
Lessons in Growth Hacking a Skillshare Class - mattangriffel
http://www.growhack.com/2012/10/02/lessons-in-growth-hacking-a-skillshare-class/
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iamdann
I've been thinking about writing an article like this for a while, but most of
my tips are New York City specific, so it won't help most people.

Here are things I've learned from my Skillshare Class (<http://skl.sh/NlGdYU>)
that might help you:

1\. Get out of Brooklyn. Seriously. It's really really difficult to get people
to come to Brooklyn. Finding a venue can be hard, but keep it in Manhattan.

2\. If you NEED to have a class in Brooklyn, lower the price significantly.
TELL people you lowered the price.

3\. Teach your class even if only one person signs up. Some days are just bad
for sign ups. Teach your class anyway.

4\. Ask for endorsements/feedback at the end of your class, stress how much it
actually helps you.

5\. I find higher attendance rates on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.

6\. If you want your class to eventually be $39, teach 3 or 4 classes at $10.
Get the positive endorsements, then up the price for future classes.

7\. Blog about your area of expertise. Promote your blog, not just your class.

That's all helped me. Good luck!

~~~
ILIKEPONIES
Thanks Dan (Josh here).

I've only taught @grind - I'm trying out Brooklyn next week because I wanted
to test another area. So far, no good.

I always stress endorsements, which is why I have 11/13 endorsements.

One thing I've also offered was money back to those who've already taken the
class when they refer a friend (forgot to include this one). Still, no one has
taken me up on that yet.

Interesting that M, T, Th are best days. I've always wondered about that.

Btw, my class can be found here: <http://skl.sh/SsWGKJ>

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fitandfunction
I think OP may be over-looking something obvious ... maybe people just aren't
that interested in a Poker class?

A few arguments why this might be the case:

1\. through WPT, ESPN, youtube etc, it's easy to get access to poker pros to
hear their war stories ... i.e. it dilutes the draw of "experts"

2\. good (not great) poker strategy is pretty simple ... play premium hands
aggressively pre-flop from late position; following that advice would get most
people to break-even, but, that strategy can be boring (lots of waiting
around)

3\. most people play poker for the social element (i.e. to get drunk and suck
out on their buddies) ... improving this usually means finding ways to
encourage your buddies to drink more

I definitely agree that marketing is hard ... but, when you've made a good-
faith effort to get the word out, and nobody is biting, it may be time to
"pivot" and find something else to sell.

~~~
ILIKEPONIES
This is very possible, and something I've worried about. I don't agree with
your reasoning, but that's probably because it somewhat belittles what I
teach. Still, it's very possible that startup people just aren't as interested
in poker. The finance market is probably a better target market for me.

~~~
fitandfunction
Didn't mean to belittle, I was just trying to talk out loud as to why I
haven't signed up for a poker class.

In some ways, I'm an ideal student (play casually 1/mo, visit Vegas / Reno
1/yr, know enough to know that I don't know enough, etc), yet, I've never
taken a class. I have purchased a few books.

Part of it might be that for something like poker, at the point of decision,
I'm thinking "I could spend this money on the class ... or I could take this
money and go play poker." Tough business! Good luck

~~~
ILIKEPONIES
im surprised you purchased a book (which is often stale) but wouldn't consider
a relatively cheap class. i can pretty much guarantee you you'd learn way more
with me.

in any case, good luck on the felt.

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rendezvouscp
I was disappointed to see that this was really a list of things that haven’t
really worked out well for the author.

As someone who’s having a hard time gaining lots of new users for my
service[1], I was really looking forward to some actual lessons in what’s
worked. I checked out the Case Studies, but the content wasn’t anything new or
particularly relevant to the scrappy startup situation. I think the most
useful content on Grow/Hack right now is this post with actual lessons learned
in growth hacking: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4603640>

[1] It would be remiss of me not to mention it: Iron Money
<https://ironmoney.com/>

~~~
kiba
The lessons of what not to do is just as useful as figuring out what to do.
Because you might try out things that won't work, rather than trying new ideas
that nobody knows work.

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richardw
Adwords? I just typed in "poker course" and no adwords came up. Way different
timezone but it's interesting that nobody is trying to get my business.

Also, I think you're using a shotgun method - try everything, see what works.
I suspect if you can pin down who your absolutely ideal customer is, target
your marketing at them, and charge higher prices, you'll do better. Have a way
to increase the potential customer lifetime value much more than the $35-ish
price - e.g. 1-on-1 classes for more money. Who is the type of customer who
would pay you e.g. $200-500 for a lesson? What do they _need_? Or run a
6-month subscription class where you guide a customer's learning and play a
couple online games with them here and there, check them on video for tells,
measure their skill over the period.

I've bought a book on poker at one point and did read it but was not
particularly good. I played a home game this last weekend that was Texas
Holdem, so brushed up a few skills, bought a book on holdem math and am trying
to work my way through properly calculating EV etc. I downloaded PokerTH and
run it in the background every so often. What could you do for me above and
beyond that?

I ask mainly to help you think about the customer's needs. I live far away and
we probably share very little wake-time. I imagine there are home-game losers
who want to beat their friends, people who want to be able to play in local
tournaments, people who want to iron out a couple weaknesses for online games.
Each will pay different amounts according to the value you can offer them.

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dchuk
oh god now a whole site dedicated to the fluffy job title. Posting an ad on
craigslist is not a growth hack, people have been posting classified ads for
over a century now (albeit through other media, but the idea is the same).

If we must use the term "growth hack" it should really be in reference to
actual novel ideas, like some sort of incentivized social referral system or a
play on game mechanics in an otherwise standard application.

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richcollins
Maybe no one wants your product?

<http://startup-marketing.com/the-startup-pyramid/>

