This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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What's up, friends, listeners, community? Wherever you are in the world, I often say, you know, wherever you are in the world, I hope you're doing well, or good morning, afternoon, evening, whatever the case may be. It really is very cool for me to be able to speak to people literally all over the world. So much of my life and work has been shaped through different international experiences from living abroad, through lots of travel, through interactions with folks. So wherever you are, I hope you know you are appreciated.
And thank you as well for everybody who has contributed and may decide a little school and everything else I do. So much better than it would have been otherwise. And with that said, today's listener is calling in from Egypt. There he teaches software development through an apprenticeship model, but he's got a problem because most of his students aren't paying. How can he convert some of these free students into customers?
I'm excited about this question because this is a common challenge of the freemium model, but fortunately, there are also some common solutions to it. So I have a couple of ideas for him that may be helpful for someone else out there as well. How can we convert non-paying students into customers? That is today's question right after this message from our sponsor. [Music]
Hi, this is Ron from Egypt, and I've been listening to the show since last year.
I'm thinking about starting a side hustle where I teach software development through an apprenticeship model rather than traditional classes or online courses, following the tradition of the great masters of the Italian Renaissance. I did this informally without fees and students lose their momentum after a few months. It takes about a year of serious study to transition from a fresh graduate to a professional. I feel bad when someone drops. My efforts are wasted.
I think if students pay the fee, they would be more committed and it would reward my efforts. My questions are, is this a good idea? How do I charge? How do I convert my non-paying current students to paying apprentices? Thank you.
Ron, thank you so much for listening from Egypt. That's very cool, and I love what you're doing. So you're on the right track. I think what needs to happen here though is you're going to need to do some segmentation. So Ron is right.
A lot of the non-paying students, they're never going to pay. Some of them will drop out. They won't follow through with the course. And many of them will not convert to paying customers. So that is correct, but some will.
And so that's the group to focus on. Now, how do you figure out who is in which group? Well, I would say don't offer several months of free training. It seems like Ron is giving a lot here, which is very kind of him, but I would offer a few sessions maybe, or even maybe just one big session. Then if they want to continue, then they pay, right?
Because this is valuable, especially with the field. So software development, I mean, that's a skill that can pay dividends for them, at least for the ones who see it through and the ones who are diligent and study. So I think that's how you separate people. The model of offering a free class or two as an introduction is timeless. It's like the Italian Renaissance that Ron talks about.
And in a place like Egypt, I bet you'd get a lot of takers. So you make sure those introductory sessions, whether it's one or multiple, you make sure that they are truly helpful, yet also you highlight how much more there is to learn, which is why they should consider investing in a longer training. Now, as I said, a lot of them won't do it, but I think some will, and that's the key point. So from there, you have a few options of how people can pay to continue. And ideally, what you want them to do is commit to a full term or apprenticeship.
So I think that's a good model. But if not, maybe there's a second option to where they can pay for occasional lessons or workshops. But whatever you do, I think it starts with segmenting the audience by doing less free training, not eliminating it altogether, but doing less of that free work and then trying to introduce the paid process sooner rather than months or even potentially years down the road. So those are my thoughts. Ron, thank you again.
Let us know what happens. I would love to hear. And listeners, if you have a question or an update from wherever you are in the world, feel free to share at sidehustleschool.com/questions. I hope you all have a wonderful day, whether that's a morning, afternoon, or an evening, or the middle of the night, who knows? And I hope you will come back tomorrow at whatever time that is.
My name is Chris Guillebeau "This Is Side Hustle School." [Music]
