers:

One big thing that's missing is a vivid depiction of the pain of not being hired. Amplify the pain. A lot. If you don't, if people don't feel that pain as they go through the page, they're not going to be ready to payto solve that pain.

Talk about how if feels to watch other people get selected ahead of you. How it messes with your very identity and sense of self worth.

Talk about the cost of doing nothing. Your body is getting older every year, making it harder to make the cut. If you wait too long, it may be too late.

Also - the pricing section is confusing, and confused people don't buy.

Capture+_2021-07-30-11-50-20.png

I would recommend testing whether you get a better response when you price the course at $397 instead of a nice, round number like $350. It has been tested over and over again, and prices that end in an odd number often convert better.

Two other things to make the price feel cheaper:

1) Contrast the price with a real-world number, such as the first month's paycheck a firefighter would get, or the cost of going through all the firefighter training, only to end up NOT selected at the end of the story

2) Display $500 above the price, and then cross it out and list the actual price in a bolder font.

Probably the best advice you can get is to find a person in your target audience and strike up a conversation with them. Ask them what their journey has been like. Ask them if they're worried that they won't get chosen. If they're not worried about that, and if person after person tells you the same thing, or it hasn't crossed their minds, or they haven't run into that problem, then you will have a really hard time selling from this angle. Ask them what challenges they did run into. Find out where the biggest hunger is. That's what will cause your course to sell.

Right now, it seems that your course would only sell to a person who meets all of the following criteria:

  1. They want to be a firefighter. They want this desperately, not apathetically.
  2. They haven't gone through the training yet.
  3. They are really worried that they won't be selected.

Is that right?

Is that how most people feel when they are beginning their journey?

If so, then keep your messaging focused on the same place.

If not, your target audience might be too small. Pivot your messaging and select a different pain point to focus on, one that will be more in line with where people are and what problems they face.
 

Chris FD

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
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Speedway Pass
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Dec 5, 2020
21
20
Pasadena, California
Congrats on taking action!

I am sorry you haven't gotten any sales.

How much traffic has the site had?

Who have you reached out to? Are they the right target audience?

How are you currently getting people to the site? Emails? Ads? Word of mouth?

Is "How to get chosen" a big pain point for the wannabe firefighter? Is it the BIGGEST pain point?

Couple of pointers:

One big thing that's missing is a vivid depiction of the pain of not being hired. Amplify the pain. A lot. If you don't, if people don't feel that pain as they go through the page, they're not going to be ready to payto solve that pain.

Talk about how if feels to watch other people get selected ahead of you. How it messes with your very identity and sense of self worth.

Talk about the cost of doing nothing. Your body is getting older every year, making it harder to make the cut. If you wait too long, it may be too late.

Also - the pricing section is confusing, and confused people don't buy.

View attachment 39260

I would recommend testing whether you get a better response when you price the course at $397 instead of a nice, round number like $350. It has been tested over and over again, and prices that end in an odd number often convert better.

Two other things to make the price feel cheaper:

1) Contrast the price with a real-world number, such as the first month's paycheck a firefighter would get, or the cost of going through all the firefighter training, only to end up NOT selected at the end of the story

2) Display $500 above the price, and then cross it out and list the actual price in a bolder font.

Probably the best advice you can get is to find a person in your target audience and strike up a conversation with them. Ask them what their journey has been like. Ask them if they're worried that they won't get chosen. If they're not worried about that, and if person after person tells you the same thing, or it hasn't crossed their minds, or they haven't run into that problem, then you will have a really hard time selling from this angle. Ask them what challenges they did run into. Find out where the biggest hunger is. That's what will cause your course to sell.

Right now, it seems that your course would only sell to a person who meets all of the following criteria:

  1. They want to be a firefighter. They want this desperately, not apathetically.
  2. They haven't gone through the training yet.
  3. They are really worried that they won't be selected.

Is that right?

Is that how most people feel when they are beginning their journey?

If so, then keep your messaging focused on the same place.

If not, your target audience might be too small. Pivot your messaging and select a different pain point to focus on, one that will be more in line with where people are and what problems they face.
Bekit! Thank you for the kind words. It's kind of nice to hear "congratulations" once in a while for anyone in any field. So thank you. And there are a lot of great suggestions in here!

I'd especially like to explore your thoughts about the "pain points" and how to amp that up. I dig you pricing suggestions too (I just changed it right now on the site). Dig the nuance with the odd numbers too. Super great tip. Teachable also just released a "payment plan" option so I get to overhaul that sales page and copy.

I can definitely tweak a lot of copy with your suggestions.

You're a wizard. Thanks, dude!!!
 

BizyDad

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I think Bekit has a great point. A lot of wanna be firefighters might not realize it is hard to be selected, so they might not know they even have a need for the course.

Amplifying the pain could work there.

I'm also curious if your experience tainted your view of the marketplace. Just because it is hard to get selected in Cali, does that mean it is hard in Colorado or Alabama? I've known a couple aspiring firefighters and they never expressed concern about becoming one. I don't think they got rejected when the time came.

If it is easier in other places, then a pivot like Fox suggested would probably serve you better.

Great responses y'all.

Lastly, how are you sending the messages to only aspiring firefighters? What does your marketing funnel look like?

Hey All,
My name is Chris and I'm a Firefighter Paramedic in Southern California.

View attachment 39259

For the past 4 months I've been making a Teachable online course called "How To Be Chosen to Be a Firefighter: Real Talk, Truth Bombs, and a Secret Game Plan to Get You Hired at Your Dream Department". Becoming a firefighter is esoteric, competitive, and difficult so I wanted people to learn from my mistakes and get hired faster. Official release was 7/29 and after a 2 week pre-release there are ZERO SALES.

Here's what I spent:
  • Teachable platform $948
  • Loom $10
  • Yeti Mic $110
  • Facebook Ads (which got me about 100 leads) $250
  • Adobe $10
  • MailCheat(Chimp) $10
For a total of about $1350.

Here are the new skills I learned:
  • Recording myself (getting comfortable on camera) and video editing on iMovie
  • How to make Facebook ads (maybe not well, but now I know the process)
  • MailCheat(Chimp) audiences and email funnel marketing
  • Teachable's platform
  • Kind of a deeper appreciation for my journey to become a firefighter which was an odd byproduct.
So I just wanted to be transparent so you can see some of the fees and it can maybe help you with your idea. Guess I was kind of hoping for some support and encouragement after this 4 month journey. I have the money and knew it was a risk, but still kind of disappointed there wasn't at least ONE sale.

I'd appreciate some advice on marketing this thing (I have the Teachable subscription paid for a year) so want to continue to market it. Right now I was using Facebook ads to capture leads (i.e. email address) then putting those though an email sequence marketing funnel. That's all I got.

Any encouragement or advice would be appreciated. It's July 30th as I write this and I told myself I'd get at least one sale this month.

Thanks y'all,
Chris in Pasadena, CA
Lastly, I really like how you are approaching this mentally. You spent money, no sales, but you aren't throwing in the towel and assuming it's a failure. You also recognize the several good benefits to come out of this experience. So even if this ends up not meeting your goal, at least you'll recognize that you are "failing forward" into your next thing. Kudos.
 
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Chris FD

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Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
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Dec 5, 2020
21
20
Pasadena, California
I think Bekit has a great point. A lot of wanna be firefighters might not realize it is hard to be selected, so they might not know they even have a need for the course.

Amplifying the pain could work there.

I'm also curious if your experience tainted your view of the marketplace. Just because it is hard to get selected in Cali, does that mean it is hard in Colorado or Alabama? I've known a couple aspiring firefighters and they never expressed concern about becoming one. I don't think they got rejected when the time came.

If it is easier in other places, then a pivot like Fox suggested would probably serve you better.

Great responses y'all.

Lastly, how are you sending the messages to only aspiring firefighters? What does your marketing funnel look like?


Lastly, I really like how you are approaching this mentally. You spent money, no sales, but you aren't throwing in the towel and assuming it's a failure. You also recognize the several good benefits to come out of this experience. So even if this ends up not meeting your goal, at least you'll recognize that you are "failing forward" into your next thing. Kudos.
Hey BizyDad, thanks for the note! I am definitely "failing forward". You bring up some great points.

As far as the marketing funnel, all I could figure to do was do targeted Facebook ads (groups like private ambulance people, people with EMT cards, etc.) which would get me leads. Those leads I then put in an 8 sequence MailCheat(Chimp) email chain following a specific format of escalation recommended by a few different sites.

Someone else suggested Reddit, which I could look in to but I know nothing about the platform and have no user clout (?) so would have to pay for ads, which I'm not opposed to.
 

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