Transcript

How to Create a Million Dollar Course with No Experience & Turn Your Content to Cash with Ellie Diop: An EOFire Classic from 2022

0:01 Like that Sparkfire Nation, JLD here, and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire, brought to you by High Level, the all-in-one sales and marketing platform, and on today's classic episode, we'll be breaking down how to create a multi-million dollar course with no experience and turn your content into cash. Drop these by bombs I brought to Liop and the U Fire Studios. Ellie is the founder of LA Talks Money and Elevated Academy, a business strategist, author, and speaker who built a multi-million dollar business in just one year. And we talk about how to show up consistently and give more than everyone else, how to define your mission, goals, and methods to achieve them. And oh so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Ellie and our sponsors. Fire Nation, if you have a high ticket offer and need more quality leads Nexus Install is designed for you. We'll book you eight to twenty qualify calls each month, then train you to run the system yourself. Email my team at John at EOFIR.com to learn more and see if Nexus is the right fit for you. If you are building a real business, you need real infrastructure. Highlevel gives you website hosting, funnels, email marketing, automation, calendar booking, payments, and course hosting all on one platform, plus award winning 24-7 supports. Get a 30-day free trial and my full bonus stack that includes a 15-minute private call with me and much more at highlevelfire.com.

1:16 High level fire. Dot com Ellie, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. Hello, what is up, Fire Nation? My name is Ellie or Ellie Talks Money as you might be able to find me online. I'm super excited to be here. Um, I would definitely say that one of the key things to being successful that a lot of people think

1:46 is not true um is really that you don't need to have a large amount of money, you don't need to have a lot of access, you don't need to have a lot of privilege in order to become successful. You know, you don't need to have all of those things to make it happen. You really can look at what you have available to you. and make it work with that, especially nowadays with the internet and social media. I don't believe that that barrier to entry is present anymore. Whereas you may have only been able to reach a certain level of s of success if you have connections or money or large investments now you can just decide. To be successful and put in the work and it can happen. Fire Nation, as mentioned in the intro, we're talking about how to create a million dollar course with no experience and term your content to cash.

2:40 And Ellie, I gotta be honest, I love your story. I mean, you started your business. Видей стимулюс. check, which I know we can all relate to having been through what we've been through the past few years. Tell us more. It really started just like that. And I'm always so grateful and humble to be able to say that because twelve hundred dollars isn't a lot of money at all, you know, and I'm also a mother, I have four children. At the time I was living at my mom's house. So all things considered, I probably could have used that twelve hundred dollars in several other ways, especially because I was unemployed at the time. But

3:16 I recognize that okay, if I'm applying to all of these jobs with my set of skills and I'm not getting hired. I need to look at how can I take the same set of skills that a potential job is going to pay me for and deliver those directly to the marketplace. And that's always what I'm sharing with my community and my students is that you have skills, you have potential, you have knowledge, you have experiences that you yourself have lived. And typically our thought is, well, let me package this up and present myself in a resume to a job. However, you're also able to package up those same knowledge, skills, experiences, transformations and develop An online course, an ebook, a digital product.

4:04 That is going to help someone else Who needs those skills, informations, and transformations. Directly. And be paid for it directly. Versus

4:16 going through the channel of you know employment. And that's what I did. I looked at, okay, you have sales experience, you know about business, you understand funding, you've worked in marketing, how can you take all of what you've already experienced and done well and package that up in something that is deliverable directly to small businesses or upcoming small businesses who are going to need that information. And so my very first digital product was a business credit class teaching new entrepreneurs how to get funding. And it was$15, you know so I always say If you can think of something that a person would pay you ten dollars for, ten or twenty dollars for, you can scale that up to a million dollars because it's at that point now it's just a matter of more people buying and then eventually raising your price. Fire Nation. It's just a matter of more people buying. And then yes, as you increase the value, you also need to be increasing

5:18 the price. And I just love that whole process that you're sharing. And I actually have even a slightly more aggressive take in some ways from my eyes. I like to say Fire Nation. You are Obligated. You literally have an obligation to share your voice, your message, your mission with the world, even if it's messy, because your mess can be your message. That can be a powerful way for you to go forward. So if you have any area of expertise, any knowledge, any skills you've acquired over the years. Turn around and teach fellow man and womankind those amazing skills and expertise that you have in the way that Ellie has, and you can continue to scale. And speaking of scale, Ellie. You had to get creative when it came to social media. So talk to us about leveraging social media and your content.

6:06 To scale your business. Social media has been a true game changer for me and my business and my life and As I mentioned earlier, I really feel like social media is now this equalizer in some ways where you can have direct access to an audience of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even millions of people through content creation. So one of the key ways that I've leveraged social media and my business is

6:37 as a means to communicate and educate my audience on my particular subject. So I knew that there were a lot of business owners and particularly women owned businesses and black owned businesses that needed access to information on how to scale and how to access funding. So I decided okay. I'm gonna make sure that

7:02 I create three to four pieces of content every single day. Go live. on Instagram and different platforms two times a day, every single day, to make sure that people can hear my message and with the way that social media is constructed, the more content you put out and the more value you put out in your content, you will grow. It it really is a If you do this, then this will happen. It's very true. And

7:33 That is the beauty of social media. is that by deciding to remain consistent in your content creation and as well continue to deliver value, I always encourage my audience and one of my principles is to give more than I ask for. So I ensure that I'm giving tons of free value on my page. Sometimes it might even be too much free value, but I always know that because people feel like they're gaining from just what they're learning on my page and through my social media, that encourages them to buy. Because if they can achieve even a small transformation

8:13 In free value. Then they're enticed to say, Well, what's gonna happen if I pay her? Right. What's going to happen if I actually do spend the hundred dollars or three hundred dollars on this class, I'll achieve even more of a transformation. So that's the real secret to growing quickly is to show up consistently and to give more than anybody else. And I love that methodology, Fire Nation. I mean, I use that to scale podcasters paradise into now over seven million dollars in sales. How did I do it? Just by number one showing up consistently, just like Ellie's been sharing, but number two

8:47 I created a really free simple course called free podcast course. Like literally, it was free. It was a couple modules. I've since added to it. So it's a little more robust now, but I started simple a couple modules, just teaching people for free how to podcast. And it was super quality at the time and it only got better. And then at the end of that little free module training, it was hey, for those people who are really excited about this and like how I teach. Podcasters Paradise is available for you. Here's the link, learn more. And that was step by step by step. And it's small steps. And now I'm been here for ten years doing that same thing. Ellie's been doing her thing since that twelve hundred dollar stimulus check. Think about Fire Nation is possible. And we're gonna be talking about some really valuable strategies when we get back from thin our sponsors. Fire Nation, if you have a high ticket offer, but you are not getting enough quality sales calls on the calendar, Nexus Install is exactly what you need.

9:39 This is a custom LinkedIn client acquisition system built to help you connect with the right prospects, start real conversations, and turn those conversations into booked calls. Here is what makes it different. We do not just hand you a bunch of theory and tell you good luck. We build the system with you, dial in your audience, sharpen the messaging, run the outreach, and Aim to book you eight to twenty qualified calls each month. Then once the system is proven and installed, we train you on how to run it yourself so you are not dependent on another agency forever. If you have a strong offer, a clear, and are ready for more quality conversations with real prospects, email my team at John. At EOFIR.com and then we'll set up a call to see if Nexus install is the right fit for you. Simple, focused, and built for predictable long term quality lead flow. Fire Nation, if you are building a real business, you need real infrastructure. That is why High Level is entrepreneur on fire's featured partner. High Level gives you a website builder and hosting, funnels and landing pages, email marketing, appointment scheduling, payment processing, course and membership hosting, and so much more. Everything you need to succeed, all under one roof.

10:51 No duct tape, no juggling five platforms, just one clean system for your business, and their award winning twenty four seven support has your back when you need it most. When you sign up at highlevelfire.com, you also get my exclusive bonus stack, a thirty day free trial, a private fifteen minute call with me, JLD, and Access to my weekly live office hours, a digital copy of my book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, my fifty days to something execution roadmap, and more. Visit high level fire dot com and start building your something. Today. Ellie, believe there's one

11:27 single strategy that anybody can implement. And you mean anyone to start a business today. Talk us through that strategy. Absolutely. I believe that the one single strategy anyone can use to start a business is what I call brain dumping or making your list. So

11:48 A lot of the time when people think about starting a business, they often look outside of themselves. They look at, okay, what other skills can I go and acquire? what money can I go and get in order to build or create something when in reality, much of the time the business that you need to start and the business that's going to be the most viable for you. is already within you. It's already built up of the things that you have and the things you know how to do. So I always say sit down and make a list. Make a list of okay, what have I accomplished in my job. all the different accomplishments you've had. What experiences have I had?

12:29 In my life, and this can be you've lost 10 pounds, you've successfully been vegan for three years. You've saved twenty-five thousand dollars. You've paid off X amount of debt. What are those experiences? And then the other column, what are people always asking for advice on? That's usually a great window to look at. What do people already trust you with and see you as, you know, a somewhat expert in?

12:57 That can be what you need to go out and provide to people as a paid product or service. Cause if someone's asking you for free advice on it all the time, there's someone else out there who will pay you at least, right, ten dollars for it. So those three columns. And then from there, you want to look at and ask yourself this question. Out of all of these, which is the path of least resistance? And this is a question I asked myself. This is a question I help my students resist. process through. And what I mean by that is which of these can get me to profit the fastest.

13:31 A lot of the time I think business owners wanna start with something that seems so big and amazing and that they're passionate about, and passion has its place, but At the beginning, you may need to look at what is going to get me to my goal. In the shortest amount of time and with the least amount of outside energy and resources and then I can leverage that to go into what I truly, truly love. And so figuring out which is the path of least resistant, which Can get you to profit sooner.

14:04 Which can also allow you to leverage what you already have. That's the business you want to focus on. And then from there, it's a matter of how do you want to deliver it? Are you going to do a service and actually work with people, do things for people, or are you going to take it and package it up into something digital that you just need to create one time? But that would be the process. The step by step.

14:29 Fire Nation, I love step by steps. And Ellie, what was the approximate date that you got that twelve hundred dollar stimulus check? I received mine. Later than most people, I wanna say it was around May twenty ninth, if I remember correctly. It was just just after my dad's birthday of twenty twenty. So Fire Nation, what I wanna get across here is like listen, this isn't somebody's been building their business for decades and decades. We're talking A year, two years. And she's been building every single day for sure, working hard. But hey, where do you want to be in two years, Fire Nation? Where do you wanna be? And this is a step by step process that Ellie's sharing right now.

15:08 that is so valuable and Talking about that stimulus check, I mean twelve hundred bucks, it's not nothing, but it's not, you know, some seven figure venture capital funding either. Funding Ellie. is so tough. How can Fire Nation access the funding that they need What specific advice do you have in this area?

15:28 Absolutely. And I love this question because it is important, you know, in order to you don't always need a lot of funds to start, but it is going to be important to have access to funds to scale. And so one of the things that Fire Nation can do absolutely is making sure that number one, you have your business entity structured correctly. And that That seems like an obvious, you know, point, but I've worked with a lot of entrepreneurs who don't have LLCs, don't have business bank accounts, don't have payment processors. So you absolutely wanna make sure that you have those basic boxes checked off so that you are actually operating as a business. That's using business funds separate to personal funds. The next thing that you definitely wanna do is have business credit. So you should ensure the same way that we work on our personal credit, we can also have excellent business credit. So that's using our EIN. That's making sure that we have a DUNS number. That's also ensuring that you all are using trade lines which you can access through net thirty accounts, certain vendors, and as well business credit cards, business lines of credit, even if you don't have the

16:39 best personal credit, you are still able to build and leverage business credit outside of your personal score. And I would say in addition to that. Fire Nation should ensure that they have a grant proposal written out and what I mean is having a templated mission statement. You should be able to always produce what is the mission statement of your business, what is the overall goal of your business, and what are the methods your business is going to use to achieve that goal. Because when you are applying to grants and as well even looking for funding through lenders or investors, you want to be able to summarize for them in, you know, a three at minimum three to five page document. What your business does

17:27 how your business is going to do it and how your business would leverage that money to increase profit. and make more returns. Um so those are gonna be the key steps that Everyone in Fire Nations to take to ensure that they can get funding. A SAP. Fire Nation, listen, there is no way, shape, or form where you should be saying to yourself, Hey.

17:49 I need to bootstrap this on my own, go into debt, do the thing from day one. I mean, those are definitely routes to go, but the reality is there are options out there. And Ellie just laid out a number of great options that you can go to attain the funding that you need to build your dream, to get your voice, your message, your mission, your products, your services out. Yeah. Ellie, let's end with a bang. What is the one key takeaway from everything that you shared here today that you really want to make sure Fire Nation gets.

18:20 Wow, I would definitely say the one key takeaway that I want Everyone to really pull from this is and this is not to sound cliche, but really just how possible and available and accessible the success you want to have in your business is. You know, I started this truly with twelve hundred dollars at my mom's house, unemployed, With four children after divorce. And I want you to know whatever your current life circumstances, as challenging as it may be, it's not the end of the sentence. It's not a period. It's just a comma. And you can certainly look into yourself. leverage some of these things I've shared with you as well as all the resources I'm sure are in Fire Nation to really develop a business that you can scale directly through social media. Don't

19:14 Overlook. your own life experiences because as you mentioned There is A message in the mess. And the sooner you're going to be able the sooner

19:26 You start to realize that and the sooner you really lean into that, the sooner you get to profit. And you will go from, you know, making$2,000 a month to$2,000 a day to a hundred thousand dollars a month to a hundred thousand dollars a day, it's all extremely possible. And again, if one person will pay you ten dollars, You just need to then have ten people pay you ten dollars, then a hundred people pay you ten dollars, then a thousand people pay you ten dollars, and before you know it, you have a seven figure business. I love the step by step process and it always starts with one Fire Nation. Believe in the one And that will turn into two, four, eight, sixteen, and so on and so forth. Ellie

20:11 What's the best way Fire Nation can connect with you, any call to action you have, and then we'll say goodbye. Absolutely. Best way for you all to connect with me is at Ellie Talks Money and that's E-L-L-I-E. talks money and you can find me on every single social platform Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and as well. I definitely want you all to enroll in my academy. It's called Elevated Academy. It's my online business school where I educate entrepreneurs on leveraging funding, getting grants, as well as Creating multiple income streams so that you are able to truly build wealth. And so you can go to elevatedacademy.com.

20:55 Sign up for my email list and we will find the best product for you. Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. You've been hanging out with E. D and J L D today. So keep up that heat. Head over to EOFIR.com, type L E E L L I E in the search bar. Her show notes page will pop up with everything that we talked about here today. Ellie Talks Money dot com Check out Elevated academy that's E L I E V A T E D, so Ellie Vaded Academy. And Ellie, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side.

21:37 Thank you so much. Hey Fire Nation, a huge thank you to Ellie for dropping value bombs and sponsoring today's episode. Fire Nation successful entrepreneurs accomplish Big goals. That's why I created the Freedom Journal to guide you in accomplishing your number one goal in 100 days, and we're talking step-by-step visits. The Freedom Journal dot com. And I'll catch you there. Or on the flip.

22:02 Fire Nation, if you have a high ticket offer and need more quality leads, Nexus install is designed for you. We'll book you eight to twenty qualify calls each month, then train you to run the system yourself. Email my team at John at EOFIR dot com to learn more and see if Nexus is the right fit for you. If you are building a real business, you need real infrastructure. Highlevel gives you website hosting, funnels, email marketing, automation, calendar booking, payments, and course hosting all on one platform, plus award-winning 24-7 supports. Get a 30-day free trial and my full bonus stack that includes a 15-minute private call with me and much more at highlevelfire.com. High level fire. dot com