Fifty million and growing. This is the size of the economy of creators, according to a recent study by a venture capital firm SignalFire. From health care practitioners to Instagram influencers, this group of content creators, curators and community builders have mastered the art of monetizing their talents – and marketing expert and launch strategist Destinee Berman is helping them do just that.

“For so long, people have been wondering how to build a career around their passion,” says the former director of Silicon Valley, who now specializes in helping offline business owners, entrepreneurs, experts and educators to market and launch their online courses. “We have come to a point in history where you can make a living from your passion. This opportunity didn’t exist before, but the designer economy has opened up so many options. Through its programs, Destinee has directly taught hundreds of students in 23 countries around the world and its clients have used its techniques to generate more than $ 17 million in launches.

“I strive to create content on my own while building my business around creators who want to build businesses,” says Berman, who is close to hitting the seven-figure mark this year. She also owns a YouTube channel and invests in a San Francisco company that supports the creator economy. “I am passionate about aligning your business with your creative vocation,” she says.

I sat down with Destinee to ask her how she went from a business to a successful online business, what is the future of the creative economy, what everyone is wrong about online courses and how to own. your expertise as a woman entrepreneur.

Stephanie Burns: How did you start your career?

Destiny Berman: Entrepreneurship was in my DNA. As a child of Chinese immigrants, I saw my parents win and lose a lot because of serial business ventures and bad decisions. My dad would lose a lot of money investing in, say, a janitorial business, but then gain a lot in a multi-level marketing wellness business. To this day, I can tell you about the five elements of traditional Chinese medicine and explain how supplements work because I have been doing sales presentations for them from the age of 13. It was scary to pick up the mic at first, but I found that I enjoyed talking and teaching.

The ups and downs of this lifestyle must have been traumatic as I initially rejected entrepreneurship and opted for a secure job in tech marketing. Then the company I worked in was bought out. There were opportunities for promotion, but they just didn’t seem exciting. There was something about me that was pulling me in a different direction. I decided to give myself a six month sabbatical to figure out what to do next and it brought me back to my passion for speaking and teaching.

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Burns: During your six-month hiatus, how did you start and build your own seven-figure business?

Berman: I have done a lot of research on the landscape online and have participated in a lot of trial and error. I had a new idea every week. At first I did a 200 hour yoga training and thought I wanted to introduce the yogi mindset to business. Then I decided to help women reinvent themselves, while I reinvented myself. I even co-created an online course and while I learned a lot about what it takes to be successful in this space, less than five people signed up. I spent a lot of time feeling in the dark. The most important things I did, however, were watch lots of webinars, do some research, and figure out what my strengths were. The webinars made me realize that online courses are definitely the future; and analyzing my strengths reminded me that I needed to focus on marketing.

I started cold-casting business leaders in the body-mind space who were looking for help starting classes. I could see this was an underserved demographic. I was able to harness all the marketing skills I had learned from supporting companies like Twitter, HP, and Microsoft to help them create online courses in their areas of expertise so that they weren’t just dependent on profit. in-person teaching. I got to six figures in my first six months in business by creating income split between my advice payments, so I was basically betting on myself and winning. It was my first experience of supporting the economy of creators. From there the referrals came in like crazy and I didn’t have to look for clients at all.

Burns: What exactly is the creative economy?

Berman: It is not the economy of concerts. It is a business model that allows people to separate from traditional jobs while still being successful. A creator is anyone who uses their knowledge, experience, and training to create content and deliver online training. You can be a creator whether you’re a doctor, artist, astrologer, therapist, YouTube influencer, or video producer. The economy is exploding as there are more ways today than ever to make money from your skills, such as physical products, partnerships, writing, and most importantly, digital courses. You don’t need tens of thousands of subscribers to do this. You can make six figures a year with a small group of true fans.

One of the first things people ask me about the designer economy is if it’s oversaturated. It’s not. And it’s not too late to enter. But you need to focus on making your message and positioning as clear as possible and addressing a need that isn’t nice to have. The secret to being successful when starting out in the designer economy is being like Amazon, Uber, and Bombas. Start by filling a niche need, like books, black cars, and socks. Then, as your business grows, you can expand your offerings.

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Burns: You’re a big fan of creatives who use online courses to monetize their passion, but what are some mistakes entrepreneurs make when trying to do it?

Berman: So many entrepreneurs think you should sell your course before you create it. But I tell my students that they should market and develop their course at the same time. When you’re in launch mode, there will be questions people ask. If this is your first program, you will find these questions helpful and you can add them to the program. At the same time, you want to make sure you’re attracting the right people to your course. So you want to be sure of the content while you are marketing it.

Another huge mistake that I have seen is undercharging people for your course because you are basing the price on the content provided and not the transformation achieved. If your clients care about reducing their anxiety, don’t charge them based on how many modules you offer, choose a price based on what an anxiety-free life would mean to them. You can check out other courses in your area of ​​expertise and see what they charge, but ultimately, if you want to charge more, you should do so to get your students to achieve the desired outcome faster. Not because you have more modules.

One more thing that trips people up is losing confidence before your cart closes. Putting your course online is not like having a Black Friday sale. People can’t break down doors to get in the second you open your door. I often see a significant number of sales arriving on the last day the carts are open. Don’t waste energy on losing hope. Be excited for what’s to come.

Burns: So many people worry that creating an online course will take a long time or drain their energy, but have you found a way around that?

Berman: I created the Skinny Launch ™ method that gets your course up and running in just 90 days. The beauty of getting your idea to market quickly is that it not only allows you to eliminate the overhead that so many entrepreneurs go through with launches, but it also allows you to quickly start making money from it. your ideas. You’ll be able to get quick feedback on what your customers want most so your next launch will be even better. Then just rinse and repeat.

Rather, what takes time is building relationships on a large scale. Whether it’s organic or paid, you should always fuel the engine so that you have new people to contact and sell. I encourage my students to engage in what I call “intensive nurturing” to create deep knowledge, taste and trust with their audience for six to eight weeks prior to launch. This makes it easier for you to get a “yes” when you reveal your offer.

Burns: I know you are incredibly passionate about helping women entrepreneurs, in particular, to take ownership of their expertise. Why is that?

Berman: American women lost more than five million jobs last year due to the pandemic – and those who kept their jobs earn an average of 81 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts. One way to get back into the workforce and level the playing field is to pursue and own your appeal. By monetizing your expertise, you become a full human being (not just a mother, wife or wife). You also get a full bank account while doing it, so if you decide to buy a $ 200 bottle of wine, you can do it without hesitation. No matter what circumstances are given to us, we can rise above them. I want this real empowerment for women everywhere. I want women to be able to live the lifestyle we want without guilt, without permission.

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