I’m joining 30 x 500 winter 2012 class
After more than a year of hearing glowing reviews from my peers, I’ve taken the leap to join the 30×500 class.
What is 30×500?
It’s an online class designed to take you from “zero to hero for your very first paying product”. It’s mostly geared towards web developers, web designers and other technical types for whom creating a product is within their capacity but who could benefit from better sales and marketing skills (30×500 refers to the end goal of having 500 subscribers who pay $30/month, hence the comfortable monthly income of $15.000. Only 500 customers from the whole world! Of course, it’s really hard to get these 500 customers. But it’s reachable, and that’s what the purpose of this course is)
Why joining 30×500 ?
After all, there are lots of books, ebooks, classes and what not to learn how to create profitable online products. Most of them are a waste of money though, and it is often said that the only people to get rich from the Internet are the people teaching others how to get rich from the Internet. That’s why it’s very important to look at evidence and hard facts in this domain.
I could point you towards the 30×500 sales page for some hard facts, but let’s sum it up by saying Amy Hoy (the creator of this class) has been walking the talk for a few years, creating online products such as Freckle, Charm, or a programming class. She’s contributing boat loads of wisdom on her blog or communities such as Hacker News.
ThenI’m paying attention to recommendations: people who took the class all said it was well worth the price of admission. It’s not only the factual knowledge about how to create and market online products, it’s also the hands-on regular homework that people like, as well as a tight-knit community of highly motivated people who all share the ambition of creating successful products. I haven’t found many examples of such communities (the micropreneur community comes to mind).
Now for real-world successes: if this class is delivering what it’s supposed to do, then we should find examples of people who have created successful products. Well, do we? There are a few people who managed to launch a successful product, but as far as I know no one has reached the 30×500 goal yet. Should that ring alarm bells? Maybe I’m being delusional here, but I do think it takes time (and lots of it) to make something a success. Since this online course is still new (2 years), products have not yet reached full maturity. But some people are well on their way, such as Eric Davis, Jeff Schoolcraft, or Brennan Dunn. I’ll also be watching closely what my friend Thibaut Barrere will do with WiseCash.
