Growth Tools founder Bryan Harris, in the Facebook ad you see above, claims he’ll show you how to scale your online course to five-figure months, without paid ads or spamming social media with content.
Before I get into my Growth University review, however, you might enjoy the following case study. In it, my mentor and another one of his students pull back the curtain on an even simpler business model. Check it out:
Clicking Bryan’s ad brought me to a simple squeeze page. I like that he reiterates the promise he made in the ad. Also, it’s refreshing to see someone selling you on the idea of a six-figure business, instead of “if you’ve got a wallet and WiFi, I’ll help you scale to seven-figures in seven seconds” à la Yahya Bakkar.
After signing up, I’m taken to the webinar. Bryan Harris sends me a quick email reminder as well. The (recorded) webinar starts and, once again, he’s on point with his original promise. So far so good.
The big idea? To go from zero to $10,000 per month with your course or coaching program—without paid ads or jumping on the content hamster wheel—all ya gotta do, Bryan says, is partner up with other influencers, brands, and companies.
It’s not sexy. At all. But the more he talks, the more I nod my head in agreement. Here’s why: to sell information and mentoring, it takes three things—a steady flow of leads, lots of trust, and monetization.
The right partnerships can knock out all three because you’re piggybacking off of other people’s well-established traffic and credibility. Assuming you then offer something their audience would be interested in, sales are almost inevitable.
For instance, you might write a guest blog post and link back to your sales page for your digital course. Or do an interview on someone else’s podcast, with show notes leading listeners back to your squeeze page. You could speak at a live event (if that’s ever a thing again) and sign attendees up to your mastermind afterwards. You get the point.
But again, it’s built-in traffic. Plus, you benefit from the “Oprah effect.” Like, when they vouch for you, it’s game-over. Just ask Dr. Phil. Right?
So how does it work? Bryan proceeds to walks me through the three basic steps.
The first, is to find 50 dream partners. Start with those you’re familiar with (blogs you read, podcasts you listen to, Instagram influencers you follow, etc.) and graduate to those you’re not familiar with (start Googling, yo!) to come up with a nice list of fifty.
Second, come up with an obvious reason each partner would want to promote lil’ ol’ you to their audience. Ideally, you’d want to teach their audience. Why? Trust. If expertise is what you’ll eventually try to sell them, what better than to establish it right out the gate? The smartest way to do this, Bryan says, is to “find a content gap” and fill it. Example: I could write a guest article on copywriting for a popular website that only talks about SEO.
Third and final, you need to write an irresistible email pitch that gets ’em to say yes. How? Prove you’re not some internet weirdo by, for example, describing how you’re a long-time follower of their work; or, better yet, tell ’em how you bought something from them in the past and got results with it. Then, explain how what you’re proposing will help them. Last, end with a clear ask that’s easy to agree to.
Decent stuff. Again, nothing sexy about it. But you could certainly see how this might work. And if what you’re selling costs thousands of dollars? It’s not that farfetched to think that this process could take you to five-figure months.
But maybe it sounds like a buncha sh*t you don’t really wanna be doin’. Brainstorming, researching, cold outreaching—yuck!
No worries, says Bryan. Growth Tools has got ya covered. Enter Growth University. Limited to 15 course creators or coaches who want Bryan and his team to do the heavy lifting for you, this done-with-you experience may be just what you need.
While he didn’t talk pricing, the done-for-you component tells me it’s probably $10k or more. And who knows, it may very well be worth it. Unlike the majority of my reviews, I really don’t have anything bad to say about the way Bryan markets or his offer in general.
What I will say is I think the coaching and course-selling space is bursting at the seams with competition. And, even if Bryan’s simple system gets you in front of hot prospects that already trust you? You still gotta go slay those guest appearances. And even if you do that? You have to have an amazing offer, great marketing, excellent salespeople, plus systems and support that don’t fail when those sales do come in. It’s still a lot.
Therefore, before you bounce, you should compare that to what we do. Actually, don’t bother, I’ve done it for you:
