77R | Side Hustle Coaching Series Part 2 | Alan & Tallis

077R | An second part to the conversation between ChooseFi community member Tallis, who teaches dance classes in retirement facilities, and Pop-Up Business School founder Alan Donegan, to help get Tallis’ side hustle off the ground.

Precursors to this episode: Episode 30 and Episode 56. Tallis gives an update on her side hustle to-do list. Client feedback: the questions you ask impact the results you’ll get. What is the best way to sell Tallis’ dance classes to the retirement facilities. Tallis continues to wonder how to best monetize her service? Tallis hopes to facilitate workshops to train dance-class teachers. Alan and Tallis previously discussed securing sponsorship, potentially from pharmaceutical companies. Currently, Tallis’ dance class is endorsed (and paid for) by the American Parkinson's Disease Association, so classes are free for participants. Could Tallis collect a fee from participants? Most important considerations right now: how is going to pay, and how much to charge? Different payment models can impact clients’ commitment to the classes. Training an organization to facilitate its own courses will pay significantly more than providing courses directly to individuals. How can Tallis decide on a price for her workshops? People equate cost to value: if you charge too little, they’ll think the product isn’t valuable. Alan recommending contacting potential clients (retirement communities) that are well outside her target geographical location in order to practice her pitch and get feedback on potential pricing. Pricing has a lot to do with confidence. Successful business models have repeatability. Marketing is rarely starting from the ground up: find other businesses in a similar space, or businesses that are doing something that you think would be really effective the space you’re targeting and start there. Pitch tip: don’t allow your voice pitch to go up when giving your price. Use a statement tone that sounds confident – even from beginning to end of your sentence. What’s up next: get feedback from local contact about other offerings. Go big! Don’t offer your service to just a few potential clients. Expect that it’ll take 1-5 months to get the program from start to point of sale. The only way to know if your business will be successful is to ask people to buy; before that moment, feedback is hypothetical. Tallis is part of the Des Moines ChooseFI local group – contact her there.