Chris Ming, Author at Christopher Ming Blog

online education

How to Position Your Expertise in Online Education: The “Us vs. Them” Technique

Last updated on November 26th, 2021 at 01:20 am

I was talking to Brian Balfour about retention and engagement, and asked him this question:

[blockquote]“Should you try to retain people at the onboarding phase, or try to resurrect people who have churned and are now dormant?”[/blockquote]

You see, I’ve heard arguments for both sides, but when I told Brian this, here’s his response:

Later he explained:

“A non-practitioner will make all sorts of arguments as to why it’s better to resurrect churned users (they’re already exposed, it’s cheaper, it’s a large audience, etc.). But a practitioner knows from experience it’s always more valuable to focus on new or current users.”

career

Learning the Language of Growth

Last updated on March 9th, 2019 at 04:22 pm

I just finished my second week at Reforge and if I had to sum up the week, it’s this:

I’m learning a new language — and it’s hard.

Reforge teaches growth professionals how to advance their skills in growth through online education, networking and mentorship. The students are 3 years into their career at companies like Facebook, Google, Dropbox, LinkedIn, etc. aka some damn smart people.

And after 5 minutes of talking with them, I realize I don’t have the vocabulary (yet) to talk through the ideas and concepts I’ll eventually teach, things like growth models, churn, and viral loops, just to scratch the surface. 90% of the time I’m just a smiling sponge in my chair, trying to absorb as much as I can.

That’s just part of the game. At I Will Teach, we called this “starting with a child’s mind.” The better you are at that, the easier everything else gets.

Fortunately, I’ve done my fair share of starting with a child’s mind. Years ago I moved to Los Angeles, with no idea that Hollywood had a its own language and cadence. I learned it slowly and painfully from scratch.

career

2 Things About SF Tech Culture

Last updated on March 9th, 2019 at 04:22 pm

Last week I learned some interesting things about SF tech culture. For example:

Investing in cryptocurrencies is a thing
People invest hundreds, even thousands of dollars in “coffee set-ups” — home coffee brewing equipment to make their own personal perfect cup of coffee
Everyone loves wearing Patagonia

But the biggest mental shifts I’ve had to make is about money. Here are 2 ideas about money I’m trying to hold simultaneously in my mind:

career

Thank You, I Will Teach You to be Rich

Last updated on November 3rd, 2021 at 07:43 am

5 years ago, I was waiting tables at a Thai restaurant (thanks for the reminder, Facebook).

restaurants

Eating at Din Tai Fung

Last updated on March 9th, 2019 at 04:21 pm

Before going to Taiwan, my friend prepared a document of recommendations. She wrote:

“Soup Dumplings: Din Tai Fung is big in Taiwan, but I say it’s overrated. A soup dumpling is a soup dumpling, and we get great ones stateside.”

We went to Din Tai Fung, and I couldn’t disagree more. The hype is well-deserved. This was probably my favorite meal (out of many good meals) in Taiwan. Of course, it wasn’t just about the soup dumplings — which were good.

Here are some other things I loved about our meal at Din Tai Fung.

marketing

Here’s Why I Clicked on Wilco de Kreij’s Facebook Ad

Last updated on May 28th, 2018 at 03:09 pm

The first time I visited Times Square in New York City, I spent the entire day enthralled by the city’s lights and 30 foot billboards.

Today, it’s just another stop on the subway where I have to dodge tourists and selfie sticks to get where I’m going.

This is exactly how I feel about the wave of online courses popping up on my Facebook and Instagram feed this past year. I’ve been playing in the online course sandbox for the last 3 years. 90% of the time, I scroll right past these ads — they’re basically invisible.

So, when I do SEE one… And it gets me to read… And to watch the video… And sign up for the webinar… I spend the time to think about WHY.

In a sea of ads that all fade away like elevator music, why did THIS one stick out to me?

Here’s the advertisement that popped up in my Facebook feed, from Wilco de Kreij.

Here’s my mental journey that got me to read, watch, and sign-up:

He nailed the pain point.

The ad started strong, hitting the pain of what it takes to build a list… and the idea that there has to be a better way (other than more opt-in widgets).

Positioning of the solution.

The solution is positioned as something new that I haven’t tried yet.

Overcame a “silent objection.”

A silent objection is one I feel in my gut… but can’t quite put into words.

(For example, ever meet someone who for all intensive purposes seems nice, but you don’t trust? That’s your mind’s pattern recognition at work, silently objecting.)

The copy, “without relying on existing traffic sources or spending a dime on advertising traffic” addressed that silent objection… And got me to click on the video.

A video pitch that felt REAL.

I was impressed by the video, not because it was beautifully shot or because of the polished delivery. In fact, it was the opposite. Wilco stuttered. He didn’t maintain eye contact. He felt a little awkward on video.

I loved it. I never felt like I was being sold to by a pro. It was the difference between buying a used car from a loud salesman in a poor fitting suit, and buying at a Mercedes-Benz dealership.

Was the ad perfect?

Definitely not. For example, the moment he shed even a tiny bit of detail on the “system,” alarm bells went off in my head.

I had another silent objection (“so I’m just asking people to share content? I don’t want to do that…”) and that objection was left unanswered.

And ultimately I didn’t convert. In other words, I signed up for the webinar, briefly watched the replay, but didn’t finish and didn’t buy. “Building a list” was too far away from my real desire of “make money” and “social influence”, and Wilco didn’t do enough to bridge the two in my mind.

So I didn’t feel like I HAD to add this to my calendar and move things around in my schedule to attend this webinar. But the ad did get me to click, so that part of the funnel was successful.

notes

Lessons from The Founder (aka “that McDonald’s movie”)

Last updated on March 9th, 2019 at 03:58 pm

On the plane ride back from Taiwan, one of the movies I watched was The Founder (2016), the Ray Kroc and McDonald’s story. I highly recommend it.

Here are random lessons I took away from the movie:

marketing

How My 16-Year-Old Cousins Use Instagram

Last updated on November 3rd, 2021 at 03:27 am

I have a ton of younger cousins and second-cousins (which is what happens when your mom is #7 of 7 children and your dad is #4 of 4).

We were talking about how they used social media, and how completely different it was from how I (and my peers) use it. (Mary Choi takes an amazing in-depth look teen behavior on social media here.)

Here are my notes on how they use social media:

1. “I don’t have Facebook.”

She never got into it. And if she’s not into it, that tells me her friends probably aren’t on there either. Instead, her first social app was Instagram.

2. She curates on Instagram.

In other words, she has less than 50 photos on her account. She’s probably posted at least a hundred more, but she goes back and deletes posts.

How does she decide which posts to delete? If they don’t get enough likes. If it’s no longer a reflection of how she sees herself (“I had a bunch of photos of when I was in middle school, why would I want anyone to see that? And my first photo was a cup of yogurt. Like, why?”)

In other words, Instagram is a snapshot of who she is NOW.

Compare that to how I (and many peers) use Instagram: As an archive of everything we were and are, told through filters.

3. How does she know whether to like or delete a photo?

“Today, if a photo gets less than 100 likes, I’ll probably delete it (she has about 250 followers and a private account). It used to be 50 likes, more lately I’ve been getting a lot more.”

notes

“They make you adapt for them.”

Last updated on November 3rd, 2021 at 03:27 am

I caught this absolutely beautiful bit of foreshadowing from Robin Black a few months back. There was something magical about it, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. So I saved the interview and kinda forgot about it.

It wasn’t until recently I connected the dots when reading other old interviews.

This first interview they recorded a day before Conor McGregor knocked out Jose Aldo in a record 13 seconds.

Robin is talking about how certain fighters have learned to adapt to Jose Aldo’s leg kicks. Basically, you have to keep your weight off your front foot.

It gets interesting when he points out that Conor probably WON’T do that, and why (around the 2-minute mark):

OK, well that solves that problem, but it also creates a whole bunch of new problems that we don’t normally deal with.

And takes away all these great things that we do.

And I know philosophically that they do not adapt for you. They make you adapt for them.

That’s SBG, that was Coach Kavanagh, who I’m a big fan of his thinking. And so they will not be dealing with that.

systems

Workcation Part 2: March 2017 Session

(If you’re wondering, I didn’t write up Part 1 so you didn’t miss anything.)

Brian and I came up with our Workcation Idea while driving back from the Poconos one weekend:

What if every 2 months, we booked a weekend someplace without Internet and cranked out a bunch of work?

No (or at least, limited) Internet. No distractions. Just work for the weekend.

Brian wanted to work on a screenplay. I wanted to work on my online business, ImMovingtoLA.com, and articles and scripts I’m writing for I WIll Teach and GrowthLab.

It seemed like an awesome idea so we started research Airbnbs. First we looked at places in the Poconos, but realized we’d be spending around $400 on the rental alone. AND we lost 4 hours of work in the commute alone. So we nixed that idea.

Next, I looked at apartments in NYC. Doing Workcation in NYC cut down on the commute time for sure, but it was just as pricey.

I realized we were being pretty fancy about it, and tried to think simpler: How could we do this without spending so much money?

Then, we remembered Brian’s sister had a condo she wasn’t using (she’s abroad). It was fully furnished, had 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. We just had to turn on the utilities. The best part: She didn’t have Internet set-up.

It was perfect.