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THIS WEEK’S LESSON

From Classroom to Category King: Creating Your Dream Business

Can you relate to this?

You crack open a new spreadsheet. You write an idea for a product. Give the product a price. Then multiply by the number of units you think you can sell. It's your path to a million dollars.

It's easy to get bogged down in spreadsheets and "best practices." But try not to do it.

Instead, focus on an idea that Joe Polish calls ELF: a business that's Easy, Lucrative, and Fun.

So the next time you open that spreadsheet, think about where you creative default zone is.

That's not just your happy place—it's your category.

Let me explain ...

MY Big Aha ...

For years I thought I was into leadership development. That's why I named my project: Better Leaders Better Schools.

But I learned things things over the years with this focus:

Most leaders don't care about getting better.

Most Superintendents don't focus on leadership development for their principals

And the leadership space is crowded - what makes me any different from a Jethro at Transformative Principal or NASSP?

From there I designed a category: Ruckus Makers Do School Different. Somewhere I had no competition. This was a good move.

If someone accepts my POV, identifying as a Ruckus Maker, there is only one place to go for support.

This was a great move.

But then six months ago in a program I joined about growing a newsletter, I had an even bigger, more important insight.

I operate a media company.

I looked at my Profit and Loss statement. And realized that my easiest, largest, and most profitable sale was to sponsors of my podcast.

I found my ELF business.

To grow my business, I need to focus on growing my audience. The coaching and consulting is a bonus.

The Sponsored Episode Insight

Over the years, it's proven easy to sell out sponsor slots.

I have 3 per quarter. That's 12 slots in inventory each year. They used to go for $7.5K per sponsor/quarter. Do the math. That's $90K in almost pure profit.

Since it's easy to sell out, I've since raised the price to $10K.

Then I got an inbound request for a new sponsor. I have one slot to offer them for Q4.

The text exchange went like this:

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When I answered "both" I didn't realize what I was saying. For sponsors that invest in a quarter, I usually do an episode with the founder. Sometimes I do an episode with a principal who uses the product or service. It's a content marketing piece. I throw it in as a bonus.

But what I learned last week is this: I can sell individual episodes as a content marketing piece at a premium. I'll add this to the podcast page on my website and start selling episode appearances at $2500 or more.

A Category Designed new revenue stream.

I don't like begging for school leadership clients. Sponsors are easy, lucrative, and fun. My audience loves to hear about different opportunities out there. And without realizing it, I created the platform that partners wanted to access.

Most Former Educator Founders compete for 24% of the market. Category Kings capture 76%.

Which side are you on?