Not really "buy-sell-trade" yet....wanting opinions on something

[Bubblingbrooks]

That is what I need to know before shelling out bucks. However, some info is spotty and hard to find and sort through. Some people like a certain presentation style and find it worth paying for. YouTube has a ton of stuff, and savvy posters there use this medium to point people to their websites.

I will really have to offer something that is different and special. I think I can. I will also have to keep the price low.

I did know when posting this that most here do everything themselves and don't spend money unless they cannot get it for free....so I realize in advance that ss forum members are not my target clients!

Have you looked at what the other Real Food bloggers are already offering?
Wardeh and Nourished Kitchen and Kelly?
Can you provide something that they are already not doing?

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Free, you need to get together with Cheeseslave and become a Real Food Media partner.

 

[freemotion]

I've shifted my focus a bit. My main purpose of the website is to sell continuing education to massage therapists (I'm now Nationally Certified to do so), so I do have a clientele already for that venue. Anything I do for the general public will spin off of that. I am thinking of connecting to the clients of the LMT's who take my courses. A way to offer a more holistic massage practice....I am focusing on perpetuating factors of pain and inflammation, and diet/lifestyle is a big part of that.

For that aspect, I am planning on offering something that is a little more kindergarten than what is offered already....more like the stepping stone, then referring to those others.

For most people, jumping right into a healthy lifestyle from the typical American lifestyle is too big a leap, and too overwhelming to even try. So my plan is to offer something that still uses grocery-store ingredients and gradually moves people into preparing their own foods and moves them gently towards the REAL way to live!

You've all given me some good stuff to consider and incorporate. I'll announce it here on ss when the site is up.

Keep the input coming.

I was gonna make a short video for it yesterday and dh accidentally put the memory card for the camera in the wrong slot in the computer, and it is beyond stuck. So he bought a new one. It doesn't fit in our camera. Hoping he comes home with one today, the light is perfect. I'm gonna start with chai tea and homemade soda, since I need to make both of those today. Want to, more accurately! I'll do kombucha, kefir, hot chocolate, ice tea, etc, since what I most often hear when I teach classes live is, "What do we drink?" and then the eyes glaze over when I try to describe how to make any of these....which as you know, take less time to make than to buy!

I have to learn to edit video!

 

[meriruka]

I think if your target audience is a youngish crowd, this could work. They are probably more used to sitting in front of a computer screen to learn.
However younger people tend not to have a whole lot of cash to spend. :/
I would pay for a book that had sound info on nutrition and recipes, I would pay for a DVD that demonstrated how to make cheese/yogurt/soap/rocket stoves, etc.
I would actually leave the house for a class like Indian or Japanese cooking.
I know that I would not take away much from an online course mainly because learning by computer is not something I'm used to and I don't have the luxury of uninterrupted free time.
A book or a DVD is a tangible item that I have 'forever' and I can get a piece of info fast or share/loan it to someone else or give as a gift.

I tried to picture an online class and saw:

11:00 class starts
11:10 need to return escaped turkey to pen
11:25 UPS arrives
11:31 Loud crash - one of the cats has broken something/ stolen something/ picked a fight
11:40 egg customer knocks on door
11:56 need a snack
12:09 Neighbor shows up to shoot the breeze
12:23 Computer shuts off for no reason
12:40 have to pee
12:52 phone rings
12:59 a drop of rain falls - internet goes down.

 

[MsPony]

With the ones that Bubblingbrooks and I are accustomed to (via Nourishing Kitchen, Kelly, Cheeseslave, etc.) Is that you can view/pause/start whenever you want. There was a class I desperately wanted to attend, but I wouldn't have been able to sit down and watch very often. The beauty is, it was online for a very long time. Direct questions to teachers however, were only available for a short time.

 

[MsPony]

Oh also, the problem with Real Food Media is that it is a full time job. Its those ladies "outside" job of being a mother/homemaker/assistant to hubbies business if needed. Free has a successful FT job already...it would leave less time for those pigs!

 

[CrimsonRose]

I personally am not into having to participate and having to interact and talk... So something like this I would like to have downloadable videos and someone I can email if I have questions...

That being said I'm cheap... So I personally wouldn't really consider something unless it was in a comfort zone of about 20.00 bucks... here is why... Many promise good info ect ect... but how do you know until you buy it... ALL websites have testimonials... who's to say you didn't make them up or have friends and fam write them for you... So NO way even if it had a money back guarantee would I shell out 100 bucks or more for a class or course... Unless my friends recommended it and even then... my friends are cheap so don't see them buying it first either...

That being said I know good info is hard to come by and well worth the money!

So a suggestion to market to cheapskates like me... would be break up the class into smaller portions... sell them for 20 bucks each... have like 8 of them so total cost would be $160.00 if I bought them all separate... but package them together for a discount to buy at your price you suggested above... That way I could buy one class see if I like it and want more and will pay more for it...

Another option would be advertisement on your webpages... if you have a good freebie section and post google ads... you can make a good bit of money just from the traffic searching for free info! (that's how youtube makes it's millions!)

Maybe by doing the advertising you could offset the cost and charge less which in this economy = greater sales...

 

[freemotion]

Thanks for all the continued input! Actually, my target clientele is not the kind of person who is a member of this forum......it is the more average American who is looking to explore getting a bit healthier...this often happens when someone gets their first massage, re-books, and ends up coming in regularly. They think about their body for an hour and learn to appreciate it more, and start to value caring for it. Some do, anyways. Then the questions start. So the free info bits would be a way to get people started and hopefully wanting more.

The paid classes for the average person would be short and cheap-cheap-cheap!

The main money earner will (hopefully!) be the dvd courses offered as continuing education to licensed massage therapists across the country. I will offer them as a dvd series with short, simple "tests" that they fill out as they are watching....that should keep their interest, and they can pause and walk away and replay it as often as they want. I will offer it at about half the going rate of a live, in person ce class. LMT's in most states need continuing ed to keep up their licenses and/or their liability insurance, so their is a market. I took two online courses once when my cycle (48 ce's every 4 years required) was almost up and I needed some ce's quickly. These courses were text-based with a "closed book" test at the end. I see more and more of them advertised.

I won't offer the courses I have in mind online yet, as it costs a LOT to have that much video maintained on the site. My current course, already written for this, is 16 hours, divided into two 8 hour courses, which is pretty standard in the industry. I have a limit of 16 hours of video now with the company I'm using, and I will save that for free video and the small courses, plus I will use youtube links to save on space with the freebie stuff.

My hope is also that the LMT's that take my ce courses will refer clients to the site for the freebies, then some of them will take the courses directed at them.

It is all in the dream stage right now....although we did get the camera memory card today, and I set up the camera on a tripod in the kitchen to see if I could work at my counter and video myself even if dh is not home for some simple short food prep segments. It looks good so far! And I only have to clean one small corner of my kitchen!!!!

 

[freemotion]

Once it has something on it to show you, I can't wait for more input! I'm getting excited about this!!

 

[CrimsonRose]

if you offer kitchen cleaning courses where you offer in home demos I would pay a small fortune for that! ROFL