235: Selling Digital Products to Business or Government Clients: An Online Business Success Story with a Twist

As one of several side hustles, Ryan Dowd runs HomelessLibrary.com, a training program that teaches librarians how to confidently and compassionately deal with their homeless patrons. It’s something a little different from the business-to-consumer model we usually see with online course sales and comes with some advantages over the B2C market — namely potentially higher prices and the ability to perform direct outreach. Note: Click here to download Ryan’s tips how to sell and market a B2B online course. By day Ryan is the executive director for a homeless shelter in Illinois, but on the side he’s also an adjunct professor, a practicing attorney, and he’s writing a book — in addition to the 3-15 hours a week he spends on HomelessLibrary.com. (And he’s married with a couple kids, so it’s fair to say he’s a busy guy.) Ryan was working at the homeless shelter when a friend asked if he would speak at a local conference about homelessness to a group of librarian executive directors. His talk went so well he started receiving offers to deliver training in person at libraries. Not having the time to travel to different locations, Ryan recorded a 30-minute video, posted it on YouTube, and sent people the link. Now with over 13,000 views, his video has become a staple training tool for librarians across the country and there was a demand for more. Ryan capitalized on this by recording a longer, more in-depth training. He broke it up into modules and began selling it to libraries across the US. Tune in to hear how that first conference speaking gig Ryan did for a friend turned into a successful side hustle selling B2B online courses and started what he calls, “A crazy wild ride with a completely accidental start.”