5 Tips For Launching Your Online Course

Creating and marketing an online course is a great way to generate an additional income stream and escape the trading time for money paradigm; giving you the freedom to live life on your terms.

However, creating your online course is just one piece of the puzzle!

In order to sell your course, you are going to need to 'get it out there'.

One of the most common ways of doing that is by having a launch, but launching an online course can be a daunting prospect if you've never done it before.

A launch is where you turn your marketing into a special event or an occasion that is time-bound and creates an opportunity for people to decide whether they want to buy from you, within that specific time frame.

A launch creates a sense of urgency and momentum that can make a huge difference to your course sales.

Anyway, I was doing a webinar the other day on the topic of ‘Creating and Marketing Digital Products’ and I was asked what my top 5 tips were for launching an online course.

Although that was a slightly odd way to phrase a question in the Chat Box of a webinar, here’s what I said:

#1 Proper Planning

This is not the most glamorous of answers I know but it’s absolutely crucial. If you don’t plan these things properly, you are very likely to be disappointed with the results you get.

And the bigger your goals, the more important planning becomes; so for example if I am launching a £20 mini-course, I am not going to spend too much time planning that.

I may just stick up a few social media posts, send out an email and stick it on my website. If on the other hand I am launching a £2,000 group coaching programme, I am going to need much more planning to achieve my desired revenue goals.

Proper planning starts with defining your course objectives, target audience, and course content structure.

Then you'll want to develop a comprehensive plan that includes timelines, marketing strategies, and goals.

#2 Lead-in times

This point is related to the first one, in that part of proper planning involves giving yourself (and your customers) enough time to get everything in place. Ideally when I am launching something I try and allow a 6 week promotional window. Sometimes life gets in the way of that and I end up having a shorter window, but that’s my ideal starting point.

#3 Think like a Movie-Studio

When a new movie is released, they don’t just have it available in the cinemas without any pre-advertising and building of anticipation, yet that’s exactly what a lot of people do with their launches.

A Movie Studio would release advance trailers showcasing the most exciting parts of the film and you’d likely see billboards and other advertising. What can you do to build excitement and anticipation around your launch?

Could you run a Challenge or create a video mini-series to provide value before introducing your offer?

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#4 Start with the end in mind

Are you familiar with Stephen Covy’s book ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’?

Well, ‘Start with the end in mind’ is one of the habits mentioned in the book, and it relates to a way of thinking that equates to starting with the outcome you want and then working backwards to reverse engineer that result. This is very relevant when it comes to launching your course!

What do you want to achieve (be specific), how many course sales are you looking to make, what are your revenue targets, what other goals do you have related to your launch, when is it going to happen?

These are all questions you want to have answered before you start your launch. Plans can change but if you haven’t thought about these things in advance, you’ll have no idea how much effort or activity you need to apply in your launch, or even what constitutes a success.

#5 Relationships are key

Who can you partner up with that can help you get the word out there about your course? Who already has your ideal audience? Some people will likely do this for you as a favour, whereas others may expect a bit of reciprocity, with you helping promote their products/services further down the line.

Whilst others might expect some kind of monetary exchange!

Conclusion

So to sum up, these are my top five tips for launching an online course. With proper planning, lead-in times, marketing strategies, a clear vision of the end result, and leveraging relationships, you'll be in a good position to have a successful launch. 

If you've not launched your course yet, I hope you found these answers helpful.

Want to know if you are ready to launch your online course? Take our quiz and find out!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What is the best way to launch an online course?

There is no one best way to launch an online course. How you launch your course will depend on your target audience, niche, and what you are launching.

As mentioned above, if you are launching something that's fairly inexpensive, you are unlikely to need as much marketing as you would when selling something that's more high-ticket.

Having said that, the key to any successful launch is that you turn your marketing into a compelling event, and have an incentive for people to buy during the period of your launch.

The event that you create can either be live, which is what I recommend when you are starting out, or it can be pre-recorded and released on a certain date.

An example of a live event would be a webinar or bootcamp that you run in real time.

An example of a pre-recorded launch would be a three-part video series.

In practice, even with the pre-recorded option, there are usually live components thrown in to add value and foster engagement.

Q2: How long does it take to launch an online course?

The time required to launch an online course can vary. Typically, it takes a few weeks to a few months, depending on factors like planning, content creation, platform setup, marketing, and pre-launch activities.

The process involves defining objectives, creating content, setting up the course platform, marketing the course, and preparing for enrolment. It's important to allocate sufficient time for each stage to ensure a successful launch.

Q3: What are some effective marketing strategies to promote my online course during the launch?

Here are some effective marketing strategies you can use to promote your online course during the launch:

1. Build an email list and send targeted messages.
2. Create valuable content to showcase your expertise.
3. Utilise social media platforms for promotion.
4. Collaborate with influencers or industry experts.
5. Host webinars or livestreams.
6. Offer limited-time discounts or bonuses.
7. Share customer testimonials and success stories.
8. Run a challenge for a limited period of time.

Remember to adjust your strategies based on feedback and results.

Q4: Should I offer any special bonuses or discounts to increase course sales during the launch?

Yes, offering special bonuses or incentives during your course launch can be an effective strategy to increase sales.

These bonuses can provide additional value to potential customers and create a sense of urgency to enrol.

Examples of bonuses can include exclusive access to additional resources, one-on-one coaching sessions, or discounts on future courses.

By offering attractive incentives, you can incentivise potential customers to take action and boost their motivation to enrol in your course during the launch period.