Email Announcing the Pilot of the Recognized Expert® Course
Hi there !
When I started consulting a decade ago, I built my business with referrals, but it was slow
going. Outside of a small circle, pretty much no one knew who I was.
One time - convinced I needed to grow my business through public speaking - I sent a sample DVD
of one of my talks to a local Chamber of Commerce. I called to follow up, and they said they'd never
gotten it. "That's strange," I thought, so I sent another. When I called again, they said the same thing.
Then I realized: it was just a line. They were throwing them out because they didn't know who I was,
and they didn't care. When I gingerly mentioned how odd it was that they hadn't
received two packets in the mail, they leveled with me: "Look, everyone wants to speak to our group.
What makes you so different?"
To be honest, I'm still irate about that.
But that's how a lot of potential clients or speakers bureaus or agents or meeting planners treat
people they haven't heard of, unfortunately. I knew I had good, valuable ideas to share - and they
didn't even give me a chance. I realized there was only one way to stop being treated like a
disposable commodity, fighting for scraps and begging for free engagements. That was to become a
recognized expert.
As some of you may know, I've been kicking around the idea for a while of creating an online
course, structured specifically to share the most important things I've learned in the past decade of
fighting to build my brand and grow my business. Today, I write regularly for the Harvard Business
Review, TIME, and Entrepreneur, give paid speaking engagements around the world, and am now
working on my third book, which will be released next year by Harvard Business Review Press.
But none of that came easily, and I've developed very specific strategies for how I built my brand and
a reputation in my field. I know you have valuable ideas to share, too, and I'd like to see more of
them get heard.
In the past, there have really only been two ways for me to share what I've learned with you - either
through reading my books, like Stand Out, or doing private, one-one-one coaching. Both are great
options, but reading a book isn't always the best vehicle for figuring out how to apply the strategies
to your own life. Personal coaching definitely does that, but may be out of the price range for some
folks.
I thought an online course could be a good hybrid model - reaching people with more personal
interaction and help, but at a lower price point. My pal Danny Iny, a master of online course creation
(some of you may have joined us for his webinar in December), always suggests doing a small pilot
before launching a full-blown course. So that’s what I’m planning to do. I'm only offering this to folks
on my email list, and will cap it at 40 participants, because I want to keep the opportunity intimate.
Here's what I'm thinking about, and perhaps it might be of interest to you. Here’s the link (LINK) to
sign up.
The Pilot and What We'll Cover
The pilot - based on the feedback from your surveys in December about what topics are most of
interest to you (thank you for responding, btw!) - is about how to become a recognized expert. It'll be
a five-week-long course, with weekly live webinars covering the following topics: Finding Your
Breakthrough Idea, Multiplying Your Following, Building a Power Network, Expanding Your Public
Profile, and Overcoming Obstacles (confidence, time management, etc.). Plus, there'll be a special
bonus "Ask Me Anything" Q&A session.
When Is It?
I'm doing the sessions for five Thursdays in a row, starting Thursday, May 12th at noon Eastern/9am
Pacific (May 12, 19, 26, June 2, and June 9). The bonus Q&A will take place at noon Eastern/9am
Pacific on June 7th. They'll run at least an hour, but maybe up to 90 minutes apiece depending on
your questions. There will be a high degree of personal interaction and every question you have will
get answered. Also, if you can't make a particular session or sessions, don't worry: everything will be
recorded, and if you send me questions in advance, I will answer them all.
Who Is This For (or Not For)?
Because the topic is how to become a recognized expert, obviously there are some
professions where this matters a great deal. For coaches, consultants, speakers, authors, and many
types of entrepreneurs or service professionals (realtors, lawyers, accountants, etc.), your personal
brand is your lifeblood, so this is pretty relevant information. If you work inside a corporation and feel
that becoming known as an expert in your field would be beneficial to your career, this is also for
you. If your main concern is, let's say, selling a particular product, then this won't be so relevant for
you.
How Much Does It Cost?
The pilot course is $500. If that doesn't fit into your budget, don't worry, because I'll continue to offer
a lot of free resources and webinars through this list! But if you're interested in developing your
expert reputation and are looking for more personalized assistance than is possible from just a book
or a video, I think this is a pretty good value. When I launch the fully developed course in the fall, I
haven't determined the exact pricing, but it will cost a minimum of $1500, so this is a substantial
discount from that.
What Will the Course Entail, and Why is the Pilot Cheaper than the Full Course Will Be?
The pilot is kind of unique. It's small and personal, and I'll be getting to know everyone who takes it.
It's collaborative, because we'll literally be creating it together. That means, if you're wondering
whether it will address the questions you have, the answer is yes, because I'm creating the course
based on the issues of interest and concern to the pilot testers.
That also means there's more work for you as part of the pilot group. I'll ask you to send me the
questions that are of most interest to you related to the topic of the week, so I can be sure to
address them. I'll also ask you to fill out surveys letting me know which parts of the course were
most interesting/helpful/relevant, and also the least, so I can fine-tune and adjust. I'll be assigning
homework, and you'll get *a lot more* out of the course if you actually make time to do it. And finally,
if you get good results from the course - and that's very much the goal - I'd like to ask for a
testimonial, so that others in the future can see if it might be a good fit for them.
I'm only opening this pilot to the first 40 people who sign up. If you're interested in becoming a
recognized expert and would like to join me, it'd be a pleasure to work with you and get to know
you. You can sign up here (LINK).
Best,
Dorie
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Email Announcing a One-Day Mastermind Retreat
(sent only to participants in the Recognized Expert® pilot program)
Hi everyone! I can't believe it's our last official week of class! (Thankfully, we've got the special
bonus session with literary agent Katherine Flynn next Thursday the 16th, so we don't have to
get too sentimental yet. 🙂 )
I wanted to share the webinar log-in details with you for both Tuesday and Thursday, so you
can find them both below.
One other question for you. Of course we'll keep the Facebook group going, so folks can
continue to interact there. But I've also gotten some requests for other ways to keep the
connection going, perhaps in person.
I'm not sure if it'd be of interest, but one possibility I'm considering based on suggestions I've
received is to organize a one-day mastermind retreat here in NYC over the summer, so folks
could meet face-to-face, build connections, and get hot-seat advice from me and the other
group members about growing their business and expert reputation.
Here's what it might look like: We could meet for a relaxed dinner at my favorite restaurant the
night before, then do a day-long mastermind session at my apartment near Wall Street.
Everyone would get a chance to talk about their business and get help from the group. We'd
need a minimum of 8 to make it work well, maximum of 12. I'd probably charge more in the
future, but - as this would be a pilot offering, too - I'd price this one at $1000/person. (I'd cover
dinner, breakfast & lunch; you'd handle travel to NYC & accommodations.) I'm guessing we'd
want to do it on a weekend day, or maybe a "bridge" day like a Friday, in case folks wanted to
take a weekend getaway in NYC.
If this appeals, please feel free to shoot me a note that says "yes." If not, no need to do
anything - I'm just taking a pulse on some suggestions I've received looking for ways the group
can continue to interact & support one another moving forward.
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I hope these actual texts of sample emails will be useful to you, and take care!
Dorie