[ahoyhere]

Hi, I'm the teacher of 30x500, the course in question.

You're right -- by far, the product failures I see are caused by people who are self-focused (what do I want to make? what's fun?) vs service-focused (how can I serve people? create value?). Which is why I teach the exact opposite path:

http://unicornfree.com/2013/how-do-you-create-a-product-peop...

My students have cleared that one up already, I think :)

So let's address your #B — "what problems they have the authority to solve."

What is authority exactly? Who gives it? It's not really a term I use in the class because I think it's misunderstood. When Jaana wrote that she didn't have "enough authority," she meant reputation, not authority. But when you come down to it, it's not like Jaana is, say, a famous actress, who wants to break into rocket science. No, she's not famous or well-known at all.

Her real problem isn't authority -- or the perception of authority, or reputation, or trust. It's not a question of image but reach.

Her statistical chops are not at issue, only the size of her platform (readers, followers, fans). And she's working hard to fix that problem right now, using the "ebomb" strategy I teach in 30x500: Educate people, help them, and they will 1. read it, 2. share it, 3. remember you.

As you can see, since we're discussing her post and people are saying how useful it is, this strategy works :)

Now... if you have a platform already and you want to help people, serve people, and sell them something, and you're worried "They won't believe I have the experience!"...

Don't try to sell a teaching product. Don't let it rest on your judgment. Don't use yourself.

Instead, give them a tool that is "factual" -- "This is the math, just plug in your numbers" -- instead of based on opinion or your personal experience. This way you outsource the "judgment" to the end user of your tool. An alternate way is to do research and compile findings, and let the research speak its opinions instead of you.

In that way, Jaana did take my advice. :)

[nhangen]

Hey Amy,

I'm referring to the expertise required to solve a given problem. There's a difference between selling a software product and an info product, and I'm sure you would agree.

For example, you have the authority to teach 30x500 because you have created a successful business. The problem that I see with many students of courses like this, is that they want to sell the 'how-to' at the same time they are learning 'how-to.'

I haven't read your course materials, nor have I looked at the SaaS-Compass product beyond this (http://saascompass.com/), but it looks like it's a strategy product, which means the author has to prove that he/she has the experience and authority required to help someone do what the course says it will do.

I agree that taking yourself out is a great approach, but still, most prospects will want to know something about the author before they make their decision to buy/not-buy.

[jkulmala]

I'm not trying to sell 'how-to' while learning 'how-to'.

There's a reason why my blog articles are boring "how to calculate your metrics right" posts instead of more sexy "try these things for better conversions" type of posts. I'm not a CRO or business optimization expert and I'm not trying to pass as one.

That would be fake and it would hurt my business.

Like I said in my post, my problem is that people don't realize that SaaS Compass doesn’t rely on my knowledge on how to run a SaaS. They, like you (even after reading my post!), expect that it would and look for that authority.

It's a question of perception and selling, not of a real lack of experience/expertise.

As Amy said, it's about copywriting. But I also have this gut feeling that no matter how I present SaaS Compass some people are still going to look for more "authority" or whatever it is.

[ahoyhere]

Compass is not a course. It's not a strategy product, it's a mathematical modeling tool for inputting statistics and forecasting different scenarios. (Fact: It's a spreadsheet.)

You, the user of the tool, make the judgments about what the numbers mean to you. Not Jaana.

The expertise required to solve the problem is not about making business judgments, but getting the math required to crunch the numbers right (and build a spreadsheet without bugs).

This exchange proves part of Jaana's point -- her copywriting needs further work. :)

It looks like you're conflating me with people who run classes on how to create & sell internet marketing products. That's not even remotely what I do. No worries, I'm not offended, just want to set the record straight.