When you’re creating your online course I can almost guarantee you will invest too much time in your content creation, course platforms, pretty workbooks and images and not nearly enough where it really counts!
How do I know this?
I did it and I have watched literally every single client that I have worked with invest way too much time in the content and not nearly enough in the bits that generate sales. Think about building a brick and mortar store that sells luxury face and body products using the most expensive and decadent ingredients. A store filled with handcrafted body creams, bubble bath, soap, face masks, scrubs, and oils. Now think about that store having a janky old hand-painted sign out the front of a crap window display. The product is all wrapped up and hidden away so you can’t test out samples and it isn’t obvious what the product is made of. Nothing the customer initially sees (if they see the store at all because it is in the bad end of town next to a dry cleaner and pawn shop) encourages them to buy.
What kind of experience is that for the potential customer?
It’s a craptastic experience. It sucks. It is uninspiring. It is a complete turnoff. There is nothing exciting or sexy about the encounter and let me tell you, it doesn’t matter what you sell the experience around the purchase is something people remember and talk about.
The best products, in our case, online courses often go unnoticed because not nearly enough time and effort was invested in building the store so to speak. Too much time was plowed into creating amazing videos, slideshows, and workbooks but no one will ever see or experience the content because the front door (sales page) was lackluster.
HERE is where I spend the majority of my time!
It can often take me as much time to build my sales page as it does to pull an 8 module, 12-hour video and worksheet course together. A course takes me about 8 to 12 days and a sales page takes around 6 to 8 days. I see women whipping theirs up in a few hours and then feeling totally frustrated that no one bought the course they spent 6 months creating.
The sales page is often the last piece of content online course creators work on. It is that final 20% of the project meaning you’re tired and you really just want to push this baby out into the world. You have been in course creation labor forever and now it is time to push, push, push!
That is one UGLY baby!
Your sales page is your store so to speak. It is the mood, the ambiance, the education, the customer service, the product display, the pricing and everything else you would expect when you walk into that luxury bath store. You want that experience to embody the quality of the product contained in the wrapper when your customer purchases. You want all their questions and concerns to be answered. You want your pricing to be clear and concise, no confusion or hunting about.
Turn your process upside down!
Start building your sales page outline before you tackle your content. It might seem backward but trust me, it works!
If you plan your sales page prior to your content you will be more likely to stay on track with your modules or lessons. Then as you create each part of your course you will be able to create more engaging descriptions about the transformation included in each step, module or lesson, because it will be fresh in your mind. You also won’t be leaving the most important part of the funnel, the sales page, to the last minute. This means you’re less to cut corners and push an ugly baby of a sales page out into the world.
Waitlisting your excited customers
When you get this process right you can start talking about your launch before your course has been completed. You will have a nicely fleshed out sales page where you can show a waitlist option instead of the pricing and payment buttons so people who have loved your free content will be able to register their interest. Can you imagine having a list of excited people desperately waiting for you to launch your course? What an amazing way to kick off a killer launch!
Of course, to do this you want to have the main parts of your sales page done before anyone sees it but, you don’t need all the fine detail. Just a simple outline of the content and the offer could be enough to entice people to click that waitlist button.
Don’t forget!
Course content and a great sales page might get you a few sales but if you really want to create sustainable income you need the entire funnel! That is everything from great free opt-ins, a punchy welcome email series and great pre-launch content to really maximise your business sales for years to come.