Over years of working with new course creators, I’ve had first-hand experience with various range launches. Why do some courses have sold-out launches while others are left with the sound of crickets? Let me share some behind-the-scenes of profitable course launches!
I’ve been working with course creators since 2015 and over time I’ve had a unique chance to get a great insight into how they have built and managed their businesses.
From yoga and mindfulness instructors to life and money coaches, from recruiters and entrepreneurs to drummers and carpenters – my clients really cover it all.
I’ve been a part of $20K and $70K launches and I’ve also experienced courses that flop.
Why?
What makes one course a success while other is left in the dust?
Let’s see what these profitable course launches had in common!
Behind the scenes of a profitable course launch
In the past few months, I’ve experienced two incredibly successful course launches:
One of my clients got a $30K launch and another one had $70K.
What seemed like a seamless and surprising success has actually been a long and hard work behind the scenes that often have started years before.
Here will be some of the most common features of successful course launches.
Warmed up audience
I’ve always said that it’s absolutely possible to sell a course successfully even if your audience is small. It’s also one of the things I teach you how to do in Your Course Creation Hub.
You can start making course sales with 100 or 500 Instagram followers. You can also easily earn a full-time income with a small audience.
However, if you’re looking forward to earning high-end income, you must have a solid audience AND they have to be warmed up to your offer.
So what does it really mean?!
Is there a magic number of Instagram followers or email subscribers to have before you can earn $30K from your course launch?
No, there isn’t.
However, no matter how many people you have in your audience – the more engaged and interested is your audience, the higher your chances of making those sales happen, either your course costs $49 or $597.
It seems logical that selling to 500 engaged, interested people will end up in less sales than selling to 5K or 60K engaged, interested people!
And yes, most of my high-end launch clients have had at least 20-30K followers and rather big mailing lists.
Reaching this is the long game! There is no shortcut to growing an engaged audience of 30K people! You just have to keep showing up and giving value.
Audience tips for a profitable course launch
- Always seek new ways to grow your audience. Even if you currently have a rather small following, continuous growth of your audience will ensure that your offers will be seen my new people continuously.
- Focus on nourishing your existing followers and readers. Don’t dismiss ANY number of followers or readers you already have. Everyone counts and you always want to nourish your audience by providing consistent value that will build trust and prove the value of your offers.
Limited-time offer
While there are many different ways how you can set up and sell your online course, most of these high-end launches had a limited-time offer.
Having a limited-time enrollment versus an evergreen course creates scarcity and the possibility of missing out.
See, if you’re selling an evergreen online course, it can be purchased at any point and there is no rush to make the decision.
However, if your offer is limited time, people are more eager to jump on this train and get it now – because when else if not now?!
This model is not the best fit for everyone but it can increase the success of your course launch.
Besides that, limited-time enrollment usually also has other features that make people more likely to purchase. Some of them might be:
- Access to a group
- Live lessons
- 1:1 Support
It’s also the reason why so many limited-time courses have a higher price point. They just require a more hands-on approach! (Not always but quite often)
Limited-time offer tips for a profitable course launch
- Consider if doing limited enrollment time works for your offer. If so, plan a launch around a period when your offer will be open for enrollment (it can be of various lengths!)
- Choose the benefits to give as a bonus. It can increase your sales numbers a lot. But don’t add in something you won’t have the time or capacity to do.
- You can still have this course go out as an evergreen offer as well! It would then provide no additional bonuses that were given to the special limited enrollment period.
High-end product
So what do I mean by that?!
Obviously, you can’t really expect to go into tens of thousands of course sales without a good product.
But what does a high-end course look like then?!
First of all, your content has to lead your students to the goal. What is the main purpose of your course? Can you truly help your audience to reach it in the most effective way possible?
Learn how to choose a profitable course idea here!
Then, of course, your course materials have to be nicely designed and overall good-looking. Having pitch-perfect course materials is NOT a must. However, they must be easy to learn from and enjoyable.
This also includes details like, for example, if you’re recording videos, make sure they look good and have a decent sound. If you’ve added slides – they’re well-designed. If there are worksheets included, they are functional and useful.
A high-end product IS NOT about investing thousands in your course creation process by outsourcing parts like designing and video editing… But it is about improving your user experiences as much as you can.
High-end product tips for a profitable course launch
- Make sure your content is well-designed. If you’re unsure about it, join us in the Membership and send in your content for our Friday Chats review!
- Think about ways how you can improve your user experience. If you expect high-end sales, you need to provide high-end experience!
I hope this insight inspired you to work on your course offer.
There really is no one perfect way to launch a highly profitable online course. The offer you put out there has to be aligned with your own vision and something you’re passionate about.
From there, marketing will come a lot easier and making more sales will seem like a breeze as well.
Follow for more inspiration @coursecreationlab on Instagram and TikTok!
