The Crossroads Method
Designing and scaling a bootstrapped spanish blues music education website as a self-taught that started from zero
KEY WINS:
- Using the power of blues music as a vehicle for personal growth in a gamified learning environment
- Got 100 paid students for the first paper prototype format.
- On market research, I made $1960 in profits with an ad spend of $144 in 6 countries.
- After a long pause, I built and launched the MVP product in 90 days due to a bet with my boss.
- Beta Testing is live with users in 3 different countries
The Future of Learning is Play...
When you start with zero skills, zero capital, and zero industry contacts?
OBJECTIVES:
Throughout history, blues music has been a testament to resilience, determination, and resourcefulness for disadvantaged communities to overcome hard times.
It also helped me transform my life, and after an impactful testimonial from a student, I decided to scale this knowledge by going digital.
The goal was simple:
Share the benefits of music as a way to shape character, increase emotional resolution skills, and enhance applied creativity to improve our day-to-day lives.
HUGE MARKET GAP:
- There is limited information about the harmonica or blues music in Spanish.
- There are no engaging music education programs connecting LATAM.
- The blues is historically rich, but it slowly disappearing from our world.
- Modern life comes with a ton of stress and mental health challenges, and music can be an effective tool to increase emotional resolution skills.
THE PROBLEM:
I was just a blues musician with no technical skills, experience, network or capital.
Successfully communicate products and services in a way that people will not only discover the value of what is offered...
But also fall in love with it...
Chatbots
Systems that automate interactions with prospects, while providing helpful content, assist with sales and segment them for future interactions.
Sales Funnels
Content built to guide prospects to the customer journey so future buyers can be guided and educated on the content and prepare them for the sale.
Email Marketing
One on one conversations that help to build trust and meaningful relationships between prospects and the brand. Segmenting them based on interactions and behaviors.
Dynamic Content
Display content based on the prospect's context, interests, behaviours and needs.
Conversion Copywriting
Writing that educates and persuades readers to perform specific actions.
Meaningful Relationships
Rather than focusing on sales, inbound principles focus on building trust with the prospects with helpful content and building strong relationships that lead to frictionless sales experiences.
Why the Blues?
First a QUick origin story to explain the motivations of this project
I fell for the blues because it transforms raw emotion into the soundtrack of resilience while turning hardship into innovation.
Working a call center job in Costa Rica, I taught myself harmonica after hours and started busking with friends for fun.
Eventually built a band that ended up playing in Jazz and Blues festivals across Central America.
Everytime we played in the streets, strangers swore the music eased their toughest days.
Their reactions proved the blues isn’t just entertainment…
It’s a catalyst for hope and that inspired me to teach it and promote it further.
Developing a Paper Prototype Method (2019)
(My Foundations with Learning Experience Design)
I believed that if blues had pulled me through my toughest times, a low-barrier, learn-by-playing harmonica method could do the same for others.
So I wrote and illustrated my very first harmonica method by hand.
35 Structured pages with diagrams, illustrations, call-and-response riffs, melodies, and improvisational blues language filled up with reflection prompts and suggestions to build habits with a rocker attitude.
Then partnered with a local music school to field-test it running three-day group workshops with ten learners at a time.
After 100+ students completed the program, I watched them overcome fear, doubt, shame, and they started to play right away, no dense theory standing in the way.
The results were immediate and revealing.
Each reported not only new musical chops but also a shift in mindset.
60% of my students said they felt more confident tackling non-musical challenges, from public speaking to better handling work-related stress to building stronger habits and breaking down complex goals using the recommendations of the method to practice the harmonica.
First improvisations
After some time...
The Story That Started it All...
It was one day that after a show, when one of my most advanced students invited me for some drinks.
As he had something to share…
My teachings and the music he was learning to play helped him grieve, resolve, and eventually accept the death of his daughter, as she passed away in an accidental car crash some years ago.
He felt like his whole world felt apart and got into music to try to deal with and channel all that raw emotional energy…
This music gave me strength.
For that, I am forever grateful – he said.
That’s when I realized the true power of the blues and decided to find a way to scale it.
Deciding to Go Digital (2020)
When the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic hit, I took it as a signal to take action.
I used all my savings and invested them all in online training for web design and digital marketing.
I recruited two great friends from Colombia who were now working as Illustrators and Creative Directors.
That’s when the Crossroads Method was born.
First Branding Elements
Creative concept: A Gamified Blues school
First website
Business Model Canvas
Market and UX Research:
Validating the idea and getting our first major win
Seeing my savings running out and without a clear direction, I followed the team’s advice to validate the idea on the market before investing more resources into it.
So I built a social media funnel and ran a single ad to go through a basic chatbot.
I offered a free one-hour class through Zoom and offered my paid one-on-one program at the end.
But all I had was $150 left…
Funnel Mapping: Every point of the interaction to capture leads and acquire the first users to learn about their needs
Lets Break it down...
Recruited a filmmaker and video editor to run some ads and content marketing
fIRST sTEP
Make prospects imagine themselves using your product or service...
A companion at your reach no matter where you go…
Think about those times when you were stuck in heavy traffic.
Or when you were staying at your grandparent’s home with nothing to do…
Even those boring breaks at work.
Your pocket can hide an endless amount of melodies and rhythms ready for any situation.
Why don’t you try the harmonica?
Performance:
second step
Automate conversations with prospects and segment them based on behaviour and context...
Potential buyers then iniciated a conversation with the Chatbot, using Conversational Marketing principles it provided helpful guidance, educated them on the offer and asked them relevant questions.
Each step of the funnel added a tag to each contact.
That allowed us to see where they stop the interaction, and it gave multiple opportunities to reconnect.
We also tagged specific behaviours and retarget them via broadcast messages or sending ads tailored to their awareness level of their problem and our solution.
Results:
- ✓ 328 segmented leads
- ✓ new custom audiences for each tag level
Third Step
Content Marketing: Guide and advise potential buyers by building trust.
The Customer’s Journey depend on many factors…
As there are different stages of awareness, some prospects are ready to buy now, while others need more time to make the decision.
That is when content marketing shines, as it allow us to showcase our value and let the prospects try the solution first.
When brands think in solving the audience needs and problems, users will relate to it more, and after the lead nurturing process starts more sales will be done along the way.
An ad with a free Harmonica Masterclass was sent:
✓ To a custom list made of the prospects that had the A4 and A5 tags.
✓ To the people that watched 75% of the first ad but did not engage.
That allowed the prospects to return to the funnel and it was the last push for some of the prospects to buy.
Results of the Test:
- ✓ 328 segmented leads on chatbot CRM
- ✓ 19 Email LEADS
- ✓ Cost of advertising: $148.88
- ✓ 8 one-on-one paid students ($60 each for two months)
- ✓ $1000 Donation from a student
- ✓ Profit: $1960
- Sales in 6 different countries:
- costa rica, El Salvador, peru, chile, ecuador, mexico
oNE STUDENT IN MEXICO CITY BELIEVED IN THE VISION AND DONATED $1000
The Second version of the website
I had a better understanding of the market and who I was trying to help.
However, I grew very ambitious and was still clueless about how to build a real business.
I was burning out, with not enough resources, systems, or processes.
My attempts to build a team failed twice, and as living expenses were catching up…
I decided to stop the project as per my business mentor’s advice:
“You should go into freelancing, that way you can get paid to level up your skillset, get experience, and know how real businesses work.”
my upwork profile today. Got to Use all the learnings of the crossroads method to boost 20+ startups and agencies
I decided to actually take my UX career seriously and joined the interaction design foundation
The Rebirth of my Startup due to an Unusual Bet… (2025)
90 days to build and launch the mvp program
Right after a series of business meetings with my boss at the digital marketing agency I was working at…
I shared my startup dream and how I was planning to do a 90-day plan to launch it someday, but due to multiple reasons, didn’t take action.
Well..
I challenge you to a game – she said.
Starting today, you have 90 days to retake and launch the most basic version of your product.
If you fail, you pay me $1000.
If you win, well, you will have your startup living again, which is your dream anyway…
Challenge Accepted
Usability Testing of New Concept in a Farmers Market
Seeling out a workshop in less than 48 works
Even though I had paused my project, I was constantly thinking about it, designing, reshaping it…
After going through severe hardships in my personal life, having this dream was my north star.
That’s why I changed the vision to use blues music for personal growth as I was getting a lot into psychology, neuroscience, and ancient philosophies…
After the bet was done, the following day (It was a Friday) I talked with a friend who is in charge of events in the local farmers market and booked a three-day blues harmonica workshop.
By the time they made the official announcement on Monday, it had already sold out.
This was the Usability test of the new enhanced group method for 10 students with a live audience.
The concept was simple: learning by playing real music from day one and using the power of community to disarm blockages.
After campturing great feedback from the students, the audience, and capturing good footage I went back to the design room…
Phase I: UX Strategy
The Golden Circle Framework
Purpose (Why):
- Empowerment through blues music
- Unite the History of blues with personal growth
- Enhance productivity with applied creativity
- Promote Emotional Resolution and Mental Health Awareness
Process (How):
- Gamifying the Learning Journey
- Learning by Playing
- Personal journeys enhanced with Online Communities
- Self-paced learning with Online group sessions
- Rewards in the experience inviting users to engage to progress
Outcome (What):
- Online Community Platform for Blues Music Education
- RPG-Style progression to learn an instrument
- Marketplace for Blues Music Education in 20 Spanish-speaking countries.
The 8 core drives of human motivation (Octalysis Framework)
Habit Formation (The Hook Model)
Did focus group sessions with students
Identified Recurrent Patterns from UX Research
The four player types
– Having 100+ students with my original method prototype
– Talked with over 300 people during the market research phase all over LATAM
– Having students stay with me for long periods of time from 6 different countries…
I identified these four groups:
- The Musical Rebel seeks to be an innovator within the blues, challenging conventions and creating something unique of their own.
- The Adventurous Musician aims to broaden their skills to become more versatile and sharpen their improvisation, especially within popular music.
- The Emotional Artisan is driven by authentic expression and self-discovery, using the blues as a way to connect emotionally with themselves and others.
- The Curious Expressionist is fueled by curiosity and a desire to experiment, looking to enjoy the learning process and break routine.
The four player types: Their Motivations, desires and fears
- 45% of people interested in learning to play the harmonica were 50+ years old. They never pursued anything artistic, and now that they had time, they wanted to break away from routine and explore new things.
- 30% were young people drawn by the emotional aspect of the music and wanted mediums of self-expression and self-discovery.
- 20% of people were already active musicians, didn’t know anything about blues, but knew it was a great way to expand their skills.
- Just 5% of people came in because they were blues fans originally and wanted to learn specifically how to play blues just as the old masters.
The Ideation Phase
Run some brainstroming sessions individually, entering ideas gatheted in the focus groups or in the individual lessons with students.
Number of ideas after the ideation phase, for each of the four phases of the user journey of the upcoming platform.
– Discovery: 77
– Onboarding: 48
– Scaffolding: 65
– Endgame: 26
– Total: 215
After Curation:
– Discovery: 49
– Onboarding: 29
– Scaffolding: 35
– Endgame: 14
– Total: 127
All of the brainstorming and ideation concepts were moved to the Battleplan Spreadsheet a master document used in the Octalysis Framework as a way to initate the foundation of a roadmap to organize feature ideas, reward systems, desired actions, and triggers.
The Structure Tab: Captures all desired actions, triggers, channels and reward systems
THE feature list: capturing all ideas, color coded for phase, with categories, scoring systems for impact, difficulty, etc
Badges: how to get them, rarity levels and additional rewards
Ranks: how to obtain them and what is unlocked with them
For v1 picked up the 20 features with the highest impact and lower cost/effort to implement.
The Interaction Design Flow
THE game Loop: connecting desired actions, resource allocation, rewards and boosters using the hoked model
By completing lessons, participating in live group sessions or engaging in the community activities the students will earn Blue Notes the fictional currency of the platform.
Once they unlock the store they can trade their blue notes for song tutorials, private lessons or other content as it gets added in future versions.
Additionally as students complete modules they move up ranks which open additional sections of the platform and grant them unique benefits.
Designing the Curriculum, Filming and Editing
module i
module ii
module iii
Borrowed some equipment and having taught this material so many times I took 3 days to record the course in its entirely:
• 35 Lessons
• Onboarding Videos
• 1 Hour Free Masterclass
Learned basic Adobe Premiere and edited the whole course in a Weekend.
More than having the right to experience sadness...
We have the right to free ourselves from it by transforming all that raw energy into beautiful and useful things
Designing and Building the Platform:
With a finished product, a clear understanding of students wants and needs and a game loop of activities it was time to move that online and having a finished platform.
