Welcome to The Thought Process, where we explore how successful experts build profitable online learning businesses.

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Brian’s journey is an excellent example of how niching down can lead to remarkable growth. By focusing on serving volleyball coaches and delivering valuable online training to this specific group, Brian quadrupled his revenue in just one year – and went on to grow his business to multiple five-figure months.

Below, Brian shares how he uses his free webinar and podcast to drive sales, and how he’s created a unique "success path" curriculum to help his learners stay engaged and get results.

What inspired you to go from only training athletes at the gym to mentoring fellow coaches online with your membership?

I used to spend a lot of time in gyms, training athletes, which meant being away from my family a lot. When my first child was born, I realized this model just wasn’t sustainable. I had to figure out how I could still have an impact on volleyball, but also be at home and be a father. That's what led me to create Digital Volleyball Academy (DVA), which is my online membership for volleyball coaches. 

With DVA, I’m now able to make a greater impact in the volleyball community by helping coaches. For every coach I help, they can then help their team of athletes. That’s how we can grow the game and change the lives of more players.

Building an online membership allows Brian to scale his impact in volleyball and support more coaches.

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How do you structure your academy in a way that keeps your learners (i.e., volleyball coaches) engaged and gets them results?

I've created a “success path” for volleyball coaches. It begins with Stage Zero, designed for new coaches to learn about the basics of the game, followed by Stages One to Five and finally a pro-level stage for seasoned coaches. Each stage features different courses and training. For example, at the final stage, we’d talk about customizing things to suit the specific needs of your team. Having this structure helps keep learners engaged and get results. And when they do, they’ll come back for more.

In addition, our members get two monthly group coaching calls: a Q&A call, and a live training call. They’re also welcome to send me questions with videos, audio notes, or messages, and I’d send them video responses to provide personalized, 1:1 support.

What marketing strategies were the most effective for attracting your first sales? How have your strategies evolved over time?

When I first started DVA, it was for players, coaches, and volleyball enthusiasts. My enrollments were okay, but they weren't great. Then I got some advice from a mentor, who said, “Listen, you can’t serve everyone. Stick to a niche. You're talking to everyone right now, and your messaging isn’t clear.” I then decided to focus on volleyball coaches, because that's where I could make the most impact.

When I started focusing on volleyball coaches, my business 4x’ed instantly. It’s unbelievable. And that’s because my messaging was finally clear. By talking to a more specific group and solving a specific problem, I was able to get more customers. 

In the beginning, I only promoted DVA on social media. Since then, I've been driving sales by hosting a free webinar and running ads for it. It's a free workshop where I teach a skill related to volleyball. The key here is to deliver a tremendous amount of value. At the end of the webinar, I invite those who would like additional help and mentorship from me to join my academy.

What role has social media and your podcast, Volleyball By Design, played in the growth of your business?

I’ve been doing my podcast for volleyball coaches for five years now, and get about 14,000 listens a month. I think the podcast is even more powerful in driving growth than social media, because I'm literally in someone’s ears for about 40 minutes a week. Without even realizing it, many of my listeners are building a connection with me.

Don't get me wrong, social media is valuable too. Many people like to learn about things by getting quick pieces of information, so I’d post videos of myself teaching volleyball tips. But when you make a post, it's not always shown to all your followers. However, when someone follows your podcast, they'll see it on their feed whenever you publish a new episode. That's huge. 

What are some of the biggest milestones your business has celebrated so far?

The biggest milestone is seeing coaches in my academy getting results. It makes me so happy when I get a message from a coach saying, “We won the championship!” Or, “I took your advice and applied your training, and we won!” I'm doing something that is of value, and people are actually seeing results from it. I’m changing people’s lives.

What advice do you have for anyone who's passionate about their expertise and considering building their own online learning business?

One of the biggest pieces of advice I got when I was just starting out was “action creates clarity.” The more you do something, the better you're going to get at it, and the more successful you're going to be. 

If I just waited and waited, and only kept planning but never actually launched my academy, my business would've never grown as fast. Now, I launch new offers all the time, because I know that even if it's not successful, I'll learn and grow from it. It doesn't have to be perfect. Just start. If you don't, nothing’s ever going to happen. 

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.