This is How I Sold $153k in Courses During a Pandemic
10 Lessons I Learned Along the Way
I’ve made $153,658 selling courses in the past 3 years, and during a pandemic no less. This was quite a feat considering everyone was on zoom for free. I’ve sold courses related to real estate marketing, content creation, search engine optimization, keto for weight loss, and more.
In this time, I’ve learned a lot about what works (and what doesn’t) when it comes to selling online courses.
Below are some of the most important lessons I’ve learned.
Don’t wait for it to be perfect
The biggest barrier to entry for most people is perfectionism. They think they need to have everything planned out perfectly before they can launch their course.
This is a recipe for disaster.
If you wait until your course is perfect, you’ll never launch it. And even if you do manage to launch it, chances are it won’t be very successful.
The best way to overcome perfectionism is to start small. Just launch a course with 3–5 lessons. Once you’ve got those lessons created, you can then add more lessons to the course.
You can always improve your course later on, but at least it’s live and people are learning from it.
My Experience: I started with a course that had 7 lessons. Each lesson consisted of a video and a downloadable PDF. When it came time to create more courses, I decided to host the training live, and charge for the training. Then, that training became the course.
While I no longer do the PDFs, I think I should. People still like them.
Price your course appropriately
Don’t undersell yourself — make sure you price your course at a rate that reflects the value it provides. The truth is, people will pay the price you set, as long as they feel you are worth it.
One tip for pricing your course is to look at what other courses in your niche are selling for. If you can find a comparable course, use that as a starting point.
You can always adjust the price later on if you need to.
My experience: Dropping my course prices, has never resulted in more sales. It’s never really about price, it’s about value.
My best result: While I was selling about 30K in courses each month when I launched in 2014, the buzz eventually wore off. In order to keep up sales, I moved to a monthly VIP program + virtual event sales. These two have been more consistent and profitable than the one-time evergreen course sales.
Make your course a limited time training
The reason why this works is that people feel a sense of urgency when they know the training will only be available for a limited time.
It also helps you to focus on creating and launching your course, rather than worrying about maintaining it long-term.
My experience: I’ve had the most success with courses that were only available for a limited time. Once the timer expires, people can no longer access the course, or only have it for a set duration (some of mine are 1-year).
The key is to make sure you set a reasonable timeframe for your course. If it’s too short, people won’t have enough time to consume the content and see results. If it’s too long, people will forget about the course and move on to something else.
The sweet spot is usually somewhere in the middle.
My best launch outside of ‘The Ballen Method’ evergreen courses in 2014, was when I decided to create a Keto weight loss course, handbook, and Facebook group with a monthly recurring fee. I literally decided to do it on Friday, and it sold out on Monday (that’s the power of Facebook groups and an email list).
It was $99 per person and sold out at 100 people. I was able to keep the group going for a year and was sold out most of the time. It was only when I decided that I didn’t want to be responsible for other people’s health, that I winded it down.
Selling courses isn’t easy, but it’s worth it.
Offer a money-back guarantee
People are more likely to buy your course if you offer a money-back guarantee. This reassures them that they’re not taking a risk by purchasing your course. When people feel safe, they’re more likely to take action.
My experience: I’ve had 5 chargebacks in 3 years. And most were because they couldn’t attend a live stream, or felt that the material was more than they were willing to take on at the time.
Don’t overthink the analytics
Most teaching platforms offer analytics that shows you who is logging into your course, and when. Many course creators begin to feel about their training when people aren’t logging in very often, and most aren’t finishing the course.
This is especially true if your course is self-paced.
However, you need to remember that not everyone who purchases your course will finish it. In fact, most people won’t finish it. Everyone has great intentions to do something when they first commit, but then life happens.
My experience: I’ve had people purchase whole courses and never log in. I’ve had people purchase courses, and only watch 1 video, or read one document. It doesn’t mean they won’t come back, it just means they’re not ready yet.
Make it Social
People are more likely to buy a course if they feel like they’re part of a community. This is why it’s so important to create a Facebook group for your course.
In the group, you can answer people’s questions, give them feedback, and build relationships with your students.
My experience: I created a group on Facebook for people in a related industry. I fed the group value consistently and built a true following. Then, when it was time to launch my course, my 10,000 member group was the first to dive in.
If you’re not using Facebook groups yet, you’re missing out. They really are the best way to build an audience and create a community around your course. And of course, if Facebook isn’t your thing, there are subreddits, Twitter chats, and LinkedIn groups, too.
Use an Irresistible Offer
People are more likely to buy your course if you make it impossible for them to say no. The best way to do this is by offering a free trial, or special item that nobody else gets.
My experience: When I teach a webinar, or live class and make an offer for my VIP course program, evergreen course, or upcoming timed course, I’ll offer a “bonus” for that day sign-ups only. This bonus might include a free coaching session, a content analysis, or an extra freebie course.
The key is to make it feel like an exclusive offer that they can’t pass up. And always remember to overdeliver on your bonus.
Offer an Affiliate Program
If you want people to promote your course for you, then you need to offer an affiliate program. This will give people a commission for every person they refer to your course.
Some course platforms offer built-in affiliate programs. For example, the platform I use has an affiliate program that allows you to give people a percentage of every sale they generate.
My experience: I’m a 6-figure affiliate marketer, myself. So I believe in the process. That being said, I haven’t truly created a program that people want to be part of and love to promote. You see, having an affiliate program, means you have to promote the affiliate program, not just the course.
That being said, it has still been beneficial.
Use Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the most powerful tools you have at your disposal. You can use email to nurture leads, build relationships, and even make sales.
The key to successful email marketing is consistency. You need to be sending out regular emails to your list if you want to see results.
My experience: I’ve been using email marketing for a while now, and I’ve seen some great results. Most of my sales today come from email blasts that I send to my list promoting an upcoming webinar, or course launch.
If you’re not using email marketing, you’re missing out. It’s one of the best ways to reach your audience and promote your courses.
Choose a great platform
I use Teachable (affiliate link). My second favorite platform is Thinkific (affiliate link). Both have built-in email marketing platforms, multiple users, video uploads, affiliate programs, and more.
As an affiliate marketer, I benefit if you take a trial of the platform and make a purchase within a certain time frame.
Conclusion
If you want to sell more courses, you need to be strategic about it. You can’t just put up a course and expect people to find it and buy it.
You need to create a sales funnel, build an audience, and use marketing techniques to get people excited about your course.
If you do this, you’ll see an increase in your course sales.
The most important thing to remember when it comes to creating an online course is that you need to start small. Don’t try to create the perfect course — just launch something.
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