On this episode, how to leverage your expertise through Digital products. Three reasons why you want to create a digital offer is 1 to position yourself as an expert, #2 to help you expand your reach and serve more people, and three, to provide the ability for more passive income. That was Chrissy Chen, author of the book Sell While You Sleep, which is also the name of her podcast. She's Co founder of Grow Workspace and K&C Creative.
I recently attended her book signing in Atlanta, where we're both based. I was inspired by the action she took to both create a million dollar business online and write about it. As someone who is using this podcast to hopefully help listeners and other people explore and navigate the media ecosystem and find ways to pitch themselves without pitching, I really am inspired when I connect with people who write books. So I was really glad to get to see her at her book signing.
And with so many people turning to digital marketing and sales, I thought you would make really an excellent guest. If you think about it, so many journalists are entering their creative economy. You'll see people post all the time about how they now have a sub stack or a blog or a podcast. It's all digital media and it's all an online business. Everyone wants to try and
monetize their content. So Chrissy is going to talk about it. And if we don't get to everything, remember to go into the description where I have links to everything you need to know about Chrissy and her business offerings. So before we dive in and have our conversation with her, I just wanted to let you know that I am in the process of creating a course to help you build your presence online and pitch the press without pitching. How does that work? It's all about networking.
So if you're interested in securing earned media and you really don't want to send a traditional pitch, I'm going to teach you how how to network and connect with more reporters and producers so that you don't need to pitch, so that they know who you are, they know your expertise and you become top of mind. Of course, pitching is always going to have its place, and I don't, I don't say don't pitch.
But as a journalist who always was on a guest hunt, which is what I like to refer to it as, I didn't really read through pitches and say, oh, let's book this person, they pitched me on this topic. I really looked at what are the topics we want to explore and how do we want to get at them, and who's talking about them online. So I am working on a course, and maybe if you're listening to this, in a few months that course will already be out. So do check out on camready.com my website.
The course is really meant for experts, lawyers, you know, business owners, real estate agents, doctors, professionals who want to be in the media. And when I'm saying media, I mean all forms, podcasts, television, radio. If you are focused on your online presence, you're going to start naturally attracting if you follow some of the tips and tricks that I have to offer. You know, as a broadcast news veteran, you know, I have received, you know, many pitches
as I said. But searching for the perfect guest was always something fun and I would always try to look at it as an opportunity to network. So if you're going to take anything away from this quick little mention, start networking with reporters and producers online and see where it goes. And if you are focusing on content creating so that you can start attracting the media so you don't really know where to start.
Ioffer a road map to podcasting and I also have a list of equipment to help you get started with any in home studio at a low price. I have an Amazon storefront called On Cam Ready. You can check that out. By the way, while we're talking about Amazon, I just wanted to say thank you to Pretty Garden for this wonderful dress. I've worn it on a few episodes and I just absolutely love it. And I have it in my Amazon storefront. You know, it's all about monetization, guys.
And we're all trying to create content and find ways to help, but also find ways to make money out of the content we're creating, right? And that's why, as I mentioned, I'm interested in digital products. So I had to book this guest. Let's get to the conversation. She's author of the book Sell While You Sleep and Co founder of Grow Workspace and KNC Creative. We're with Chrissy Chin. Chrissy, welcome. I'm so glad you could join us. Jamie, I'm so excited to be
here. You know everyone I mentioned that Chrissy and I have met before I showed some video of her book signing and it was really nice to be there. But I think what you know, the audience is probably curious about is what made you write the book you have. Tell us a little bit about your background and what led to that decision, because it's a big decision to write a book. Yeah, 100%, And my journey has been a long one, so I'll spare
all of the details. But really in just saying yes to a lot of things and experimenting and realizing what I didn't want to do and did want to do, There are really two moments in my career that really shipped like ships, shaped the direction of where I was going and LED to this book. And that was 1. Acquiring customers through automation and then to being able to serve thousands of people, 6000 customers actually with just 10 hours a week.
And it was those two milestones where I was like, this is huge and if I can do this, anyone can literally do this. And so that's what I've been teaching on. But the book just really allows me to get this information into a lot more hands. So that was really kind of the catalyst to writing the book and. One of the things that she's doing, which I found very unique, is she's hosting a book club. So as I said, you know, I have the book, I'm reading it, I
attended the book club. I think it's such a smart, like, genius way to promote but also engage with potential customers, consumers, and then also show how much value you have to offer that community, you know, tell us more about what brought that on. Would had you been in a book of a digital book club before? No, I've actually never participated in a book club. So I literally was thinking, Oh my gosh, I've never done this before.
I have no idea what I'm doing, but it sounds like a great idea, so let's just do it. And that's a bit how I operate. And I know some people aren't that way. So if you can kind of channel that a little bit more to just do the unfamiliar things. Scared and I was flying a bit by the seat of my pants. Now I do know that practicing something beforehand can definitely boost your confidence, so I should could have hindsight, maybe at least googled or watched a YouTube video.
I'm like, how should I run a book club and just gotten some ideas. But really at the end of the day, you know, we can do things different. We can do it how it works for us and what feels good to us. So I just sort of went with it and was like, let's use this as an opportunity to bring people together that want to focus on learning the content and then just open it up for discussion.
And it's been quite a magical experience for me and I'm getting great feedback from the people that are participating and we're just able to dive into their their business and their questions and just let these topics unfold more organically. And you know, I for some of the listeners I've mentioned this before, you know, I think it was the episode with Nesta Lumpkin. Make sure you check that one out, new author Nesta Lumpkin.
And we talked about, you know, how a book or a digital product can really help experts legitimize their expertise. What are your thoughts on that and do you? Is that kind of also part of why you decided to write this book? Yeah, definitely. I mean, there's there's three reasons why creating a digital offer or a book could really, you know, set you apart from other people. One, it positions you as an expert. Two, it helps you expand your reach.
And three, it provides the ability for more passive income. 00:08:39,760 So kind of to expand on that. First one, positioning you as the expert, which is what you were kind of talking about, It allows you to demonstrate your knowledge. So whether you're doing this through an online course or by writing a book or creating a workshop or resources and materials, you have enough insight to create something on that topic, which shows that you have a lot of knowledge on that topic.
And so you're perceived by the public in a light of being an expert right in that in that area. Whether it's you know how to get into the media or how to use breath work to decrease stress, or you're talking about how to grow your business online. If you have the knowledge and the experience and the expertise enough to create some type of packaged offer, again course or book, that's just going to be really valuable for for you as a professional.
And you know, for those that are listening, that are in TV broadcasting or public relations, I've been asking around and I do have sources to support this comment. But you know, she is self published. OK, now before when we would receive pitches from someone who's self published, it would be like put them over here because they're not Harper Collins, they're not you know one of the big publishers. But there's been this wave of change where so many experts are self-publishing.
And I just want to put that out there that you don't need one of the big publishing houses to to elevate your expertise with a book these days. And self-publishing is a really great way. I've done some research on KDP and it is very cool and great way for you to put together your offer without having to go through all the hoops of a publisher. But you know, you should definitely check out her website.
I'll put the link below so you can learn more about Chrissy, her book and also the connections that she has that have helped her create this book. So she has some great resources that are worth looking into. If you are interested in writing a book and just want to make sure I put that out there. You know marketing a book is hard, Chrissy and you know you're you're experiencing that
now as a new author. What tips or tricks do you have to really put your name out there or that that are working? Yeah, I mean, there's lots of ways that you can market yourself. It is just going to be like any other offer. So you can use social media, you can use e-mail marketing, you can reach out to individuals like yourself and try and get on podcasts or speak in Facebook groups. So there's a lot of different avenues that you can use to try and get your name out there.
And it's going to be the same, you know, whether you're promoting a book or a course or a new workshop that it's going to be the same. And sometimes you're using all of the avenues to to expand that reach and sometimes you're using one or two. Maybe social media is not really your GM. And so you're like, OK, I want to get on podcasts. I want to get in the media, I want to be featured and that's the avenue that I'm going to take. Whereas someone else might be
really into social media. And they're like I love creating little short form content. I love engaging with people on that platform. And so that is, you know, I like to call it their top of funnel, the way that they're going to be reaching their audience first and foremost. So there's lots of different options, and I think that's the joy of having a business is that you can do it your own way and with so many different outlets, you can lean into what you do
best. Like, I love getting on podcasts and having conversations and talking. I am following you, Jamie, on the Instagram, and I like trying to learn how to be better on there because I think it's such a great resource to use. And so why not? But this is definitely more in my comfort zone. And you know, when it comes to comfort zone, many people like to use Facebook, as you mentioned, or LinkedIn. But there's also those that you know you're just triggering some
thoughts. But there's also those that complain about the Facebook groups and say, you know, I can't grow there, I don't know how. And one thing that I suggest, which I I've never really tested, but it you have tested, it is where you host events within a Facebook group and you know, I focus on media in general. Media is social media, it's your, it's your podcasts, your television, everything, right?
Like that is our media today. So if you're hosting an event, a live event in a Facebook group, I believe it's essentially you showing the press or the media that you can host something live and you can bring in people and rally a community. And I think it's a positive thing to showcase. So how do people go about it and actually attract individuals to
join the group? Because in your book you do talk about like I think it was thousands of people showed up for this one live event that you were offering. Yeah, absolutely. So I'm big on the power of collaboration. And so I talk about this in the book. I talk about it in our courses. And again, like if you're not using social media, like you have to collaborate with people to get in front of their audiences. That's one strategy.
And so with the particular example that you're talking about, I hosted essentially a summit. I had no idea what a virtual summit was. I was just like, I want this resource to exist. And So what would I need to do? I would need to ask these people to come participate and help get different speakers to speak on various topics to make this resource really complete for me selfishly to use for my business at the time that I was growing.
And so I just reached out to these people and I shared my vision for it and I asked them to participate. And and the key there was, I shared with them the value that it would have for them and their community. And so, you know, they were just willing to come in. They saw the value that this resource could have not only for me, but more importantly for them and their community as well. And so they said yes.
And so before I knew it, I had you know, set this up and I think I had 15 ish speakers that were coming in over a week's time to come speak on a topic and they started inviting their community into this Facebook group. And again, y'all, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't even know it was could be considered a summit. Facebook was what I knew. You know, I wasn't even really on Instagram at the time And so it just made sense.
OK. There's a a closed group of people anyone can join and we can host this here for free. And that was what I was just really trying to do. And yes, in just four weeks we had over 40,000 people joining. And that right there is the power of collaboration. And to take that further, I didn't Grow Workspace was not even a business in my mind at that time.
Again, I was using this for a different business and when Grow Workspace came about, I knew that my ideal customer was in that group, at least some of the people. And that is when I created a free offering. It was called 90 Days of Ipas and I put it in that group since it was mine and I owned it, I could do whatever I want.
I put that freebie in the group, drew out thousands of ideal customers and we converted 1400 of those customers into paying customers in one month, 4000 in four months. So that is the power not only of collaboration using the resources that you have at your fingertips and then the power of lead generation and automation, which was what helped us just grow our business very quickly. And you know it. It is hard to find your ideal customer.
A lot of people listening may even be thinking, you know, I really wanna be an expert on television and I'm even struggling to find the right network. The networks are also your customers. You have to think of them as your consumers. How do you attract the press? How do you attract the media? Well, you need to be finding a match. You know, as previous conversations, all of our experts say, you can't just be pitching anyone, you really need
to have a match, right. And as someone who has been in television, it is hard to find, you know, really strong guests. But my advice to people is always this, you know, trying to host summits like yourself, building a community, showing engagement online, making sure that you also when you have those events that you are creating a press release so that
it comes up online. Trying to get in with an organization that will at least issue a press release helps because then it's like, oh, she's a host. She hosted this live summit and it'll come up in the news section on Google, right? So that it's like, interesting. Or when a journalist is searching you like, oh wow, this is a cool event she had. Wow, how many people, 40,000 people show up. Like, she must have something
good to offer. You know, whenever you're putting together events like that or, say, a live stream on LinkedIn, you need to be thinking, who are the reporters and producers that would find my content interesting, inviting them and even sending them a link to what you have to go, what you have going on live or a taped version.
I mean, like, hey, I saw this and I I thought you might like it. Or here's another tip I always offer, and I'm saying it now because if you're listening to this, you might be thinking, how do I get the press interested in this stuff? You need to also be thinking of mentioning those reporters and journalists and news agencies, weaving them in. OK. I'm sitting here and I and promoting say my book and I really want, let's just say the local news to hear about it.
I'm going to say I would, you know, I really love watching WAGA and that program they offer about, I don't know, new businesses in the area. And I think that would be a great way for you to highlight your job. Or your book. Or your career. Now say you mentioned this in your conversation. You're then going to tag waga in your description and add a link and it's going to help promote your live event, what you have to offer and start to create some type of engagement, right?
So guys, just start thinking strategically about your what you mentioned in your podcasts, what you mentioned in your conversations and who you invite. You know this is a very long winded part. I'm sorry about that guys. But you know as you guys know I mentioned this in the intro and a few other intros as well. You know I'm working on building my own digital courses, right?
So having Chrissy here is great because I know if I'm thinking about building out my brand online, some of you may be as well. You know, I'm also working on workshops specifically for real estate agents who really want to start producing up their content. Chrissy, you know what are the digital products you would you would recommend people invest their time in if they're looking for a consistent income from those digital products.
Yeah, I would say I'm a little biased that I think the best types of digital products are the ones that you literally can sell while you sleep. So for example, a digital course or an online community or templates, right. And really you can sell anything while you sleep as long as you have that automated funnel. But the key to working less and earning more, which is really why people. Come to me is that ability to have a scalable offer.
So I would say there's really three different kind of types of offers when you're thinking about what kind of offer you're going to create to to generate that passive income or reoccurring income. One is the offer of trading time for money, not very scalable like done for you services we offer, done for you services for website copy and design. It's one-on-one work. So unless I want to build a massive team and have this big agency, we can only grow so
much, right? Unless we increase our prices. And again, there's going to be a cap, we're going to price ourselves out of the market. So that's one option that you could have, but not very scalable. The other is kind of the semi scalable offer where you have a threshold before your time increases. So for our signature program, build a blissful business. We've figured out that between one and 50 people, we have the same time commitment to serve that group of people.
So if we're investing the same amount of time and energy and resources for one person as we are 50 people, we're going to want to scale that to 50 people and then 50 to 100, we add two more hours, OK, not very much time. That's more ideal. And then the third is really the, the big kuna, the scaling of your digital offer. And that's what we did with Grow Workspace where we had 6000 members and I was working 5 to 10 hours a week and it didn't matter again if we had one customer or 6000.
It was a template shop essentially a a training course with pre made content that we provided again to one person or 6000 it didn't matter of still putting in the same amount of energy and effort. So getting clear on what your goal is, is the most important thing to think about. Is your goal to stop trading time for money and have a really
scalable offer? Then we need to think about what is it that you're teaching, what is the transformation you're trying to provide, and how can we package this up in an offer that is scalable? So much guys that you can learn from Chrissy. Remember guys, Her links are in the description. I'll mention it again at the
end. You know we're with Chrissy Chin. She's author of the book Sell While You Sleep, you know, I'm just wanting to mention her name one more time because we are going into the 20 minute mark here with the conversation and I'm going to be airing it all. We're not editing guys. So really quick before we wrap, you know, for a nice sound bite for social or maybe the intro, could you provide us with your top three tips on why an expert
should create a digital offer? It's you just kind of mentioned it, but it would be great if you just tick through your top three tips as to why people should do it. Yeah, again, you know, being a professional. Three things. Three reasons why you want to create a digital offer is 1 to position yourself as an expert, #2 to help you expand your reach and serve more people, and three, to provide the ability for more passive income.
And for those who have already begun marketing their digital products, you know what, maybe two to three quick tips do you have for them to help increase maybe their sales or brand awareness? Yeah, don't hide yourself. Get yourself on social media. I know Jamie's so great about teaching you how to present yourself there as a professional. So and and I encourage you to let your audience see your growth.
Something really cool that has happened during this book launch is I'm putting the book out there, I'm on social media, I'm promoting it and people are seeing that I have written a book and a lot of people are very impressed by that. But these people, some of them have been following me for five plus years. They've been customers from the very beginning and I'm getting message after message saying,
wow, this is so incredible. I've been with you since the beginning and I have enjoyed seeing you grow and expand and the things that you have accomplished. So don't be scared to show yourself in these beginning stages of your business or whatever it is that you're doing, because you are going to inspire people that we all start somewhere and that you're showing them that you can get better and you can grow in the process and do really incredible
things. You know, before we wrap, are there any last minute thoughts or pieces of advice you wanted to share during this conversation that you didn't get to? I think just I want you to know that anything is possible and that done is better than perfect. And so if you have the tendency to want to have everything appear perfect, whether it's on social media or the way that you present on your website or how you present your offer or what you have in your course, done is
better than perfect. And with action comes clarity. So just start taking action. Listen to what Jamie says and and play around with your social media, you know, play around with some different offers and ideas that you have. Play around with your ideal customer. If you're still stuck, I'm like, who is that person I'm trying to find? Pick somebody, start speaking to them, and you're going to find out very quickly. Is that the right person for me or is it not so?
Remember, done is better than perfect. With action comes clarity. So take that baby step every single day to move forward towards your dreams. Thank you, Chrissy. And guys, just remember as I mentioned in the description, you'll have links to Chrissy Chin's booksell while You sleep and her coaching business that she mentioned. You have Grow Workspace as well K&C Creative, and while you're down there, make sure you're also looking through the links and you sign up for my
newsletter at oncamready.com. You can also find me on Sub Stack. I write occasionally, but I do send stuff out, so you wanna sign up there and I'll see you online.