The journey of Triathlete's understanding commerce goes from coaching to courses and membership communities

Holding a doctorate in exercise physiology and conducting peer reviewed research, and coaching Olympians and pro Ironman athletes was not enough for the Dr. Dan Plews. He also is triathlete in his own right and the current Ironman Age Group World Championship Course Winner record holder, with the time of 8:24.36.
As a result of the victory and his education and expertise in the field He was able to answer a lot of inquiries, particularly about the lower carbohydrate diet and its application in long distance triathlons.

Then the Dr. Plews decided to monetize his knowledge by launching Endure IQ by adding the title of 'knowledge maker as one of his professions. Let's look at his path.

The interview was light edited for clarity.

Training rapidly led to courses

At first, initially, Dr. Plews started out with the direct method of coaching. Dr. Plews noted that there was what he was able to do in one-on-one consultations.

In 2019, Endure IQ got its start. "I had so many [questionswhich I thought I'd create the form of a course. Originally I thought, 'Oh I'll create an easy white course you can put on PowerPoint'. However, after I had spoken to a close friend and he said, "Well, if you're going to do it then you should make it a proper job.'"

Today, we have four core courses as well as other mini-courses. Dr. Plews says, "Our core courses are 10 modules in length and take 10 to 15 hours of instruction. Students have access for a period of ten to 12 weeks as well as access to instructors." Courses have been accredited by affiliations such as The American College of Sports Medicine, National Strength and Conditioning Association and USA Triathlon.

Courses take off

EndureIQ launched a pre-launch of their program, LDT One-on-One. "We told them we'd like to restrict to just 50 people at first that signed up, and the course was sold out within three minutes." Dr. Plews recalls.

The classes were extremely popular! The response, however, was huge. Dr. Plews quickly learned his students wanted to keeping access to the materials and instructor-led webinars after they had completed the course.

The situation presented him with the challenge of needing to provide ongoing assistance. He shares his thought process on this subject:

"I did not want to keep the course open indefinitely as it would give people the ability to continuously ask questions all the time that you're at the at your fingertips but that's not the way education works. When you're an undergraduate student and you take a course that you are enrolled in, you have access to your instructors, the experts for that period, but you won't have the privilege to inquire about them throughout your life."

Generating revenues

Thus that Dr. Plews discovered a way to meet customer demand in addition to earning recurring revenues using the same course material. He came up with a five-dollar per week subscription for access to the course materials and webinars for those who finish the course.

"I have added this service almost immediately. It's a great choice since we've got a large number of customers who have returned," he shares.

The price is $5 per week for each course a student has ever done in order to reward loyalty for students who have taken many classes. Dan has reported that he had 175 members in that education membership group during our discussion. Therefore, he could generate a considerable amount of revenue every week just by providing access to materials for the course and being able to answer questions.

Subscription revenue opens doors

In the present, subscriptions bring an increase in revenues, and this income in turn opens up other possibilities for the business.

Dr. Plews says, "The biggest pro to having an online business that is subscription-based is that it allows you to plan your business better. If you are certain of additional revenue, you can start becoming a little more knowledgeable about the company you're using and where you're putting your money because it's less risky. Whereas when you're one hundred per cent dependent on the new sales, you don't know the month that is likely to deliver."

He also noted that being a member of a community that is active is another advantage - it gives him a pool of engaged people who he could survey to find out about any new course offerings or for other pertinent information.

However, Dan is realistic about how to build the success of a membership-based community. "The disadvantages of it is that it's never off," he says, "There is quite a lot of support for customers that is part of a subscription model because people are always asking issues."

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