So you've got a great idea for an online
course and you have an audience to sell it...
logic dictates that the next step is to create
that course. Right? Well hold up, not so fast!
Online courses take a lot of time and effort
to create, so you don't want to go into that
process without validating your course,
without knowing for sure that people want it
and that people are going to buy.
In today's video, I'm showing you how you can
quickly validate your course idea and pre sell
it, aka, get some sales in before you create
it. That way you can walk into the course
creation process being absolutely certain that
this is something somebody wants and that
people are going to buy. This is the best
place for course creators, digital
entrepreneurs, and business owners who are
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My name is Brie Kirbyson, and I went from
working my butt off at super unfulfilling
minimum wage jobs to being my own boss and
getting paid to do what I love. But when I was
just beginning my business, my first ever
course launch actually flopped. Yep, happens
to all of us. And the main reason it happened
to me was because I didn't validate my course.
I came up with a course idea that I thought
was amazing, and I dove straight into creating
it. The problem was, it didn't fit in with
what my audience wanted. So when I finally
launched, I only had a single sale, and I do
not want that to happen to you.
So before you get started, you're going to
need two specific things. Number one is an
idea. An idea for a course that specifically
solves a problem or pain point of your target
audience. Now, if you don't have an idea yet
and you need some help coming up with one,
check out this video here where I walk you
through my profitable course idea
brainstorming exercise, so you can find what
you're good at and what sells.
And the second thing you'll need is an
audience, so you can sell your course to.
Ideally, this is an email list, but a social
following, Facebook group, or something like
that can also work. But you do need an
audience, even if it is a small one. If you
don't have an audience yet, check out this
video here where I walk you through step by
step how you can grow your email list to your
first thousand subscribers. But if you have
those two things, let's dive right in.
So step number one of the validation process
is to write an outline of your course that you
plan on creating. So what will you be covering
in this course? You want to outline every
single different section, every module, every
lesson, and what is going to go into each one.
What are the outcomes that somebody's going to
get from following your advice? From learning,
going through the lessons, and implementing?
All of these things should be included in your
course outline.
Now, you want to make sure you know exactly
what you're teaching and exactly what those
outcomes are. You also want to make note of
what kind of content each piece of your lesson
plan will be. So is it going to be majority
video content? Is it going to be screen
sharing? Is it going to be PDFs, audio - make
a note of that and put that next to each
lesson. This whole outline should be quite
detailed and cover the entire scope of your
course.
Step number two is to write a short sales page
or sales letter outlining what is in your
course and what the outcomes are. So this
sales page or the sales letter should have a
few key things. First, it should tell what is
inside the course and what format. Second,
what pain points does it solve? What struggles
does it help somebody overcome? And what
outcomes do they get from completing it? Or in
other words, what transformation does it help
your student to achieve?
People don't buy products, they buy
transformations. They buy the outcome, they
buy that future version of themselves that
they're going to be, or that future thing,
whatever it is that your course gets them.
That is what they're buying. They're not
buying a course, they're not buying the
features of it, they are buying that
transformation.
And you really want to make sure this is
included in your sales page, because this is
what sells people on it. You also want to
include who exactly it's for. At this point,
if you have an audience, you should know
specifically, who they are, what their life
looks like, what their hopes and dreams are,
and what they're struggling with. So this
needs to be super clear. And you should
outline in your sales letter who exactly it's
for. You also want to include the timeframe
that you will complete it in. So since you're
going to be pre selling this course, before
you create it, you want to give your potential
customers an idea of what they can expect. So
if you think you can have the course done in
the next four weeks, or six weeks, or whatever
it is, then mention that so they know what to
expect from you.
And lastly, you want to include the price that
you're offering it to them for. These are all
important elements that somebody looking at
your course is going to have to consider
whether they want to invest. Now, your sales
letter, your sales page, whatever it is, you
can go either way. But whatever you choose, it
does not have to be fancy. It can just be
simple. This is your minimum viable product.
It doesn't have to be crazy. In fact, I've
done mine, first of all through a Google doc,
and then just sent that on to people in my
audience to see what they think of it. The
whole idea is to get it done, and get it out
there.
If you haven't created your course yet, what
is it that's holding you back? Is it this fear
that people won't buy it after you create it?
Or is it the tech that's holding you back?
Share in a comment below because I would love
to see what you're struggling with, so I can
continue to create content that helps you
solve the things you most need help with.
Step number three is to send your sales letter
and course outline to a segment of your
audience. Now, the whole point here is, we
want to get a subset of your audience to say
an enthusiastic "YES!" to your program, before
you decide if you're creating it or not. And
that's because, you know, it's easy to show
something to somebody and they go, "Oh, yeah,
like that looks great!" People want to be
polite, they want to be nice. But when it
comes for them to come and pull out their
credit cards, you might find that a lot of
people go quiet, if it's not something they
actually want. So how do you know if people
are being polite, or if they actually want
your course? Well, you do that by sending them
a explanation of what your course is, and then
asking for the sale.
So depending on the size of your audience, you
might want to send it to all of them, or just
a segment. So if you have a larger email list
or audience, you can send it to a segment of
your most engaged followers or subscribers. So
these are the people that are always emailing,
that are always opening your emails, that are
commenting on your social media posts. Those
are the people you want to hit up because
those are your biggest fans, and they are most
likely to say yes. So I would aim for at least
100, or a few hundred people to send this to
in your first round. If you have a small
audience, if you only have 100 subscribers,
then you can go ahead and try sending it to
all of them. But the key here is to get a mass
of people to see it and to see who says yes.
Step number four is to ask for the sale. This
is the most important part! After you've sent
your outline and your sales letter to your
audience, you need to ask them to buy. So
before you do that, make sure you have a
payment page set up or a Buy Now button
somewhere on your site where they can enroll
in the course. Don't beat around the bush,
show them what you're offering and then ask
them to buy.
Why would somebody buy a course that you
haven't even created yet? Well, there are a
few different but very powerful reasons.
First is a discount. So since this hasn't been
created yet, you normally offer it to your
audience at a highly discounted price. They
basically become your beta testers or your
founding members of your course. And for doing
that, for taking that risk, they do get a
price that is lower than what you do plan on
offering it for once you do a full launch.
Second is feedback. Since they are in your
founding group, they usually get a chance to
give their feedback. So you can craft the
course in a way that solves their biggest
problems. This is incredibly valuable for
anybody, because it helps them get a tailored
solution to whatever they're struggling with.
And number three is that they get direct
feedback. You'll be communicating back and
forth as you drip out your course content, as
you create it, and seeing what your first
members think of it. How are they doing? Are
they getting results? All of these things,
this back and forth, will make them feel
looked after and that you are really there for
them, and that is also incredibly, incredibly
valuable. And with all of these bonuses for
them, it is a win-win for both sides. They get
all of this added value at a discounted price,
and you get to validate your course and know
that it's going to sell before you put in all
that effort.
Step number five is to decide if you are
creating your course or if you reiterate.After
you send out your offer, you're going to
quickly get a sense of whether people are into
it, whether people are going to buy or not. So
give it a few days, send a couple emails
reminding them to check it out. After that,
you want to consider: Did you get enough
pre-sales to feel comfortable creating the
course?
Now, there is no magic number for how many
sales, how many people you need to get
enrolled in order for this to work. But
whatever you feel comfortable with. A general
rule of thumb is 1% to 2%. So if you send it
out to 100 people and five people buy, you're
pretty good. You're good to go. And I would be
very confident in creating that course. But if
you send it out to 100 people and one person
buys, I would be a little bit more careful -
you're not sure if people actually want this.
So if it does work, if you get those pre
sales, you can go ahead and start creating
that course. But if it didn't get the sales,
then it is time to reiterate.
Survey your audience, ask them questions in
email, and see how you can help them solve
their biggest pains and problems. Once you've
done that, come up with a new course idea. And
then you go through the five steps again. You
come up with an idea, you write your outline,
you write your sales page, and then again,
present it to your audience until you get
something that validates, that you know is
going to sell.
This process is all about tweaking and
reiterating, but don't give up! This happens
to everybody, and it's just a part of the
process. But if you are stuck coming up with
an idea for your course, or you don't know
what your expertise is, I've created an
incredible free guide to help you through the
process. Check out the Profitable Online
Course Idea Starter Kit and I will walk you
through the entire process of coming up with
profitable course ideas, coming up with a
name, and validating it so you know if it's
going to sell.
Also, if you want to join a community of
course creators and digital entrepreneurs just
like you, I'd love to invite you to join my
free exclusive Facebook group the Course Boss
Club. Inside, you not only get access to an
amazing community, but I will be in there
every day of the week dropping tips and
knowledge bombs on how you can grow and scale
your online course business. Again, you can
join that in the link in the description
below.
Check out these videos next on how you can
take your online course business to the next
level. And if you liked this video, please hit
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