Distillation: How to Make Your Online Program Truly Transformational
Today’s episode is all about distillation.
And if hearing that immediately makes you think of chemistry and science and you’re not really into that right now… don’t worry. This is all going to tie back into your magical online biz, and it’s really powerful stuff, I promise.
This episode is about the key to creating an online programs that blows your clients’ mind — without giving you unnecessary busywork.
What does it mean to distill your teachings?
Distillation is one of those words that has multiple meanings across different fields. But essentially every definition says the same thing: when you distill something, you’re breaking it down until you have extracted the central meaning or the most important aspect of what it is.
In chemistry it means that you have essentially broken down a liquid through alternate heating and cooling, to a point where it is completely refined, purified and highly concentrated.
And this is actually a central process in alchemy. Whether you’re talking about literal metallic alchemy, or you’re talking about spiritual alchemy, alchemy of the self.
The fundamental processes of alchemy are distillation and coagulation. Purifying a substance and then, when it’s in that highly concentrated and potent refined state, joining it with another substance to create your desired end result. So when we talk about spiritual alchemy, we’re talking about distilling ourselves, refining our own insights until we start tapping into the central essence of who we are as a person, as a soul.
When we concentrate hard on the parts of ourselves we are trying to distill — maybe a certain belief we have that we want to change — the energy of that belief becomes volatile, and the powerful creative forces behind that energy are able to be released.
Then you can coagulate that distilled energy into a new force, to shape it how you want, creating deep spiritual change. But if you want to get there, you first have to go through that period of purification and refinement.
If that all sounds a bit too scientific for you, think of it this way… you’re probably already using distillation in your daily life.
It’s why distilled water is more expensive and sought after than tap water. Because it’s purified. All the unwanted additives are taken out, so you know that what you’re getting is the pure essence of water.
Like the honeybee who transforms nectar into honey. When bees bring nectar from flowers back to their hives, the whole hive gathers around to fan their wings really quickly, a process that evaporates out the water. This actually distills the nectar to make it into its purest form -- honey. The purest form of flower nectar. If you haven’t seen a video of this before, it’s really cool to watch. We’ll put a link in the show notes.
Another good example is essential oils. They’re extractions from a plant that are distilled. That’s why they smell so strong and their effect is so potent. They’ve gone through that refinement process where anything extra is taken out, so you’re left with only the most pure and potent parts of the plant.
How can you make your online program truly transformation for your clients?
Maybe you’re wondering how this applies to your business.
I see a lot of online business owners who are building online programs or online courses, who are tempted to dump as much info as they can into their course or program.
Maybe it’s to overcome their own fear that their program isn’t good enough, or that they themselves aren’t good enough.
Maybe it’s because they have residual money blockages they need to work on before they feel like they really deserve to be paid for their program.
Whatever the reason, they keep giving more because they think it will make their program better. More valuable.
But MORE can actually be detrimental to a program. And hear me out if that seems counterintuitive.
More means... more. That’s it.
As an online business, more content does not mean better content.
More lessons are not better.
More videos don’t make your programs more valuable.
More elements don’t make them more effective.
As the expert, the business owner, the teacher, the coach, it’s your job to distill your brilliance into a minimum effective dose, or into the exact process to produce the result your clients & students want.
And this need to keep adding more might actually be laziness. It might stem from an unwillingness to sit down and put your brain into high gear and think about what is truly effective. This may be a self-worth issue, like I mentioned before. The “I’m not good enough” message that makes you think you have to keep giving.
But what ends up happening if you add too much is that your audience becomes lost in all the different messages. They lose track of the goals they set for themselves at the beginning of the program in their scramble to do everything.
Because if your program really is as incredible and transformative as you think it is… your audience doesn’t need more, more, more to have it change their lives. They just need a super-potent, refined version of your powerful teachings.
If you just keep adding and adding and adding without distillation, without refinement, without separating the truly useful from the fluff, you’re not being of service to your customers, clients, and audience.
Worse, you’re going to waste your students’ time, because they’re going to end up spending a lot of time and energy figuring out what to focus on instead of having a clear path forward toward their desired end result, the whole reason they’re in your program. Instead of focusing on your brilliant idea or teachings, they’re going to feel confused and anxious that they aren’t doing enough. Which is definitely not what you want.
The Key Ingredient to a Successful Online Program
The key ingredient is to have your customers go through a massive transformation.
Did you get that?
The key ingredient to a super-successful program is to have your customers go through a massive transformation.
That’s what your audience is paying for. Your audience isn’t paying for the specific offerings in your program, they’re paying for that transformation. So you don’t need to give them half a dozen half-assed ways to get there: you just need to give them one really powerful way, and if it massively transforms their lives then they’re going to love you.
If you want your online programs to be successful, it has to be about more than just what you create for it, what you add to it. Because you can add a hundred new elements to your program and that doesn’t mean your customers will have a deeper transformation. It just means they will need to commit more time and energy to it. And for a lot of people, that means they’ll decide they aren’t able to fully commit, so they’ll drop out and ask for a refund.
The most important thing to remember is that your clients want one thing: a life-changing transformation, fast.
So to make your impact as powerful as possible, you have to do what you can to help people get results ASAP. The better results they get, and the faster they get them, the more likely they’ll be to continue on with you. To go deeper with you. To totally fall in love with you and your business, and to recommend your program to their friends.
But if they’re inundated with way too much information and too many assignments to stick to... you’re gonna lose them. They won’t recommend your program to other people, they won’t share about it on their social media, they won’t give you testimonials, they won’t become your cheerleaders.
Don’t Make This Mistake When Building Your Transformational Online Program
And a big barrier to all of this is… them not finishing your program. Them not going through it at all.
If your customers are overwhelmed by the amount of material and they do not see the rhyme or reason, and they don’t get early results… Then you are most likely going to lose them. Even if they stick with your program, they might not fully engage with your central teachings in a powerful, transformative way because they’re too busy trying to take everything in.
So get used to taking time to distill. Start by taking a time block that you usually reserve for brainstorming new content or creating new ideas in your program… and use that time instead to distill the brilliant idea you already have, the idea your program is based on. Think through it. Meditate on it. Imagine your brilliant idea going through those chemical processes of purification and refinement. It might help to visualize your idea as a liquid whose essence is slowly dripping from a filtration system.
As you’re working to distill your ideas, ask yourself: Is there any fluff you’re keeping in your course or program because you’re falling into the “more is better” trap? Is there anything that doesn’t directly relate to that minimum effective dose that might be a distraction from what’s really important?
You can also practice training your brain to distill information. This means turning off all the inputs — television, music, even pausing this podcast for a moment while you think — and just sitting with an idea. Not thinking about all the things you can do and make with that idea, but sitting with the idea itself.
Ask yourself, what’s at the center of that idea? What’s the essence of it? And what is the fastest and most effective way for other people to understand it?
You can do this with anything. And actually the more you start doing it for random things you see on a daily basis — maybe trying to distill down the essence of the last book you read or the last website you visited into one powerful sentence or one powerful process — the better you’ll get at training your brain to distill your own ideas for your business.
So your offerings can become as potent as possible, and your audience can see huge transformations, fast.
Do This Simple Technique to Distill Your Brilliance in Your Online Program…
Write down everything you give to your audience in your program. Everything.
Whether it’s an article you wrote, a masterclass, a live Q&A, everything.
Then under each column, write how that specific component of your program helps to create the massive transformation you want your audience to have in their lives.
If you’re struggling to come up with how something contributes to that transformation, or if you’re noticing that some of your offerings are much more potent than others, cut the ones that aren’t serving you anymore. That aren’t serving your students anymore.
And while you’re at it… if you find yourself perpetually in the “more is better” trap, take some time to ask yourself why.
What blocks are getting in the way of you taking a step back and letting the brilliance of your idea shine through? Are you nervous? Scared? Feeling “not good enough”?
Knowing what motivates you to keep creating instead of taking time to reflect and distill is going to continue helping you refine your ideas.
I would love to hear what epiphanies or ideas come from this! If you realize anything about your brilliant ideas or something you should change in your program, let me know over on Instagram @thedirtyalchemy.
