James Breese wants to tell you exactly how Strength Matters has grown their audience and monetized their content.

I’ve noticed that a lot of marketers and consultants out there like to advise that you “get out there” and develop some content in order to build a massive following.

Easier said than done, I’m afraid.

Listen.

You and I both understand the value of putting good content out there → to show we know what we’re talking about and to prove that we can provide value → to engage and to earn the TRUST of potential customers.

But how often do you actually get real practical advice that helps you understand how to do this more effectively?

You and I both need someone to declutter the complexity of building a following through content.

And even better yet, to declutter the complexity of monetizing or upselling from that content.

Our guest on this episode of the podcast is one of the few people I know who can cut through the bullshit and provide hard examples of how it’s done.

In this interview he reveals his own, proven systematic approach for upselling through content (I’ll get to this further down), along with plenty of other practical advice that you can start putting into action today.

Highlights from the interview with James Breese

James Breese started Strength Matters with a simple mission:  to help everyday athletes train smarter, and empower people with skills to lead a healthier and more fulfilling live.

Or in even more accessible terms, provide solutions to help everyday people get a bit more athletic.

But what stands out to me is how he further clarifies this mission when he explains how they go about it:

“We try and declutter the complexity of training, injury, and rehab and make it a simple and easy solution for people to understand.”

[side note] cue all the busy people out there screaming, YES PLEASE! Let’s declutter the complexity of everything!

My point is, your brand messaging is vital. There are a million ways to communicate James’ mission, but he has managed to craft it in a way that will elicit an almost visceral reaction among the right audience - i.e. his target audience. Take note.

What is the role of free content?

Free content is vital but “free expects free” as James would say so it’s vital to have a plan in place for ramping up the value of the content and pulling your audience down the funnel to get used to paying for what you have to offer.

To quote James further, he says “people need to leverage free content with the purpose of getting someone to your paid content very quickly.”

To illustrate that idea, here is Strength Matters’ basic pricing structure once you’ve discovered the free content available through the website.

The digital membership available through the app or online starts at $2.99/month.

That’s a pretty low barrier, but it does force the subscriber to pull out their credit card and get used to paying for your value.

Next tier up, which is in many ways an entry level tier for a different segment or demographic, they have the print subscription which is available for $7.99/month.

When James talks about this low barrier to entry he describes it like the old Pringles chips commercials - i.e. “once you pop you can’t stop”.

His strategy being, once he gets someone to pop the can open and sample a chip (for example the $2.99 digital subscription), then the content will be so tasty that they won’t be able to resist consuming more and more of it and the can is empty before you know it.

It sounds surprisingly simple, but it’s the foundation for what’s becoming the Strength Matters media empire.

Can this strategy translate to coaching programs?

You may be surprised to learn how quickly someone can move to a pretty high-priced offering with Strength Matters as well.

In fact, they recently launched a free Community Steps Challenge for their audience that fed into a premium digital coaching program around $100/month.

In our next post → WHICH YOU CAN READ HERE you can learn the exact system James and his team used to launch that program and generate over $4,000 in new monthly recurring revenue in less than the first month.

I think you'll find this step-by-step case study of how they did it qualifies as valuable content.