A cautionary tale for course creators...
How Not To Launch a Premium Course That Sells Like Crazy
Just like you, I started off with big plans and a small wallet - trying all the courses, coaches and content that only added to my confusion and overwhelm....
I remember it like it was yesterday...
In the spring of 2012 I (foolishly) quit my high paying job as a Vice President of a Silicon Valley startup. I had two or three consulting clients paying us just enough to make ends meet. So I decided to launch a course thinking...
"This is going to be great - all I need to do is create a few videos, upload them to Udemy.com and let the passive income start rolling in!"...
So after around 8 months of planning, brainstorming, mind mapping and slide creating, the moment of truth had arrived - I was ready to publish what I was certain would be a behemoth of a digital cash cow!
I hit "publish", and fell sound asleep with visions of PayPal notifications dancing in my head...
The next morning I sprung out of bed to the ultimate bittersweet feeling...
2 people bought my course!
On one hand this was an amazing moment -this was the first time someone actually paid me for anything online! I had just made $58!
But on the other hand, I had made just $58.
This was a far cry from the early retirement, passive income and firey red lambos all the gurus were selling...
And I had much more pressing needs - like to feed my wife and daughter!
As proud as I was of my new product, I would never sell enough courses to provide for my family...
"I was making several of the course-killing mistakes I didn't even know existed back then"
(I'll explain the right way to create and launch a course below)...
8 Ways to Be 100% Sure Almost No One Will Buy Your Course Ever
Write these down if you want to launch a course people will actually buy...
My course didn't have a "Unique mechanism" or offer that stood out from others...
It didn't solve one of the 13 essential problems every successful course solves...
I wasn't using the right course titles and messaging to make my course irresistible..
I wasn't pricing my course using the "perfect course pricing test"...
My course didn't include a Student Guide to help customers get great results...
I was falling into the "course commodity trap" by selling on a third party website...
I had no idea how to turn my course modules into simple ads and lead magnets...
I didn't have a seamless way to convert course customers into coaching clients...
And a few more mistakes I'm sure...
At this rate I would have go back and get a day job!
"Why was creating a course that sells so dang hard?!"
There was no complete "Point A to Point B" system for launching and scaling a great digital course or coaching program from choosing a topic, pricing and messaging to outlining, building and recording and everything in between...
I was in bad financial shape. I started browsing LinkedIn for jobs.
I even had to ask my wife's father for $7,200 to pay the rent (basically crushing my pride when I needed it most)...
"But thankfully one night I was jarred awake by a moment of supreme clarity... "
(If I could figure out how to make this happen at will I would be rich(er)...
The Secret to Launching a Wildly Popular Course Was Right in Front of Me, Staring Me in the Face All Along!
A powerful memory from my past suddenly rushed to the surface...
"I got it! I've finally got it - it's the cheat sheets!" I yelled, triggering my sleeping wife to spring up and sock me in the temple fearing I'd completely lost it...
But I hadn't lost my marbles after all (at least not at this point)...
I remembered my time in the NAVY. Specifically while serving as an E.O.D (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) diver...
As you can imagine this was a fairly dangerous job. Actually we had several dangerous jobs we were called upon to perform at a moment's notice...
(Like checking the bottom of a ship for explosives, supporting local law enforcement to disarm Improvised Explosive Devices or searching a river for missing persons...)
And there was one tool we used to keep folks safe and perform quickly under immense pressure...
Cheat sheets.
For every task, mission and process - we had simple one page templates, checklists and cheat sheets that we followed 100% of the time...
"This allowed new team members to get up to speed quickly, know exactly what to do to get results and avoid mistakes..."
(Now imagine if you could use these same tools to launch a course...)
So I Went Into Full Geek Mode, Creating One Page Cheat Sheets and Systems But This Time For Digital Marketing
I created, tested and optimized simple one page systems, cheat sheets and templates that virtually anyone could use to greatly speed up and clarify exactly how to achieve results with common and important marketing functions:
The 27 step word for word email nurture sequence that sells more courses...
The one page "Perfect Customer Profile" to find customers before you launch!
The "Currency Calculator" to define the one problem your course solves...
The one page "Perfect Sales Script" we've tested over 12,300 client enrollment calls!
The "Million Dollar Message" method for naming any course or coaching program...
The "Digital Brain Dump" to quickly extract 100% of your course from your head...
The "Product Roadmap" that transforms courses into completely unique offers...
The "Perfect Course Outline" that lays out your entire course in one page!
The "DFY Slide Template" we use to build entire courses in minutes vs weeks!
And many more...
Imagine sitting down to create your next email sequence, webinar or ad campaign and knowing exactly what to do and getting it launched without staring at blank screens or "winging it" ever egain...
"We started gaining a reputation as the go to source for simple and powerful marketing systems that actually work..."
(But even I wasn't prepared for what happened next...)
Folks From Across the Globe Started Coming to Us to Launch Their Courses and Coaching Programs. Lots of Folks.
Now as I write this I can't believe what's occured over the last decade...
We've helped over 40,000 awesome clients launch course and coaching programs...
And we've even sold over $10M of our own products, launching eleven 6 and 7 figure courses!
(This feels like light years away from the days of waking up hoping for another $29 course sale!)
This NEW course launch system is working better than anything we've tested over the last 10 years..."