Part 1: How to go from 0 to $100K in 2022 with an online course
Welcome to another episode of the Simplify Your Sales podcast! Today we’re kicking things off with an awesome 4-part series that is going to walk you through the step-by-step process for starting from 0 and growing an online course business to $100K in the next 12 months.
I’m excited to share about this process with you because while it looks simple enough-- create the product, share with your audience, make sales, that’s not really a game plan and it’s certainly not really what goes on behind the scenes.
So consider this 4-part series the “curtain pull” where I’m going to share more of the nitty-gritty of what to expect if it’s your goal to go from 0 - $100K this year as an online course creator.
This is Part 1: Find your people (+ get them to find you!)
Today we’re going to talk about building an audience for your online course-- basically how can you find people that are going to ultimately want to purchase your online course?
Why do we build an audience first?
Before we dive into that though, let’s get clear on why growing an audience is so important.
You may have heard the term “if you build it, they will come” which is a terrible saying but for some reason online entrepreneurs seem to accept it as gospel truth-- if you build a great product, people will find it and buy it without you having to market it.
And that couldn’t be further from the truth.
The TRUTH is that the internet is a noisy place. And it’s YOUR job as an entrepreneur to make a name for yourself by consistently putting yourself out there and letting people know “Hey, I exist!”
And this is ESPECIALLY important before you create your first online course-- because it is going to be EXTREMELY discouraging to create an online course and ultimately have no one to buy it. Even if it’s the most incredible online course in the world, you can feel like a failure when it doesn’t sell well-- even though it’s not the course that’s the problem-- it’s 100% a traffic flow issue.
So we build your audience first and foremost to make sure you’re seeing success right outta the gate. If you’re going to go through all the work to create this amazing digital product that you can sell over and over again, it’s just a smart idea to start the process by actually having people to sell it to.
The other reason we build an audience first is so that you can VALIDATE your product idea. Like I mentioned earlier, sometimes it’s hard to tell if it’s the product that’s the problem, or the traffic. Building a small audience BEFORE you launch your product will ensure that your PRODUCT is what’s getting validated-- and whether you should move forward with things or adjust your product/messaging. It also allows you to --literally-- have your audience TELL you what they want from you-- which makes the product creation period extremely low-risk + easy. No guesswork! We’ll talk more about that in Part 2 of this series, so hang tight if you’re wanting to learn more about that.
Alright, so now that you know WHY we build an audience first, let’s talk about how you can actually get it done.
Step 1: Get clear on WHO you serve + HOW you serve them
So your first step to building a profitable audience is to get CLARITY--and there are two things you need to get clear on:
WHO you serve
HOW you serve
This is a HUGE deal and is the foundation that will set you up for success--or failure-- from the beginning. Failure to do this results in confusion, overwhelm, and analysis paralysis syndrome-- none of which are good things for creating a business.
You can gain clarity around WHO you serve by doing one of those “ideal client exercises” that everyone hates, but are so, SO valuable to your business. While figuring out the name, age, demographic, etc. of it all is important, if you REALLY don’t want to do that part, the best thing you can do is determine their PROBLEMS. Write down what they’re struggling with, what their frustrations are, what they wish they could figure out. THOSE are the things that really matter because those are the things that you’re going to reference in not only your copy, but also use to craft the perfect online course.
And if you have ZERO idea of what this looks like, hanging out in niche-specific facebook groups and asking around (or even just observing what people are saying) will give you a pretty good idea really fast.
A final quick tip here is that I’d also determine who you DON’T want to work with, too. Because that ensures that the content and copy you put out there doesn’t resonate with the wrong types of people. Choosing who NOT to work with is almost as important as choosing who TO work with-- for your sanity and actually being able to ENJOY working in your business.
Step 2: Create an “Irresistible Invitation” that encourages people to join your email list
Please, please, PLEASE do not just say “sign up for my list to get my newsletter!” because NO ONE WILL SIGN UP.
Instead, you’re going to want to create a freebie/lead magnet/content upgrade which is essentially an additional resource that they can consume only by leaving their name and email.
Inside our paid program, we actually refer to this as an “Irresistible Invitation” and compare it to Cinderella’s storybook journey. This “irresistible invitation” is just like the invitation to the ball-- she’s feeling stuck in her current situation, and this invitation solves her immediate pain point by not only showing her what’s possible out there beyond her current life, but also giving her that crucial next step-- a desire to go to the ball. And now that she has an invitation, she can do just that (it’s not that simple, but you get the gist).
In YOUR story, the key here is to make it irresistible-- make it something that solves an immediate pain point they are experiencing. So for example, if I wanted to create a photo editing course, my irresistible invitation could be 3 editing presets bundled together. If I wanted to teach watercolor to beginners, I could create an irresistible invitation that was the ultimate guide to choosing the best watercolor tools.
There’s no “right” or “wrong” answer here on what to create for your irresistible invitation-- but it HAS TO BE IRRESISTIBLE. If it’s not something that’s of value, not only are you going to have a hard time wanting to promote it, but your audience isn’t going to sign up for it. Take the time to create something truly irresistible that they can’t live without and you’ll find that list growth becomes exponential very quickly.
Step 3: Provide value through weekly Hero content
But how do you get people to find you so that they can grab that Irresistible Invitation?
The key here is your HERO CONTENT.
Your Hero Content is the long-form content you create for your audience on an ongoing basis that serves to educate, inspire, and ultimately drive sales in your business. Think blog posts, Youtube videos, podcast episodes. In fact, this episode you’re listening to right now is one of MY Hero Content pieces.
You’ll create multiple pieces of Hero Content that come together to form this insanely valuable “Library of Knowledge” on your website. And as you build that up and share about it on Pinterest and your social media account, people will start to visit your site more and more-- and hopefully sign up for your Irresistible Invitation--because you’ll be including a call-to-action to join your email list in every single piece of Hero Content you create.
Now really quick I want to address the elephant in the room-- “But I don’t want to become a blogger”
And it’s really just a mindset repositioning thing-- you’re not a blogger-- you’re a content creator and educator. Just like you will be educating your audience through your paid online course, you’ll also be teaching them through your free online content, too. This is how you can showcase your knowledge and show people your teaching style.
In 2022, creating a Library of Knowledge filled with Hero Content is a MUST for successful online course creators looking to continuously build up their email list with primed, ready-to-buy customers who are the perfect fit for your product(s). You CANNOT skip this step!
Now just as a personal example, I am someone who struggles A LOT with tasks that you have to consistently do. I am more of a “Let’s just batch everything together and get it done in one go!”
And so if you’re like me, I recommend setting aside 1 month and just whipping through content during that time. Getting your topics chosen, your content prepped + created, your marketing material, #allthethings. And then you can schedule it all to publish and--depending on how much you did-- you can take a break from content creation for quite a while until you have to come back to it again.
And while consistency is important, I actually believe it’s MORE important to build in breaks-- which is what we do in my paid program. LIke, build in months where you’re NOT having to publish new content (have you met ANYONE who wants to work the month of December?! I didn’t think so!). We have this whole detailed schedule inside Simplify to Scale that is not only totally doable, but makes it actually--dare I say it-- FUN!?
Step 4: Add in accelerated growth strategies to supercharge your list size quickly
And then finally, while creating Hero Content is ESSENTIAL to long-term growth strategy in your business (and being able to ultimately take time off without your business coming to a screeching halt), it can feel realllllly slow in the beginning. Those first 2-3 months are the hardest-- I pinky promise. Everything gets easier after that.
But if you’re creating all this content and publishing it with your CTA to join your email list and and it’s growing slower than a snail’s pace, you may want to work in some accelerated growth strategies to get the wheels turning. These are a bit more “hands-on” grassroots-style marketing that involve tapping into other people’s audiences, but in the early days, they are ESSENTIAL to making quick work of your audience list growth. So things like lead magnet swapping, appearing as a guest on podcast, doing a free training in a facebook group (with permission of course)-- those are all things that can help grow your audience VERY quickly in those early days.
So now begs the question-- What size should you grow your audience to before you create your product?
For a “proper launch,” the “magic” number I’ve found is 500 subscribers. Enough for product validation, but not so many that you’re wasting months and months of time trying to get them before you make back any money. This is something that is ABSOLUTELY doable with the right strategies in 30-45 days and it’s what we teach our students how to do inside Simplify to Scale.
That being said, it’s not 100% necessary to have 500 subscribers in the beginning, but I NEVER recommend introducing a product with less than 250. 250 can work IF you are willing to be scrappy and do a bit more hustling to get those first people enrolled-- meaning a lot more “hands on” work with personal emails + reaching out in dm’s to follow up with potential students and that sort of things. It’s just SO much easier with 500 email subscribers that it’s what we recommend to our students.
So just to recap:
Get clear on WHO you serve
Create your Irresistible Invitation
Provide valuable, weekly content
Add in accelerated growth strategies in the beginning
And that is your game plan on how you are going to grow the PERFECT audience from scratch to launch your online course!
And if you haven’t already, make sure you grab your FREE copy of our “Unlock your profitable course idea” blueprint that will walk you through EXACTLY how to pick a profitable course idea that leverages YOUR unique skills + talents.
Alright, and that wraps up Part 1: Find your people. Stay tuned for the next episode where we’ll be talking about outlining your product + validating it to make sure it’s actually designed to sell.