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That income is from about 20 days total of teaching. The main course we developed on 2009. There is some time to market and update, but you've got to admit, tha

That income is from about 20 days total of teaching. The main course we developed on 2009. There is some time to market and update, but you've got to admit, that's a ludicrously good ROI. That said, like Kyle said, and my article said, it's not where I want to be forever. But training is still a product.

brc 16y ago
Have you considered rolling any of the teaching content into an ebook or other type of self-serve information product? That might be an interesting way of leveraging the content you've collated into something that continues to sell even if you don't feel like getting up in front of someone.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- ahoyhere 16y ago
  Absolutely, as I described in the "what's next" section :)
callmeed 16y ago
I disagree. Training is a service. A product (as defined by me) is something you build once and sell. That could be an ebook, an SaaS web app, or some kind of widget. It could even be access to workshops you've recorded. But training people in person or live online is not a product. You might say it's simply a matter of semantics, but I think it's an important distinction. Services don't scale like products because you are limited by the amount of time you're available to perform said service. Keep in mind I'm not trying to take away from your success. It's a good blog post–I simply find the title and use of the word "product" inaccurate.
- ahoyhere 16y ago
  If you sell a product -- with no subscription & no support -- but customers wont buy unless you do several in-person sales meetings, it's still a product. I decide when and where to put on workshops. Then people pay me to show up. It's a product.
  - callmeed 16y ago
    To me, you just defined the distinction further. Anyone on a company's sales staff can do an in-person sales meeting and sell a product. Want to sell more product next month? Hire and train more sales staff. But only Amy Hoy can teach a seminar by Amy Hoy. People are paying for your specific knowledge/reputation. You have a fixed amount of time every month and cannot be in two places at once. Still don't agree. Not a product :)
    - tptacek 16y ago
      You are stuck on the semantics of the word "by" in "Seminar by Amy Hoy". A salesperson would absolutely sell "A Magical Evening of Amy Hoy Brought To You By One Of Our Talented Trainers". They in fact do it all the time. Of course, Mrs. Hoy can do a lot of things to make it even easier to disintermediate herself from the course. But she doesn't really even need to. I really don't know much about Amy Hoy. Nice hat. But I've watched a fair bit of training get sold (software security training is a fairly hot item, and we've built courseware and delivered training to some pretty large companies), and I think you're off base here.
    - ahoyhere 16y ago
      Have you ever worked at/with a company that does enterprise sales? It's not true the "anyone" - even sales staff - can do any sales call. The training is, actually, more product-like than Freckle in terms of how tight the ties are and the ROI on time.
- tptacek 16y ago
  Training is a hybrid offering. It is not strictly a service and it is not strictly a product. Companies with large training offerings do not run them out of consulting regions. Training doesn't scale the same way consulting does, and its valuations aren't calculated the same way. Specifically: * A huge portion of the expense of training is in courseware development, which is a one-time expense. * With solid courseware, the cost of a someone to deliver training is substantially less than the cost of a consulting domain expert for the problem domain of the course. * The daily rate on a training course is substantially higher, worked back to $/billable-hour, than for consulting --- despite the fact that trainers are often cheaper than consultants. * Sophisticated training operations (eg, pure-play training firms) can front-load and back-load training engagements with self-service courseware and with automated skills assessments tests, which drive billable time without an on-site consultant. * Without a retention agreement from a single trainer, a package of courseware, self-service web applications, and skills assessment has value that can be sold to another training company. In some sense, you can take any application that you yourself host and call it a "service". There isn't a bright-light dividing line between the two, or, at least, not a useful one. Regardless, it is not fair to lump training in with straight-up consulting.

brc 16y ago

Have you considered rolling any of the teaching content into an ebook or other type of self-serve information product? That might be an interesting way of leveraging the content you've collated into something that continues to sell even if you don't feel like getting up in front of someone.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
ahoyhere 16y ago
Absolutely, as I described in the "what's next" section :)

callmeed 16y ago

I disagree. Training is a service. A product (as defined by me) is something you build once and sell. That could be an ebook, an SaaS web app, or some kind of widget. It could even be access to workshops you've recorded. But training people in person or live online is not a product. You might say it's simply a matter of semantics, but I think it's an important distinction. Services don't scale like products because you are limited by the amount of time you're available to perform said service. Keep in mind I'm not trying to take away from your success. It's a good blog post–I simply find the title and use of the word "product" inaccurate.

ahoyhere 16y ago
If you sell a product -- with no subscription & no support -- but customers wont buy unless you do several in-person sales meetings, it's still a product. I decide when and where to put on workshops. Then people pay me to show up. It's a product.
- callmeed 16y ago
  To me, you just defined the distinction further. Anyone on a company's sales staff can do an in-person sales meeting and sell a product. Want to sell more product next month? Hire and train more sales staff. But only Amy Hoy can teach a seminar by Amy Hoy. People are paying for your specific knowledge/reputation. You have a fixed amount of time every month and cannot be in two places at once. Still don't agree. Not a product :)
  - tptacek 16y ago
    You are stuck on the semantics of the word "by" in "Seminar by Amy Hoy". A salesperson would absolutely sell "A Magical Evening of Amy Hoy Brought To You By One Of Our Talented Trainers". They in fact do it all the time. Of course, Mrs. Hoy can do a lot of things to make it even easier to disintermediate herself from the course. But she doesn't really even need to. I really don't know much about Amy Hoy. Nice hat. But I've watched a fair bit of training get sold (software security training is a fairly hot item, and we've built courseware and delivered training to some pretty large companies), and I think you're off base here.
  - ahoyhere 16y ago
    Have you ever worked at/with a company that does enterprise sales? It's not true the "anyone" - even sales staff - can do any sales call. The training is, actually, more product-like than Freckle in terms of how tight the ties are and the ROI on time.
tptacek 16y ago
Training is a hybrid offering. It is not strictly a service and it is not strictly a product. Companies with large training offerings do not run them out of consulting regions. Training doesn't scale the same way consulting does, and its valuations aren't calculated the same way. Specifically: * A huge portion of the expense of training is in courseware development, which is a one-time expense. * With solid courseware, the cost of a someone to deliver training is substantially less than the cost of a consulting domain expert for the problem domain of the course. * The daily rate on a training course is substantially higher, worked back to $/billable-hour, than for consulting --- despite the fact that trainers are often cheaper than consultants. * Sophisticated training operations (eg, pure-play training firms) can front-load and back-load training engagements with self-service courseware and with automated skills assessments tests, which drive billable time without an on-site consultant. * Without a retention agreement from a single trainer, a package of courseware, self-service web applications, and skills assessment has value that can be sold to another training company. In some sense, you can take any application that you yourself host and call it a "service". There isn't a bright-light dividing line between the two, or, at least, not a useful one. Regardless, it is not fair to lump training in with straight-up consulting.