#317: Best Ways Creative Entrepreneurs Can Monetize Their Expertise

Today I’m thrilled to share insights from my recent conversation with photographer and business coach, Chris Pieta on The Blogger Genius Podcast. Chris’s story is not just inspiring; it’s a roadmap for any creative looking to turn their passion into a profitable business.

The Leap of Faith: Transitioning from Corporate to Photography

Chris’s journey began with a bold step away from the security of a corporate job to follow his passion for photography. Self-taught and determined, he mastered the art of capturing stunning visuals and landed his first client in product photography. This initial success was just the beginning, as he went on to collaborate with over 50 brands and built his reputation.

Show Notes:

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• Personality Quiz: What Digital Product Should I Create?
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Embracing the Digital World: YouTube and Instagram Strategies

Recognizing the power of social media, Chris expanded his reach by creating content on YouTube and Instagram. His goal was to join YouTube’s partner program, but it was his dedication to consistently posting valuable content weekly that truly expanded his influence.

On Instagram, he took a personal approach, engaging with followers to understand their needs and preferences, which helped him tailor his content strategy effectively.

Balancing Creativity and Business: Insights for Creative Entrepreneurs

Chris acknowledges the challenges creatives face when balancing their art with the business side of things. He encourages focusing on business aspects without losing the creative spark. His advice is to leverage creative expertise to increase income, which is a golden nugget for any entrepreneur.

Monetizing Creativity: The Path to Financial Success

During our conversation, Chris outlined two primary routes for monetizing a creative business: brand partnerships and selling digital products or coaching. He stressed the importance of being an expert and qualified to offer these services. Chris’s own experience of growing his photography business while building a YouTube channel on the side is a testament to this approach which lead to his business growth and diversification.

The Art of Pitching: Connecting with Brands

Pitching to brands is an art, and Chris shares his personalized email sequence strategy. The focus is on capturing attention, establishing credibility, and providing a clear call to action. He also highlights the importance of understanding a brand’s needs and offering solutions, which is crucial for building lasting relationships.

Selling Digital Products: The Importance of Implementation

Chris emphasizes selling implementation over information. The transformation should happen at the transaction, meaning that digital products should enable businesses to apply the knowledge effectively. He also believes in the power of trust and standing by your products, which is why he recommends offering a money-back guarantee.

Trust and Karma: The Foundations of Online Success

We both agreed on the importance of trust and standing by what you create. There’s a sense of internet karma where putting out good stuff and being trustworthy leads to success. This philosophy is central to Chris’s approach and Jillian’s approach with MIloTreeCart, and something all online entrepreneurs should take to heart.

Pricing Strategies: Catering to Different Budgets

Chris shares his thoughts on pricing digital products, advocating for different pricing tiers to accommodate various budgets and levels of interest. He suggests starting with low-budget options and providing premium tiers for those who want more. It’s about trial and error and having guidelines for different pricing tiers.

Conclusion: The Entrepreneurial Blueprint

Chris’s journey from corporate to creative is more than just a story; it’s a blueprint for monetizing your passion. His insights into brand partnerships, digital products, and the importance of trust are invaluable for any creative entrepreneur looking to grow their business.

Other Related Blogger Genius Podcast episodes You’ll Enjoy:

• How to Make Money Blogging in 2024 (New Trends) with Jillian Leslie
• Capitalize on Your “Vibe,” Use It To Grow Your Blog with Jillian Leslie
• Scaling Your Business: From Overwhelm to Six-Figure Success with AnneMarie Rose
• Unlock Success: He Makes $10k/Month Selling Online Cooking Classes with Adam Sobel

MiloTreeCart, the Best Tool for Non-Techies to Sell Digital Products

I also want to introduce you to the MiloTreeCart, a tool designed for non-techies to sell digital products easily. It comes with features like fill-in-the-blank sales pages, check-out pages, a sales dashboard, upsells, and customer support. MiloTreeCart is currently available for a lifetime deal of $349 or three easy installments of $116.33.

Transcript: #317: Best Ways Creative Entrepreneurs Can Monetize Their Expertise

Jillian Leslie (00:00:00) – Hi, I’m. Jillian, welcome to a brand new episode of the Blogger Genius podcast. But before I launch in, I have a question for you. Have you started selling your knowledge and expertise directly to your audience, or are you still relying on putting ads on your blog and affiliate links to monetize? Because in today’s world, that is a risky strategy. You need multiple income streams. And this is where my literary cart comes in. Imagine setting up unlimited memberships, digital downloads, workshops, coaching, and mini courses in less than five minutes. I used to say ten minutes. We just rolled out. I created sales pages. They are magic. Get on a free 20 minute call with me so I can blow your mind. And we can talk about your digital product strategy. Go to Military.com slash meet. Get ready to think about your business in a whole new, exciting way.

Announcer (00:01:06) – Welcome to the Blogger Genius podcast, brought to you by Milo Tree. Here’s your host, Jillian Leslie.

Jillian Leslie (00:01:14) – Hey guys. Welcome back to the show. It is Jillian. I have such a good one for you. Today I am interviewing Chris Piazza, who is a photographer, and his story, I think is really inspiring. First he taught himself photography, then he figured out that he could pitch himself to brands where he would shoot their product photos next without a plan. He started a YouTube channel teaching others about photography, and he did it for a year, posting videos every week. It took him about a year to get any traction. He also started leaning into Instagram again with no plan. However, what he discovered was he could teach other creatives how to grow their businesses, how to pitch to brands, how to get traction. And really, that is where he is focused today. For Chris, it is all about sharing the information and selling the implementation. And as soon as he said that, you’ll hear him in the episode, I thought, ding ding ding, he is on to something. I think you’re going to get a lot out of this episode, especially as you are thinking about ways you can sell your expertise to others without further delay.

Jillian Leslie (00:02:37) – Here is my interview with Chris Pita. Chris, welcome to the Blogger Genius podcast.

Chris Pieta (00:02:47) – Hey, Jillian. Thanks for having.

Jillian Leslie (00:02:48) – Me. So we met on Instagram. I would put out a post to say, hey, who would be a good guest? And you showed up. And so I want to say thank you for doing this and I know very little about you. I researched you before we got on this call, but would you share who you are, what you do, and how you got to be where you are?

Chris Pieta (00:03:11) – Yeah. Of course. So my story, I guess, really begins in like 2016. I graduated from college with a degree and chemistry, went right into corporate America. Um, spent a few years there, 3 or 4. Realized I wasn’t really happy working at 9 to 5. I’ve always had this kind of itch to do my own thing, but didn’t really know how to go about it, since no one in my family or any of my friends went down the entrepreneurial path.

Chris Pieta (00:03:36) – Um, around that same time, I was consuming a lot of like, YouTube videos from people like Tim Ferriss Garyvee the people that were like, showing what’s possible out there with just a few skills. Um, so around that time, I was also, uh, picking up a camera, learning photography, getting exposure to that world. So the two kind of clicked together. I was like, okay, I’m pretty good at photography. People are complimenting my work. I have this drive, so kind of put the two together. Spent a year or so trying to land any sort of client from that, and a year of efforts paid off, landed a client and I quit my job with the first client I landed. So wait.

Jillian Leslie (00:04:14) – So what kind of client are you talking about? I’m shooting weddings. I’m shooting products. Uh, what? What kind of. What was that? First client.

Chris Pieta (00:04:24) – Yeah, yeah. So I’m kind of skimming over the details here, but I spent some time trying to figure out what niche I want to go to.

Chris Pieta (00:04:30) – I knew I didn’t want to do weddings. Um, I was pretty awkward, like shy kid growing up. So I was kind of. I knew that environment, I wouldn’t thrive. Um, so I did a bunch of research how photographers make money. And what really made sense to me was product photography, because I would be able to shoot photos for clients, for brands, and they would use my photos to make money with the photos. So in my mind, it was kind of like a no brainer. If I’m making, I’m if I’m taking photos for them and they’re making money off these photos, they should be able to pay me. So that was kind of like my thought process there. And the bet did pay off. So landed that client. And over the next two years I ended up working with 50 brands, 50 plus brands, um, doing just that product photography. Um, during that time, I realized I had some sort of, like system in place that was working really well to land my clients.

Chris Pieta (00:05:24) – And a lot of my peers were struggling to land clients even though they were in the same niche. Um, so I started posting YouTube videos, Instagram Reels, um, on how to actually land clients, how to operate as a, as a creative because I feel like I had a lot of the business part of it down. Um, and a lot of creatives really focus on the creative part and think the business part will just come, but it’s really the opposite. You have to focus on the business part and then build a creative on top of that. So that’s how I approach my YouTube channel and all the content I posted. It was business first and then creative second because I wanted to stand out in like a sea of everyone just saying, hey, post your portfolio online, the clients will come. And that didn’t work for me. So I started sharing what did work for me, which was actively pitching brands, building out an offer that clients actually wanted, getting on sales calls with clients and figuring out what their needs are, proposing solutions to those needs, and, um, pitching your service as that.

Chris Pieta (00:06:22) – So, all right, where are we now? This is like 2022 ish.

Jillian Leslie (00:06:26) – I interrupt for one second. You’re shy, right? You’re telling me that, you know, we were just talking about this, and you’re telling me you’re coming up with offers and you’re getting on calls, or you’re, I guess, emailing them and you’re pitching and you’re putting yourself out there.

Chris Pieta (00:06:43) – Yeah. That’s right.

Jillian Leslie (00:06:44) – What was I mean, that was. What was that about?

Chris Pieta (00:06:47) – Yeah, that was tough because, like, growing up, I didn’t have the most confidence. I was like the shy kid in school. Um, so. I’m not really sure what really what switch like, flipped in my head. I kind of knew I didn’t want to be working for someone else. And me like, becoming this, like, more outgoing person was required for me to have my own business. So I didn’t really question it. It was just what had to happen. So there was like this flip switch that flipped in my head, okay, I want to do this.

Chris Pieta (00:07:18) – So I’m going to become the type of person that can do this. And that’s kind of how I approach a lot of things, because most it’s one like part mindset, part practice. So you have to know what it takes to get to where you want to be. And do you have to put that into practice? And regardless of how it makes you feel, if you show up consistently every day, you’re going to get a bit better. You’re going to put in the work and you’re going to become the type of person that, um, is able to do those types of things.

Jillian Leslie (00:07:45) – Okay, so back to your story. I think you said you were at like 2020 or 2022 or.

Chris Pieta (00:07:50) – Yeah. So at this point I’ve been sharing content on YouTube and Instagram, have grown my, uh, channels a bit there, and I start getting like comments and messages from people that follow my stuff saying, hey, this video helped me land a client, or like this piece of content allowed me to quit my job because of these tactics that you were teaching.

Chris Pieta (00:08:09) – So I was seeing like real world results from like the stuff I was putting out there. Which one like, felt really, really good to me. Like I was actually making an impact which like. If you asked me like five years ago, would I be in that position? I would say no. Um, but I just like, stuck with it and start putting content out there. So after I started getting those types of messages, I wanted to build out something more, um, like cohesive, more like structured. So I spent a lot of time building out an online program that would teach people, step by step, my complete business system for creatives. So everything from like the business basics like an LLC to how to create a package that you can sell for a lot of money, to how to actually pitch clients, what to say on sales calls, how to close deals, all that stuff. So I built this whole system out, launch that at the end of 2022, and I spent most of 2023 just perfecting that, um, helping students and to have that program.

Chris Pieta (00:09:02) – And that brings us to, uh, 2024.

Jillian Leslie (00:09:05) – When you started putting content out on YouTube and Instagram was the intention, I’m going to eventually monetize this, talking about, for example, when you were saying you knew you had to show up and it would be awkward and pitch brands and stuff, but you knew what the goal was when you started putting content out on YouTube and Instagram. Did you know what the goal was?

Chris Pieta (00:09:34) – I didn’t really have a goal other to other than to hit YouTube’s partner program to get like ad revenue. I had no intention of like building, like I, I just didn’t know what was going to happen after putting content out for like a year. Um, so my goal was to get inside the partner program, which, if anyone doesn’t know, back when I did, it was like a thousand subscribers and I think 4000 watch hours. Um, I’m not sure if that’s still the same criteria, but that was a goal, but more so. I focused on the inputs rather than like the end result.

Chris Pieta (00:10:09) – So I, I did a lot of research and all the top YouTubers said the same thing. Post a video every single week for a year and don’t look at subscribers. Don’t look at anything else. Just post every week, get a little bit better and after a year of posting, you’ll get there. So that’s the advice I took. I didn’t really look at views. I didn’t look at subscriber count. I just had the goal of posting one piece of content a week because that was completely in my control. And then fast forward a year, I was at like 1200 subscribers and got into the partner program. Um. And I just think consistency for that.

Jillian Leslie (00:10:43) – And are you still posting a video a week?

Chris Pieta (00:10:49) – Uh, as of December. No, but I kept that streak up for three years. Um, I’m switching my content strategy a bit this year. I’m focusing a lot more on short form, um, primarily because now I have, like, a team that helps me edit content and stuff like that.

Chris Pieta (00:11:04) – So, um. That the short form content I post just has a way bigger, um, reach and helps impact more people than the long form content. And at this stage I can only do one. So until I hire someone else on my team, I can’t sustain all the stuff that I’m doing. So we’re really focusing on short form right now because it can be posted across all platforms Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, all that, um, and then hopefully bring back long form again, spring or summer.

Jillian Leslie (00:11:35) – And how okay. And which from what I understand, when you’re doing that, typically you are optimizing for one platform the most and then possibly reposting it on the others. Do you do that and if so, which are you focused on? Where have you seen the most growth?

Chris Pieta (00:11:55) – Yeah, definitely. So, um, if someone’s just getting started, definitely focus on one platform and optimize for that. And then once you get traction on that, you can expand. Currently, I’m really focused on Instagram.

Chris Pieta (00:12:07) – I think it’s probably the best platform to grow on because, um, I really like the messaging and chat features on there. If anyone’s listening to this, who’s trying to grow their personal brand or sell an online product too, if that’s your goal. Um, Instagram is great because you post content there, and if someone follows you, you can message them right away and figure out why they’re following you. Are they’re there just to consume the videos? Are they struggling to build up their own business? And they need your help so you can pitch some coaching there. If you’re selling a digital product that fits what they’re looking for, you can start a conversation with them. Not necessarily trying to sell them on something, but just understanding your audience and through understanding your audience. You can both post better content over time to help everyone that just consumes free stuff, and then help those people that want to move faster through paid mediums.

Jillian Leslie (00:12:58) – Wow. So when you were starting to grow on Instagram, what would your strategy be like? Somebody follows you.

Jillian Leslie (00:13:05) – Would you be like, great, I’m going to message them or somebody comments or like, how did you do this?

Chris Pieta (00:13:13) – Yeah. So with with Instagram, I actually didn’t message people for the longest time until I started working with a business coach, um, in May, and he said that he does this thing. And since learning about that, I’ve started doing that as well. Um, early on, I would definitely like answer every comment, engage with everyone through the comments. I just never thought of messaging people unless they messaged me first. Um, now looking back, it would have been I would have grown so much faster if I started messaging people because I would learn more about the content that they want to see. I could cater more towards the trends I see in my DMs and that would help me grow. Um, for anyone that’s growing. The biggest asset you have right now is time. So spending time to talk to people in your comments, to talk to people in your DMs will help you grow really, really quickly on there.

Jillian Leslie (00:14:03) – Okay. And any advice on what exactly you say? Like, hey Sal, you followed me. What kind of content do you want me to create?

Chris Pieta (00:14:12) – Yeah, I well, I, I kind of ask why they’re following, so, um, a lot of the time, people. There’s always a reason someone’s going to follow you. So I like to ask, like this or that question, just to make it super easy for them to respond. You don’t want to give them like a. You don’t want to ask like, hey, why did you follow me? Because there could be a million reasons. You can ask something like, hey, did you follow me for, uh, blogging advice or are you just here for the content? Um, and then from there, you can pinpoint those people that really want to learn from you versus the people that are just there to consume content.

Jillian Leslie (00:14:46) – Got it, got it. Well that’s interesting. And so you will then post a real on Instagram or you’ll you’ll create something posted on Instagram, post it on YouTube shorts, post it on TikTok, post it on LinkedIn.

Jillian Leslie (00:15:01) – Any other places that I’m missing? Facebook?

Chris Pieta (00:15:04) – Um, Facebook? Yeah, I think that’s it. Yeah. Everywhere that has short form. I’ll post it there because it’s nice, because you can just create one piece of content and it’s almost universal. Not not not super universal, but it’s pretty much it’s on every platform.

Jillian Leslie (00:15:20) – And how much how many pieces of short form content are you creating?

Chris Pieta (00:15:25) – I post one piece a day.

Jillian Leslie (00:15:27) – Got it. Okay, now let’s. If you don’t mind, let’s switch to how you think about creative entrepreneurs. Because in my audience, it’s filled with creative entrepreneurs. These are people who have an expertise in something creative like you. With photography, for me it could be food, DIY, you know, something where they are, I think much more creative thinkers. And the business part sometimes for many of them kind of came accidentally or they’re trying to optimize the business part, but the love is in the creative part. So what do you say to somebody like that if they go, But I’m not making enough money and I’m working so hard at this, like, how do I take that up?

Chris Pieta (00:16:21) – Yeah, there’s a lot of paths to go down.

Chris Pieta (00:16:23) – Um, with monetizing a creative entrepreneurship business, because there’s the one path where you can work with brands and reach out to them, where they reach out to you and do that kind of work. Um, it’s great if you have, like, a system in place that’s kind of like what I teach my students. Um, but it’s a lot of work, and it’s difficult unless you’re really proficient at what you’re doing. The other route is like selling digital products or coaching or something like that. Um, but if you go down that route, you should be like an expert in the field. You should have done that stuff. Um, you need to be, like, qualified to actually do that, to, um, start pitching that. So those are the two main routes where you’re kind of fully in control of the revenue because you’re selling your services or your products. The other routes are, um, going through like platforms like YouTube to get ad share revenue or Upwork to do freelance or stuff on there.

Chris Pieta (00:17:18) – Um, so there’s a lot of opportunity through those vehicles. What I say is like, you pick one and you make that your main thing that you want to focus on, and you try and build that up. So for me, I was focusing on my photography business. That was the main thing. Um, but I was building a YouTube channel on the side. So I was putting in, I don’t know, like ten hours a week on the YouTube channel and 40 or 50 on the main business, and that’s what I was doing. So I think being focused on one big thing that you want to want to grow while having like a backup, maybe side hustle that you can, you think might become something big in the future too.

Jillian Leslie (00:17:55) – So let’s start with pitching brands. Because that feels like a big lift, like a heavy ask. What are your thoughts about that?

Chris Pieta (00:18:09) – Yeah. Pitching. Um, that’s how I got my start in photography. My. I think like 95% of my clients came purely from pitching through email or Instagram DMs.

Chris Pieta (00:18:21) – Um. I’m not I, I, I mentioned earlier like I came up with like a process to do this like effectively. So what my process looked like um, I had an email sequence that I would send out to brands that was like very personalized to them. Um, and, and the structure of those emails was very like, systemized. It was like kind of like how you make content you want to hook, so you hook their attention, then you want to give them a reason to keep reading. So that would be like your credibility. So say like, hey, I’ve worked with this brand and gave them this results from my photography. And then the last part of the email is going to be some sort of call action. So usually that’s going to be um, hey, do you have like ten minutes to hop on a zoom call for me to share some ideas for your brand? And with these, you want to make it completely about the the brand, not you. Don’t talk about how great you are.

Chris Pieta (00:19:11) – Talk about how you can help them, what results you can provide for them, and then you end the email by giving them some sort of like, almost like a freebie. Um, so you say, like you’ve got some ideas specific to this brand that you want to share on a phone call, and you can even go so far as to say, like, hey, I just want to give you these ideas. You can even use them with your own team. You don’t have to hire me. Um, so you don’t really make it transactional. You make it more like relationship building there. Um, from there, you hop on a call, dive into their problems, proposed solutions, send a proposal over and close the deal. After some follow up.

Jillian Leslie (00:19:43) – And how long would the zoom call be?

Chris Pieta (00:19:47) – Uh, the initial call. Ten, 15 minutes.

Jillian Leslie (00:19:49) – Something quick. And could you tell at the get go if you were going to get this job?

Chris Pieta (00:19:55) – Um, no, it’s it’s really on the call.

Chris Pieta (00:19:59) – Because the emails are there to book the call. Um, like, the system that I teach is like very sequential. Um, one step follows the other. So the whole point of the email, well, it starts with like your website. So you have this website. The whole point of the website is to get the person to answer your email. The whole point of getting an answer to the emails to get a phone call, the whole point of the phone calls to get them a proposal, etc.. So on the call, um, there’s a very specific structure that I teach where you dive into their like issues that they’re currently facing. So as a photographer, um, a lot of my clients were either they had they had like low ad click rates or low conversions on their sales page. So if you hear a client saying that you can propose a new ad creative for them or a different, uh, hero image for their website, something like that. When you make it about not pitching them like your service, not pitching them like pretty photos, rather pitching them like increase conversions for their ads.

Chris Pieta (00:20:55) – They’re going to be more open to working with you because that’s what their end goal is. So the sales call is all about figuring out what they really want because they don’t really want pretty photos. They just want higher conversions. You know, they want money is.

Jillian Leslie (00:21:08) – They want money. They want sales.

Chris Pieta (00:21:11) – Yeah, exactly. So that’s what 99.9% of brands want. So if you can make the conversation around that somehow then you’re going to close a lot more deals.

Jillian Leslie (00:21:20) – Got it. Okay. And so your first email I like the way you’re thinking. And everybody I hope is thinking this way. Everything is a funnel. So your funnel is I’ve got a very attractive website that shows my work that they, you know, then I’ve got an email sequence. How many emails do you send to book the call? How many does it usually take?

Chris Pieta (00:21:43) – Um, so I’ll send 2 or 3, no more than three, because then you’re going to get, uh, marked as spam all the time if you don’t get responses.

Jillian Leslie (00:21:51) – Got it. Okay. So you you hope for the call. And here’s the question. How many emails would you have to send in order to book one call?

Chris Pieta (00:22:00) – Uh, that’s, uh, that can be a very, very large range depending on so many factors. Um, a good response rate is 10%. Um, that is really, really good. To get to that level, you need really good scripts of like what to actually have inside the emails. You need a bunch of like a B testing. You need a good website. Um, that’s kind of the stuff like I provide inside my program to my students. Um, but you can optimize that yourself. It just takes a lot of trial and error.

Jillian Leslie (00:22:29) – Okay. And then you get on a call and how what is your close rate? Typically.

Chris Pieta (00:22:38) – On calls. Uh, about 30% is good. Um, so a lot of the time with these closed rates, it’s. 30% is good for me. And that’s kind of like what you want.

Chris Pieta (00:22:52) – If it’s any higher, you should raise your rates. Um, if it’s any lower, then there could be a lot of factors. It could just be you sound not confident on the call. The rates are too high. Um, there’s a lot of factors that can go into it. Um, but a lot of the time, 30% is kind of like what I like to shoot for. And I know for me, like. The only factor is the price. If they’re not, um, if they don’t want to book because I, I’ve been doing this a long time, so I have like conviction when I’m selling them. I know what they want. I have a lot of experience for anyone that’s starting out with this. Your your rates are going to be very kind of all over the place at the start. It just takes a lot of practice and consistency to get good at this stuff.

Jillian Leslie (00:23:33) – So if we were so what I want to do is I want to then talk about digital products, let’s say things people who have an expertise can sell, because anybody who listens to the show knows that.

Jillian Leslie (00:23:44) – I really like talking about that. And then I want to talk about both in terms of booking clients and selling digital products, just how you think about pricing.

Chris Pieta (00:23:54) – Yeah. So selling digital products, um, this kind of goes in nicely to what we were just talking about. So I worked with clients for three years before I started selling my own stuff. So I figured out how to do the thing and was able to like, get other people results, which is important. If you can get other people results, then you’re able to sell a service or a product and um, have like conviction in that product. So selling digital products is great because you can work with people in a. In a better way because for a lot of reasons, one, like things that you pay for are going to be more like structured. So I post a lot of really great free content all across YouTube. But the digital product I sell, it’s the actual implementation of the info I share. So there’s a saying that is, um, give away information, sell implementation.

Chris Pieta (00:24:46) – So like I can talk about forever about sales calls, uh, email scripts, all that stuff. But um, that’s stuff I’m giving away for free. If people want implementation, that’s going to be like the word for word things they want to say on a sales call, or the exact email script that can get you a good response rates or the softwares I use and everything that’s like complimentary. So if you can think of a way to take all the information that you have and create a way to help to implement into other people’s businesses, then you can sell that knowledge. Um, so that’s one way to think about it. The other way is when you sell a product. Um, there’s this. My coach told me this, and I love it. Um, the saying is, um, the transformation happens at the transaction, which means when someone buys something from you, they’re kind of telling themselves, okay, I’m worth it. I’m. I’m worth investing two grand to myself. So I’m going to work harder to make this happen because I could give away my entire program for free to someone, or someone can buy it from me, and the person that buys it is going to go through it in really good detail.

Chris Pieta (00:25:52) – They’re going to take notes, they’re going to implement everything because it’s more valuable to them, because they’re telling themselves that they invested in this, so they’re going to make it worth it to them. So those two things are huge for like selling digital products and making if someone’s selling stuff, make your marketing around those two things and really lean into both of those.

Jillian Leslie (00:26:12) – If you need help creating a digital product, I recommend starting with an e-book and grabbing this freebie where I am sharing the 13 I prompts. You need to write an e-book start to finish. You can do the whole thing in just a couple of hours. I even have a prompt to make sure the topic of your e-book is something people will want to buy from you. To grab this, go to military.com slash e-book prompts e b o okay prompts prompts again Milo tree comic book prompts. Go grab it. And now back to the show. So therefore and I, I share this a lot as well. We value what we pay for. And yeah.

Chris Pieta (00:27:11) – If.

Jillian Leslie (00:27:12) – And one way that I think you can charge more for something like your program, let’s say is uh, is a money back guarantee. Because that means you stand by your product. That means you stand by the transformation. And if for some reason somebody isn’t happy, like give them their money back, because most people, if you know what you’re talking about, they will be pleased with what you’re offering. And it’s just like an insurance policy to to say like, I’m real. I think in the world right now, we don’t know who’s real and who’s not. You know, you go on Instagram and it’ll be like, I got a million Instagram followers in one one real. I was actually there today seeing this and it was like I got it was something like 10,000 Instagram followers from one real. And I’m thinking, hmm, I’m not sure I believe you. Um, or maybe, you know, lightning does strike and maybe you just got lucky, I don’t know, but therefore I, you know, I’m always looking at things with this slightly distrusting eye.

Jillian Leslie (00:28:24) – So be the person who stands by what you’re creating. The people can go, whoa, she wouldn’t have done that. And so with military Cart, we sell it right now. Lifetime deal. 349 you don’t like it? Within the first 30 days, I will happily refund your your money. I get very few refunds. But hey, like my my hope is that you love what you purchase. And if you have buyer’s remorse, I don’t want to leave that bad taste in your mouth. I want you to go. God. Jillian stood by what she said.

Chris Pieta (00:28:56) – Yeah, I completely agree with that. Like having a guarantee is. Like, I think a requirement if you’re selling anything online because it shows that you believe in your product. Like I have the same thing, like I have a unconditional guarantee on my thing. Like if someone doesn’t like it, they just let me know and they get their money back and that’s fine. Like, I know that the stuff I teach, it’s worked for me.

Chris Pieta (00:29:15) – It’s worked for my students, so I know it works. Um, so I just again, I guarantee it just makes it a no brainer for people to, to buy it because one, I think one mindset blocker a lot of people have when they start selling digital products is, oh, if I have a guarantee it’s a digital product, they can’t like return it. They’re just going to still have it and that’s fine. Um, but there’s going to be people out there that will abuse your guarantee. Sure. But that’s the very, very, very few people will do that. Um, having the guarantee if anything is going to boost your sales because people will see that you stand behind it. And even if there’s a few bad actors, it’s just going to the increased sales are going to make up for any people that are just trying to, uh, take advantage of it. So it’s always a no brainer there.

Jillian Leslie (00:30:00) – Yeah. And I believe I’ve shared this. I believe in karma on the internet.

Jillian Leslie (00:30:06) – I believe that if you put out good stuff and you are trustworthy and you stand by what you do and you do have something like you were saying, you know, I’ve had success with my program for myself and for my client or for my students and for military too. I’m like, if you use it and you know, you, you will sell like this will work for you. I can’t guarantee how many sales you’ve got to put the work in, but like our like it will be seamless for you. And so because I come at it from that place like you do then like that’s the piece that you have to figure out and then you have to communicate that. And I believe then you can charge more. So let’s talk about pricing.

Chris Pieta (00:30:57) – Yeah, I’d love to. Yeah. Pricings. Uh, it’s a tricky subject. Um, a lot of it is trial and error. Um. But there are like guidelines for certain things. So for like digital products, um, if you’re selling anything you should have like tiers to it.

Chris Pieta (00:31:13) – So if you sell, if you have a lot of knowledge on how to like, like for me, like I have like a e-book type thing that’s like a really low rate. And then my online program that’s at like a premium tier. And then there’s other people out there that have those two things and then like an even higher tier that’s like one on one coaching or something like that. So having like tiers like that is, I think, really important in digital products because that’s the same thing, um, that like Apple does with their phones, like you’ve got the iPhone Pro, you got the, um, iPhone SE and then like the iPhone, the standard iPhone. So there’s tiers to it. So having um, different pricing tiers, both allows people to come into your world, um, easier because you have that low budget option. But then if they they’re hungry for more, they upgrade to that higher tier. Um, so first off, like if you’re selling a digital product, definitely have some think of like ways you can make different pricing tiers to it.

Chris Pieta (00:32:09) – Um, in terms of like, I don’t know if you want to talk about actual dollar amounts here or like give guidelines on that. Yeah.

Jillian Leslie (00:32:15) – Well, first, before we do, I just want to say for what I see people do where they have success, start with an e-book. But then those people, if you deliver with your e-book, then it’s easier to sell your next ticket product. So it’s like thinking about moving people up the ladder. Selling again to somebody who’s happy is so much easier than going out and finding a new customer.

Chris Pieta (00:32:42) – Yeah, exactly. And like to your point, like lots of people give away like lead magnets for free as well. So like a free e-book into like a paid e-book. And to like a course is like a great strategy too, because the, the big thing behind pricing is like the value that you provide to the person. If you provide a lot of free value, they’re going to want more. If you’re selling something, they’re going to think, wow, if this free thing has so much value, just what can they possibly be charging for? Um, so that’s a great way to kind of think about it too.

Jillian Leslie (00:33:12) – Absolutely. So yeah, let’s talk pricing specifically how you think about it.

Chris Pieta (00:33:18) – Yeah. So how I think about it. Um. Pricing. It’s tough to land. Uh, there’s always going to be a balance between like, supply and demand. Because if you create something that’s really inexpensive, you’re going to get a lot more people into your thing. Um, so for context, the program I sell is like $1,500. Um, and I priced at that point because it’s a premium price compared to certain online programs. Um, but it’s a really good value for what’s included in it. So a typical online program might be like a thousand bucks or of course, be a thousand bucks. And it’s just like a self-paced program and that’s it. Um, I want to have like a premium option that wasn’t just like a course. It was like a complete system included with, like, digital downloads, uh, group coaching, a community aspect to it, all these different things that other people don’t have. Um, and I priced mine higher because it kind of makes people.

Chris Pieta (00:34:18) – Just see a tire. So they’re like, why is this one more expensive than the other person’s? Why could this guy charge more? Um, so I just overwhelmed them with so much value that it makes it a no brainer offer, even though it’s more expensive. So the more value you can provide to your target customer, the more you can charge. And that allows you to charge more than your competitors. You can create like your own kind of like niche that you carve out there. Um, or you can just go the standard route of charging whatever someone else charges for the thing. And that’s tough because at that point you’re just kind of like competing with these people, and it’s kind of like a race to the bottom of who can charge less or provide bigger sales. Um, so those are the kind of two ways you can go about it. And I think the higher ticket one is better because one, um, you, you have the opportunity to help people in a different way, because when people pay more for something, they’re going to put more effort into the thing.

Chris Pieta (00:35:16) – So if even if there’s two programs, one’s like 500 bucks, 1 to 2000, if money isn’t an issue for or if money is tight for you and you buy the $2,000 one, you’re going to put in way more effort into that $2,000 program and get better results, even though the information inside of it might be the same as the $500 one. So you help people more by charging more, which is like this weird, um, like my, like, psychological thing. Um, so that’s one reason for it. And two, you’ll get better clients inside of that program because I’m guessing you’ve seen, like, the memes where it’s like the $500 client versus $5,000 client. And when people pay more, they’re usually a better student, better client to work with. Um, so there’s a lot of benefit to charging more. The downside is it’s a lot harder to get people into those programs. So you have to have a really good marketing engine, whether that’s organic content, paid ads, um, you have to be really on top of that stuff.

Jillian Leslie (00:36:13) – And so and what do you what what are your ways to get people into this funnel?

Chris Pieta (00:36:20) – Yeah, I only do organic marketing. That’s the only way I people learn about my stuff. Um, so that means posting content to Instagram, to YouTube, to all the platforms, and I share really valuable information for free across there. And people learn about my stuff through there.

Jillian Leslie (00:36:38) – So are you sending are you collecting email addresses and then sending them through a sale sequence?

Chris Pieta (00:36:45) – Yeah. So, um, I offer. Yeah. So I have the Instagram, like, social media content. Um, then the next tier is like a free workshop I offer. So it’s like a 60 minute blueprint that is, um, really all the information you need to start your own business and grow it and get clients. Um, but it’s the information, it’s not the implementation. So someone can take the information in that free workshop, uh, work at it for a year or two. And then after year two, they have a thriving business.

Chris Pieta (00:37:16) – Um, the reason I sell a program is they can take that two year window and shrink it down to 3 to 6 months and have a business because they have the implementation behind it, too. They don’t have to do the trial and error.

Jillian Leslie (00:37:27) – Got it, got it. Well, that makes a lot of sense. Um, and then here is my last question. Has creatives. We are being disrupted by AI. Talk to me how you as a creative are thinking about that to. Will keep your business alive to figure out how to pivot to, uh, you know, where are the opportunities? What is your. Nobody knows anything. I get that, but what are your predictions on how to use AI usefully and still have a thriving business?

Chris Pieta (00:38:10) – Yeah. Right now we’re at a really nice stage of AI because it’s very complementary to a lot of creator businesses. Um, I has it’s been here for like, well, ChatGPT has been around for over a year and other AI services as well, and they’ve really changed the game in terms of like content creation, editing.

Chris Pieta (00:38:28) – They’ve helped speed up processes. And they’re right now they’re like these really great tools for us. So for example, like on Instagram, if you think back like two years, um, everyone’s like reels kind of looked not that great. Like the captions weren’t good. They were whatever. Um, but last year everyone started using these AI caption apps and everyone’s content start to look better. So it raised the bar for everyone. But there are like, creators that are have really, really good editing that I just can’t handle. There are still like at the top and they’re editing their stuff themselves, using AI, plus their own editing skills on top of that to really stand out. So one AI has raised the bar of like, what people accept as like good content. Um, so it takes a lot more effort to stand out now. Um, but to like I also enables everyone to have like. A chance at having a great like content engine because you can use AI to edit really quickly. You can use AI to come up with script ideas.

Chris Pieta (00:39:28) – Um, but it’s still not as good as a human. So like last year, I tried using ChatGPT to like, write scripts, but they were not great. They were really generic, so I would use them. I would use AI to generate ideas, create like a rough outline, and then me go in and make it really good. So I cuts down the time it takes to actually create content, which is awesome for us. Um, we’re not at the stage yet where AI is better than us. Um, I think when that comes, it’s going to be there’s a lot of industries that will be disrupted, and it won’t just be creators, it’s going to be lawyers and be like, yeah, everyone across the board and I don’t know what to do in that situation. Um, we’ll see what happens there. Uh, for now, like, you can only adapt the technology. You can’t fight it like a tier, so might as well use everything you can for as long as you can.

Chris Pieta (00:40:21) – Um, and then I don’t think that. The other part of it is like, okay, if we’re going to lose our jobs in five or 10 or 15 years is even worth doing. And the answer to that is yes, because you’re still building up the skills yourself. You’re learning how to run a creator business, and that can translate to something else in the future. You can pivot really quickly, like whatever that show is, like 30 Day Billionaire or whatever. Like they drop a millionaire in like a random city with no money. And then 30 days, they have a thriving business, and that’s because they have those skills. So if we build up our own businesses, we learn these skills ourselves. When I does come to replace us, we’ll be able to pivot to something else and still be okay.

Jillian Leslie (00:41:02) – I like that, I like that. Briefly, what are your top three AI tools that you’re using right now in your content creation?

Chris Pieta (00:41:12) – Yeah, there’s so many right now that you get overwhelmed trying to keep up with everything.

Chris Pieta (00:41:17) – Um, ChatGPT is great. Like, it’s really easy to just bounce ideas back and forth of that they just released, like the ChatGPT, uh, like App Store. So there’s a really cool, um, options in there.

Jillian Leslie (00:41:28) – GPT.

Speaker 5 (00:41:30) – Yeah, those are like the little kind of side taps. Yeah.

Chris Pieta (00:41:34) – Yeah, those are fun to play around with. Um. That’s really the main one I’m focusing on now. My team uses some AI captions for my videos and like some AI editing stuff. I’m not sure which ones they use. Um, and there’s one more. Um. I’m forgetting the name of it now, but it takes like long form content, like a podcast, and then splits it up into like, shorter segments and tries to find like the best stuff in there. I don’t know if you know what I’m talking about there.

Jillian Leslie (00:42:05) – I’ve tried a bunch and I haven’t so far been excited about them.

Chris Pieta (00:42:10) – Yeah, that’s the thing with all these tools, there’s so many great options and.

Chris Pieta (00:42:15) – They’re all great, so it’s best to like, pick something and I don’t know, like ChatGPT and just learn how to use it because the magic comes in. Like learning how like prompt stuff rather than relying on these tools. So again, like the humans still.

Speaker 5 (00:42:27) – There and what.

Jillian Leslie (00:42:29) – Do you think of photography, AI, image creation and whether that will replace photography? Because I keep seeing stuff like, hey, we can create your product photos with AI.

Chris Pieta (00:42:42) – Yeah, I’ve tried, like, almost all of them. They’re on the market. They’re still not that great. They’re fine for like, uh, 3D mockups and stuff like that. Um, but for a while, people are still going to want to have, like the real photographer. Where photographers actually benefit from this a lot is they can take the photo of a product and then use AI to kind of help mock up a background for it, which will they can place it in other, other scenarios and control like the lighting and everything from there.

Chris Pieta (00:43:12) – So using AI as a tool in that case is great. Um, but for like certain businesses, like really small mom and pop shops, they might choose to use like an AI render because it just makes sense for their budget. But at the same time, like, those aren’t the clients that you want to be working with because they’re low budget clients anyways. The high budget clients are going to keep using like photographers for a very long time because, um, this kind of even comes back to personal branding because a lot of companies want like this person to shoot their thing, and then they talk about that. Um, and then there could be some UGC content, the photographers page around that. So that’s how creators can stand out to they. People don’t want to have AI images. Consumers don’t want AI images. They want real people.

Speaker 5 (00:43:58) – I love that, I.

Jillian Leslie (00:43:59) – Love that, Chris. If people want to learn about you, see what you offer, connect with you. Where should they go?

Chris Pieta (00:44:10) – Yeah, I’m on every platform where you consume social content.

Chris Pieta (00:44:13) – So if you search my name, Chris Piazza, I’ll pop up right there. Um, Instagram’s where I’m most active. So if you follow me on Instagram, uh, message me the word connect and I’ll reply to you. I’m one of those weird creators that replies to everyone that messages him. Um, so just DM me, connect, and we’ll start a conversation there. Um, but yeah, I’m on, uh, every platform.

Jillian Leslie (00:44:34) – Wonderful. Well, I just have to say.

Speaker 5 (00:44:36) – I so have.

Jillian Leslie (00:44:37) – I’ve learned so much from you, and I really appreciate you coming on the show, so thank you.

Chris Pieta (00:44:43) – Yeah. Thanks so much for having me.

Jillian Leslie (00:44:44) – I hope you guys like this episode. For me, my biggest takeaways were consistency. Chris has been consistent and it has paid off for him. The other is leaning into discomfort. You can tell that Chris is not a natural sales person, and yet he’s been able to pitch successfully to brands. He’s been able to sell his coaching program. I hope he is an inspiration to all of you who feel like I’m just not cut out for this.

Jillian Leslie (00:45:15) – In fact, if you are ready to start selling your expertise, please get on a free 20 minute call with me. We will talk about what you want to build. I will give you all of my tips and tricks and what I have learned. I’ll show you my lottery cart to see if it’s a good fit for you. I promise you will be blown away by our AI sales pages. Please take me up on this offer. I am helping people launch businesses that make them thousands of dollars a month. People who didn’t believe they could do it. Get on a call with me, go to military.com/meet because I would love to meet you and I will see you here again next week.