Pre-selling Your Course Before You Create It
Pre-selling your course is a simple solution to what can seem an overwhelming problem; creating interest in something that does not yet exist.
What if you have this fantastic idea, an answer to a problem, and it’s going to guide so many and propel them forward to that next level. You know what needs doing, you know what others will need to do and you know it will help them.
You have the perfect course for them to learn from.
But in order to provide this amazing solution you must first create it, right? No. Creating it can come later. First, you need to generate interest & build your audience. If you don’t have a warm, engaged audience ready to buy from you then your course may launch to crickets…
Pre-Selling Your Course
Pre-selling your course before you create anything sounds really nice doesn’t it? Well you can do it! There is no rule saying you must have a course in place before you sell it. In fact, many products have been sold before they were created. Rumor has it that Elon Musk has presold 250,000 orders for his new Cybertruck! In just 24 hours, Apple sold 2 million iPhone 12 handsets in pre-orders alone!
Also look to the popular crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter. They have helped to launch many successful products, all through a pre-launch service.
You can position pre-selling your course in many different ways. You might choose to go with a beta launch. Or, maybe a founding member launch, or you might just simply call it ‘pre-selling.’
You can create a pre-selling launch plan around your online course before you create or record any content for it, whether it be your next course, or your first.
One thing you don’t want is to spend time creating something that ends up not selling or creating something other than what your ideal audience needs right now.
This is where pre-selling your course comes to the rescue!
The Benefits to Pre-Selling Your Course
The obvious benefit is selling your course before you spend large amounts of time creating the modules, the lessons or any of the content. Creating a course is a big project and you want to maximize your return on the time you spend on it.
It would be more than a little discouraging to spend your time creating the perfect course only to be welcomed by the sound of crickets chirping when you launch the course.
Pre-selling your course is also a fantastic way to validate your course ideas, and you can even implement the use of your first round of students to help guide you through the creation of the content that they need.
Sometimes, course creators will do the pre-selling round live and work alongside their students and deliver the best training, resources, and content that they need. The insights, the feedback, and the testimonials you can receive from these initial students is invaluable!
First Things First
There are a few things you need to know before you try to pre-sell your course though.
1- Know What Your Course Promise Is
Your students need to know and understand your course promise. What will be the end results they will receive by signing up for this course? How will they benefit from the experience? What solution are you offering?
2- A Clear Course Outline
Your students need to know and understand your course promise. What will be the end results they will receive by signing up for this course? How will they benefit from the experience? What solution are you offering?
3- Your Message and Your Ideal Audience
Pre-selling is still selling; the main difference is that people will buy knowing that they won’t have access to the product immediately, or at least for a bit. This does mean for them to buy now, you will need to entice them even more. This is why nailing down your messaging and who your ideal audience for your course is still key to doing a pre-sell launch.
Pre-Selling Your Course
The 3 key steps to putting your pre-launch course out there and for getting your first students through the doors are:
Creating your pre-selling launch plan
Creating your pre-launch goals
Implementing your pre-sell marketing plan
Easy right? Well, let’s look at each of these in more detail.
1- Creating your Pre-Selling Launch Plan
Pre-selling a course is still a launch, and a launch requires a launch plan. You need to map out your content; your email sequences; promo offers and you need to create excitement around your launch! Generate awareness. Build your email list. Promote your ideas and build some hype!
2- Creating Your Pre-Launch Goals
Be sure to set some goals for your pre-launch. For example: do you only want a handful of students to sign up so you can focus more on their needs and learn from them while you work through the course together? If so, add that to your marketing plan — ‘Only 10 spots available!’ Otherwise, let’s set some other goals around your launch:
How many pre-sell students would you like or need in your initial course launch?
What revenue will that result in for your pre-launch?