Can you believe he asked me how big my {####} is!?

Warning. This is a rant.

After a conversation I had last week, I’m in need of a safe space to off-gas my frustrations around some of the so-called “Leaders” in the eLearning industry.

If you want to hold space for this venting, then watch the video below.

Feel free to vent with me or call me a tool shed in the comments section at the bottom after you’ve watched the video.

I’d love to hear your thoughts too!

Listen to the Audio Version:

Should Size Matter?

So a week ago, I’m on the phone with this guy who’s interested in having me participate in his eLearning summit.

And less than 2 minutes into conversation when we get through the small talk, he clears his throat and kind of awkwardly asks…

“So, how big is your list?”

“Excuse me?” I thought to myself… Isn’t it a bit early to be asking me that kind of personal question?”

“Rather than asking me about my list size, shouldn’t you be asking me how well I use it, what my unique point of view is and how I intend to provide massive value to all of the students in attendance?” I said in response. (true story)

But no. List size was the main focus for our conversation…

Now, I’m not shy, so I happily said, “my list is this big.”

After I told him about the size of our list, the conversation only lasted a few more minutes. He told me that he’d get back to us in a few days to let us know if there are anymore teaching spots available….

Now, I just wanna say. This is the huge problem in the eLearning industry. This why the student dropout rate is upwards of 90%.

All of this focus on making money, growing lists and increasing conversion rates has teachers and summit leaders missing the entire purpose of online education …

Which is to EDUCATE AND TRANSFORM LIVES!!

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that I would do a better job than all of the speakers they chose, because they picked some great ones.

The point I’m making is, if leaders are curating their content and partnerships solely based on the size of the content provider’s list or the amount of potential money they can make from referrals, then they are going about it ass backwards.

And this experience happens over and over again in our industry.

Our responsibility as teachers and leaders is to curate the best content we possibly can. If that means someone has an incredible perspective or message to share, but their list is small, then who cares. Get them in the spotlight and help share their message with more people.

Needless say, I won’t be speaking in their summit this year.
I’m pretty sure it has to do with the size of my list…..

So if you’re done with the obsessive compulsive “GET MORE NUMBERS” mentality in the eLearning industry, and you want to send the summit leaders and online educators out there a message that quality of content + learning experience needs to be a higher priority than conversion rates…

Then share this video and help it spread. {social media, your newsletter, or send it in an email}

Because it’s honestly not the size of your list that matters, but how much value you provide to the people on the other end.

Thanks for holding space. I feel much better.

What are your thoughts on the topic at hand? Share below?

 

Leave a Comment:

18 comments
Sharla Jacobs says November 3, 2017

I agree, Bradley. The first questions should be about the quality of the free content and if there is an offer, the quality of the paid program. The last thing I want is someone coming back to complain about someone else’s program they bought because of our endorsement where we earned affiliate commissions.

We learned that lesson the hard way many years ago.

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    Bradley Morris says November 3, 2017

    Amen to that. Grateful for the lessons. I appreciate the integrity you are building your academy with Sharla. It’s wonderful!

    Reply
Judy Fort Brenneman says November 3, 2017

Yes, Yes, YES. The “how big is yours” mentality is counterproductive, and it isn’t a realistic (or honest) measure of success, innovation, or effective training. It reeks of “get rich quick” b.s. I don’t need a huge number; I need the *right* number–that is, the people who will benefit from what I offer, and the quantity of those people whom I can serve effectively and professionally, now and *in the future.*

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Jason says November 3, 2017

I got one am far less interested in the size of your *%^# than in what you can do with it! Thanks for your ongoing commitment to your values, to creativity & to us – your online community!

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Chris Gilmour says November 3, 2017

I’m with, 110%. Quality over quantity and don’t let dollar signs blind you to true innovation and good ideas. I get that this is a business but good ethics &
innovation is good for business when held with integrity and good sound business principals.

I also don’t like the trend towards constant content, more is better. I see the inundation of information being thrown at folks as part of a bigger problem as well.

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    J9 says November 3, 2017

    Agree and love the point about constant content too. It’s hard for small businesses to keep up and compete with the constant flow of content from bigger players! You’ve got me thinking about how we can plan out our free content for 2018 to deliver high value for our audience and still attract the new members we need, without constantly needing to be creating free content (so we can do what we love which is creating more awesome content for our members and having more fun in our paid for community.

    Great post and comment thanks guys!

    Reply
      Bradley Morris says November 3, 2017

      Glad you had some aha’s J9. It’s tough being a constant content maker. When we do that, we dry up our resources to build the truly meaningful, valuable stuff. We need to focus where it counts. Create quality over quantity any day. Wow your people.

      Reply
Melissa says November 3, 2017

Put me on your your list, baby. And if you’d like to get on mine: wildheartrevival.com

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Orian says November 3, 2017

Well, I’m working on a summit that’s a few months out and I’d love to have you on! 🙂

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    Bradley Morris says November 3, 2017

    Wonderful Orian. Drop us an email. Just to be sure though, you’re not going to exclude us based on the size of our ####, are you? Because according to some, our #### isn’t quite big enough 😉

    Reply
Fiona says November 5, 2017

My #### is very small. But so was Apple when they started. So was Disney when they started. So was Nordstrom. And Wal-Mart. Any big company started with 1 follower/customer etc.

You guys with great ecourse adventure gave me the courage to finally get this show on the road BECAUSE you were different. No sleazy sales pages etc etc. Just heart and creativity. I don’t even care if anyone asks me how big my list is. What matters is that the people I serve get the message and know that I care.

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    Bradley Morris says November 5, 2017

    Well said and so true Fiona. I’m stoked to hear that our way has opened you up to your way of doing things too. You’re doing beautiful work in the world and there are indeed folks out there who want, need and will be grateful to discover you. Continue on with your climb, regardless of how big or small your {####} is. There are people to serve!

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Doug says November 6, 2017

Thanks Brad! When we are in Survival Mode, we look to see who has the biggest stick. That allowed our ancestors to survive by killing the invading marauders. As we move into Thriving Mode we begin to shift from quantity to quality. When we move into Awakening Mode we don’t ask the question, we just have Radical Acceptance. Now, back to GEA to figure out how to creatively get this message out to everyone via: http://www.LivingYourPotential.Today

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Bonnie Davison says November 7, 2017

For me, helping and supporting each other as entrepreneurs while at the same time, providing excellent value to our customers is what matters most. Thank you, Bradley, for only working with those businesses who align with your values and for bringing this to peoples awareness…we need to remember that our actions in our business affect the world we are creating!

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susa says November 7, 2017

I agree. Your priorities are in the ‘right’ place~ i hear a touch of the Irish in you~ intriguing~ any roots there? 🙂

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Chanti says November 7, 2017

Preach! It truly isn’t about the size of the **** but the engagement. I don’t think it’ll be too long before marketers start asking for that metric instead. Too bad we can’t quantify love and gratitude ♥️

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Laurie says November 14, 2017

Ha Ha, wonderful, Bradley! Yes, this whole how big is your**** stuff makes me crazy. I haven’t put much of a list together out of pure rebellion, to my own online demise of course 🙂 Very good response.

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Kari Spencer says November 15, 2017

I totally agree. I have a decent list, and it keeps growing because I provide great value to my readers. I only send out emails once a month (otherwise, it becomes drudgery to me and drivel to my audience.)

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