For years, I have wanted to create an online course, and this past month, I finally made it a reality with my SEO course, Content that Converts.
I love teaching and sharing what I’ve learned with others, and being able to serve more people than I ever could working one-on-one made the course path so interesting to me. I’m also a mom to two boys who are not in full-time daycare, so being able to build something that could create income while I was away from my desk was very appealing. Maybe you’ve had a similar thought?
But, I was so nervous—nervous about what to teach, the actual launch, and fearful—what if no one even bought it?!
The past 9 months have taught me that nothing great comes from staying in your comfort zone, so when I finally decided to do it, I went full-steam ahead and pushed fear to the side and I’m so glad I did!
Launch Goals
Admittedly, I didn’t have much of a goal set for launching. I think part of me didn’t want to set some crazy goal and then miss it. But, I do think that having a goal is a good idea. About half way through my launch, I set a goal to sell a specific number of additional courses to what I’d already sold to give me something to work towards and focus on. It worked 😉
My biggest goal with launching was to get the dang thing launched! I was dreading this part for so long, and I’m grateful that I did it! I learned a lot along the way and I’m already getting excited for my next launch because the fear of the first one is over. Sometimes all you need is to get over that first hump!
I wanted to share a few other things I learned from this process that will hopefully help you on your way when you create your course!
5 Things I Learned from Launching My First Online Course
Good Things Take Time
I’ve seen people promoting their program on how to create a course in a weekend, and while I think you can get a lot done in a weekend, it’s also okay if it takes you longer.
I know so much about SEO, but when I first started writing notes down, they were all over the place. Pulling my thoughts together into a nice package that actually made sense took a lot more thinking and brainstorming than I expected. But, I’m glad that I took the time, because what I ended up with was an SEO roadmap that any entrepreneur could easily follow, instead of a jumbled course that didn’t have much thought into it.
I started the very beginnings of this program back in March or April of 2022 and then sat on it for months. I will say, the more time I spent on it, the faster my method for teaching emerged, so you can’t just sit around and wait for the ideas to come, you have to work at it. When it started flowing, it came so fast. Remember, action creates clarity!
Promote it Daily
I’m definitely one of those people who will share something a couple of times and think—okay, everyone has seen it! Time to move on! But, as you might have heard, people need to hear something a minimum of 8 (or was it 10x?!) before they actually will take action. Basically, you have to tell people over and over again before it finally clicks.
Promoting my course on Instagram and sharing with my email list daily felt like overkill somedays, but I know that it led to a bunch of sales right at the end.
If you hear crickets those first few days, it’s okay—just keep going. So many people are passively listening and thinking and considering it before they take the leap and buy. And, a friendly reminder that no one else knows that you haven’t made a sale except for you. Fake it til you make it baby!
10 Days is Long, So Plan Ahead
A bunch of course experts say that your launch period should be 10 days. Seeing as I was brand new to this, I figured, well, they clearly know more than me! So, 10 days it was.
But, dang, 10 days is long, and it’s easy to get burned out.
Prepping in advance was the best thing I did for myself. I wrote all my emails in Flodesk upfront, before my launch period began and scheduled them to go out every day. I also wrote down topics for me to talk about on social media each day too which helped keep me on track.
We were in London for a wedding right in the midst of my launch and I did skip a few days, which probably wasn’t ideal, but it happened. You live and you learn!
But, having everything prepped ahead was the only thing that kept my launch on track and gave me the motivation to keep going until the end!
Your First Launch Doesn’t Determine the Success of your Program
I used to falsely believe that if your launch wasn’t epic, well, your course was dead. That couldn’t be further from the truth! The first launch is honestly more like a test. You’re figuring out what works and what drives your customers to actually purchase.
As your business grows and you become more of an expert in your industry, your email list will grow and overtime, your course sales will too.
My biggest piece of advice—stay the course! I always remind myself that everything I am building now is laying the foundation for what’s to come. Overnight successes are almost never actually overnight, and everything I’m doing today is paving the way for the future.
Launching Doesn’t Have to Be Scary
To be honest, the thing that’s held me back from creating or completing courses in the past is the launch phase. You hear about people who had these crazy $40,000 launches (spoiler alert, I did not make $40K on my launch) and for me, that put so much pressure on the whole thing.
“What if my launch flops? What does that mean about me as a person? Does my course suck? Should I light my computer on fire and quit?!“
If your launch flops, you learn. Maybe your messaging was off, maybe you didn’t promote it enough, maybe you didn’t prepare your audience correctly. It means NOTHING about you as a person, and chances are, your course probably doesn’t suck—you just need to work on how you’re marketing it.
Getting past this first launch felt so good—it was done! The thing I’d been scared about for so long was past and now I can move forward with everything I’ve learned and continue to grow my sales.
All in all, launching a course is a huge feat! One that takes time and effort, but it’s worth it. If you have a great idea, I encourage you to take the first step and start building it. Maybe that’s as simple as dumping all your ideas into a Google doc, or writing down different course ideas! Just get those wheels turning!
Get Support
If you’re ready to take the next step in your business, and want feedback and support from other female entrepreneurs just like you, join us in The Collective’s Business Accelerator Group.
We do monthly coaching calls, coffee chats (basically you come ask questions, hang out and brainstorm with like-minded women) and lots of 1:1 chatting within the group to keep you encouraged and motivated.
It’s the best place to ask for advice, ask business questions (because most of us in there are solo-preneurs just trying to figure it all out) and get the support you need to grow into the next level of your business. It’s the perfect place to share any course ideas you have and get real-time feedback to make it happen faster for you. Get all the details and join here!
Any questions? Leave them below!
BTW, why every business needs a website to grow, and how simply being happy for others can boost your joy.
