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About this course

Here’s what I know about you: you are dedicated to the work you do, and you are dedicated to doing it with excellence.

You probably wish you had more time to do that work, and that you didn’t have to spend so much time scrambling for business.

You probably think if you could just have a bigger profit margin, you’d be able to invest more time in your business, and in the things outside work, that matter the most.

How do I know these things?

Because I have been there. Done that. And conquered those challenges.

Plus, I’ve helped a lot of other people do the same.

For instance….

  • It’s possible for you to add 30% more profit to your solar business…
  • Get an extra 40 hours of free time back each month….
  • ….and to do so without spending extra money on staff, software or advertising

Intrigued?

I invite you to join the Solar Business Masterclass. You’ll learn the specific strategies and tactics we used to grow and scale our business. Selling the business was an accident (more on that in the course).

How about spending time with us? Every month. Every week. Sound interesting?

You can ask me any questions: Business. Operations. Sales. Marketing. Recruiting. Hiring. Customer Service. Future Trends. Line Extensions. You name it.

What’s in the course?

In the course we’ve included:

  • Over 8 hours of video training
  • Excel tools to manage your business
  • Procedure documents that will automate your daily tasks
  • Service agreements to generate consistent income (and new leads)
  • Marketing strategies to reach more clients
  • Budgeting tools everyone can understand and follow in your company
  • Partnership strategies to work with your local businesses
  • Recruiting, hiring and retention tools to build your team
  • Flat rate pricing manuals to provide proposals to your clients on the spot
  • Self-funding techniques to prepare for your retirement
  • Copywriting methods that are used by Madison Avenue and Disney
  • How to get your clients to give you testimonials to get you more business
  • Project management software that is easy to use for your whole team
  • How to share the profits from your business with your team
  • Learn how to sell your gross margin versus just making sales
  • And much, much more……

And I will also share how I grew and sold my business with you (if you’d like to know).

You’ll also have access to me, every other week- Live.

We’ll be doing webinars every other week, for the whole year. That’s 26 webinars throughout the year. And we will also have some special live webinar events as well, exclusively for members.

If you’re busy and you miss a webinar- we got you covered. All of them are recorded. We post them inside the member area for you to watch or listen to on your terms.

If you’ve got questions about a topic and you post them inside the members’ area, we’ll answer them live on our bi-weekly webinar. It is a first come, first serve basis.

We’re going to work side by side on the computer, working through your biggest challenges. We can share each other’s screen to understand what you’re up against and fix it. You’ll be supported throughout the year. This will help you serve your clients and help your community.

We will also have:

  • Webinars – every other week for as long as you want
  • Access to our discussion board to post any questions you might have about the content
  • Submit any assignment or question privately to me

Here is a list of webinar topics we’re going to be covering.

  1. How to get more clients into your business?
  2. How to hire the best people?
  3. How to get sales and operations to work closely together?
  4. How to create recurring revenue in your business
  5. How to market your business to offer other services?
  6. How to sell less in your business but make more profits
  7. How to sell your gross margin and explain it easily to your team?
  8. How to create an operations manual for your company?
  9. How to setup processes and procedures in your company?
  10. How to use flat rate pricing in your business
  11. How to know what your overhead costs are and how to manage them
  12. How to create a customer service process?
  13. How to improve your project management workflow?
  14. How to create a testimonial video?
  15. How to respond to RFP's to get you more business
  16. How to understand what potential clients are thinking before doing business with you
  17. How to self-fund your retirement
  18. How to do open book management in your company
  19. How to say no to business?
  20. How to use storytelling in your business to get more clients
  21. How to leverage the largest opportunity on the planet for your business?
  22. How to market your company like google?
  23. How service contracts keep you busy all year round
  24. How to partner with other local businesses
  25. How to pay sales people?
  26. How to reward success?

You’re probably wondering right now- “Should I enroll?” And before you do…before you make that decision to enroll right now today….here’s what I want you to do.

Let’s list the pros and cons

Pros:

  • Personal help from me- we meet online every other week with the group live
  • We look at how to get you more business, help with strategies to find more colleagues
  • We working on crunching your numbers to make you more profits
  • You get to talk to others in the course and see what questions being answered on the discussion board and during our live calls
  • You get to see what’s working for them and get some ideas that you might not have known that existed
  • They might ask questions that you didn’t even consider or know you might need help with – That’s A Huge Benefit
  • You’ll get to implement what we discussed and work on that in your business
  • You have questions about sales, client services, flat rate pricing, recruiting, exit strategies- we work on – Just Like I’m In Your Office
  • Private community- the more you contribute, the more others contribute and it becomes contagious
  • Proven methodology
  • You don’t need to sell hard to help others
  • You’ll learn not getting every client is ok and you helped educate them- good karma

Cons:

  • Not for everyone. If you’re not willing to do this and implement the stuff and be serious about it, it’s not going to work for you
  • Not for people that don’t want to be in business or in a leadership role. Everyone is not an entrepreneur and that’s ok.
  • This is not cheap. It’s an investment of money
  • Time – you’ll need to put in the hours to learn. This might be a barrier to you

Still have more questions? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions about this course for more information and answers to commonly asked questions.

Ready To Sign Up Today? Click Here to Enroll

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Course outline

9 modules • 144 assignments • 7:25 hours of video lectures

Welcome • 2 assignments
Orientation Materials

This course is self-paced, so you don’t need to be logged in at any specific time. You can get started immediately after you enroll and the course materials will remain in your account with minimum guaranteed access for 12 months (1 year) after enrollment.

  • Set up email notifications and your student profile
  • Introduce yourself on the discussion board
Module 1 • 29 assignments
Clients, Buyers Journey, Storytelling Journalism

This week will get you focused on thinking about your clients in new ways. As Joseph Campbell coined the phrase - "The Hero's Journey", let's walk through how a buyer goes through the process of interest to decision to work with you. It can be said that everything your client does or doesn't do, revolves around a story (same for you as well). If you want to know what is driving their behavior (and yours), watch this series. From Madison Avenue ad agencies to Hollywood to anthropology, its all here. What does journalism have in common with your business? Everything. Look at how this relates to you and your business.

  • Who Is Your Client (55 seconds)
  • Client Service - Video 1 (04:11 minutes) Preview
  • Client Service - Video 2 (04:14 minutes)
  • Client Service - Video 3 (03:34 minutes)
  • Client Service - Video 4 (04:00 minutes)
  • Client Service - Video 5 (03:59 minutes)
  • Client Service - Video 6 (04:13 minutes)
  • Client Service - Video 7 (04:55 minutes)
  • Client Service - Video 8 (03:24 minutes)
  • Client Service - Video 9 (02:57 minutes)
  • Customer Service (.docx)
  • The Buyers Journey - Download (.pdf)
  • The Buyers Journey - Download # 2 (.pdf)
  • The Buyers Journey - Introduction (46 seconds)
  • The Buyers Journey - Video 1 (05:03 minutes) Preview
  • The Buyers Journey - Video 2 (04:04 minutes)
  • The Buyers Journey - Video 3 (04:50 minutes)
  • The Buyers Journey - Video 4 (04:53 minutes)
  • The Buyers Journey - Video 5 (03:51 minutes)
  • The Buyers Journey - Video 6 (02:36 minutes)
  • Storytelling - Framework- Download (.pdf)
  • Storytelling - Introduction (53 seconds)
  • Storytelling - Video - 1 (05:06 minutes)
  • Storytelling - Video - 2 (05:43 minutes)
  • Journalism- Download (.pdf)
  • Journalism- Video - 1 (05:02 minutes)
  • Journalism- Video - 2 (05:18 minutes)
  • Journalism- Video - 3 (05:06 minutes)
  • Journalism- Video - 4 (04:17 minutes)
Module 2 • 14 assignments
Copywriting, Google, Testimonials

Copywriting is distilled down to person to person communication. Let's see how this works in things you purchase and why it is so powerful to speak to one person and not everyone. Google are the masters of communication. In all their might, is simplicity. Learn how they talk to you in subtle, yet powerful ways. Testimonials - Why are they important? Today if you have a smart phone, its never been easier. And here's why.

  • Copywriting- Introduction (51 seconds)
  • Copywriting- Download (.pdf)
  • Copywriting- Download - Overview (.pdf)
  • Copywriting- Video - 1 (04:59 minutes)
  • Copywriting- Video - 2 (04:49 minutes)
  • Copywriting- Video - 3 (04:30 minutes)
  • Copywriting- Video - 4 (03:57 minutes)
  • Google- Introduction (43 seconds)
  • Google- Download (.pdf)
  • Google- Video - 1- WWHN (07:00 minutes)
  • Testimonials- Introduction (46 seconds) Preview
  • Testimonials- Download (.docx)
  • Testimonials- Video - 1 (07:01 minutes)
  • Copywriting Framework- Download # 2 (.pdf)
Module 3 • 19 assignments
Your Team, Recruiting, Hiring, Ad Writing

As we look at the second pillar of your goals, after your clients, is your team. This section will look at finding the best, leading them and making leaders out of them. How to attract the right person for the role? Often it comes down to what you say and how you say it.

  • Recruiting- Introduction (55 seconds)
  • How To Hire - Download (.pdf)
  • The Hiring Guide- Video - 1 (04:16 minutes)
  • The Hiring Guide- Video - 2 (04:33 minutes)
  • The Hiring Guide- Video - 3 (04:14 minutes)
  • The Hiring Guide- Video - 4 (04:14 minutes)
  • The Hiring Guide- Video - 5 (04:20 minutes)
  • The Hiring Guide- Video - 6 (04:41 minutes)
  • The Hiring Guide- Video - 7 (05:06 minutes)
  • The Hiring Guide- Video - 8 (05:03 minutes)
  • The Hiring Guide- Video - 9 (04:33 minutes)
  • Ad Writing- Video - 1 (06:59 minutes)
  • The Hiring Guide- Video - 10 (03:31 minutes)
  • The Hiring Guide- Video - 11 (03:30 minutes)
  • Ad Writing- Introduction (54 seconds) Preview
  • Ad Writing- Download (.docx)
  • Ad Writing- Video - 2 (06:53 minutes)
  • Ad Writing- Video - 3 (09:20 minutes)
  • Ad Writing- Download # 2 - CAFA (.pdf)
Module 4 • 12 assignments
Project Management, Service Agreements, Marketing Calendar

Project Management - How do you keep it all together? Simple software that is free (or their paid version is amazing as well). Service Agreements - Having work throughout the year is essential. It is also important to be a resource for your clients as new things come to market to help them with. Let's walk through how these work for you and your business. Marketing Calendar - Often we need to look to other industries to see how we can adapt and integrate their strategies with ours. Take a look at this idea for your business.

  • Project Management - Introduction (01:21 minutes)
  • Project Management - Software (05:46 minutes)
  • Service Agreements- Introduction (01:06 minutes) Preview
  • Service Invoice Agreement-Member Protection Plan- Download - Contract (.pdf)
  • Safety Inspection Checklist- Download (.doc)
  • Safety Inspection Checklist- Video - 1 (01:48 minutes)
  • Service Invoice Agreement-Member Protection Plan Video - 1 (06:13 minutes)
  • Marketing Calendar- Introduction (44 seconds)
  • Marketing Calendar- Download (.xlsm)
  • Marketing Calendar- Video - 1 (03:40 minutes)
  • Marketing Calendar- Video - 2 (04:25 minutes)
  • Safety Checklist- Download # 2 (.pdf)
Module 5 • 15 assignments
Flat Rate Pricing, Request for Proposals, Customer Acquisition Costs, Sales Strategies

Eat at a restaurant- do they charge by the hour? How about when you buy a refrigerator? Lets show you how you can FRP in your business. Request for Proposals - While you might not do these solicitations, go through this lesson to learn why incorporating the strategies in it, will bolster your own proposals. Customer Acquisition Costs - As the industry has known, this number is excruciatingly high. How can we bring it down? This lesson will offer some insights. Sales Strategies - While every company has different strategies for O&M, here are a few ways to approach it.

  • Flat Rate Pricing- Introduction (45 seconds) Preview
  • Flat Rate Pricing- Download (.xlsx)
  • Flat Rate Pricing- Video - 1 (03:40 minutes)
  • Flat Rate Pricing- Video - 2 (03:23 minutes)
  • Flat Rate Pricing- Video - 3 (03:43 minutes)
  • Request For Proposals- Introduction (54 seconds)
  • Request For Proposals- Video - 2 (05:27 minutes)
  • Request For Proposals- Video - 3 (05:32 minutes)
  • Request For Proposals- Download (.pdf)
  • Request For Proposals- Video - 4 (06:36 minutes)
  • Request For Proposals- Video - 1 (03:24 minutes)
  • Customer Acquisition Costs- Introduction (43 seconds)
  • Customer Acquisition Costs- Guidelines (05:22 minutes)
  • Sales Strategies - Overview (06:58 minutes)
  • O&M Strategies - What should you offer? (07:59 minutes)
Module 6 • 1 assignments
Systems For Business

One of the most challenging things about any business is creating systems. Things that are stuck in someone's mind that they do every day, often without thinking about them. They become habits. Unfortunately, when companies hire new people to take over a role, they have to constantly ask the original person (often the owner of a company in the early days) what to do. Wouldn't it be better to have a detailed process template to refer to? Here it is!

  • Placeholder
Module 7 • 19 assignments
Your Company, Budget Tool

This section of the course is dedicated to your company. Budgeting, to the ScoreCard tool, Service Agreements, Line Extensions, O&M, Self Funding, Customer Acquisition Costs, Exit Strategies and Why I Sold.

  • The Budget Tool - Introduction (49 seconds) Preview
  • The Budget Tool - Download (.xlsm)
  • The Budget Tool - Video - 1 (07:32 minutes)
  • The Budget Tool - Video - 2 (02:52 minutes)
  • The Budget Tool - Video - 3 (03:18 minutes)
  • The Budget Tool - Video - 4 (59 seconds)
  • The Budget Tool - Video - 5 (02:10 minutes)
  • The Budget Tool - Video - 6 (01:27 minutes)
  • The Budget Tool - Video - 7 (05:28 minutes)
  • The Budget Tool - Video - 8 (03:45 minutes)
  • The Budget Tool - Video - 9 (03:22 minutes)
  • The Budget Tool - Video - 10 (05:48 minutes)
  • The Budget Tool - Video - 11 (02:11 minutes)
  • The Budget Tool - Video - 12 (05:52 minutes)
  • The Budget Tool - Video - 13 (04:48 minutes)
  • The Budget Tool - Video - 14 (03:54 minutes)
  • The Budget Tool - Video - 15 (02:23 minutes)
  • The Budget Tool - Video - 16 (04:26 minutes)
  • The Budget Tool - Video - 17 (09:20 minutes)
Module 8 • 11 assignments
The ScoreCard

Want to know the difference between sales and profits? You've come to the right place. This is an extensive excel tool to help you wrap you and your team around performance. It will help you make better team decisions from this day, forward.

  • The ScoreCard- Download (.xlsx)
  • The ScoreCard- Introduction (01:36 minutes) Preview
  • The ScoreCard- Video - 1 (04:33 minutes)
  • The ScoreCard- Video - 2 (08:28 minutes)
  • The ScoreCard- Video - 3 (06:33 minutes)
  • The ScoreCard- Video - 4 (05:59 minutes)
  • The ScoreCard- Video - 5 (03:09 minutes)
  • The ScoreCard- Video - 6 (01:35 minutes)
  • The ScoreCard- Video - 7 (02:21 minutes)
  • The ScoreCard- Video - 8 (04:49 minutes)
  • The ScoreCard- Video - 9 (04:08 minutes)
Module 9 • 18 assignments
Line Extensions, Partnerships, Self-funding Your Retirement

Line Extensions - What are they and how you can add them to your offerings. Partnerships - Who to partner with and why? Self-funding Your Retirement - We all know that the world is headed towards self funding our retirements. This is a way to do it.

  • Line Extensions- Introduction (53 seconds) Preview
  • Line Extensions - Download (.pdf)
  • Line Extensions - Video - 1 (04:54 minutes)
  • Line Extensions - Video - 2 (05:00 minutes)
  • Line Extensions - Video - 3 (04:51 minutes)
  • Line Extensions - Video - 4 (04:14 minutes)
  • Partnerships- Introduction (01:14 minutes)
  • Partnerships- Download (.pdf)
  • Partnerships- Video - 1 (04:58 minutes)
  • Partnerships- Video - 2 (03:41 minutes)
  • Partnerships- Video - 3 (04:53 minutes)
  • Partnerships- Video - 4 (03:59 minutes)
  • Self Funding- Introduction (51 seconds)
  • Self Funding- Download (.xlsx)
  • Self Funding- Download- PDF (.pdf)
  • Self Funding- Video - 1 (06:12 minutes)
  • Self Funding- Video - 2 (04:29 minutes)
  • Line Extensions - Download # 2 (.pdf)
Conclusion • 4 assignments
Feedback and Additional Resources

This is our last module but you still have access to the all of course materials for 12 months (1 year), so keep working and you'll be able to complete the course at your own pace. After your year of access expires you can optionally extend access with a HeatSpring Membership. Enjoy the course and keep in touch!

  • 1 Year of Access to Course Materials
  • Feedback: 2-minute Exit Survey
  • Consider Joining as a HeatSpring Member
  • Certificate of Completion: Request a Certificate

Instructor

  • Keith Cronin

    SunHedge LLC
    View profile

    What kind of world do you want to live in? Two plus decades of cleantech experience on our journey together to sequester carbon in meaningful ways. Blessed with a multidisciplinary skill set of development, finance, business, and deep connections globally. The road to your destiny is often a curved line. After a decade on the East Coast, it catapulted me to Hawaii to... Learn more

Frequently asked questions

How does this course work?
You can begin this online course instantly upon enrollment. This 9 module course is delivered entirely online. This course is self-paced and you can set your own schedule to complete the materials. You can begin the lecture videos and other course materials as soon as you enroll. During your year of access the instructor will be in the course answering questions on the discussion board. After successfully completing the course, you will be able to generate a certificate of completion.
How long do I have access to the materials?
Students get unlimited access to the course materials as soon as they enroll and for one year (365 days) after enrollment. Rewatch videos and review assignments as many times as you want. View updates the instructor makes to the course as the industry advances. Return to your course anytime with online access from anywhere in the world. After the one year of access expires, access can be extended by joining as a HeatSpring member. A single membership extends access to course materials for all past enrollments.
Is there a certificate of completion?
Yes, when you complete this course you are eligible for a certificate of completion from HeatSpring. You can download your certificate as soon as you have completed all of the course requirements. Students can easily share their verified certificates on their LinkedIn profiles using our LinkedIn integration.
Can I register multiple people?
Yes please visit our HeatSpring for Groups page to get a group discount.

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