Creating a course is one thing, selling it is another! I see a lot of course creators fail when it comes time to launch their baby into the big wide world. Some fail due to over-complicating the process with too many bells and whistles. Others fail because they don’t launch at all. They create something epic, then just hope people will find it (I did that with my first launch..). Another common mistake is creating the right content for the wrong people or creating the wrong content for the right people!
So how do you create a course that you know will sell?
There is no big mystery to this, no magic unicorn or secret sauce. It is just simply; attract + delight + offer.
Step One – Attract
Attract the attention of your ideal client by using a great high-value free opt in like a PDF or short video. The key in this step is to make sure you attract the right audience. Know exactly who you’re creating your course for and what solution they are desperate to get their hands on.
Spend time sharing your free opt in with your ideal customers and watch their responses carefully. This step is important, if you’re getting zero response there is a good chance your offering is not as well matched to your audience as you thought it was.
If you’re getting a response but it is from the wrong people, people who don’t fit your ideal client avatar then check your branding and your targeting.
The attract step will help ensure you’re creating course content that your ideal customer wants, not just what you think they want (I made this mistake too!). Don’t get caught up creating content until you know you can attract the right audience with the right content.
Once you have this step working you can move on to step 2.
Step Two – Delight
You have attracted your ideal client, now is the time to really up your game and delight them with awesome high-quality free content like a video training series, 5-day challenge or webinar.
The timing here is really important. You have already found the right piece of content to attract your ideal customer in step one so you should have a nice list building of people who are interested and want to learn more about what you have to share.
Your delight content should be delivered just prior to you launching or opening the cart for your online course. You don’t want to leave a big gap of time between the two. Your delight content is designed to help your ideal customer uncover a need or desire for a solution. If you don’t immediately follow up with a course that offers that solution you will leave them hanging, desperate for more.
Step Three – Offer
I hate using the word “sell”. It feels like something you do to people, not something you do for them. An offer is something you do for them. You offer a solution to a problem or a product or service that fills a gap for them. Often women stumble at this point because they forget to let people know they have a solution, or they don’t want to appear “salesy”. The problem is you’re holding something back that could help someone. You lose (on sales) and they lose (no solution).
When you get the three steps right you won’t need to worry that your course won’t sell. You will have attracted the right people, delighted them with awesome free content to build trust and excitement and offered them the perfect solution. You’re not asking them to buy anything, you’re simply offering them a solution that enables them to reach their goals faster.
This logical step by step process ensures you create the right content for the right people while building your database with premium free content. It is a non-salesly, non-sleazy way to match your offering with the audience that most need it.
Why following the 3 Steps will make life easier…
All of those fears that creep into creating and launching an online course can be addressed within this three step process. What if I create a course and no one buys? What if I spend a heap of money and never make it back? What if I invest every spare minute I have, only to find its all been for nothing?
If you follow my three step process you won’t move forward until you have nailed each step so there is no way to waste a heap of time or money on creating a course no one wants.
If you find you aren’t getting people to Step One you can re-adjust your “attract” step. If you find yourself attracting but no one seems “delighted” you can make changes to Step Two. When you get Step One and Step Two down but find that no one takes your offer you will know the problem lies within Step Three.
You will easily be able to identify where you’re losing people along they way. That means you can make small adjustments instead of feeling like you need to trash everything and start again, or worse giving in completely. I was so close to giving in.
Blah… I hate to think of what I would have missed out on if I didn’t keep going!
Melanie
I loved how you broke the steps into three simple ones that can be easily tweaked.
Thanks for your great info Melanie. Will be putting that info to use soon.