While course creation often is seen as “passive income” – it rarely will be all that passive… Plus often the biggest profit can actually come from LIVE group setting courses… So what are the key differences between evergreen vs group setting courses to keep in mind?
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These days there are tons of different online course variations and different types of presentations included.
Two of the most popular setups are an evergreen and group setting course. How to know what will be the best fit for you?!
Both evergreen courses and group setting have their pros and cons and it’s important to understand which one are you making BEFORE you’re actually knee-deep in content creation. It will help you to make sure that the content is aligned with your preferred way of presenting it.
However, if you already have the content done, don’t worry too much. Almost any of these can be transferred into a different type of course, it just might take a bit of extra work.
Let’s see their pros and cons!
Evergreen vs group setting courses
Evergreen courses
An evergreen online course is ongoing, it doesn’t have a specific timeframe and your students can enroll at any time.
It’s one of the most passive types of courses since you can set it all up and just let it be (except for the marketing though…)
So let’s review the pros of an evergreen online course:
PRO #1: You don’t need to be present
This means that you create all the content and set up all the systems and can leave the course be for the time being. There is no need to show up Live, do any kind of coaching, do Zooms or anything else. It’s probably one of the reasons why most course creators get started with evergreen courses! (They’re just less scary!)
PRO #2: Your students can enroll in it any time
This means that your potential students don’t need to plan their time, see the timezone match or consistently show up. Instead, they can go through the course on their own pace, at any time. For me, this is the main reason why I always purchase evergreen courses myself.
PRO #3: As already mentioned – it is the most passive type of online course
Often courses are created to create more passive income. However, what is passive about consistently showing up?! So evergreen courses actually offer this option to make selling easier and more independent from your presence. Especially, if you have a good email marketing funnel in place!
However, as there are pros, there are, of course, cons as well.
CON #1: With evergreen courses, there is no “launch excitement”
Open-close cart courses give a chance to do specific launches several times per year which raises the excitement and interest in the course.
While it IS absolutely possible to launch your evergreen course once in a while as well, overall the process might not be as profitable and exciting, unless you bring in some new features along with each new launch. So your audience won’t be on the “edge” to buy it.
CON #2: Possibly lower sales
On average, evergreen courses are priced quite lower than other types of courses. While the prices might be different from niche to niche, on average, an evergreen course might cost between $200 and $500.
Then, obviously, you need to make more sales to bring in more money and without the launch excitement it might be harder. NOT IMPOSSIBLE THOUGH!!
CON #3: Unpredictable income
Letting your course sell itself might bring in quite inconsistent income. Of course, if your daily marketing is focused on making sales, you might as well bring in a decent amount of income each month. However, with launches, it’s a lot easier to actually predict the amount of sales you might make (based on the average industry success rate, as well as your own past experience).
Group setting courses (often also known as an open-close cart)
This type of course happen within a specific timeframe and can be enrolled in and taken only at this specific time. Besides that, most of such courses also offer Live coaching and Q&A sessions.
Such courses are very popular and, quite possibly, it’s the most common type you can find amongst creative entrepreneurs. One course usually lasts from a month to a few.
Here are some of the pros!
PRO #1: Launch excitement/buildup
As mentioned before, launching can bring additional eyes to your course. This anticipation will make people want it more! Therefore, having a specific timeframe for your course, will make it more extra.
PRO #2: Possibly higher value
Such online courses often are priced quite higher than evergreen courses because of the additional bonuses like group setting, Live lessons, Q&A’s and so on. So if the average price of an evergreen course could be $300, this specific-timing course could go for $900. Of course, the numbers are here just to give you an idea of the possible differences! It always depends on the content, niche and overall offer.
PRO #3: More predictable income
While this might not be true for your very first launch, within 2-3 tries you will start seeing an obvious pattern that shows you some numbers you can already rely on —– so it will be easier to calculate your possible revenue. You can also take some niche averages to understand what to expect but know that they might not always be as spot-on.
Let’s talk about some cons!
CON #1: If the launch doesn’t go well, you need to wait until the next time to make some money
Well, hear me out. Your offer – your rules. You can end up doing another launch within a week if that’s what you want BUT… normally you would be expected to make a bit of a pause, like a month or two, at least, until you start focusing on the same product. So if you make zero sales – which often can happen with the first try! – you can get really demotivated and you can end up being left with no course income…
CON #2: You need to be present to make it happen
This means that you will have to show up for the launch period, then offer Live coaching or Zoom groups, be present in your Facebook group or any other setting you have offered. Basically, there is nothing PASSIVE about such courses! Hence the higher value… But before jumping into this idea you need to be very mindful about planning it all through and actually making time for all of that.
CON #3: The process of launching + teaching can be draining
Often people get excited about this idea of being present, connecting with people, teaching online… But all of that takes a lot of time and energy and truly can be very draining. Especially for starters – but not only.
So if you don’t have any previous launch experience or this is your very first course altogether, make sure to go into this with clear head and, possibly, start with a smaller evergreen course first!
Evergreen vs group setting courses: How to choose the best fit?!
When it comes to evergreen vs group setting courses – each definitely have their pros and cons, as well as their ideal audience.
The overall best option for starters would be an evergreen course creation.
If you want to “dip your toe in the water”, I’d suggest creating a small, low-ticket course where you can explore your options and see how it all goes.
Later, this low-ticket offer can be either bundled up with a bigger offer or kept separate. This would help you to save time and actually learn the basics of the process without any additional stress of going Live or doing launches.
Besides that, if it ends up failing, you have plenty of different options: you can review the whole content, turn it into a freebie or just redo it as a part of the bigger course, without the emotional attachment that creating the grande offer would imply.
This doesn’t mean that you’d be limited with your offers from here on or “doomed for low-ticket” only. Not at all! You can always play around with your offers and prices. It’s all about getting comfortable here.
If you are ready for the whole package and want to dive head-first into the process, doing a group setting course can be the best fit to actually grow your following along the way AND earn, possibly, stunning revenue!
However, keep in mind that this will take more time, more preparation and also more trial and error along the way. Even though you might invest loads of time, not always your first launch will be an amazing success.
I’m not trying to demotivate you! I just want you to be well aware of the possible risks and go into the process with a clear mind! There’s always a recovery plan after a failure just as well.
Choose what feels the most relatable and comfortable, your decision can always be changed later down the road, this is not “now or never” kind of a deal!!
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